Team_Awesome_draft-1.docx

Design Document: U.S. Coast Guard Training

Kim Hoggatt-Krumweide

Paul Novacek

Kashieka Popkin

Brus Messinger

Christopher G. Faulkner

University of North Texas

Customer

The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary runs a series of comprehensive boating safety public education classes to the general public of all ages. Traditionally, these classes are given in a physical classroom, usually at a community center or school. The series of classes are of different lengths and almost always given on Saturdays.

Information about the classes can be located here: http://cgaux.org/boatinged

Problem

Since 1939 the Coast Guard Auxiliary has been tasked by the U.S. Coast Guard to promote boating safety to the civilian boating community. They have been very successful in giving these in-person boating safety classes, but as with most volunteer training programs, the people that need it the most are the ones who don’t take the class. Unsafe boating is a killer, and the Coast Guard Auxiliary has performed some internal research on how to best meet the needs of contemporary boaters and reach out to those who would traditionally shun any kind of formal training, considered accidents waiting to happen. The target audience includes adult boaters, specifically high-risk 15-25 year old novice boaters. A needs assessment conducted by the Coast Guard has concluded that they need to migrate the core boating safety curriculum into an online delivery platform. This new delivery method will accommodate the scheduling needs of busy adult boaters while also luring the high-risk 15-25 year old novice boaters with a familiar online environment that includes interactive virtual reality gaming. The Coast Guard notes this type of instruction has been used in military training and flight school and more recently with the general public in online defensive driving courses.

Our instructional design and development company, Sunny Sky Interactive, was awarded the grant from a competitive-bid RFP for the following prototype deliverables. If the Coast Guard Auxiliary likes our pragmatic instructional course design and integration platform, Sunny Sky Interactive will be awarded a follow-on grant to develop the entire course.

1 Create and prototype a single module of the existing Boating Skills & Seamanship course. (http://www.cgaux.org/boatinged/classes/2011/bss.php) This classroom course is comprised of 13 individual topic modules, and Sunny Sky Interactive has been asked to pick any single topic to develop into an internet-delivered module. All the individual elements of that module need to be covered with a knowledge assessment given at the end to assure comprehension. The instructional design method to be used was not specified in the original RFP.

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2 Create and prototype a blended, game-based and scenario-based exercise using Flash/Actionscript that places the student boater into a series of situations that require base knowledge received from the individual modules to solve both single and multi-tiered problems. Players will receive points when each scenario is completed successfully. This approach allows the developers to apply game design to the current application to make it interesting, fun and rewarding for the players. With the successful completion of each level or module the player will be closer to receiving his or her license.

Sunny Sky has elected a technical scaffolding strategy that affords a pragmatic approach to the modules in the boat safety course (Wood and Wood, 1996; Bull et al, 1999; Puntambekar & Hubscher, 2005; Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, & Chinn, 2006; Azevedo & Hadwin, 2005; Yelland and Masters, 2007). Initial modules for knowledge acquisition will use an objectivist based instructional design model (Gagné, 1985; Instructional Design Knowledge Base, 2006; Chen, 2007). Later modules will use a game based learning advanced instructional design model for learners to apply their knowledge in a safe environment (Dickey, 2011; Miller, 2011; Sheldon, 2011). The learners will be able to master competencies and translate those competencies into real world application potentially reducing the incidence of boating accidents, injuries and fatalities.

Learning Expectations

Course Goals

1 Memorize knowledge from each of the individual modules

2 Examine the information in the safe operation of a powerboat vessel.

3 Demonstrate operation the boat without any undue harm to passengers or dock personnel.

4 Safely operate the vessel within navigable waters under Coast Guard regulations.

*View Appendix A for an overarching view of the course.

Knowledge Module Objectives –

1. Foundation Stage: Equipment For Your Boat (Course Goals 1 & 2)

a Identify the safety gear on a small craft and describe the operation of each device.

b Identify situations and adhere to the regulatory requirements for safe operation.

c Correctly complete a boating accident and float plan form.

d Recite the various safety and regulatory organizations available to the boater.

e Pass an assessment with a score of 70% or higher.

Scenario-Based Exercise Objectives –

2. Demonstration Stage: Operation of boat (Course Goals 3 & 4)

a Identify and mitigate a mechanical malfunction.

b Recognize an operational situation requiring immediate action.

c Make relevant connections between base knowledge elements.

d Operate the boat within measurable safety limitations.

e Don’t let the boat sink!

f Don’t get anybody hurt!

g Return to the dock without un-repairable damage.

