This project will bring Pathways 2 Safety (P2S) to UW social work (undergraduate and graduate) nursing (graduate) students. P2S is a 3-hour interdisciplinary training to teach clinicians to have firearm safety conversations with clients. After the training, students will be randomized to practice counseling skills using either AI-based clients or trained standardized clients (i.e., live actor) to compare the two practice modalities.
AI-based clients include a coaching agent that provides individualized feedback. Standardized client encounters will have parallel debriefing protocols. We will have three main evaluation outcomes: (1) effectiveness through pre/post surveys and observed standardized client assessments, (2) modality acceptability based on student engagement and feedback and (3) pragmatic comparison of modality time and cost.
Because participation is voluntary, this project provides a low-stakes opportunity to examine the educational value and acceptability of AI-supported learning relative to traditional methods, generating evidence to inform responsible, scalable use of AI across UW.
