Impact of simulation fidelity on student self-efficacy and perceived skill development in maritime training

Maritime education and training (MET) has a long tradition of using simulator training to develop competent seafarers and relevant seafaring skills. In a safety critical domain like maritime industry, simulators provide opportunities to acquire technical, procedural and operational skills without the risks and expense associated with on-the-job training. In such training, computer-generated simulations and simulators with higher realism are inferred to better training outcomes. This realism, or the extent to which simulators replicate the experience of a real work environment, is referred to as the “fidelity” of a simulator. As the simulation technology develops, the maritime industry adapts to more advanced, higher fidelity simulators. However, the cost of a simulator generally increases with increasing fidelity, and thus practical and economic constraints must be considered. In this paper, we investigated two types of simulators on perceived skill development of the students at engine room simulation training. We compared the self-efficacy levels of 11 second year marine engineering students and their perceived skill development between two different fidelity engine room simulators. The result suggests that students have higher motivation and prefer to train with immersive training simulators compared to the traditional training. This article aims to add to existing knowledge on the influence of fidelity of simulators in training effectiveness in maritime education and training.