Need
Improve an already strong course needing clearer alignment, more authentic opportunities to practice professional skills, and a meaningful integration of a planned VR capstone.
ACT 4210: Auditing I
ACT 4210: Auditing I
How do you make a VR simulation feel like an integral part of a course and not just a shiny technology add-on?
Linda Kidwell’s course already had a strong instructional foundation. A Quality Matters review identified focused improvements, but the introduction of a VR warehouse opened the door to something more ambitious: reorganizing the experience around how students would prepare for, perform, and reflect on authentic audit work. The result paired traditional coursework with cases, Tableau analysis, practical activities, and two complementary inventory-audit simulations—including Kitchen Cordon Bleu, the accessible Storyline experience I designed and developed.
AT A GLANCE
- Context
Senior Instructional DesignerNova Southeastern University2020–2021
Solution
Map objectives to materials, practice, and assessment; build a semester-long runway from cases and workpapers to simulation; and preserve the same professional outcomes in an accessible desktop path.
Deliverable
A mapped, 14-module Canvas course combining cases, Tableau analysis, workpaper practice, a collaborative VR warehouse audit, and a screen-reader-compatible Storyline alternative.
Impact
Students rated the experience highly for understanding auditors’ work and preparing for an actual inventory audit. The VR simulation remained in use into its fourth year, continued to evolve, and was licensed to another university.
Takeaway
Immersive technology works best when the course creates a deliberate runway into it. Alignment, phased practice, and an equitable alternative made the warehouse more than a memorable event: they connected the experience to professional performance while giving every learner a viable route to the same outcomes.
Methods & Tools: Quality Matters · Course mapping · Canvas · Tableau · VR · Articulate Storyline · Qualtrics · JAWS · NVDA