Effects of the Application of Virtual Reality to Experiential Education on Self-Efficacy and Learning Motivation of Social Workers

Abstract

To enhance the human resources required for national development to cope with the change, countries in the world have positively invested in education, as national education in the future is necessary to cultivate new-generation citizens with new traits and abilities to cope with the possible impacts and challenges in the new century. For this reason, the education reform wave sweeps many countries. The experiential learning model in experiential education nowadays leads profit and non-profit organizations in the business community, education, and social worker groups to the alternative education trend. Various experiential learning curricula are therefore spread. Taking social workers in southern Taiwan as the research objects, a total of 227 social workers are preceded the 15-week (3 h per week for a total of 45 h) experimental research with the application of virtual reality to experiential education. The research results summarize that (1) experiential education with virtual reality would affect self-efficacy, (2) experiential education with virtual reality would affect learning motivation, and (3) self-efficacy reveals remarkably positive effects on learning motivation. According to the results, it is expected to increase the interaction among the social workers through the learning activity and internalize the experience in the practical learning process of communication, problem solving, and extrinsic interaction for the application to the work to achieve a better life.