Applying the Virtual Drama-Based Pedagogy (DBP) Approach in Collegiate Psychology Education

Abstract

Despite prevalent applications of DBP in Education, there was merely scanty published evidence corroborating its efficacy in a tertiary educational context, particularly in Psychology Learning and Teaching (L&T). During the COVID-19 stricken years, three small-scale DBP projects related to classroom management, learning motivation, and mental health education, were implemented virtually amidst the delivery of the Psychology curriculum at a Hong Kong university. A mixed-methods evaluation framework was employed to analyze participants’ (N= 100) feedback in all five DBP training sessions conducted. Our quantitative findings underscored the potency of virtual DBP in elevating students’ creativity, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills—all of which are aligned with the Generic Intended Learning Outcomes (GILOs) of the said university. The qualitative findings, meanwhile, highlight the essence of student participants’ perception of what made DBP stand out as a viable and interactive paradigm in Psychology L&T and university teaching throughout. Four recurrent themes were unearthed regarding how the DBP approach was deemed conducive to students’ accomplishment of the abovementioned GILOs, namely, Multiple perspectives, Authenticity, Interactivity, and Teamwork (i.e., the “MAIT” principle). Discussions pertaining to the above major findings and the interesting discourse regarding the sustainability of the present DBP initiative are also featured in the present work.