Simulated Challenge for Operational Readiness and Engagement (SCORE)

Training systems assist Warfighters in learning and developing operational proficiency in their assigned deployed ballistic missile defense systems (BMDS) with opportunities presented in several modalities including instructor-led classes, computer-based training, simulations, and large-scale exercises. Existing individual courses only reach the lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives, knowledge and understanding, without achieving the higher levels of application, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. While larger-scale exercises provide the needed opportunities to practice skills, they face limitations in that they can be very expensive to construct and run, and difficult to schedule due to the large personnel requirements. What is needed is an individual game-based learning environment that bridges the gap between schoolhouse training and high fidelity simulated exercises, giving learners the opportunity to apply skills in simulated scenarios with a well-defined scoring algorithm that maps the user’s actions and decisions to contributing competencies. To address these challenges, we propose to develop SCORE – Simulated Challenges for Operational Readiness and Engagement. SCORE will enable a data-driven competency-centric learning lifecycle by integrating with external simulations, analyzing user interaction data, generating performance metrics and presenting the user’s performance in a gameful design that leverages best practices from the psychology of motivation and engagement. Approved for Public Release | 16-MDA-8951 (15 December 16)