Chapter 5 96 In practice, police instructors can use the VR AAR tool to share training experiences on an external screen where instructors and trainees can review the training performance. The VR AAR offers the opportunity to replay the recorded training scenarios from various perspectives, for instance, from the birds’ eye view, from the view of the suspect, officer, or a bystander. During the review, the instructor and trainees can jump to specific incidents of the scenario and replay the scene using a variety of feedback features. Instructors can select to show the line of fire of the weapon, the viewing field of the trainees and various avatars, and the snake lines of the walking routes that trainees took during the VR scenario. In addition, the AAR may provide key performance indicators (e.g., shots fired, shots missed, target hits, number of bystanders flagged) that provide objective information on the training performance. Having a large range of options, police instructors can deliver visually supported and objective feedback using the AAR of the VR system and combine it with their personal expertise and the self-assessment of trainees. Providing feedback effectively enhances learning (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Following the ecological dynamics framework, learning refers to the emergence of an adaptive, functional relationship between a trainee and their environment (Araújo & Davids, 2011). In the context of police work, learning ensues that police officers can transfer knowledge and skills acquired in training to novel operational situations (Di Nota & Huhta, 2019). Learning is therefore ideally assessed as performance of the taught knowledge and skills in a relevant on-duty context (Staller & Koerner, 2022). Whilst the present study design did not allow for the assessment of learning outcomes in on-duty situations, this study examined the police officers’ learning efficacy. Learning efficacy refers to the trainees’ level of confidence in the application of their acquired knowledge and skills in real-life situations (Srivastava et al., 2019). Learning efficacy has been shown to enhance engagement and motivation (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2003), and appears to be correlated with higher levels of performance (Klobas et al., 2007; Schunk, 1996). We assessed learning efficacy with a self-designed questionnaire aimed to capture the officers’ efficacy of applying the skills practiced during the virtual training to relevant on-duty situations. In the current study, we investigate whether features of the VR AAR enhance the learning efficacy in police officers. In particular, we examined a) whether review perspectives ([i] combination of bird’s eye view and suspect perspective, [ii] combination of bird’s eye view and officer perspective, [iii] bird’s eye view) influence learning efficacy and b) whether using the line of fire of the weapon during the AAR influences learning efficacy. • Our first hypothesis states that reviewing the VR training scenario from the suspect perspective elicits the highest learning efficacy in police officers.
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