Team Training in Distributed Simulation-Based Exercises

Abstract

The advantages of simulation in team training are well documented and accepted by trainers and students. The opportunity for teams to apply knowledge and practice skills to meet realistic problems in a realistic environment is intuitively more motivating, and can be a more valuable training experience for a team than merely reading about, being lectured on, or observing someone else perform a task. Training managers also are attracted to the economic and logistical advantages of linking multiple teams in a simulated environment when compared to the cost and effort required for comparable live exercises. To date, the primary focus of research in distributed simulation-based training has been the continuous quest for greater realism in visual displays; enhanced fidelity of the models that drive the simulation; and the need to improve the speed, reliability, and capacity of communications among different simulators and trainers. Less effort has been devoted to developing technologies that can increase the instructional value of a simulation exercise or that could help an instructional designer make the best use of a simulation-based training opportunity. Such technologies would help an instructor to design more effective scenarios; more accurately and efficiently observe, record, and analyze the trainees' performance; and support the necessary learning events before, during, and after the scenario to meet specific training objectives.