Training in crisis communication and volcanic eruption forecasting: design and evaluation of an authentic role-play simulation

Abstract

We present an interactive, immersive, authentic role-play simulation designed to teach tertiary geoscience students in New Zealand to forecast and mitigate a volcanic crisis. Half of the participating group (i.e., the Geoscience Team) focuses on interpreting real volcano monitoring data (e.g., seismographs, gas output etc.) while the other half of the group (i.e., the Emergency Management Team) forecasts and manages likely impacts, and communicates emergency response decisions and advice to local communities. These authentic learning experiences were aimed at enhancing upper-year undergraduate students' transferable and geologic reasoning skills. An important goal of the simulation was specifically to improve students' science communication through interdisciplinary team discussions, jointly prepared, and delivered media releases, and real-time, high-pressure, press conferences. By playing roles, students experienced the specific responsibilities of a professional within authentic organisational structures. A qualitative, design-based educational research study was carried out to assess the overall student experience and self-reported learning of skills. A pilot and four subsequent iterations were investigated. Results from this study indicate that students found these role-plays to be a highly challenging and engaging learning experience and reported improved skills. Data from classroom observations and interviews indicate that the students valued the authenticity and challenging nature of the role-play although personal experiences and team dynamics (within, and between the teams) varied depending on the students' background, preparedness, and personality. During early iterations, observation and interviews from students and instructors indicate that some of the goals of the simulation were not fully achieved due to: A) lack of preparedness, B) insufficient time to respond appropriately, C) appropriateness of roles and team structure, and D) poor communication skills. Small modifications to the design of Iterations 3 and 4 showed an overall improvement in the students' skills and goals being reached. A communication skills instrument (SPCC) was used to measure self-reported pre-and post-communication competence in the last two iterations. Results showed that this instrument recorded positive shifts in all categories of self-perceived abilities, the largest shifts seen in students who participated in press conferences. Future research will be aimed at adapting this curricula to new volcanic and earthquake scenarios.

Using Role-Play to Improve Students’ Confidence and Perceptions of Communication in a Simulated Volcanic Crisis

“…Classroom observations and interviews indicated that the students valued the authenticity and challenging nature of the role-play although personal experiences and team dynamics (within, and between the teams) varied depending on the students' background, preparedness, and personality . For a more detailed discussion on the design and development of the Volcanic Hazards Simulation role-play we refer the reader to Dohaney (2013) and Dohaney et al (2015) and for instructors who are interested in running the role-play in their course, an instructor manual is freely available for educational use online. 4 3 The role-play discussed here does not include the risk communication practices that occur over longer time frames or in ongoing volcanic events.…”

“…The learning goals for our activity were limited to volcanic forecasting, decision-making, and managing community concerns throughout a crisis. For a further explanation of our learning goals and motivations for building this scenario, please see Dohaney et al (2015).…”

“…The students within the Geoscience team interpret the streamed datasets (e.g., ground deformation, gas, seismicity; see Dohaney et al (2015) for more details) and communicate science advice to the emergency management team and to the 'public'. The Emergency Management team is responsible for managing the impacts that the volcanic eruption poses to communities and infrastructure.…”

Using Statistics to Quantify and Communicate Uncertainty During Volcanic Crises

“…There are numerous studies that demonstrate the importance of public education, pre-crisis education programmes, and risk perception to better understand scientific communication during crisis (e.g. Bird et al 2009;Budescu et al 2012;Dohaney et al 2015). Most of them agree that better educated populations on natural hazards understand better risk communication and behave in a more orderly way for managing a crisis.…”

The Communication and Risk Management of Volcanic Ballistic Hazards

“…Science needs to be communicated to decision-makers, stakeholders, and the public and understood and absorbed by them so they can make informed decisions. Effective risk management is built on communication, hazard education and engagement with the at-risk communities (Johnston et al 1999(Johnston et al , 2000Paton et al 2001;Twigg 2002;Gregg et al 2004;Leonard et al 2008;Dohaney et al 2015). Appropriate risk management actions by stakeholders, emergency managers and the public require an adequate perception of the risk and the correct actions to take in a crisis, with perception dependent on the hazard information received and exposure to impacts (Johnston et al 1999;Leonard et al 2014).…”