Program Type

Undergraduate

Faculty Advisor

Susan West

Document Type

Presentation

Location

Face-to-face

Start Date

25-4-2023 10:15 AM

Abstract

This project will enable faculty in the Parks, Recreation and Hospitality Administration program at Arkansas Tech University to implement virtual reality training into the existing curriculum to ensure students are better prepared for the mental demands of the field. Through creating hospitality and tourism virtual reality scenarios, this will aid in the hands on teaching for our students to better understand the complexities within the industry that a typical classroom cannot provide. For example, Hilton recently partnered with a company called Sweet Rush to create a virtual hotel experience for team members. The project was a success, reporting 87% of team members changing their behavior through VR training. In addition,” the empathy-focused learning experience gives hotel employees an opportunity to see what it feels like when interactions are managed poorly or handled correctly by members of staff.” Since Covid, the hospitality and tourism industry has been impacted by negative experiences and students will learn new soft skills through VR simulation. This study seeks to monitor core body temperature, heart rate and stress levels. All are key indicators of the student’s physiological condition when they’re working in a possible confrontation interaction with a guest. Pre and Post surveys will be administered to evaluate if the VR simulations aid in reducing stress levels. The department can also utilize the VR simulations to recruit students at job and career fairs throughout the state, this would increase our enrollment, thus increasing the tourism industry workforce.

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Apr 25th, 10:15 AM

Utilizing VR Scenarios to Aid Student Empathy in Challenging Interactions

Face-to-face

This project will enable faculty in the Parks, Recreation and Hospitality Administration program at Arkansas Tech University to implement virtual reality training into the existing curriculum to ensure students are better prepared for the mental demands of the field. Through creating hospitality and tourism virtual reality scenarios, this will aid in the hands on teaching for our students to better understand the complexities within the industry that a typical classroom cannot provide. For example, Hilton recently partnered with a company called Sweet Rush to create a virtual hotel experience for team members. The project was a success, reporting 87% of team members changing their behavior through VR training. In addition,” the empathy-focused learning experience gives hotel employees an opportunity to see what it feels like when interactions are managed poorly or handled correctly by members of staff.” Since Covid, the hospitality and tourism industry has been impacted by negative experiences and students will learn new soft skills through VR simulation. This study seeks to monitor core body temperature, heart rate and stress levels. All are key indicators of the student’s physiological condition when they’re working in a possible confrontation interaction with a guest. Pre and Post surveys will be administered to evaluate if the VR simulations aid in reducing stress levels. The department can also utilize the VR simulations to recruit students at job and career fairs throughout the state, this would increase our enrollment, thus increasing the tourism industry workforce.