Towards a Reflective Practicum of Embodied Conversational Agent Experiences

A reflective practicum is a low-pressure, low-risk learning environment. In a reflective practicum a learner is educated in a professional practice and how to use reflection in the setting of that professional practice. An example of a low-pressure and low-risk learning environment is the use of embodied conversational agents (ECAs) in medicine to provide training for interviewing and diagnostic skills. However, such ECA experiences have not been used to teach how to use reflection in the setting of a professional practice. In this paper we present a framework that supports explicit reflective learning for ECA experiences. Using this framework, ECA experiences become a reflective practicum. This framework was applied to an ECA experience called the Neurological Examination Rehearsal Virtual Environment (NERVE), and created a sample experience called the NERVE Reflective Practicum (NERVE-RP). We conducted a user study in which second-year medical students (n = 76) used NERVE-RP and engaged in reflection based on the experience. The results of the user study show that students engage in valuable reflections during the experience including instances of critical reflection.