Debriefing in Virtual Reality Simulations for the Development of Counseling Competences: Human-Led or AI-Guided?

Simulation-based learning has established itself as a powerful instructional method in higher education, especially in domains that require complex interpersonal competencies such as counseling. Debriefing plays a pivotal role in transforming simulation experiences into meaningful learning by fostering critical reflection and integration of knowledge. While expert-facilitated debriefings are considered the gold standard, recent advancements in generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) have made chatbot-guided self-debriefings a scalable alternative. This study examines the effectiveness of moderated versus chatbot-supported debriefing formats following a Virtual Reality (VR)-based counseling simulation. A total of 45 undergraduate students in educational science participated in a controlled experiment. All participants engaged in a VR counseling scenario and were subsequently assigned to either a human-moderated or a chatbot-guided debriefing condition. The study investigated changes in counseling competence, self-efficacy, and learner perceptions across the two debriefing formats. Both self-efficacy and counseling competence increased significantly over time. The largest gains, particularly in counseling competence, were recorded after the debriefing, even though these gains were independent of the specific debriefing method employed. These findings underscore the importance of debriefing in educational contexts and indicate that a chatbot-based format could serve as a feasible alternative to traditional, moderator-led debriefings.