Although considerable literature conducted in the context of Western societies has concluded that the use of virtual reality (VR) technology can facilitate students’ learning, the applicability of this learning approach to nurturing social work students in the Chinese context remains uncertain. This pilot study empirically tests the effectiveness of VR technology in enhancing social work students’ perceived creativity and competence in working with offenders. The study uses mixed methods that include qualitative and quantitative procedures in a complementary manner. Survey data that capture the responses of 41 social work students collected in the pre-and post-test periods indicate a positive change in self-perceived confidence in handling offenders following the VR training session. The qualitative data generated from the focus groups echo the survey findings and provide insights into the use of VR technology in social work education. Issues and implications for innovative education in the social work profession are discussed.

縱使大量西方文獻已肯定虛擬現實 (VR)技術能促進學生學習，這種學習方法應用在中國社會裡的社會工作學生身上的適用性仍然未確定。本文闡述一項先導性的實驗研究，通過實證測試虛擬現實技術是否能夠有效提升社會工作學生的創造力和處理犯罪者的能力。本研究采用了定性和定量互補的混合研究方法。基於對 41 位社會工作學生參與者的前測以及後側問卷調查，研究發現學生參與虛擬現實訓練後對處理犯罪者的信心和個人創造力方面都有積極的改變。基於焦點小組所獲得的定性數據也支持了問卷調查結果，並為社會工作教育中的 VR 技術使用提供了新的啟發。本文最後討論了社會工作專業創新教育的相關議題及啟示。

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