Lethbridge College unveils judgement training simulators

It’s the first of its kind at any post-secondary institution in Western Canada.

Lethbridge College has unveiled its new Judgment Training Simulator – used to put students through more than 700 real-life scenarios.

According to Justice Studies Chair, Barb Mantello, the new addition is a huge benefit to students in several programs at Lethbridge College.

“Having students learn how to approach people and how to interact with people and how to engage in verbal commands, that’s really, really important in the policing field.”

As a student works through a scenario, the teacher has the ability to make the violator more or less compliant.  It allows the instructor the ability to pinpoint where the scenario goes, so they can improve the students weaknesses.  When the training session is finished, students can watch the footage to see what they did wrong.  It’s a method that is already paying dividends.

“What we’ve discovered is that a lot of the students believe that they’ve been using the skill sets that they’ve been taught in class, but when they go back and review the scenario they discover they’re not using them” said Mantello.

The simulator has only been in operation at Lethbridge College for about a month, but Mantello is are already noticing some students are finding it quite intimidating.

“You’re trying to anticipate somebody else’s actions and their reaction. They suffer a little loss of memory, some stress, some anxiety, and sweaty palms.”

In the future, the college hopes to create their own scenarios to add to the system.