Instructor-Facilitated vs. Stand-Alone Tactical Game Training
Abstract
Sixty-nine Infantry small unit leaders attending the Basic Non-Commissioned Officer Course (BNCOC) at Fort Benning, Georgia, participated in an experiment that investigated the impact of instructor-facilitated versus stand-alone game training on tactical decision making. Thirty-two leaders were assigned to complete two urban operations-based missions (patrol and defense) using the SimFX game. These leaders worked under the direction of an instructor and interacted with peers. Thirty-seven more leaders completed the two missions, but worked in the absence of an instructor and peer interaction. Pre-exercise measures included military and game experience and tactical situation judgment. A questionnaire administered to leaders following the exercise documented their perceptions of training value, opportunities to implement tactical decisions, and motivation. Leaders in both groups were assessed individually for their ability to recognize and implement sound tactical decisions while serving as leader of a light Infantry squad during patrol and defense missions in a simulated urban environment. Results showed that tactical decision making performance was not impacted by training methods, but that leaders? perceptions of training value and decision making were more favorable when the exercise was facilitated by an instructor and when they interacted with peers. A discussion of the results and their applicability to the Army?s trend towards distributed methods of instruction is included.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA494812
Entities
People
- Scott A. Beal
Organizations
- U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences