Game-based learning for better decision-making: A collision prevention training for maritime transportation engineering students

Ship collision is a form of maritime accident that possess great threats to transportation safety, economy, and human lives. Deck watchkeeping officers who oversee the safe navigation of the ships are responsible for preventing these collision accidents. Yet, most of the collisions are directly linked to the human errors onboard. One way to reduce these human errors is to train competent navigation officers for collision avoidance situations. However, training maritime students for complex collision situations is a challenging task. This study aims to examine if game-based learning (GBL) can help students to perform better in collision avoidance situations by providing them the necessary skills to properly identify risks, goals, and cues in collision situations. With this purpose, we developed a digital game-based decision-making training containing eight collisions at sea scenarios. The developed tool was then presented to maritime engineering students as supplementary training. Thirty undergraduate maritime transportation engineering students participated in the study. A pretest/posttest control group design was adopted to investigate the effects of GBL. Tests are conducted with the use of a full mission bridge simulator. Observed changes in situational awareness, decision making, navigation, and collision avoidance performance of the participants were analyzed. The results showed that the intervention group had small but significant improvements in all dimensions compared to the control group. Overall, the game-based decision-making training helped students to reach a better understanding of the related course material. Required efforts and challenges to develop and incorporate such training into the existing maritime curriculum are discussed