Forest machine operator students’ experiences of simulation-based learning

Simulation-based learning (SBL) is widely used in different contexts where the purpose is to learn and train professional skills. The aim of this qualitative study was to examine forest machine operator students’ meaningful learning experiences of skills training and performance, and guidance from the teacher and the simulator in a SBL session. Six operator students completed four tasks using the simulator under the teacher’s guidance. After the SBL session, the students watched the screenshot videos of the tasks, annotated meaningful learning experiences, and were interviewed about them. A thematic analysis was used. The findings showed that learning experiences of skills training and performance were mainly described through errors, whereas successes were rarely mentioned. The teacher’s guidance was perceived as advice and feedback which were considered useful and supportive for the learning and developing professional skills. The simulator’s guidance was also characterised through advice and feedback, but these were perceived as overly strict. The findings suggest that the teacher’s support is needed particularly in the initial phase of simulation training. It is important to foster the development of operator students’ self-assessment skills and to encourage them to be active and responsible in their learning of new skills in SBL sessions.