COAST – Centre of Excellence in Maritime Simulator Training and Assessment

The maritime industry in Norway is the second largest industry by trade just after oil and gas. It plays a pivotal role in the economy thereby seeking utmost significance from all stakeholders to ensure its sustainable growth. Continuous innovation in educational programs, research and development is the foremost necessity in increasing competence and value creation in the industry. The Centre of Excellence in Maritime Simulator Training and Assessment (COAST) aims to support the competency development of future maritime professionals by integrating state-of-the-art solutions to Maritime Education & Training (MET). The long-term vision of COAST is to become an internationally recognized hub as the leader for education and research for MET. In order to accomplish this goal, the outputs of the first 5-year phase will be disseminated and communicated to all maritime training facilities across the world. 

The centre seeks to implement a series of strategies aimed at developing a culture of innovation that supports simulator-based training and assessment practices. The students, along with instructors, researchers, alumni, academic and industrial partners will be involved in developing a “Community of learners” to manoeuvre state-of-the-art knowledge, create interventions and implement novel simulation practices for training and assessment in the maritime domain.

The vision and mission of the Centre of Excellence in Maritime Simulator Training and Assessment (COAST) are described as follows:

Vision: To be a leading provider of simulator training and assessment methods for maritime education

Mission: To promote student-centred learning through simulator-based education.

The research literature from the domain of Maritime Education & Training (MET) suggests that there is an increasing need for understanding how the student and instructor use and experiences simulators as a means of training and assessment. COAST will investigate how the transformations in simulator training and assessment practices affect students and instructors in MET. COAST has four focus areas: 1) Synergistic simulation curriculum, 2) Innovation in simulator training and assessment methods, 3) Student engagement and 4) Organizational development in Maritime Education and Training. The centre will employ a series of strategies aimed at developing a culture of innovation that supports simulator-based training and assessment practices. The students, along with instructors, researchers, alumni, academic and industrial partners will be involved in developing a “Community of learners” to evaluate state-of-the-art, create interventions and evaluate novel simulation practices for training and assessment.