Impacts of Immersive Virtual Reality (iHealthEd-IVR) and a Mobile Online Game (V-Care) on Interprofessional Education

Primary outcomes

1. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI)

   Time frame: From baseline to the end of the intervention period at 2 weeks

   The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) is a multidimensional measure used to assess participants' subjective experience related to a target activity in laboratory experiments. The IMI evaluates several subscales, including interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, effort, value/usefulness, pressure/tension, perceived choice, and relatedness. The interest/enjoyment subscale is considered the self-report measure of intrinsic motivation, while perceived choice and perceived competence are theorized to be positive predictors, and pressure/tension a negative predictor, of intrinsic motivation. The IMI consisted of 18 items scored on a Likert scale from 1 (not at all true) to 7 (very true). The overall IMI scale had strong internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of .85.

2. Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS)

   Time frame: From baseline to the end of the intervention period at 2 weeks

   The Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) was used to measure the "readiness" of healthcare students for shared IP learning. The RIPLS comprised a 19-item, 3-factor scale assessing students' perceptions of: 1) teamwork and collaboration, 2) professional identity, and 3) professional roles and responsibilities. The RIPLS uses a 5-point Likert scale for responses, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Overall, higher total and subscale scores on the RIPLS would demonstrate greater "readiness" and more positive perceptions towards the value of IPE and collaborative practice among healthcare students. The overall RIPLS scale demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability (α = 0.90).

3. Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS)

   Time frame: From baseline to the end of the intervention period at 2 weeks

   The Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS) is an 8-item scale designed to measure the dimensions of sense of community as defined by the McMillan and Chavis model. The BSCS includes items representing the four dimensions of needs fulfillment, group membership, influence, and emotional connection. Participants responded to the BSCS items using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A higher score on the BSCS indicates a stronger sense of community. The BSCS demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach's alpha of .92.

4. Multiple choice questions (MCQs)

   Time frame: From baseline to the end of the intervention period at 2 weeks

   Multiple choice questions (MCQs) were developed as a measure of student learning outcome on the knowledge of IPE. The questions and answers were collaboratively developed by academics from nursing and rehabilitation sciences.

5. Face-to-face semi-structured focus group interviews

   Time frame: After the completion of all the IPE learning activities or the two modalities at 5 weeks

   To ensure representativeness and comprehensiveness of the qualitative data, participants will be recruited using stratified purposive sampling based on characteristics relevant to their learning experiences, such as field and year of study. The focus group will begin with a guiding question: "What was your IPE learning experience?" Participants will then discuss how the experience impacted their studies, elements they liked or disliked, and skills, knowledge, and benefits gained. Four face-to-face focus groups typically suffice to reach data saturation, and each session lasted approximately 60 minutes on average