An evaluation of the efficacy of training people with learning disabilities in a virtual environment.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the efficacy of using a virtual kitchen for vocational training of people with learning disabilities.

METHOD

Twenty four catering students with learning disabilities participated in the study. Half the students were currently being trained in the kitchen on which the virtual kitchen was modelled but the remaining students were unfamiliar with this kitchen. Students were first pre-tested on four food preparation tasks and identification of 12 hazards in their own training kitchens. They were subsequently trained on one food preparation task and three hazards in their own training kitchens, one food preparation task and three hazards in the virtual kitchen, and one food preparation task and three hazards in specially designed workbooks. They were then retested in their own training kitchens on all the food preparation tasks and all the hazards.

RESULTS

Virtual training was found to be as beneficial as real training and more beneficial than workbook and no training in the food preparation tasks. However, virtual, real and workbook training were found to be equally beneficial in the hazard identification task. Students who were unfamiliar with the kitchen on which the virtual kitchen was modelled benefited from virtual training to the same extent as students who were familiar with the kitchen.

CONCLUSIONS

Vocational students with learning disabilities were able to use the virtual environment and were motivated to learn using this training method. Depending on the task being trained, virtual training had a more beneficial effect on real task performance than workbook training, even when the virtual kitchen was not modelled on the real training kitchen.