Case Study: Student experiences of interacting with simulator dolls to assist understanding of the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on prenatal development

Students starting on their higher education journeys at universities globally face the issue of becoming part of a new social scene which may involve drugs, alcohol and new sexual experiences, a growing issue also faced by older secondary school aged pupils. This project's main objective was to use creative pedagogy to engage Level 4 Psychology students and Sixth-form Academy students to learn about the impact of risk-taking behaviours on foetal development. The students engaged with an interactive Drug Affected Simulator doll and a non-interactive Foetal Alcohol Simulator doll and were tasked to think creatively about how they could be used to educate others. It was predicted that through this hands-on learning with the virtual-baby dolls and higher-order creative thinking, students would develop their metacognitive understanding of the negative impact of drugs and alcohol on pre-natal development.