3D Virtual Environments and Interdisciplinary Student Teams
Updated Apr 12, 2026
Interdisciplinary teamwork is no longer a nice-to-have graduate attribute. In healthcare especially, students need to learn how to communicate across roles before they are asked to do it in high-stakes situations with real patients.
Product engineers, for example, rarely work alone. Their work is shaped by project managers, logistics planners, finance teams, and marketers. The same principle is even more visible in healthcare, where physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and support staff must coordinate closely to deliver safe care. Students therefore need practice not only in their own discipline, but in understanding how other roles think, communicate, and contribute. That challenge overlaps with wider questions about collaborative learning and how it should be assessed.
That need has driven growing interest in three-dimensional virtual environments (3D VEs) and other forms of simulation-based learning in higher education. A well-designed 3D VE can recreate realistic scenarios, support collaboration in real time, and give students a stronger sense of presence than a standard online activity. Avatars can also help students work with peers from other institutions, disciplines, and cultures, which is a practical benefit in professions where collaboration rarely stops at one team or one site.
A recent study by Liaw et al. (2019) explored the design and use of a 3D VE to support collaborative learning between healthcare students. According to the authors, this was the first study of its kind. Using Unity 5 virtual environment software (Unity Technologies, San Francisco, CA), the team built a virtual hospital in which 29 participants took on the roles of healthcare staff, patient, and facilitator from a university computer laboratory. The three-day simulation focused on a patient recovering after surgery. Participants could move around the virtual space, communicate verbally through headsets, and use simple non-verbal gestures such as waves and thumbs-up. That made it possible to rehearse caregiving and discharge decisions in a setting that felt closer to practice than a classroom discussion.
The findings were broadly positive. Almost 97% of participants reported that the 3D VE helped them develop a well-performing team with other students, and nearly the same proportion said it supported good working relationships. More than two thirds said they would like to use the system frequently for practice, while almost 97% reported feeling comfortable in the environment. Some participants also found that the relative anonymity of an avatar reduced stress and helped them think more clearly about the task. Hammick and Lee (2014) report a similar benefit, suggesting virtual environments can reduce social anxiety in some learners.
The study also highlights why implementation matters. Some participants found navigation and virtual tasks cognitively demanding, which risked distracting them from the main learning objective. Other technical issues were also reported, with almost half of participants noting inconsistencies in the system and problems with communication. Van der Land et al. (2013) describe a similar issue, showing that poorly designed virtual environments can increase cognitive load instead of supporting learning.
Even with those challenges, the authors concluded that 3D VEs are a useful way to prepare students for interdisciplinary healthcare teamwork. The wider takeaway is that this approach should not be limited to healthcare. Any discipline that depends on time-sensitive decisions, shared responsibility, and cross-functional communication could benefit, including engineering, construction, politics, social services, and teacher training.
As virtual and augmented reality become more accessible, the case for bringing them into teaching becomes stronger. Used well, they can give students lower-risk, higher-confidence practice in the kind of collaboration they will need later in professional life. The lesson for educators is clear: immersive tools are most valuable when they improve teamwork, reduce anxiety, and mirror the realities of practice.
FAQ
Q: How does the integration of student voice in the design and use of 3D virtual environments (VEs) impact the effectiveness of collaborative learning in healthcare education?
A: Bringing student voice into curriculum design helps make 3D virtual environments more useful because it shows educators where the experience supports learning and where it creates friction. When students can describe what felt realistic, confusing, or cognitively demanding, teaching teams can adjust task complexity, communication methods, and scenario design. That leads to simulations that feel more relevant, easier to navigate, and better aligned with real collaborative practice.
Q: What role does text analysis play in evaluating the communication patterns and team dynamics within 3D virtual environments used for interdisciplinary healthcare team training?
A: Text analysis tools for education can show how teams actually communicate inside a virtual environment, not just how participants say they felt afterwards. By analysing written feedback or communication transcripts, educators can identify patterns in collaboration, decision-making, and communication breakdowns. That evidence can then be used to refine scenarios, improve facilitation, and strengthen the teamwork skills the simulation is meant to develop.
Q: How can future research incorporate student voice and text analysis to improve the design and educational outcomes of 3D virtual environments in disciplines beyond healthcare?
A: Future research can combine direct student feedback with text analysis to improve both design and teaching outcomes. Student voice can highlight what makes a simulation feel authentic, supportive, and worth the effort, while text analysis can reveal how collaboration changes across scenarios, disciplines, or cohorts. Together, those methods can help universities build virtual environments that are not only technically impressive, but also genuinely effective for teamwork, confidence, and applied learning.
References:
Hammick J.K., Lee M.J., 2014. Do shy people feel less communication apprehension online? The effects of virtual reality on the relationship between personality characteristics and communication outcomes. Comput. Hum. Behav. 33, 302–310.
DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.046
Liaw S. Y., Soh S.L., Tan K.K., Wu LT, Yap J et al., 2019. Design and evaluation of a 3D virtual environment for collaborative learning in interprofessional team care delivery. Nurse Educ. Today 81, 64-71.
DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2019.06.012
Van der Land S., Schouten A.P., Feldberg F., Van den Hooff B., Huysman M., 2013. Lost in space? Cognitive fit and cognitive load in 3D virtual environments. Comput. Hum. Behav. 29 (3), 1054–1064.
DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.09.006
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