Conducting a Simulation Exercise

The simulation session comprises 4 main components:

 Briefing
 Planning
 Simulation Exercise
 Debriefing

Setting the Scene

The comfort level of the participants is one of the most crucial factors in successful
simulation training. The simulation exercise or the training programme must be viewed
not in isolation but in the context of the continual development of professional
competence for an individual. For the participants to be receptive to the positive aspects
of the programme, the simulation exercises must be viewed as a journey of discovery
along a path of accumulated experience rather than as a unique and unconnected
incident. The simulation exercises should not be viewed as if an individual is being picked
up and placed in a series of experiments or tests in which he is being forced to perform a
set of responses. The experience of the simulation programme should be understood and
regarded as an opportunity to hone skills and reflect on performance for continuous
improvement.

It is critical that the simulator instructor understands the participant as a professional

who brings with him to the simulation programme a wealth of knowledge, varied
experiences, attitudes and beliefs. Due respect to the professionalism of the individual is
required and the instructor should aim to find out as much about the participant as is
possible. It is only when this atmosphere of respect and trust is built up between
instructor and participants that the simulation exercises will be successful.

Understanding the Individual

Based on a number of individual factors, each person will react differently to the
simulation exercise. Some of the factors to be considered are:

 Age
 Rank
 Years of experience
 Competence
 Nationality
 Incidents on board
 Perception of self
 General attitude towards learning
 Reason for attending the programme (mandatory for certification; company
specific; individual choice; for assessment; for career promotion, for professional
development)
 Earlier experiences on a simulator programme
 Professional Development and
Competence Enhancement
 Simulator exercises
 The exercises in areas - Standard manoeuvres, Wind and current effects and
Shallow-water effects - will need to be structured to demonstrate the particular
effects.

 It is important to use the briefing period to explain the purpose of the exercises
and precisely what is to be done, what records are to be kept and how the results
should be presented. An overhead projector is a useful training aid during these
briefings; copies of the transparencies used can be given to the trainees for
reference during the exercises.

 In areas - Anchoring and single-buoy mooring and Planning and carrying out a
voyage in normal and emergency situations - the briefing will take the form of a
statement of the initial conditions (time, position, course, speed, etc. or the berth
where the ship is moored) and instructions regarding the manoeuvre or the
passage to be made. The planning, preparation and how the desired result is to
be achieved will form part of the exercise to be undertaken by the trainees.

 Instructors should ensure that exercises are carried out with due regard to safe
navigational practice and in full compliance with COLREG 1972. The use of
checklists as an aid to preparation should be encouraged. A copy of the ICS Bridge
Procedures Guide, which contains appropriate checklists, should be available
during planning and the exercises.

 During each exercise, one trainee should assume the role of master, with the
responsibility of ensuring that the requirements of the exercises are properly
carried out. The other members of the bridge team should be engaged in the
exercise as actively as possible. In normal and critical situations the bridge team
should demonstrate the principles of Bridge Resource Management.

 Preparing and conducting simulator exercises

 The exercises should produce the greatest impression of realism. Exceptions may
be made for the demonstration of particular effects.

 At the beginning of the course the exercises should be simple, so that trainees
can appreciate the realism of the simulator. The exercises should become more
complicated as the course progresses. However, exercises should not be so
complicated that trainees would have difficulty in carrying out the tasks required.
Instructors should avoid inducing trainees to make mistakes in the early part of
the course as this serves only to embarrass them and to destroy their confidence
e.g.in their ship-handling ability.

 The aim of the course is to provide training in ship handling under normal and
emergency conditions. Trainees should be allowed to develop a satisfactory level
of competence under normal conditions before the introduction of emergency
situations resulting from the breakdown of engines or other equipment.

 Exercise scenarios

 The choice of scenario is governed by the simulator facilities available. However,

the following scenarios are recommended.
 
 Coastal scenario

 The coastal scenario should be used for the familiarization exercises, which are
designed to make the trainees familiar with the bridge layout and equipment and
to allow them some initial hands-on experience in handling the ship. The
manoeuvring trials should also make use of the coastal scenario, which should
have an area in which shallow-water manoeuvres can be conducted.

 Restricted-water scenario

 This scenario should start where the coastal scenario ends and gradually become
more narrow. The scenario should end at the harbour scenario. The restricted-
water scenario will be used for much of the time and should contain a traffic
separation scheme (TSS) and a vessel traffic service (VTS).

 Harbour scenario

 The harbour scenario should start at the docks and go via narrow channels to join
the restricted-water scenario.

 Monitoring of exercises

 During exercises the instructor will be responsible for monitoring and sailing the
target ships, recording the exercise and making a summary for the purposes of
debriefing. Trainees will expect target ships to act in compliance with COLREG
1972, and the instructor should control the target ships accordingly.

