Deakin University is working to build a strong culture of safety, mutual respect and inclusion, ensuring all community members can study and work in a safe and supported environment. The iBelong program formalises principles (belonging, safety, respect and inclusion) that set standards for students and staff at Deakin.
'A Day in the Life' is a 360-degree immersive learning experience that explores themes of discrimination, sexual harassment, barriers to inclusion, or victimisation by placing the viewer in real-world-inspired scenarios. Viewers experience the scenarios at a 1:1 human scale which assists staff and students to better recognise and respond to similar real-life situations.
Deakin University aims to evaluate the intervention's effectiveness and feasibility. Deakin wants to determine if participation in an immersive experience, such as 'A Day in the Life', leads to sustained change in staff and students' behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. Additionally, Deakin's evaluating the potential to offer the experience at scale. This study will prompt thinking into future practices that contribute to actively building a culture of belonging at Deakin.
Collaborative Development Fund 2022-23
Three projects are announced for the 2022-23 Collaborative Development Fund (CDF) for addressing key sector challenges together.
The iBelong Program
The iBelong program at Deakin University aims to build a strong culture of belonging, safety, respect and inclusion. The program includes innovative and evidence-informed interventions to engage staff and students in culture change activities. 'A Day in the Life', an immersive learning experience, brings the principles of iBelong to life: to inform, challenge and encourage staff and students to contribute to an active culture of inclusion at Deakin.
The Nyaal Precinct building on Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus in Geelong, Australia
'A Day in the Life' takes advantage of Deakin's state-of-the-art interactive learning precinct, Nyaal (meaning to 'open your eyes' in the Wadawurrung language). This is a 360-degree theatre that delivers collaborative immersive audio-visual simulations. Nyaal enables the iBelong team to reimagine professional development scenarios usually delivered as text. Nyaal breathes life into a series of scenarios representing real-world examples of discrimination, sexual harassment, barriers to inclusion, and victimisation. The theatre places the viewer in the scene where they witness events as they unfold. The immersive experience acts as a primer for further training.
A Deakin staff member standing and viewing a video in the Nyaal 360-degree theatre
'A Day in the Life' aims to increase awareness and understanding of the various forms of non-inclusive, or discriminatory behaviour members of the Deakin community may experience due to various identity factors. The research seeks to understand if scenarios delivered within an immersive experience provoke human connection and empathy. Does bearing witness to another's experience open more than eyes but also hearts and minds? Does it lead to sustained changes in attitudes, behaviours and beliefs in Deakin's staff and students?
Project Aims
- Analyse the immersive learning experience and its potential to positively affect the research participants' behaviours, attitudes and beliefs.
- Better understand the affordances of this immersive environment in ways that will guide approaches to the future use of the 'A Day in the Life' experience.
- Examine the intentions and expected outcomes that drove the design decisions of the experience designers.
The study examines not just the effectiveness and feasibility of Deakin's 'A Day in the Life' but the power of technology to connect as humans and enact sustained cultural change. As the research progressed, Deakin continuously discovered new potential for facilities such as Nyaal and immersive learning experiences like 'A Day in the Life'.
Project Output- Case Study
The case study looks at the 'A Day in the Life' – an immersive learning experience' (ADITL) project at Deakin, part of its iBelong suite of work to build an inclusive culture, and examines whether the ADITL approach to using immersive technology can be scaled up across the whole institution the help develop its inclusive culture.
You can read more about of research findings in the case study.
