US Airmen Train With Avatar-based Counseling Platform

Image credit: U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Ilyana Escalona

The 82nd Training Wing Faculty Development Flight is teachingnew technical training instructors an old technique in a tried-and-true, yetinnovative way – simulation.

Airmen learn, during professional military education such asAirman Leadership School and the NCO academy, how to counsel young airmen oneverything from dress and appearance to customs and courtesy and a myriad ofother topics that might catch the attention of their leadership. But that formof counseling doesn’t necessarily mesh well with the type of counseling neededto help technical training students be successful in learning their craft.

Danny Taylor, chief of the faculty development trainingdevelopment element, said the traditional set-up for Basic Instructor Course(BIC) students to learn the concepts of academic counseling was accomplishedthrough lecture and then peer-to-peer sessions in which the participants wouldtake turns role playing the instructor-student interaction. The effectivenessof the technique was lacking, he said, because the BIC students were toofamiliar with one another, making it difficult to reach the end goal.

BIC students are provided an overview of the technology theyare about to experience during the roughly 10-minute simulation scenario, whichcan range in topics from suicide and depression to purposefully failing andmental aptitude. The system uses artificial intelligence and live inhibitorsinjected by a simulation specialist at another location.

While the sessions are meant to be realistic, the student isin control of the session as he or she can pause and resume the simulation asneeded and end the training once objectives are met.

The private sector has been using an avatar-based trainingmodule to teach counseling methods in a variety of settings and career fields,which has proved to be more effective, Taylor said. With the use of software, amonitor and webcam, students were able to interact with a behind-the-scenessimulated person who was being counseled.

“It puts it in a safe place,” he said. “The avatar is goingto challenge them, to throw things out there. If there is a multi-faceted issuegoing on, it’s going to challenge them to get to both parts. It’s going to keepgoing until they come to a resolution or until the instructor in the classroomdecides that the student has reached the mark.”

Taylor said a number of factors could lead to a technicaltraining student not performing well in their studies and hands-on practicums.He said it takes a good understanding of academic counseling to drill down tothe root cause of the performance issue. The BIC goal is to help newinstructors see the difference in approaches in regards to instructor andsupervisor roles.

Jeremie Canaday,faculty development chief, said most new instructors going through BIC arecoming straight from the field or operational Air Force, where their idea ofcounseling is discipline and “tough love.” The avatar-based teaching method, orimmersive counseling simulation, teaches them how to be more empathetic towardthe airman and use interpersonal skills to help them.

Two BIC groups have used the simulation trainer as part ofan early test bed to gauge whether or not students are using the counselingmethods taught throughout the course. Early indications showed the participantshad to pay closer attention to what the avatar was saying as well as read bodylanguage during the session.

After each counseling session round, time was blocked offfor BIC instructors and students to provide feedback on the technology as wellas the performance of the student. The faculty development leaders said theyhave been impressed by the technology and results thus far as BIC students haveperformed better in the simulated counseling sessions, and the time it takes toteach the counseling portion of the course has been reduced.

The hope is to continue the avatar-based counseling training for the 52 BIC classes scheduled in Fiscal Year 2020. Each class has 12 students.

Source: US Air Force