Key Performance Metric
A key performance metric for the UK Military is “Brought Up To Standard”, or BUTS rate for short. The Military rigorously measures human performance and for those recruits that fail to make the required standard, they go on to receive additional BUTS training. This demands a considerable investment in additional training resources, cost and time off the job.
It is the BUTS measurement that was used to determine the effectiveness of the serious game lesson in comparison to the traditional classroom lesson. The measurement was taken over 10 classes, throughout the term.
Serious Game Makes Serious Impact
Before an immersive learning simulation had been used to deliver this course, the pedagogical approach had been more traditional; delivered under normal classroom conditions. This meant that recruits spent a lot of time reading from text books and watching PowerPoint presentations.
These methods were not very engaging and far from realistic. The missing context made it difficult for new recruits to fully appreciate their responsibilities and the consequences of not doing their jobs properly. Despite the comprehensive classroom training, new recruits were still heavily susceptible to a shock factor when they boarded for the first time. BUTS rates were 200% – 300% higher compared to other courses.
After using the “Weapons Engineering Rounds” serious game to deliver the course content the BUTS failure rates dropped substantially by almost 60%. The 6% failure rate was now lower than the average for other courses.
How Did The Recruits React?
As well as measuring the BUTS rates, a questionnaire was tailored specifically to the program and given to all of the recruits who took part in the trial period. Of these 116 trainees, 99 questionnaires were returned and the collated results of this survey can be found at the Caspian Learning website. In general, the trainees found that the simulation was easy to use, relatively intuitive and did aid their understanding of the subject matter being taught.
Feedback from training officers corroborated the results of the questionnaire and the introduction of the serious game package and the overall reaction from MWS has been positive and already discussions are taking place for further content and course development.
Training officers were invited to comment on their own feelings to the course and a summary of some of their comments are below:
“The majority of the students find that the game facilitates their understanding and aids the learning process.”
“Less time is spent using PowerPoint, a welcome break for both instructors and trainees.”
“The simulation has been smoothly integrated into the overall lesson plan.”
“Overall, Caspian Learning’s serious game has been well received and has enabled a fuller understanding of one of the most important roles the trainees will conduct once they join their ship.”
“The lab setup worked well allowing the instructor easy access to the student PCs as required.”
“The noise level in the class is much less than normal. This is due to the increased concentration levels and focus of the trainees on what they’re doing.”
Undoubtedly, the introduction of the serious games package into the MWS Engineering Safety Rounds Inspection course has generated a marked improvement in trainee capability and a greater understanding of the module. This is particularly evident in the reduction of BUTS activity necessary after the course. We can confidently say this is a direct result of the introduction of the game as no other element of the course had been altered.
The qualitative results support the quantitative BUTS data and the overall feeling from this collation of feedback is that the immersive learning simulation has enabled greater trainee understanding of the subject and has enhanced the way this subject is delivered.
Final Words
The use of serious games technology to deliver a key element of career training in the Military has proven successful. The avatar based serious games package delivered and deployed by Caspian Learning 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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