 However, even an experienced instructor may occasionally fail to comply when
controlling a number of targets, and any resulting incidents should be recorded
and dealt with at the debriefing. This is realistic inasmuch as some ships do fail to
comply with the regulations.

 The second instructor should monitor the trainees at work. His task will vary
according to the trainees' abilities and competence. At first he may find it
necessary to assist and guide the trainees; later, he should follow their work
closely, but should avoid interrupting them and instead make a summary for the
purposes of debriefing.

Role Play and Responsibilities

Assignment of Role

The assignment of role is to be carefully considered. If information has been provided

prior to the conduct of the course, then the roles may be assigned earlier. However, if
they are carried out at the time of the briefing then due regard may be made to factors
such as age, rank, past experience (type of vessel/operation/equipment), apparent
confidence level of the participant, and dynamics of the group.

Particular care should be taken for assignment of role for the first main exercise after the
familiarization. The initial exercise will require a greater depth of explanation and
motivation levels and the mindset of the participants will be at varying levels. Some
participants may be super keen, others skeptical, overconfident or fearful. Early
identification of the mind frame of the participants will help the instructor work
appropriately with each participant. The leadership or main role for the first exercise is
usually assigned to an individual who appears to be balanced and confident or who may
have more experience.
It is not always helpful to place the most senior or dominant member of the group in
charge of the first exercise as they will have the tendency to dominate the rest of the
group and hinder contribution from others.

Similarly it is generally helpful to refrain from giving the “command” to a participant who
appears to be lacking in confidence or hesitant. This individual may need to participate in
one or two exercises before he feels ready to lead the team.

It is important to set some ground rules regarding the conduct of the simulation which
would include fulfilling the role as assigned and respecting the roles given to others. This
would be particularly important for groups with mixed ranks/level of seniority. The
seriousness of the simulation exercise in terms of playing the role as expected is to be
reinforced at this stage.
Notes

Role of the Facilitating Team

The number of facilitators available for conducting and monitoring the simulation
exercise will largely be dependent on cost, availability of trained/expert individuals and
the level of complexity of the simulation exercise.

For single task or part task, process oriented and basic operations and familiarization one
facilitator or instructor who controls the instructor station as well as acts as a technical
observer would be sufficient, however if the group size is large then an additional
instructor would be beneficial to provide individualized attention to the participants.

However for more complex operations and scenarios in which there are multiple players,
team roles, multi-tasking and often trouble shooting, crisis or emergency situations a
team approach is desirable:

 An instructor to monitor and control the instructor station

 An instructor for role playing of other onboard/external parties as required
 A specially trained psychologist for observation of soft skills, group dynamics, etc.
 An additional technical observer would also be ideal for large scale simulations if
possible and practicable.

The instructor playing the role of the other parties may have various “hats” to wear:
onboard crew/officers; company DP, VTS, media persons, superintendents, tug masters,
shore-based personnel. This instructor is to be clear about the extent of
information/assistance to be provided to the participants during the exercise. For
leadership or advanced level programmes, a non-cooperative or disruptive role may be
required to add an additional dimension to handling an incident. The level of realism is to
be maintained to assist the participants in immersing themselves into the simulation
experience.

The use of one of the participants as an “observer” is encouraged as it has a number of

advantages and develops the skill of analytical peer evaluation. Any participant acting as
an observer though, must be provided with guidelines for an objective observation,
parameters for evaluation to be provided and reinforcement made that this is not a
blaming or fault finding exercise.
Notes

Four Components of the Simulation Session

Preparation Prior to Carrying Out the Briefing Session
It is important to have a checklist for planning and execution of the simulation exercise.
The instructor worksheet should include not only the pertinent parameters for the
simulation exercise but also all additional equipment, material, etc., which may be
utilized by the participant during the session. This may include: publications, manuals,
and charts, logbooks, stationery, etc.

The environment and ambience of the simulation space will have an impact on creating a
sense of realism and encouraging the participants to immerse themselves into the
simulation experience.

Depending on the design and availability of control over the environment due attention
should be made to the levels of:

 Heating/cooling of the area: an engine-room space may have an increased

ambient temperature than the engine control room.
 Lighting: reflective of the time of day, weather conditions, actual lighting
arrangements in the real world.
 Noise: the addition of aural cues for the participant is important as these
environmental factors form a part of conscious/unconscious monitoring and
assessment of the situation. Feedback in the form of engine noise and equipment
sound, weather conditions, ambient noise from the surrounding area, etc., is
desirable and should be as close to reality as possible.
 Vibration.

