immersive technologies

Playing it out: A new way to teach health economics

Heather Carroll — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:49:22 +0000

Playing it out: A new way to teach health economics Heather Carroll Wed, 10/07/2026 - 13:49

In Phillip Zane’s 911�� classroom, students weigh an invitation to jump out of an airplane. The skydiving lesson and jump are free, and the exercise assumes there is zero risk of death. But an injury could mean $10,000 in medical expenses and $1,000 in lost wages.

Some have health insurance. Others don’t. Everyone has to decide whether to take the leap.

Phillip Zane presenting to students during class
Photo by Heather Carroll/College of Public Health

The imaginary jump brings a question of health economics within reach: how insurance can change the risks people are willing to take, and what happens when those choices add up across a health care system.

Zane, an associate professor in the Department of Health Administration, Policy, and Informatics, has built his Health Economics and Policy course around such experiments, pulling students into questions that can seem abstract or remote on a textbook page.

He and his colleagues, including associate professor Debora Goetz Goldberg, describe the approach in a new paper, “More Than a Game,” published in a special issue of The Journal of Health Administration Education focused on gamification.

Course evaluations from 129 students between 2022 and 2025 suggest the approach resonated: About 89 percent found the class environment engaging, and 85 percent said the teaching methods enhanced their learning.

In written feedback, students said the games clarified challenging concepts and exposed them to classmates’ different approaches.

Invitation to play

Students participating in Zane's class
Photo by Mary Cunningham

The idea took hold during a summer of online teaching in 2022, when most students kept their cameras off. Zane wanted a way to keep them engaged. “It’s a topic that I love, but they didn’t seem to get it,” he said.

Many of his health administration students came to the course with little background or interest in economics. Game theory—which examines how people make decisions when their outcomes depend on others’ choices—offered a way in. A former antitrust lawyer, Zane had used its principles in the past to help clients decide whether to settle lawsuits. Now he thought it might help students understand the economic forces underpinning health care.

Zane started with the “ultimatum game,” a well-established experiment in which one party offers to divide a financial windfall with another. In his version, Kit Kats stand in for cash. One student makes a proposal to their classmate, who can accept it or turn it down, with a rejection leaving both empty-handed. As it turns out, some students would rather get nothing than accept an unfair share—prompting a discussion about why fairness can outweigh personal gain.

From there, Zane began adding more exercises, some adapted from existing game-theory models and others of his own design, and adjusting according to student feedback.

Students listening to Zane during class. Photo by Mary Cunningham/College of Public Health

In his original orange juice game, students are assigned to groups with different levels of competition, from a single seller with a monopoly to a crowded market with many sellers. Zane tells each group he will pay up to $5 for a bottle of juice. The monopolist can hold near that ceiling, while competing sellers must undercut each other. In the most crowded market, the price can fall close to zero, showing students how competition drives down prices.

The games are only part of the lesson. After playing, students explain their choices and compare their reasoning with others in the class. Reading those reflections helped Zane see whether the economic lessons were landing.

“It became pretty clear that most of the students were getting it,” he said.

In addition to Zane and Golberg, additional co-authors to the paper were doctoral students Shaan Muberra Khan and Sravya Vunnam of the Department of Health Administration, Policy, and Informatics.

The Journal of Health Administration Education special issue also features HAPI professor John Cantiello and associate professor Renee Geschke’s research on case-based learning.

Key Takeaways

911�� associate professor Phillip Zane uses games and simulations to teach health economics.
A new journal article by Zane describes the teaching approach as part of a special issue on gamification.
In evaluations, most students found the learning environment engaging and said the teaching methods helped them learn.

In This Story

Phillip Zane, JD

Debora Goetz Goldberg, PhD, MHA, MBA

Topics

Simulation

Active Learning

immersive technologies

innovative classes

Students

I-Corps in 3D: Streaming toward better telehealth

Nathan Kahl — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 14:19:57 +0000

I-Corps in 3D: Streaming toward better telehealth Nathan Kahl Thu, 07/17/2025 - 10:19

In This Story

Bo Han

A team in 911��’s Computer Science Department is taking part in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) I-Corps program to study the effectiveness of 3D streaming in telehealth environments.

Bo Han, an associate professor of computer science and expert in computer networks and security and privacy, received $50,000 for his project, Translation Potential of Next Generation Telepresence Enriched by Immersive Technologies. Nan Wu, the entrepreneurial lead on the team, said, “The idea is to build a system for immersive telepresence over the internet. It’s essentially a 3D video stream but the technical improvement is how it saves bandwidth by using user-motion prediction and content sampling, improving the quality of the experience.”

