Marine Corps formal schools are challenged to prepare Marines for increasingly complex and varied roles without a commensurate increase in instructor time or course duration. One promising technology-supported approach to maximizing learning and gaining efficiency is adaptive training, whose premise is to customize instruction to individual needs by measuring and then targeting individual deficiencies with tailored remediation (e.g., Landsberg, Mercado, Van Buskirk, Lineberry, and Steinhauser, 2012). The authors hypothesize that adaptive training tools can modernize formal school learning for the Marines in multiple ways. First, they enable self-paced learning of basic concepts so instructor-led time can be devoted to advanced topics and application. Second, they improve the remediation process by offering individualized support for knowledge gaps and misconceptions rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Finally, they increase instructor visibility on student performance.
The efficacy of the adaptive training paradigm was tested with entry-level Marines using the Adaptive Perceptual And Cognitive Training System (APACTS). Land navigation training was selected as the domain for this testing, and content was generated for ten classroom-based learning objectives. An experiment was conducted in which Marines were randomly assigned to the adaptive training or control group. Both groups received a 23-item pre-test, intervention, then a 23-item post-test. The adaptive training group intervention consisted of targeted remediation on the learning objectives not mastered on the pre-test, while individuals in the control group received standard land navigation slides used by a preeminent Marine Corps school. Results indicate the adaptive training group experienced learning gain from pre- to post-test of 42.5% in contrast to the control group learning gain of 16.5%. This constitutes an effect size (Cohen’s d) of 0.69 over the control condition. These results lend support to incorporation of adaptive training into Marine Corps formal schools for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of training.