Grant Recipients
Emily McLaughlin, Kinesiology and Health Sciences
(Project timeline: January 2026 - June 2027)
Description
Kinesiology undergraduate students are uniquely positioned to promote health and prevent disease through physical-activity related behaviour change counselling. To achieve clinical competency, students require training and practice in realistic contexts, with meaningful feedback. The proposed project will evaluate the effectiveness of using AI-based virtual standardized patients to support applied skills development for behaviour change counselling in clinical kinesiology. Specifically, the intended outcomes are to: 1) understand student perspectives and usage of artificial intelligence-based learning in academic environments, before and after being introduced to the Patient Pro virtual standardized patient platform. 2) Investigate virtual standardized patients for skills development in effective behaviour change counselling, including evaluating a student’s ability to establish a relationship, assess readiness to change, and understand individual psychosocial determinants of behaviour.
Research Questions
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What perspectives and experiences do Kinesiology students have with respect to AI-based learning tools and simulation-based learning?
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Does implementing an AI-Based Virtual Standardized Patient support skill development for behaviour change counselling in Kinesiology education?