Online Course Features -

Knowledge Module

· Objectivist based instruction. Lecture-based ISD model.

· One of the 13 topics from the existing Coast Guard Boating Skills & Seamanship course.

· Web-accessed CBT

· Fully supported by online-accessible instructors and administration.

· Student boater paces own schedule, but must complete by end-of-course deadline.

· Must pass a summative assessment with 70% minimum. Allowed one re-takes online. Instructor consultation needed for any further re-takes.

· See prototype Chapter 6: Rules of the Nautical Road

Scenario-Based Exercise

· Constructivist learning approach. Gamed Based Learning ISD with experiential (individual) learning and situated (social) learning underpinnings

· Each student boater must pass all 13 of the knowledge module assessments before being allowed to participate in scenario-based exercise.

· Single participant

· Multiple scenarios are presented, encountering progressive difficulty levels with each succeeding scenario.

· Gamified delivery platform

· Student boaters can only succeed in this exercise by applying the knowledge gained from taking all 13 modules of the basic knowledge curriculum.

· Completion is achieved when all the scenarios are finished with successful outcomes and when all objectives are met.

· Upon successful completion, a certificate is awarded and course completion recorded in U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary records.

· See Appendix B for scenario-based prototype storyboard

· See prototype game Boat Safety and Skills

Scenarios

Three levels of scenarios are to be employed, each having progressive levels of complexity. The levels will be delivered in a web-based game environment and is accessible from the knowledge-based environment. Players are engaged, as they will be required to solve real world problems within the environment and stay course against elements of nature. The game will be developed with the keys game elements in mind, which if implemented correctly will be the driving, factor to learners being engaged. In order for learners to be motivated to work within the environment, there has to be some challenge, chaos and reward, which are all a part of the design of the game and are noted in the game design document. The levels to be addressed are:

A. Simple stimulus-response

B. Compounding malfunctions

C. External influence

Scenario A

· You are driving a 25-foot, single-engine powerboat through the intercostal waterway.

· Three friends have joined you for a five nautical mile sightseeing trip to a dockside restaurant and return.

· You have stopped the boat to the right side of a narrow lead-in to a drawbridge to wait for the bridge to be raised. There is another boat on the other side of the bridge stopped as you are waiting for the bridge.

· Just then, your engine quits! You’re in a bad position, because you can’t maneuver without engine thrust and soon the other boat will attempt to pass very close to you in the narrow channel when the bridge is raised.

· What do you do? What steps do you perform to troubleshoot the problem? What do you ask of your passengers?

· ANSWER: First, quickly instruct your passengers to man a gaff (hook on a long handle) and fenders to keep the boat from striking (push off) the side of the bridge or the oncoming boat.

· Then check the engine gauges to see if you can find the cause of the engine quitting. All the engine gauges look normal.

· What else can you check? Yes, the fuel tank selector on the sidewall of the rear deck (gunwale). [all except very small boats have multiple tanks]

· You find the engine is selected to a now empty fuel tank. You turn the selector to the other tank and try to start the engine again.

· After a few seconds of cranking, the engine starts and you proceed along your merry way.

· What did you learn from this experience?

Scenario B

· You are the skipper of a 22-foot, V-hulled, cabin cruiser that features a single V-berth and under deck, enclosed head.

· You are taking a trip across a channel to a reef off a small island for some SCUBA diving for the day. The island is 15 miles offshore, and the seas are calm with gentle rollers.

· Four friends and a small dog are with you. One friend will not dive, but stay on the boat to help all the divers with their equipment, prepare the lunch and watch the dog.

· You’re about half way across the channel when you realize the boat is handling rather sluggishly across the rolling sea. You initially discount it and proceed along to the island.

· One of your passengers, the non-diver, has only been on a boat once before, but is comfortable with the new experience of being out in the big ocean on a small boat.

· She needs to use the head below decks, so you slow down to reduce the jostling.

· She returns after a few minutes and settles back into her seat on the rear deck. After you resume cruising speed, you look back and see her using a towel to dry her feet. You intently ask why, as she casually replies, “Oh, my feet got wet when I was in the bathroom... that’s normal on a boat, right?”

