Case Study:

The
Challenge

The Army contracted Keysight Technologies to manufacture replacements for two oscilloscopes (a bench oscilloscope and a hand-held/portable oscilloscope) used by the U. S. Army. VDL-5 Technologies was contracted by Keysight to provide the new Technical Manual for both oscilloscopes, and Epsilon XR was contracted by VDL-5 to provide operator and field maintenance training. Two-part delivery was required: instructor-led training (ILT) for insertion into initial entry training for repair technicians, and computer based-training (CBT) deployed via DVD-ROM.

Comprehensive New Equipment Training (NET) provided to Advanced Individual Training (AIT) and personnel in Army units

Our
Approach

We were able to leverage Army experience in our staff to quickly understand the nature of the training development challenge, and through a series of iterations, were able to provide both ILT and CBT solutions that met their needs and exceeded their expectations. For the ILT course development, we were obligated to use the Army Training Development Capability (TDC) tool to enter lesson plan information for all courses. We provided scalable e-learning using Adobe Captivate as our development tool for the CBT courses.

Solutions
Provided

For each oscilloscope, we delivered an Operator course (ILT and CBT), a Field Maintenance course (ILT and CBT), and a test lesson with a test bank (ILT only). Total duration of all courses with exam lessons is 37 hours. Course development for each oscilloscope was outlined and governed by development and delivery of a Training Program Support Document and an Instructional Media Design document.

We were able to quickly learn the TDC tool and provide instructor-led lessons that could easily be integrated into the Training Support Package for the target occupational specialties. For the ILT courses, we also provided a test bank that could generate additional randomized tests in addition to the three test versions we supplied in the original test lesson submission.

For the CBT courses, we covered the same material as the ILT course, but modified the sequencing to accommodate for CBT deployment. We used video to address remove and install procedures in the Field Maintenance CBT courses, and used emulated interactions with the equipment to demonstrate and reinforce procedural compliance.

The
Results

ILT course materials were implemented into the training support packages (TSP) for Advanced Individual Training for Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 94E, 94F, 94R, 94M, 94S (Operator) and 94H (Field Maintenance) in parallel with initial fielding of the equipment to units and the service school. This fielding plan ensures that new equipment training is properly implemented in the training base for Soldiers who will encounter the new equipment upon arrival at their first permanent duty station.

Operator CBT DVD were pre-packaged into the OS-305/U and OS-307/U Oscilloscope Sets for initial new equipment fielding. Field Maintenance CBT DVD were shipped to units with MOS 94H personnel who would perform field level maintenance on the new equipment. The DVD packaging and shipment ensures that current personnel in the aforementioned MOS receive training on the new equipment as it arrives in their units.