Diagnosis Zombie project wins top e-Learning Excellence Award

The University's School of Health and Life Sciences' Diagnosis Zombie; An Interactive Lesson on Brain and Behaviour project has won an e-Learning Excellence Award at the 22nd European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL) in South Africa.

Dr Jane Guiller, Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Learning and Teaching Advisor in the Department of Psychology, is in Pretoria representing the team of staff and students behind the project including Dr Alex Oliver, Ken Rice, and Applied Psychology students Jordyn McNally and Emma Gibson.

Professor Kerri McPherson, Associate Dean Learning, Teaching and Quality in the School of Health and Life Sciences, is absolutely delighted that the team have scooped this prestigious award.

Professor McPherson said: "This is fantastic news for Jane, Alex, Ken and their student collaborators Emma and Jordyn, and for Glasgow Caledonian University."

Diagnosis Zombie: A Lesson in Brain and Behaviour is part of the Co-Creating Immersive Learning Experiences project, which explores the effectiveness of using virtual reality to teach psychology versus more traditional methods such as text books or video. It was awarded pilot funding by the University's Strategy for Learning Innovation Fund 2030.

Dr Guiller explained: "The department is a pioneer in using virtual reality to teach psychology.

"The project presents a zombie in a particular type of behaviour and the students relate that to the structure and function of the brain. It uses 3D brain models that improve our existing work, so instead of using the 2D textbook images, we built 3D models and animations."

Professor McPherson said: "It's great to see this excellent work in learning and teaching being recognised beyond the institution. The Diagnosis Zombie project is such a good example of how staff and students working together in creative and innovative ways. I hope this is just the first of many projects to be developed in the department's newly refurbished Virtual Reality Lab."