Serious game improves Navy recruits’ performance

28 Jul 2010

by: Margaret Snell

The Royal Navy’s Maritime Warfare School (MWS) has used serious games to transform training effectiveness on a crucial operational area on board ship - Engineering Safety Rounds Inspection.

The move comes after MWS identified that historically ‘Engineering Safety Rounds Inspection’ was its worst performing course with 13% of all new recruits failing it. Officers evaluated existing training methods and found that getting on board ship for the first time was a shock for new recruits and this, coupled with the close spaces and complex operational environment, proved too challenging for many of them.

A solution was needed to reduce this initial shock period, shorten the learning curve and provide a safe practice environment for recruits to carry out their Safety Rounds Inspections, prior to boarding the ship for the first time. It was decided that the best and most cost effective way to do this was to create a ‘serious game’; a fully immersive, 3D virtual ship that would enable trainees to walk through it and perform duties as if they were actually on board.

The result is a 3D interactive game titled “Weapons Engineering Round - Immersive Learning Simulation” developed in conjunction with Caspian Learning using their Thinking Worlds technology. Compared to classroom training, the learning experience of serious games has improved trainee capability, cut failure rates by 54% and reduced the need for additional training.

Overall the MWS said the use of serious games technology to deliver a key element of career training has proven successful. The avatar based serious games package delivered and deployed by Caspian has enabled trainees with no previous experience of a Royal Navy warship to successfully conduct ‘Weapons Engineering Safety Rounds’ in a safe, but effective, training environment.

 

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