Engineering & Computer Simulations

Solutions-Creating Efficiency Through Innovation

Research and Development

In a global economy, our prosperity depends more than ever upon our capacity for innovation. At ECS, research is regarded as crucial to gain new knowledge and understanding of technologies, concepts and systems. By forming best-in-class partnerships with industry, government and academia, we provide expertise from all areas and broaden the dimensions of our own capabilities. ECS facilitates and stimulates collaborative efforts in applied research and development activities to advance the creation and transfer of new learning technologies in the United States. We use this knowledge to produce new or substantially improved materials, devices, products and processes that can be used to create new learning paradigms that will improve the effectiveness of our systems. Current research initiatives include:

Mobile Learning Architectures

These small personal computers are already being used in the field and there is great potential to deliver new mobile learning environments that provide contextual knowledge, training and performance support

Learner Tracking

The capture of assessment data ultimately ensures that training objectives are being met by the learner. The objectives in this project are to develop an assessment engine and data model that can be used in a range of learning systems to apprehend the different relationships between players, player actions, groups and group actions. From such data, patterns of routine cognitive activities can be discerned.

Delta3D - LMS/SCORM Integration

This project, funded through the Naval Education and Training Command was designed to investigate and validate technologies that could be used for integrating simulations into the Navy’s Integrated Learning Environment (ILE). From a technical perspective, it is attempting to identify the key interface points between simulation content and LMS environments, such as delivering simulation content to the learner, monitoring key interactions and performance within the simulation content and determining what the student should next experience within the continuum of training.

SCORM - Simulation Interface Standards

ECS is intimately familiar with SCORM and has worked with the SCORM architecture since its inception. Training Transformation and the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) initiative have been at the core of the ECS growth strategy. Currently, ECS is participating in a SCORM-Simulation Interface study group commissioned by the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC) and the Simulations Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO). This group is looking to standardize how simulations and games are launched and communicate with SCORM managed learning environments.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Standards

The notion of Intelligent Tutoring Systems has proven to be effective. The use of standards promises reduced cost and reuse for ITS. This program is leveraging SCORM and HLA standards to implement an ITS architecture for rapid development of simulation-based ITS. The feasibility and effectiveness of this architecture will be demonstrated by applying this architecture to implement ITS prototypes for both individual and team decision-making training prototypes.

Interactive Storytelling

Our primary objective of this project is to develop customized and individual training through the real-time adaptation of stories. Our approach is to design an architecture to support a “learning by doing” pedagogically appropriate sequence of events within a story.

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