Transitioning an ITS Developed for Schoolhouse Use to the Fleet: TAO ITS, a Case Study

Abstract

This paper describes our experiences in transitioning the Tactical Action Officer Intelligent Tutoring System (TAO ITS), designed and developed specifically for use by students at the Navy's Surface Warfare Officers School (SWOS), to fleet use. PMS-430 recognized that while they were fulfilling the needs of integrated team training, the Battle Force Tactical Trainer system required a major portion of the shipboard Combat Information Center (CIC) to be manned in order for the TAO to practice tactical decision making. Experts and instructors agree that the most important factor for maintaining a TAO's tactical decision-making skill is the opportunity to practice making decisions and timely feedback. SWOS has found that the TAO ITS increased the amount of such practice by ten times. Both PMS-430 and SWOS have deemed it beneficial to transition the TAO ITS to the fleet for shipboard use. The TAO ITS and the benefits realized by students at SWOS are described in [Stottler and Vinkavich 2000]. Transitioning the TAO ITS to shipboard use would realize several benefits. Since TAO ITS is PC based and requires no extra human players nor support personnel, it enables TAOs and prospective TAOs much greater opportunities to practice their tactical decision-making skills anytime/anywhere. One of the primary limitations to free-play simulated scenario training out in the field or onboard ship is the need for evaluation of the student's actions. Tactical decision-making practice is almost worthless without knowing whether the decisions were good or bad. The TAO ITS provides automatic debriefing capabilities, giving the student the important feedback as to which decisions were made correctly versus the omitted or bad ones. There were several considerations in planning the transition of the TAO ITS to fleet use due to the differences between SWOS and the ship's environment and mission.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA597998

Entities

People

  • Dick Stottler
  • Nancy Harmon
  • Phil Michalak

Organizations

  • Stottler Henke Associates

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Case Studies
  • Combat Information Centers
  • Computer Programming
  • Computers
  • Education
  • Instructors
  • Lessons Learned
  • Navy
  • Simulators
  • Software Development
  • Students
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Training
  • User Friendly
  • User Interface
  • Warfare
  • Word Processors

Fields of Study

  • Education

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Maritime and Naval Warfare Studies
  • Military Training and Readiness Simulation