The Sat-Comms Game: teaching a complex subject for interdisciplinary audiences

Abstract

This paper addresses general space education for interdisciplinary audiences. In particular, this paper considers education in the field of Satellite Telecommunications (Sat-Comms). The challenge in presenting the field of sat-comms for effective learning is two-fold. Firstly, this field is interdisciplinary, the disciplines are coupled, and it is complex. Secondly, the typical audiences for this subject often have diverse backgrounds. Hence, a suitable teaching strategy is required, so that all students can learn from a training session. Publicly available sat-comms training is largely engineering focused. This study could not find suitable training for the purpose of interdisciplinary sat-comms education. Hence, to address this absence in available training, the author has created a workshop, which provides sat-comms education to interdisciplinary audiences. The workshop was empirically developed from the author’s experience at Inmarsat and at the International Space University. The workshop uses elements from Constructivist, Behaviourism, Cognitive, Connectivism, and Experiential learning theories. Furthermore, it was designed to be taught in person and online. The Sat-Comms Game was first trialled in an online format in 2021. The workshop worked well in engaging the participants during the session. Additionally, feedback on the workshop was positive. Hence, this trial indicated that the workshop could function logistically and engage people pedagogically. The author intends to conduct further trials and corresponding assessment methods to gauge the pedagogic effectivenes