3D telehealth services may help remote patients in urgent need of care. iStock photo.

Wu explained that the technical adjustment is made based on the receiver’s movements. “Since I’m looking at the front side of you, the streaming only needs to send me the front side, not the back. I don’t need to see all around you, even though it’s 3D. Moreover, when you’re farther away, a lower-resolution stream is enough since I won’t notice the difference. And if you’re hidden behind other content, there’s no need in sending what I can’t see.”

I-Corps is, according to the NSF website, “an immersive, entrepreneurial training program that facilitates the transformation of invention to impact. This seven-week experiential training program prepares scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the university laboratory—accelerating the economic and societal benefits of NSF-funded and other basic research projects that are ready to move toward commercialization.”

Since the program began in 2012, I-Corps has ushered 2,500 teams, and nearly 1,400 of them launched startups that cumulatively raised $3.16 billion in subsequent funding.

A portion of the I-Corps mentoring is devoted to customer discovery. Teams must interview at least 100 potential customers to determine market interest. According to Wu, the team didn’t find a robust market for using the technology the way they initially envisioned because staff shortages is the biggest pain point in the field, not technical shortcomings. “We thought nurses could monitor patients in 3D and save time, but there are many AI tools already doing that, monitoring 40 patients at once,” he said.

Wu said they’ve shifted to using the technology emergency situations, believing the tools will be useful in high-pressure trauma care or emergency cases. “We are thinking of a situation where there is a remote expert connected to a patient in a rural area, for example, where there is no expert on site.” Wu said that more interviews are needed to determine the market demand for such use.

Topics

Telehealth

I-Corps

National Science Foundation

immersive technologies

Research

Sentara leaders explore cutting-edge immersive technologies at 911��’s College of Public Health

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 18:06:34 +0000

Sentara leaders explore cutting-edge immersive technologies at 911��’s College of Public Health Mary Cunningham Fri, 03/21/2025 - 14:06

911��’s College of Public Health (CPH) is setting the gold standard for immersive technologies in health care education. Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center President Jeff Joyner and Vice President of Operations—and two-time Mason School of Nursing alumna—Heather Causseaux recently toured the Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation, led by Dean Melissa Perry and Chief Innovation Officer Bethany Cieslowski. Their visit underscored Sentara’s interest in strengthening its simulation capabilities and exploring the groundbreaking virtual reality advancements at CPH.

Chief Innovation Officer Bethany Cieslowski, Dean Melissa Perry, Divisional Dean of Nursing Terri Rebmann, and Associate Professor Andrea Landis share the Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation with Sentara Vice President of Operations Heather Causseaux, and Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center President Jeff Joyner. Photo by Rene Ayala/CPH

Perry shared her vision for leveraging these tools to enhance learning experiences, preparing students for the complexities of real-world health care scenarios. “As the first College of Public Health to be accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in 2024, 911�� is a trailblazer in integrating immersive technologies into interdisciplinary health education,” said Perry.

Cieslowski, Joyner, and Perry discussed the critical role of cross-generational communication skills in modern health care—particularly as virtual nursing becomes more prevalent.

“It’s very common for a nurse on an overnight shift to be early in their career, while a virtual nurse may have 30 years of experience,” said Cieslowski. “Scenarios that help these nurses communicate more effectively during a simulated medical emergency have immense value.”

The lab’s virtual reality (VR) simulations bridge this gap by offering real-world situational awareness in a safe, controlled environment. Students can repeatedly engage in high-pressure scenarios, refining their skills without real-world consequences.

One such example is a pediatric emergency simulation, where students practice managing a rapidly evolving situation—simultaneously calming a distressed parent, addressing the patient’s needs, ordering critical tests like chest X-rays and labs, and coordinating with providers. By merging didactic learning with immersive experiences, students build confidence and competence in handling complex medical events.

Vice President of Operations Heather Causseaux experiences a virtual reality nursing simulation in 911��'s Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation. Photo by Rene Ayala/CPH

“The experience that students will gain in Mason’s Lab for Immersive Technologies will help them effectively respond in real-time to the complex situations they will face in the field, and ultimately, lead to improved patient outcomes,” said Causseaux. “Students will have greater confidence based on these innovative tools that are transforming health care.”