Briefing
The briefing is to be thoroughly thought out and planned prior to the session. It is not a
hurried, rushed brief summary of what is supposed to happen, but is a structured and
systematic introduction to the exercise, the objectives of the session, the way it is to be
covered and the expectations for the conduct of the session.

Points to be included in the Briefing will include:

 Setting out the objectives of the simulation exercise

 Explaining the simulation scenario
 Explaining the plan for the exercise
 Listing all the relevant parameters, conditions, limits, etc.
 Explaining the starting conditions for the exercise
 Informing about any incidents and events which are to occur
 Clarifying which standard operations/procedures are to be followed: e.g. company
procedures, international or national guidelines, manufacturer instructions, etc.
 Assignment of roles and providing detailed instructions for each role as
appropriate
 Explaining about the type and format of the assessment and evaluation to be
conducted
 Clarification of whether evaluation of performance will be individual/team
 Ground rules for the conduct of the exercise.

Planning

Ample time must be dedicated for the students for the thorough planning of the exercise.
The success of the simulation exercise is directly proportional to the time spent in
planning.

Planning can be carried out in 2 stages:

 Detailed operational and procedural planning

 Role playing prior to commencement of the exercise
The detailed operational and procedural planning will comprise all aspects of the task to
be completed. Decisions either singularly for single tasks exercises, or group wise for
team exercises, regarding plan of action, chronological introduction of events, record
keeping, etc., will be covered. At this stage the instructor (s) has the option of purely
observing or providing inputs, where felt necessary. An example of a plan for a deck
watch-keeper student could be to submit a proposed passage plan for the exercise.
Details of exercise parameters such as weather, tide, current, traffic movements,
navigation aids and dangers along the route should be provided. Engineer watch-keepers
could be required to prepare an operational checklist for an engine starting exercise.
Operational manuals should be available.

Immediately prior to the commencement of a team exercise, a second level of planning

will take place which will form a brief planning meeting in which the participants in role,
mirror the planning meeting which would take place on board. The meeting is to be led
by the individual who is performing the lead role in the exercise. The expectations,
duties, responsibilities, instructions and procedures to be followed by the team members
are to be spelt out. This also forms a critical part of the simulation exercise because
critical information or instructions missed out at this stage, lack of clear communication,
lack of clarity of roles, etc., can be significant contributory factors to the performance of
the operation and will be an important point of discussion during the debriefing stage. It
is important to note that this important aspect of planning is sometimes missed out
altogether or brushed over hurriedly and yet is a key part of the process. The
instructor(s) would almost always not interfere or interject during this planning meeting
unless absolutely necessary.

Familiarization

The first exercise in the programme is usually the familiarization session where the
participants acquaint themselves with the simulator. It is of vital importance that the
participants are given adequate time to familiarize themselves with the features,
equipment, controls and operation of the simulator. If the confidence of the participant is
not gained at this initial stage, then it will be difficult to convince them that realistic
training can be conducted in such an environment. The limitations of the equipment
must also be demonstrated so that the participants are clear on the parameters in which
they are operating and the use of compensatory cues to overcome any lack of reality can
be introduced at this stage.

During the Simulation Exercise

The key to an effective instructor is to finding a balance between letting the simulation
exercise run without interference and injecting inputs when required. There is no right or
wrong method in this, but sound judgement is required from the instructor to assess the
most appropriate course of action at the time.

It is advisable to stick to the plan; however, there is a need to be flexible and open to any
situation which may arise. A decision at the exercise creation stage would have already
taken place as to how much to “load” the participants, however an instructor may decide
to lighten or increase the load during the course of the exercise and the advantage of
simulation technology is that the course of events can be guided to some extent by an
experienced instructor. For example, if an individual is moving at slower speed than
expected and a resultant close quarter situation is unlikely to occur, an instructor in role
can encourage the participant to speed up by informing that the pilot pick up time has
been pre-poned. However, at all times the specific objectives of the exercise are to be
borne in mind. An instructor would typically have a full repertoire of faults that can be
injected into the exercise at any time. Care should be taken that an over-zealous
instructor does not fall into the trap of endlessly introducing series of faults without any
real reason. It must be borne in mind that the simulator is a tool which can enhance
performance but conversely can also crush confidence in an individual.
It is also at the discretion of the instructor to provide technical stimuli and cues during
the exercise. If required this may be done directly, either in response to a request from a
participant or if the instructor feels it is required. An experienced instructor may also be
skilled enough to be able to introduce the cue without the participant actually being
aware, for instance he may role play and provide additional information to the participant
as if it were the natural course of the exercise.

