Research behind the approach
Learning comes alive when we practice.
The research we’ve reviewed is encouraging. Across pastoral education, leadership, and healthcare, the findings support a practical idea:
Give people a realistic situation, useful feedback, and another chance to learn.
See why practice has promise
learning takes hold.
What becomes visible?
“I felt overlooked.”
“What was that like for you?”
A choice worth noticing.
An open question creates room to listen.
Illustrative conversation
You can discuss a response you can see.
01 / Realistic practice
Turn a lesson into
a conversation.
Knowing the material is a starting point. A realistic encounter gives learners a place to work out what to say.
In a pilot with seven clinical pastoral care residents, faculty ratings were higher in simulated encounters than in verbatim sessions. Faculty evaluation and debriefing accompanied the practice.
Ahmed et al. · 2015/2016For your teaching: use realistic situations to make responses concrete, then discuss the choices behind them.
More support from pastoral education
A separate study used simulated encounters and a behavioral checklist to assess an initial pastoral education unit. Researchers recorded measurable changes in learners’ interview behavior.
Tartaglia & Dodd-McCue · 2010 · Read the abstract ↗02 / Useful feedback
A response is a start.
Feedback gives it direction.
Practice gives people something to reflect on. Feedback helps them notice a choice and consider a different response.
in one meta-analysis
The review found improvements in learning, workplace application, and organizational results. Its comparisons supported practice, feedback, and human-led training.
Lacerenza et al. · 2017 · Read the studyFor your teaching: create more room for practice, then keep coaches and instructors involved in reflection.
Choose a next step.
Put it to work again.
03 / Learning over time
Give learning another
chance to take hold.
A single session can open the door. Returning to learning gives people another opportunity to work with the material.
in health professions
Pooled findings from nine studies favored knowledge outcomes. Findings from three studies favored clinical behavior outcomes.
Martinengo et al. · 2024 · Read the reviewFor your teaching: make room for more than one session, with time to reflect and another situation to explore.
Another encouraging signal
Conversation practice can support lasting learning.
In a nursing trial, students practicing with trained patient actors and students practicing with peers both improved. Gains remained at six weeks.
Neither method showed a significant advantage. The shared ingredients included structured practice and feedback.
Cortés-Rodríguez et al. · 2024 · Explore the trialBring the ideas together
A promising foundation.
A practical way to begin.
Our reading of the research supports the learning approach behind Ministry Sandbox. Here is how the pieces fit.
- 01
Respond.
Work through a realistic ministry situation.
- 02
Reflect.
Consider feedback on the choices you made.
- 03
Practice again.
Return to learning with another opportunity.
- 04
Discuss.
Bring your responses to a coach or instructor.
Study methods and context
These studies inform our learning design. They evaluated other programs, rather than Ministry Sandbox. Our assessment of their relevance is an interpretation of the published findings.
The pastoral studies used human patient actors. The seven-resident pilot was small and nonrandomized. The 2010 study assessed a broader training unit. We reviewed both through their primary abstracts.
The leadership review compared features across studies, so those comparisons do not isolate causes. Spacing favored workplace application and results, not immediate learning.
The spaced-learning review rated 19 of 23 studies at unclear or high risk of bias. Its pooled knowledge and clinical behavior findings had moderate certainty, with different comparison conditions.
The nursing trial enrolled 126 students and assessed 124 at follow-up. Outcomes came from simulated assessments. No significant difference between methods does not establish equivalence.
We reviewed full text for the leadership, spaced-learning, and nursing studies. This focused review was updated October 25, 2026.