Improving Classroom Communication: The Effects of Virtual Social Training on Communication and Assertion Skills in Middle School Students

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between teacher identification of socially at-risk adolescents and baseline student social competency levels. Additionally, the feasibility and effects of an eight-session, virtual social training were analyzed. Upon completion of the virtual social training, the transfer effects from the targeted intervention into the general education classroom were determined. Study participants (N=90) were comprised of sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students from four public middle schools in Dallas, Texas. Data was collected through classroom teacher questionnaires to measure students’ baseline social behaviors. In addition, pre-post student performance measures in the areas of affect recognition, social inference, and social attribution were administered. Results revealed that middle school teachers were effective identifiers of students with lagging social skills. Baseline ratings of social skills showed a high positive association between student affect recognition and teacher rating of participant total social skills including communication, cooperation, responsibility, and self-control. A high negative association was found between student affect recognition and problem behaviors. A high negative association was also found between student perspective-taking and hyperactivity and externalizing behaviors. Student pre-post test performance measures revealed significant improvement in affect recognition, attribution, and social inferencing after undergoing the virtual social training. At the time of a 5°week follow up, teachers rated participants’ social skills in the areas of communication and assertion as significantly improved. Sixty-eight percent of participants reported increased confidence in social communication skills such as relating, maintaining, adapting, and asserting thoughts after the training. Preliminary findings from this small-scale study provide evidence that a brief eight-session, virtual social training in middle school is a feasible delivery model that can achieve positive effects on social behavior, and that teacher referral was a reliable way to identify students who could benefit from the training. Incorporating teacher perspective aided in translating a previously lab-based training into an ecologically relevant setting while addressing a programming need to meet the social demands of adolescence.

Charisma™ virtual social training: A digital health platform and protocol

“…Supporting our hypotheses, Frontiers in Virtual Reality frontiersin.org current findings yield statistically significant improvements in emotion recognition, social inferencing, and social attribution accuracy. These findings are consistent with the training outcomes from our previous work (Didehbani et al, 2016;Johnson et al, 2021). Additionally, an added measure of social self-schemata demonstrated that CHARISMA-VST positively improved participants' sense of social self, indicating a potential mindset shift towards social resiliency.…”

“…We hypothesized that children with social difficulties would demonstrate significant improvement following CHARISMA-VST in the areas of emotion recognition, social inferencing, and social attribution, consistent with our previous laboratorybased pediatric virtual reality social cognition studies (Didehbani et al, 2016;Johnson et al, 2021). Moreover, literature suggests a positive effect of social cognitive training on the formation of social schemata (Markus, 1997).…”

“…This is because with our LIVR technology advancements, in-person and remote participants will be able to complete study activities in a similar manner regardless of training location. Furthermore, past versions of our virtual reality social cognition training yielded positive effects on social skills outcomes for youth with and without ASD diagnosis (Johnson et al, 2021). Therefore, we hypothesized that there would not be a significant difference in the changes in any of our social cognition outcome measures between ASD and non-ASD youth participants.…”

“…Computer-based LIVR social training programs may broaden opportunities to provide virtual, first-person, and gamified training experiences, paired with remote clinical services, to facilitate accessible interventions for youth. Prior work conducted by our researchers at the Center for BrainHealth, utilizing computer-generated 3D LIVR gaming technology, suggests positive effects of a virtual reality social cognition training on social skills for children and adolescents with both ASD and non-ASD conditions (Didehbani et al, 2016;Johnson et al, 2021). This multi-user, virtual environment has been used to facilitate non-scripted social interaction role-play between clinicians, who act as "peer" avatars, and individuals with social deficits.…”

Motivation to learn, mobile learning and online learning climate: moderating role of learner interaction

“…The study establishes LI as a significant facilitator of quality OLC. We also suggest that improved social skills can help instructors develop high quality LI (Johnson et al , 2021). Given the high and increasing importance of online learning, the findings of the study are highly significant for not only developing appropriate learning and development programs for corporates but also for formulating governmental policy.…”