The parameters to be monitored, recorded and analysed will be set at the simulation
creation stage and checklists for the same are to be created. Other critical parameters
such as communication, orders, instructions and guidance, observation regarding the
functioning of the team, detours from standard procedures, etc., should be noted as
the exercise is in progress. If available, the psychologist, otherwise the technical
instructor, would be focusing on a range of soft skills including leadership qualities,
communication skills, planning and delegation, signs of stress and anxiety, etc. The use
of plotters, printers, data recorders and logs are key tools to assist in accurate recording
of information and action taken which can be closely reviewed during the debriefing.

“Abort Point”

There may be a point in the exercise where the instructor decides that it is best to abort
and either restart the exercise completely or take the scenario back in time to a
particular point.

Usually, this decision would lie with the facilitating team in discussion with the
participants but there are exceptional circumstances where the request may come
directly from the participants.

The decision to abort would be in consideration of:

 Whether the objectives of the exercise are clearly not going to be met
 Whether the objectives have already been met
 The consequences of the simulation exercise have the potential to damage the
participant psychologically, if things seem to be going too far out of hand
 Disruption, disturbance or non-cooperation amongst team members
 Realism not achieved due to lack of seriousness from one or more team members
 Despite pre-planning appears to be overload or under load for the participants.

Debriefing

The debrief is arguably the most critical part of the simulation exercise. This is the
platform where the students are able to review their performance, evaluate whether they
have met the training objectives, reflect on whether the action taken was appropriate
and recommend changes which can be made. Creating a “no-blame” but “wanting to
learn” environment at this point is crucial.

Goals of Debriefing

The goal of the debrief session is to provide an opportunity for the performance of the
participants to be reviewed. It is important that the training objectives and parameters
set at the start of the exercise are borne in mind, otherwise there is a danger that the
debrief session could go off track and lose its focus.

An effective debriefing session works on the principle of learning from experience with a
positive and objective analysis of how things could have been improved. Indeed, the
skills which are employed in successful debriefing sessions are those which, when
transferred to shipboard experience, are going to be significant in continuing professional
development and striving for excellence – so the ability to analytically evaluate
performance and set goals for self improvement is an extremely valuable and useful
generic skill to develop in seafarers.
Planning Debriefing

As with the rest of the simulator exercise, debriefing needs a level of pre-planning.

1. Location – the ideal set up would comprise a room which has the facility to
playback the simulation exercise: through video and software; however, this will
naturally depend on the nature of the simulator set up. If this is not available,
then it is usually advisable to conduct at least some of the debrief close to the
instructor unit which would have a playback feature and where actions taken,
etc., can be reviewed.
2. Gathering data – all relevant information by the trainer and the students must
be gathered – documents, video records, log, check list, printouts, rough notes,
charts, etc., this provides for objective feedback based on facts rather than
opinion. It also helps them to re-think and reevaluate their plan of action in more
practical and data- based ways.
3. It is ideal to give the students a gap-period before discussion of events for
reflecting, reviewing and jotting down their points for discussion.

Conducting the Debrief

1. Setting the Tone

It may be reiterated to the students at the start of the debrief that the group is
requested to work in a no blame culture, that the goal is to learn from their actions, that
due respect for each other is important and that comments and inputs should, as much
as possible, be backed up with objective evidence and be factual in nature. The focus to
be on constructive suggestions.

2. Structuring the Debrief

Although not a hard and fast rule, it is often helpful to have the participant who played
the “lead” role in the simulation to provide the first input with their comments and
thoughts. If necessary, the trainer may need to facilitate this with some leading
questions. The trainer will also need to guide the discussion to ensure that positive and
constructive comments are brought out.

External and Internal factors Affecting the

Simulation Session
External Factors Effecting the Simulation Session

1. Where the session falls in relation to the overall course (initial session, middle or
final)
2. Time of day
3. The proceeding activity

Due attention should be made to these factors as they can have some influence on the
mindset of the students. Counteracting any negative fallout will be important. For
instance, if it is getting late at the end of a long day, you may wish to structure the
debrief so that it does not drag for too long.

Internal Factors Effecting the Simulation Session

1. The appropriateness of the simulation exercise to fulfill the

objectives of the session
 2. Group Dynamics
3. The relationship formed between the instructor and the participants

Preparation both Technically and Psychologically for

Simulation Session
Understanding the group members

Preparation for a simulation exercise will require the participants to be primed on two
accounts:

Technically: any necessary underpinning knowledge or particular technical information

which is required for successful conduct of the simulation exercise should be covered
prior to the simulation session. The main focus of simulation is not the acquisition of
technical knowledge but the ability to apply it in real time in context.

Psychologically: the context of the simulation session, the relevance to real life
operations and the specific objectives of the session are to be clearly communicated to
participants. Focus should be placed on making the participants feel comfortable and
having the mindset that the simulation exercise is an effective vehicle for them to
practise application of knowledge, skills and attitude and gain professional competence.