Instructional Tools for Training Programs

We propose to develop Instructional Tools for Training Programs (ITTP), a web-based toolkit whose ultimate goal is to help instructors and training designers accomplish more effective training by providing them a resource with which to apply principles and techniques from the science of learning, in the course of designing, evaluating, and refining a training program. In pursuit of this goal, we will integrate research on: (1) the cognitive issues underlying the requirements associated with the effective design of training systems; (2) how such systems can best diagnose and help remediate trainee progress; and, (3) the technological underpinnings associated with the implementation of such systems so as to track learner progress. We will take advantage of the scientific base consisting of research in psychology, instructional science, and cognitive engineering, to understand and develop distributed, computer-based instructional tools that are tailored to not only support trainer’s understanding of the learning sciences, but also to help them understand how to diagnose trainee progress. For the design and development of the ITTP toolkit we will leverage our capabilities in the cognitive and learning sciences, training system development, and simulation technology, to help produce tools to optimize learning.