Transfer of training

What is it about?

The article describes an empirical evaluation of the educational value of two commercial flight simulation games for F 16 flight performance. We evaluated Microsoft Flight Sim and Falcon 4.0 and found that both games teach some basic flight skills but gamers who had been playing Falcon 4.0 also acquired typical military (F 16) flight skills.

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Why is it important?

Studying the validity of simulation and games for education is paramount: some simulation and games may have a authentic look and feel but nevertheless have a negative impact on skill development. Traditional transfer studies are time consuming, expensive and complex, especially when it concerns rare or dangerous tasks. We have used a different approach with pre-existing groups and compared their performance on a hight fidelity flight simulator with control group. This is more efficient method and works well as a first step in the validation process. In addition, it shows that even when games are not embedded in a formal instructional program, they can have an educational value.