Virtual reality (VR) technologies have been shown to impact the affective and motivational dimensions of learning, for example increasing learners’ enjoyment, confidence, and self-efficacy beliefs. While VR is increasingly being used for workforce development, research on these dimensions of learning in authentic workforce development contexts remains thin. This mixed-method case study addressed the need for more research on VR’s affordances for engaging affective dimensions of learning. We investigated the impact of a job interview VR simulation on the emotions, confidence, and self-efficacy beliefs of jobseekers who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. By observing the implementation of this application in an authentic workforce development context, we also addressed questions about how VR use and facilitation vary among participants. We find compelling evidence that a VR job interview simulation tailored to the experiences of people impacted by the criminal justice system can alleviate some of the emotional toll the job search takes on this vulnerable population, but we did not find evidence of changes in their self-efficacy beliefs. We discuss ways participants described the simulation as authentic practice, and how its facilitation and use varied, emphasizing the importance of VR design as a tool within a broader instructional context.

The OECD suggests that young people, ages 18-25, will be the hardest hit by the future of work. As entry-level positions are more likely to involve routine tasks with low skill requirements, this group will be most at risk for disruptions or transitions partially because lack of social capital and exposure to careers prevent them from finding the necessary support to transfer their skills to a new environment (OECD, 2018). As society faces an uncertain and changing future of work, workforce development needs a new paradigm; one founded in leveraging the learning sciences and human-centered technology design to drive inclusion.A preliminary trial of a web-based skills visualization tool with the LA Chamber of Commerce suggests that when participants in their workforce development program created their skills visualization map using the tool, the quantity, and quality of skills used to self-describe increased. Further, the number of participants recommended for an internship also increased. These early results indicate that using a skills visualization map may promote self-explanation, and allow participants to construct a better understanding of how to transfer their skills to a new environment. This approach was used to address the core learning problem of self-explanation, as studies have shown that self-explanation and visualizations are powerful strategies to learn more deeply (Schwartz et al., 2016).