Charting Out Safety Training Goals for Developing a Pedagogical Model for Immersive Virtual Reality Safety Training: A Qualitative Study

The best instructional practices for immersive virtual reality (IVR) use in workplace learning contexts remain undefined after decades of research. Increasing the methodological range and rigor in the study of educational IVR have been proposed. To address these issues, we performed a qualitative study that contributed to the development of a pedagogical model for IVR safety training. The model is based on simulation training and draws on sociocultural and cognitivist perspectives on learning. Our research question was ‘What kind of training goals do the safety trainers perceive for their organizations, themselves, and the learners?’ Thematic interviews were performed on 18 safety trainers from two work organizations to gain insight into their professional perceptions. The interview data was subjected to deductive and inductive qualitative content analyses. Our findings revealed that the trainers consider upholding organizational safety culture and practices that ensure everyone’s safety the most important goal on all levels, despite understanding the role of external drivers for safety such as legislation and regulations. The findings contributed to the conceptualization of the pedagogical model for IVR safety training prior to the training interventions.