Immersive Artificial Intelligence-Driven Virtual Reality for Research Ethics Education: Evaluating Student Engagement and Collaboration

Résumé fourni par la source

Introduction: Research ethics education is often delivered through lectures, policy documents, and administrative guidance, leading many students to perceive ethics as abstract and compliance-oriented. Emerging immersive technologies offer opportunities to create more experiential, dialogic, and collaborative approaches to ethics learning. Developed through interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers specialising in artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), healthcare studies, animal studies, and research ethics, the REACH-ETHICS project introduced an immersive research ethics learning environment within vocational higher education. Aim: This study explored how undergraduate nursing students experienced an AI-driven VR research ethics training environment integrated with a collaborative visualisation wall. Method: A qualitative exploratory design was adopted. Fourteen Bachelor of Science in Nursing students participated in a workshop involving interaction with AI-driven VR avatars within a collaborative classroom setting. A semi-structured focus group was conducted following the workshop, and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Four themes emerged: (1) enhanced engagement through gamification and learning support; (2) collaborative expansion of ethical reasoning; (3) increased confidence in ethical decision-making; and (4) usability and technical optimisation. Students described the immersive environment as engaging and interactive. The collaborative visualisation wall enabled collective reflection and peer-supported ethical reasoning, while conversational AI supported learning and clarification of ethical concerns. Conclusion: The findings suggest that immersive AI-driven VR combined with collaborative classroom infrastructure can transform research ethics education from a compliance-focused activity into a participatory and reflective learning process. The study highlights the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in developing innovative vocational education ecosystems that support transformative learning experiences.

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