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.