5.

Conducting a Simulation
Exercise

Richard Dunham
 Introduction
• Remember 4 components

– Briefing
– Planning
– Simulation Exercise
– Debriefing
 Preparation
• Instructor worksheet should detail additional
materials to run the exercise
• Environment realistic (hot/cold, day/night)
• Noise (external to the simulator)
• Vibration(?)
 External factors affecting
simulation
• Session in the course (1st, middle, last?)
• Time of day
• Proceeding activity
• Next activity
 Internal factors affecting
simulation
• Appropriateness of the exercise
• Group Dynamics
• Relationship between students and
instructor(s)
• Number of students in each simulator
• Roles appropriate to tasks
 Group members
• Participants primed in two areas
– Technically
• UPK or technical knowledge that must be covered
before the exercise –NB application of technical
knowledge not acquisition of same
– Psychologically
• Context relevance and objectives clearly
communicated.
 Setting the scene
• Simulation should be seen as an opportunity
to practice and hone skills

• Got to tell the participants what skills could be

practiced and honed

• Exercises should not be seen as a series of

experiments in which student is forced to
perform but as a step in journey of learning
 Understanding the
individual
• Each person will react differently, so consider:
– Age
– Rank
– Years of experience
– Competence
– Nationality
– Incidents on board
– Perception of self
– General attitude towards learning
– Reason for attending the course
– Earlier experiences with simulation
 Briefing
• Prepare, don’t hurry.
• Structured and systematic introduction to the
exercise, the way it is to be covered, and the
expectations for the session
• Consider the following:-
 Briefing
• Setting out the objectives of the exercise
• Explain the scenario
• Explain the plan for the exercise
• List parameters, conditions, limits
• Explain the starting conditions
• Inform about incidents that are expected to occur
• Clarify any SOPs to be used
• Assign roles, and provide instruction for each role as
required
• Explain the assessment and evaluation to be carried out
• Ground rules for conducting the exercise
 Assignment of Role
• Consider where the exercise fits in the
programme
• Do you put the dominant student in charge
preventing others from contributing?
• Do you put the unsure student in charge with
the potential to wreck self-confidence?
• Ground rules concerning role play – play the
part of the assigned role
 The facilitating team
• How many? (cost, availability, room)
• Could consist of
– Instructor to monitor the exercise
– Instructor to play on-board and external parties as
required
– Psychologist for observation of soft skills and team
dynamics
– Additional technical observer for large scale
simulations
 Planning
• Ample time allowed
• 2 Stages
– Operational and procedural planning
• Instructor chooses to provide guidance or purely
observe.
– Role playing before exercise starts
• Pre-sail/arrival briefing?
 Familiarisation
• The first exercise in a programme should be a
familiarisation exercise.

• Participants given adequate time to learn

operation of equipment

• Without that – loss of confidence which may

never be regained.
 During the Exercise
• Balance between letting exercise run and
providing inputs
• Student load designed in, but intervention to
ensure load achieved?
• Stimuli provided by instructor to ensure
exercise remains on track
• Checklist for what to notice? What to record?
 Abort point
• Do you reset the exercise hen it has all gone wrong?
• Consider
– Whether the exercise objectives are clearly not going to be
met
– Whether the objectives have already been met
– Psychological damage to the participant if the exercise
continues
– Disruption, disturbance or non-cooperation amongst team
members
– Realism not achieved due to lack of seriousness from team
– Exercise plan appears to over-load or under-load
participants.
 Debrief
• Most crucial part of the exercise
• Students review their own performance
• Evaluate if meeting objectives
• Reflect on appropriate action

• Create “no-blame” but “want-to-learn”

environment
 Debrief
• Goals
– To provide an opportunity for the performance of
participants to be reviewed.
– Bear in mind exercise objectives

– Works on the principle of learning from

experience
– Positive objective analysis of improvements
 Debrief
• Planning
– Location … part of simulator suite
– Gathering data – Documents, charts, logs, notes,
to provide facts not opinion
– Gap period before debrief to allow students to
reflect on their own performance
Conducting the Debrief
• Setting the tone
– Remind group of no blame scenario
– Goal to learn from actions
– Respect
– Comments based on fact
– Constructive suggestions
Conducting the Debrief
• Structure
– “lead” role to explain actions
• Comments from rest of team
– Trainer low key to allow peer review, guiding
discussion with careful questions
– Pre-plan areas to look at based on exercise
objectives
 Conducting the Debrief
• Elements for evaluation
– Must include whether students met objectives within
acceptable limits. Consider
• Degree of accuracy
• Time to respond
• Procedures and practices followed
• Communications channels used
• Clarity of instructions to the team
• Organisation of operations/tasks
• Understanding of basic principles
• Application of knowledge to situation
• Task prioritisation
• Trouble shooting
• Judgement and decision making
• etc
 Debrief
• Time Allocation
– Generous time available
– Rushed debrief = poor learning
– Plan in as part of the programme
 Debrief
• Summarising and Goal setting
– To ensure long term development a structured
documented summary is useful
– Individual or personal goals?
– Documented direction for further work?
– Common weaknesses
– Specific weaknesses