Assessment of Initial Delivery of the Armor Captains' Career Course (Distance Learning)

摘要

The U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) Armored Forces Research Unit (AFRU) at Fort Knox supports the U. S. Army Armor School (USAARMS) by conducting training research and development. The USAARMS has recently introduced a revised Armor Captains' Career Course (AC3), formerly known as the Armor Officers' Advanced Course (AOAC), for Reserve Component (RC) officers, delivered primarily through Distance Learning (DL). In June 1999, the Director of the USAARMS requested that the ARI AFRU at Fort Knox provide Technical Advisory Service to assist in assessment of the new AC3 DL program. The request referred specifically to an assessment of the Internet- delivered Phase IA portion of the course. Results of the assessment provide evidence that the course is at least equally effective in presenting material previously taught in the AOAC RC program. The research also identified additional material that the AC3 DL program covers, which was not included in the AOAC RC program. This report provides training developers and Army leaders with a better understanding of the capabilities and challenges of training programs such as AC3 DL. It also provides course design, development, and implementation insights which may be generalizable to a broad range of Internet- delivered DL programs.