· Uh oh, now you know why the boat was sluggish, you’re taking on water.

· What do you do? What steps do you perform to troubleshoot the problem? What do you ask of your passengers?

· ANSWER: First, turn on the mid-hull bilge pump using the switch on the instrument panel. Then stop the boat and send a passenger down to look for the source of the leak.

· He calls you down below deck and you both find water is coming in from behind a trim panel.

· But even after turning on the bilge pump the water level is still rising.

· What do you do now?

· ANSWER: Check to make sure the bilge pump is actually working.

· But there is not any water streaming out the side of the boat from the bilge pump outlet. Therefore the bilge pump is not pumping the water out of the boat.

· What do you do now?

· ANSWER: Check the electrical fuses and have the rest of your passengers start manually bailing the water overboard.

· You indeed find that the fuse for the pump is blown and replace the fuse. Luckily you had a spare.

· Are a working bilge pump and spare fuses required by Coast Guard regulations?

· The now working electrical bilge pump is able to keep the water level at a minimum.

· What do you do now?

· ANSWER: Return to the mainland. Drive at a slow speed to avoid forcing water into the leak in the hull. Post a passenger to watch the leak. Tune the radio to the emergency frequency, channel 16.

· You successfully return to the service dock and have the boat pulled out of the water.

· Your passengers will need to wait until next weekend to dive on your favorite reef.

Scenario C

Scenario C (Rescue with external agencies)

○ You are the skipper of a 34-foot Trojan motor yacht, thanks to your recent job promotion!

○ You have all the necessary safety equipment and provisions for 4 friends.○ You have a full tank of gas and are taking a day trip around Lake Grapevine.

○ Everyone is having a great time. Lots of beverages, food and good music.

○ Two friends pressure you to join in drinking excessive alcohol.

ANSWER: Refuse or assign another qualified, designed, boat driver. (The same State DWI/DUI limits apply to boat operators)

○ One of the passengers is drunk and falls over board

○ ANSWER: Idle/kill engine, try to maintain visual contact, return and heave a lifeline or hand.

○ You pull the passengers aboard; but he hits his head on the side. Now unconscious.

○ ANSWER: Get out the first aid kit; administer treatment for shock and head injury.

○ Medical help is needed

○ ANSWER: place a call on your cell phone and marine CH-16. The 911 Dispatch says a Life Flight heliport can be on scene in 12 minutes. Plus 8 minutes to Baylor hospital. By boat, you estimate you can make land in 50 minutes plus 10 minutes by ambulance.

○ After hearing the patient’s vitals, the decision is to dispatch the helicopter.

○ ANSWER: prepare for rescue (constant communications, phone patch, give position, signal)

○ The helicopter is in contact with you thru CH-16. He has a hoist and asks you to pop smoke.

○ ANSWER, discharge a flare/smoke. Besides easy identification, this provides surface wind clues to the pilot.

○ The helicopter pilot says he’s going to drop a basket on the main deck, forward of wheelhouse.

○ ANSWER, let the basket touch the boat or water to provide an electrical ground. If you touch it first – you could be injured with electric static charge generated from the rotation of the helicopter blades.

○ The pilot informs you that the passenger has been successfully lifted to safety.

○ ANSWER, proceed to the hospital and talk to medical / law enforcement personnel. (do not continue the party)

Assessment

Performance assessments, based on the student’s completion of the scenarios, will be used to assess the students. The students will receive unlimited opportunities to complete the scenarios, and will be strongly encouraged to master all scenarios. The encouragement will come from the game elements added into the scenarios.

Evaluation

1. How will you tell if the instructional design was successful? Who will determine this? Will there be an outside, unbiased observer? A satisfaction survey?

A successful implementation of our instructional design will be determined by the quality and completion rates and of the students. The Coast Guard will determine the quality of the students and inform the designers of the quality of the training program. For internal purposes, a completion survey will be sent to all students to assist the designers in creating a more meaningful program.

2. Does your assessment relate to your evaluation? How?

It relates directly, due to a student’s successful completion of the scenarios, will reflect directly to the training they endured. If the training is inefficient, the student should not be able to complete the scenarios.

3. How will you determine whether your outcomes relate back to your original needs analysis and goals/objectives to determine the effectiveness of your intervention/implementation?

