Interdisciplinary research laboratory in didactics, education and training

OPTIMATTPRO

OPTIMATTPRO.Analysis of learning activity in a simulated and real training environment: the case of 1 or 4 horse carriage driving. Doctoral scholarship funded by the Institut Français du Cheval et de l'Equitation.

The aim of this research is to understand the effects of using a complex simulator environment for driving a 1 or 4 horse carriage - in a training situation with beginner drivers. This simulator environment articulates a video platform integrating a serious game, a reflexive simulator coupled with pedagogical situations in the field. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the process by which driving skills are developed, and to identify the potential of the various tools and training situations created to support this development. More generally, the aim is to contribute to technological and scientific reflection on the design and effects of simulator environments. The hypothesis that these environments enable the construction of a "sufficiently" analogous experience to that of a real situation (in its cognitive, interpretative and/or emotional dimensions) while manipulating the parameters of the situation supporting learning: eliminating risk, adjusting complexity in terms of temporality, extent of the environment, degree of difficulty of the problems encountered will be tested and discussed. A "problem-solving" simulator will also be designed and tested with different training groups, using iterative loops to stimulate the motor dimension, which is essential in the activity of driving in relation to trajectory intentions, the environment and the horses' involvement.