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The value of digital tutoring and accelerated expertise for military veterans

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Abstract

This report concerns use of a digital tutor to accelerate veterans’ acquisition of expertise and improve their preparation for the civilian workforce. As background, it briefly discusses the need to improve veterans’ employability, the technology of digital tutoring, its ability to produce advanced levels of technical expertise, and the design, development, and earlier assessment of a specific digital tutor, which motivated use of this tutor to develop veterans’ technical expertise and employability. The report describes the tutor’s use in an experimental program for veterans, an assessment of its success in preparing veterans for employment, and return on investment from its use compared to other investments in education and training.

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Notes

  1. Effect size is a descriptive (not inferential) statistic commonly used to estimate the magnitude or practical value of an effect such as an experimental treatment.

  2. Effect sizes for this report were calculated as Hedges g (Hedges 1981). Because discussion continues about the calculation of effect sizes, means reported in this document are followed by their standard deviations in parentheses, allowing readers to use alternate calculations of effect sizes.

  3. In keeping with Navy practice, “IT” in this report refers to Information Systems Technology and to Information Systems Technicians. Context should clarify which reference is intended.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs under IDA task AI-2-3599 and by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (P&R/TRS) under IDA Task BE-2-3831.

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  1. Institute for Defense Analyses, 4850 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA, 223311, USA

    J. D. Fletcher

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Correspondence to J. D. Fletcher.

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Fletcher, J.D. The value of digital tutoring and accelerated expertise for military veterans. Education Tech Research Dev 65, 679–698 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9504-z

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