Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of the Virtual Interactive Training Agents (ViTA) program on training outcomes for students with disabilities.
- The study used an interrupted time series to estimate the impact of the ViTA program on interview skills and self-efficacy. Using the Marino Interview Assessment Scale (MIAS) and VITA DMF Self-efficacy Scale, the authors compared the outcomes of the participants before and after they participated in the intervention.
- The study found a statistically significant relationship between the ViTA program and increased job interview skills as well as increased job interview self-efficacy.
- The study receives a low evidence rating. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the Virtual Interactive Training Agents (ViTA) program; other factors are likely to have contributed.
Intervention Examined
Virtual Interactive Training Agents (ViTA)
Features of the Intervention
The Virtual Interactive Training Agents (ViTA) program is designed to serve students with a disability diagnosis who are enrolled in secondary or post-secondary education. It uses the ViTA system in conjunction with instructional strategies to teach students with disabilities interview etiquette and ways to respond to job interview questions (e.g., greetings, acceptable small talk). The ViTA system includes 10 to 12 standard interview questions to help participants work on social norms, self-advocacy, self-promotion, situational and behavioral responses, day-to-day job practicalities (e.g., hours, availability, transportation), and understanding cues that the interview is ending. A virtual human (VH) asks the interview questions within 7 different virtual backgrounds (i.e. hotel lobby, warehouse breakroom). The intervention included an initial face-to-face interview, four ViTA system interview sessions, and one final face-to-face interview session at the end of 22 weeks.
Features of the Study
The study used a pretest-post-test design to examine the impact of the ViTA program on students’ interview skills and self-efficacy. To be eligible for the study, participants were required to have a disability diagnosis, be enrolled in secondary or postsecondary education, and express willingness and consent to use ViTA and participate in data collection. The authors used a convenience sample of 153 secondary and postsecondary students in Florida. The sample was predominantly male (73%), not Hispanic or Latino (60%), with an average age of 21.7 years. The majority of the sample had one disability (71%) and the primary reported disability was autism (65%). Data sources included the Marino Interview Assessment Scale (MIAS) that measured the degree to which participants used interview skills in various virtual settings and the VITA DMF Self-efficacy Scale that measured job interview self-efficacy. The authors compared the outcomes of the participants before and after they participated in the intervention, controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, and number of disabilities.
Findings
Training
- The study found a statistically significant relationship between the ViTA program and increased interview skills. The study also found a statistically significant relationship between the ViTA program and increased job interview self-efficacy.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The authors compared the outcomes of participants measured before and after they participated in the intervention. For these types of designs, the authors must observe outcomes for multiple periods before the intervention to rule out the possibility that participants had increasing or decreasing trends in the outcomes examined before enrollment in the program. That is, if participants who had increasing job interview self-efficacy tended to enroll in the program, we would anticipate further increases over time, even if they did not participate in the program. Without knowing the trends before program enrollment, we cannot rule this out. Therefore, the study receives a low causal evidence rating.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the authors did not account for trends in outcomes before the intervention. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the ViTA program; other factors are likely to have contributed.