Problem-Based Learning via Immersive Simulations: Effectiveness and Repository of Sample Modules

Traditional teaching methods often place learners in a decontextualized space due to students' lack of access to real-world facilities to gain hands-on experiential learning. This paper discusses integrating problem-based learning with immersive simulated environments, where the simulation serves as the context by mimicking a real-world system. This allows students to perform virtual site visits of the simulated system instead of visiting and collecting data from a real facility. Supporting pedagogical theories for the proposed immersive simulation-based learning (ISBL) approach are discussed. A free online repository of ISBL modules is shared and a sample module is presented. The paper also provides a review of educational research studies on the effectiveness of ISBL in terms of students' learning outcomes. The paper is intended for simulation educators who are interested in adopting immersive simulation-based learning in their teaching by reusing/re-purposing the models developed as part of their simulation projects for educational purposes.