Effects of High-Fidelity Virtual Training Simulators on Learners' Self-Efficacy

Theoretical Foundation

Many empirical studies regarding simulations have labeled their simulations as “high- fidelity” (e.g. Carron et al., 2011; Dobranich & Blanchat, 2008; Havighurst, L. E. Fields, & C. L. Fields, 2010; Mahvash & Hayward, 2004; Perumalla & Sundaragopalan, 2004). Fidelity is subjective. In its subjectivity, the concept of fidelity becomes increasingly complex (see Perumalla & Sundaragopalan, 2004). Gray (2002) suggested that something with a high fidelity is “intended as a substitute for the real thing” (p. 206). Bowman and McMahan (2007) described high-fidelity simulations as having the ability “to produce a realistic experience for the user that effectively places the user in the simulated environment” (p. 37). Carron, Trueb, and Yerson (2011) explored various research studies in order to describe high fidelity as “an interactive and extremely realistic environment” (p. 149) in which training across multiple domains can take place. Carron et al. elaborated by explaining that high-fidelity simulations can encompass individuals as well as teams of people under “virtual conditions as close to a real situation as possible” (p. 149).