A Simulated Placement: Using a Mixed-Reality Learning Environment for Social Work Field Education

COVID-19 presented fresh challenges for social work field education, requiring agile and innovative solutions. To address the scarcity of direct client-facing placements during the extended and unpredictable public health restrictions, Australian Catholic University (ACU) created the Simulated Placement Experience (SPE) for final-year students. The program immersed students into nine practice scenarios over a two-week (70-hour) intensive placement. Real-time feedback and reflective coaching sessions with a social work supervisor offered students enhanced learning and development opportunities applicable to multiple service settings and client presentations. The program was well received by participating final-year students, who highlighted that the experience enhanced their ability to perform and critically reflect on their direct practice skills. This article outlines the model and the initial evaluation of the pilot program using a Student Satisfaction of Simulation Survey tool. The findings of this evaluation reveal the potential for simulation to provide novel, valuable learning experiences to social work students for practice placements.IMPLICATIONSCOVID-19 restrictions presented an opportunity for social work field education programs to rethink the structure and nature of placement learning.Simulation-based learning provides social work students with enhanced learning and increased confidence as part of direct practice placements.There is scope to include supported simulation-based learning to enhance future social work field education programs; however, discipline-specific simulation standards and conceptual frameworks are needed.