As Sentara explores opportunities to further integrate immersive technologies, the partnership with the College of Public Health presents an exciting opportunity to elevate health care education across the industry. With cutting-edge technology, visionary leadership, and a commitment to innovation, 911�� is shaping the future of interprofessional health education—one immersive experience at a time.

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS, MBA

Bethany Cieslowski, DNP, PMHNP-BC, CHSE

Topics

Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation

CPH

immersive technologies

Campus News

Community Partners

Strategic Direction

College of Public Health awarded prestigious Society for Simulation in Healthcare accreditation

mthomp7 — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 14:32:08 +0000

College of Public Health awarded prestigious Society for Simulation in Healthcare accreditation mthomp7 Tue, 02/11/2025 - 09:32

The Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation achieves ground-breaking accreditation.

The College of Public Health is proud to be the nation's first Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH)-accredited Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation at a public health college. This pioneering facility redefines how health professionals practice and reinforces 911��'s leadership in cutting-edge technology that revolutionizes public health education and workforce development.

The College of Public Health joins an elite group of only 250 organizations in the world to be accredited by SSH - and is the only public health college to be SSH-accredited.

“This prestigious recognition highlights the dedication and excellence of simulation programs that meet rigorous standards and contribute to advancing the field of health care simulation,” said Kristyn Gadlage, the director of accreditation for SSH. SSH-accreditation is an elite achievement, with only 250 institutions worldwide recognized for advancing simulation excellence. Accredited programs set a gold standard for health care education and are more likely to drive improved patient outcomes.

The college’s Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation is an interprofessional and transdisciplinary research and instructional center. At 8,000 square feet, the lab encompasses modular spaces replicating practice settings or converts multiple spaces for extended reality (XR). The lab is strategically positioned in Peterson Health Sciences Hall on 911��'s Fairfax Campus.

This central location allows students across all College of Public Health departments and schools access to this state-of-the-art space for innovation. The lab is designed for transdisciplinary immersive learning with human patient simulators and XR—spanning virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).

The Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation achieves ground-breaking accreditation. Photo illustration by Emma Anderson and Karen Smith/CPH

In 2022, Dean Melissa Perry announced a bold vision to expand the lab and make XR and simulation technology available to every student in the college. The lab is led by Chief Innovation Officer Bethany Cieslowski and a dedicated team of Certified Healthcare Simulation Educators who are working to double the lab’s capacity within the next few years, ensuring that every student experiences this transformative learning.

"With this strategic accreditation, we are poised to provide every student in the college the opportunity to extend their learning through immersive technologies and simulation. This interprofessional learning environment offers high-impact skills and critical thinking in a low-risk, safe setting. This level and intensity of training could not be delivered through classroom learning alone," Perry said. "Our approach empowers and prepares graduates for clinical practice by developing skills and confidence that traditional methods simply cannot replicate."

James Casey, director of Virginia Serious Game Institute at 911�� and a leader in immersive technologies, said, "It has been truly inspiring to witness and support the college’s cutting-edge advancements in a transdisciplinary teaching environment. The SSH accreditation is an achievement that solidifies the lab as a true center of extended reality excellence. The potential for revolutionizing public health education is unlimited.”

The integration of immersive technologies in 2020 enabled the college to address workforce needs and expand its reach into social work, nutrition, health administration and policy, and beyond. The lab's mission is clear: harness the power of technology to advance interprofessional education, research, and patient safety through digital innovation. By leveraging ground-breaking technology, the lab advances the college's mission through collaboration, research, and innovation. The college is dedicated to revolutionizing interprofessional education and practice, to ultimately advance public health on a global scale.

Students who step into this innovative space don't just learn—they experience. From mastering complex skills and critical thinking to practicing effective opioid crisis interventions, immersive technologies prepare learners for the challenges of tomorrow. "Extended reality transforms the way we learn," said Cieslowski. "It's not just about creating a virtual environment—it's about creating opportunities for real-world impact, ensuring our students leave 911�� prepared to lead."

Looking ahead, the college plans to extend its reach, aiming to incorporate immersive technologies into all disciplines in the college. With a vision to forge strategic partnerships with corporate leaders and academic organizations, 911�� is driving the future of healthcare simulation.

Visit the Lab for Immersive Technologies and Simulation web page for academic publications and prior coverage about the college's Immersive technologies and simulation capabilities.

For media inquiries, contact Michelle Thompson at mthomp7@gmu.edu.