The Tactical Combat Casualty Care Simulation is a government funded program that combines interactive training techniques with Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) technologies and immersive, 3D game-based simulations to help train Army Combat Medics. The program uses a variety of instructional strategies to immerse students into scenario driven events in order to teach and evaluate a student's knowledge regarding the essential tactics, techniques and procedures required to successfully perform as an Army Combat Medic in a battlefield environment.
The application was developed for the Army Medical Department Center & School; Department of Combat Medic Training's (AMEDD, DCMT) "68W10 Healthcare Specialist Course" at Fort Sam Houston, TX. It is being implemented in three stages. First, it is being used in the classroom to familiarize students with initial concepts of providing care on the battlefield. Second, it is being hosted within the school's learning resource centers. Finally, in August 07, it will be hosted behind Army Knowledge Online and interfaced with a SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) conformant Learning Management System to provide both online and offline student tracking, assessment and remediation.
One critical component of this project is an ongoing training effectiveness evaluation being managed by the Army Research Institute to determine learning transfer into the field and the overall cost benefits of using the system. Earlier evaluations have resulted in changes to the interface, instructional strategies and playability of the application. This paper will discuss in detail how the student's need to master a variety of competencies impacts the design of the TC3 Simulation. It will look at the criteria used to balance game-play, instructional design, interface development and subject matter expertise while discussing the metrics and processes used to evaluate the application's overall benefits. Finally, it will compare the final results of the training effectiveness with developer notes to discuss best practices and lessons learned from the development and implementation of this project.