You’re virtually a psychologist: enhancing professional psychology education through virtual client simulations

Objective
Virtual clients offer a promising tool for psychology education and training, enabling students to practice and refine their skills in realistic, diverse, and controlled environments. This study investigated the experiences of post-graduate psychology students engaging with virtual clients and assessed their perceptions of learning and usability when engaging the simulations.

Method
Fifteen post-graduate psychology students interacted with one of two virtual client scenarios. One scenario involved providing feedback to a client about psychological test results, while the other focused on conducting a job analysis for a client organisation. After the interaction, students completed the Learning Object Evaluation Scale for Students (LOES-S), and the System Usability Scale (SUS).

Results
The results indicated a strong perceived educational value of virtual clients, with most participants reporting enhanced learning experiences. Furthermore, participants found the simulations to be well-organised and easy to use, highlighting their potential to complement traditional training methods, particularly in applied domains such as Organisational Psychology.

Conclusion
These findings support the integration of virtual clients into psychology curricula, offering valuable insights into their effectiveness in preparing future psychologists for real-world practice.