As this is a specific training program, direct observation of necessary skills will determine the effectiveness. Due to the importance and potential life-saving nature of our program, meeting our outcomes is of the utmost importance. Additionally, as we are using a game-based approach, our outcomes are tasked-based, therefore, completion and subsequent demonstration of skills, will determine whether or not outcomes have been met.

Timeline

The training program is broken down to two sections: foundation and demonstration. During the foundation stage, participants will be learning the necessary background information and new content for the purposes of the training. This stage should last approximately 4 hours. During the demonstration stage, participants will be engaging in scenarios in which they will draw upon the information learned in the foundation stage. Approximate time for this stage is 2 to 6 hours. (Wide range of time due to the participant’s unlimited opportunities to master a scenario.)

Foundation Stage: 4 hours

Demonstration Stage: 2 to 6 hours

References

Azevedo, R., Hadwin, A.F. (2005) Scaffolding self-regulated learning and metacognition – Implications for the design of computer-based scaffolds. Instructional Science33: 367–379. DOI 10.1007/s11251-005-1272-9

Bull, K., Shuler, P., Overton, R., Kimball, S., Boykin, C., & Griffn, J. (1999). Processes for developing scaffolding in a computer mediated learning environment. In Rural special education for the new millennium

Chen, S. (2007). Instructional Design Strategies for Intensive Online Courses: An Objectivist-Constructivist Blended Approach. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 6(1), 72-86.

Gagné, R. M. (1985). The Conditions of Learning and Theory of Instruction (4thed). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Duncan, R. G., & Chinn, C. A. (2006). Scaffolding and achievement in problem-based and inquiry learning: A response to Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark, Educational Psychologist, 42(2), 99–107.

Instructional Design Knowledge Base (2006). Select Instructional Model/Theories to Design Instructional Prototypes. http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/IDKB/models_theories.htm

Puntambekar, S., & Hübscher, R. (2005). Tools for scaffolding students in a complex learning environment: What have we gained and what have we missed? Educational Psychologist, 40,1–12.

Wood, D., & Wood, H. (1996). Vygotsky, tutoring and learning. Oxford Review of Education, 22(1), 5–16

Yelland, Nicola, and Masters, Jennifer (2007). Rethinking scaffolding in the information age. Computers and Education, 48, 362-382. http://www.tlu.ee/~kpata/haridustehnoloogiaTLU/rethinkingscaffolding.pdf

Appendix A

Coast Guard Boat Safety and Skills

Overall Course and Design Flow

Appendix B

Coast Guard Boat Safety and Skills

Prototype Design Document for Scenario Based Module

The game based approached chosen to scaffold the players, gives them an opportunity to use base knowledge to problem solve real world scenarios. Each selection provided by the player will provide a different outcome. There is however only one correct outcome for each level. The full version of the game will cover the 13 modules. The players’ interaction with the environment is similar to that of playing any other computer game. Players will be able to provide input by means of the keyboard and the mouse. The prototype provides users with both visual (font size and color) and audio aid and caters to those potential impairments of the players. Provided below is the storyboard design for the prototype.

Bugs not addressed:

· Sound distorting

· Player may lose the game when the play button is clicked.

· Not all the scenarios in level have been programmed.

The above will not be present in the full version of the game, however since this is a prototype we value any input that you may have to cater to your desired needs.

Course Flow – Base Knowledge Module U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Boating Skills & Seamanship Course

Welcome & Introduction

Module Main Menu

Chapter 6 Objectives

Lesson Lesson

Lesson Lesson

Lessons Formative

Quiz

Lesson Lesson

Lesson Lesson

Lessons FINAL ASSESSMENT Completion of All Knowledge

Chapters

Remediation

Remediation w/Instructor

13 Chapters Total in Knowledge Module

Course Tutorial

To Scenario Exercises

Course Flow – Base Knowledg e Module

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Boa ting Skills & Seamanship Course

Welcome &

Introduction

Module

Main

Menu

Chapter 6

Objectives

Lesson

Lesson

Lesson

Lesson

Lessons

Formative

Quiz

Lesson

Lesson

Lesson

Lesson

Lessons

FINAL ASSESSMENT

Completion of

All Knowledge

Chapters

Remediation

Remediation

w/Instructor

13 Chapters Total in

Knowledge Module

Course

Tutorial

To Scenario

Exercises