Enhancing Tertiary Healthcare Education through 3D MUVE-Based Simulations - Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments - page 363

form groups, clans or guilds to engage role-play
with one another. Examples of popular and well-
known MMORPGs are World of Warcraft, Run-
escape, Ultima Online, and Guild Wars. See also
massively-multiplayer online game (MMOG).
Problem-Based Learning (PBL): A form of
authentic inquiry-based, experiential learning in
which students learn by working collaboratively
in groups to solve problems, and reflecting on
their experiences. The problems are typically
challenging and open-ended, mirroring the nature
and complexity of problems in the real world in
that they are often ill-structured and do not result
in neat, convergent outcomes. See also authentic
learning, experiential learning, inquiry-based
learning.
Second Life (SL): A popular 3D virtual world
platform developed by Linden Labs in which
users, called “Residents,” can customize avatars
that they use to perform a range of in-world
activities. SL Residents can explore, meet other
residents, socialize and interact with one another
using voice and text-based chat/messaging tools,
participate in individual and group activities, and
create and trade virtual goods and services with
one another. Other key features of SL include its
economy, which incorporates an internal currency,
the Linden dollar (L$), as well as the ability to
purchase or rent land on which to erect buildings.
See also virtual world.
Simulation: Simulation involves the imitation
of real objects, locations, events, and/or processes.
It generally entails modeling or representing cer-
tain selected, key characteristics or behaviors of
particular physical or abstract systems. Computer-
based and computer-assisted simulations are now
used in many contexts, including but not limited
to the modeling of natural and human systems
with the aim of gaining insight into their func-
tioning; other applications include simulation of
technology for performance optimization, safety
engineering, and testing, as well as to support
managerial decision-making. In education and
training, simulation can be used to deliver au-

thentic, experiential, and problem-based learning
experiences that may be difficult, impractical, or
impossible to achieve in the real world. “What-
if” simulation can also be used to demonstrate
the eventual real effects of alternative conditions
and courses of action to facilitate inquiry-based
learning and enhance conceptual understanding.
See also 3D MUVE-based simulation, authentic
learning, experiential learning, inquiry-based
learning, problem-based learning.
Transfer of Learning: A term used to de-
scribe the application of skills, knowledge, and/
or attitudes learned in one situation or context to
another situation or context that shares similar
characteristics. For example, learning transfer may
occur between two cognitively similar learning
scenarios, or from a formal learning environment
into a workplace or job situation. With respect
to simulated learning in virtual environments,
the term may be used to refer to the transfer of
knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes learned in the
virtual environment to the corresponding real
environment. See also cognitive flexibility.
Virtual Reality (VR): A term used to refer to
a technology or set of technologies that allows
users to experience and interact with computer-
simulated places and/or objects. The simulated
environment and artifacts can be similar to or
mimic the real world, for example, as in flight and
combat simulators, or they can differ significantly
from reality, as is the case with many VR games
that construct imaginary or fantasy worlds. Tra-
ditionally, VR environments have been primarily
visual experiences, but modern applications now
include additional sensory information, such as
sound and tactile or force feedback information.
The development of sophisticated head mounted
displays (HMDs), wired gloves, and miniatur-
ization, as well as the proliferation of a range
of popular science fiction literature and motion
pictures, have fuelled the tendency to associate
VR with immersive, highly visual, 3D environ-
ments. However, VR may include a wide variety
of applications, encompassing applications such