Client:
STRICOM (now PEO STRI) , the U.S. Army Simulation, Training & Instrumentation Command, and MÄK Technologies, a leading supplier of distributed simulation software. The company develops software to link, simulate and visualize the virtual world.
Challenge:
As military funding, available personnel, time, and other resources decrease, the U.S. military has expressed interest in using lower-fidelity simulations and computer-based games for distance learning applications while providing an opportunity for sustaining training between large-scale exercises. With the increasing prevalence of low-cost training simulations and devices comes the increasing need to evaluate their effectiveness within military departments.
The Army entered the low-cost simulation arena by contracting with MAK Technologies to apply their dual-use commercial/military computer game, Spearhead II, to Ft. Knox's Armor Captain Career Course (ACCC). Assessing the effectiveness of Spearhead II for use in the ACCC distance-learning course was critical to justifying the investment and validating the training benefit.
Objective:
Use commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) computer games in training, as a way to lower training costs while holding steady or increasing training hours.
Develop an assessment plan to measure the effectiveness of MaK Technologies' dual-use commercial/military computer game, Spearhead II, for use in the Army distance-learning program, the Armor Captain Career Course.
ThoughtLink Solution:
ThoughtLink developed the experiment plan for testing the game's effectiveness. ThoughtLink used statistical (multivariate comparative and correlation) analysis to validate the training benefit and differentiate between learning and simple satisfaction (the smile test).
Value Added:
ThoughtLink's proposed experiment demonstrated how SPEARHEAD II, a low-cost, dual-use entertainment-based game, could be measured to see if it achieved its designated purpose of supplementing exercises in the ACCC distance-learning course. Read more.
