Situation Awareness and Dynamic Performance Training Systems: Some Reflections on the Literature

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Gerson

The majority of the literature on situation awareness is focused on its perceptual definition and modeling. In contrast, this presentation focuses on the importance of training simulation systems in increasing the potential for good situation awareness. Situation awareness is defined as an evaluative product based on expert performance criteria. A conventional information processing model is used to represent situation awareness as a generalized concept and modified for specific applications. Three salient factors affecting quality situation awareness are discussed: 1) high fidelity procedural training, 2) expert knowledge and experience, and 3) the strong indeterminates of attitude and emotional state. Additional issues are discussed, including: a developmental verses a gestalt framework for the perceptual process; information processing capacities; automaticity skills; traditional verses transactional training; the novice/expert relationship; expert and novice decision making; training device fidelity and ethnographic concerns; the dimension of unpredictability; inherent psychological abilities; and workload.

Author(s):  
Maia Popova ◽  
Tamera Jones

Representational competence is one's ability to use disciplinary representations for learning, communicating, and problem-solving. These skills are at the heart of engagement in scientific practices and were recognized by the ACS Examinations Institute as one of ten anchoring concepts. Despite the important role that representational competence plays in student success in chemistry and the considerable number of investigations into students’ ability to reason with representations, very few studies have examined chemistry instructors’ approaches toward developing student representational competence. This study interviewed thirteen chemistry instructors from eleven different universities across the US about their intentions to develop, teach, and assess student representational competence skills. We found that most instructors do not aim to help students develop any representational competence skills. At the same time, participants’ descriptions of their instructional and assessment practices revealed that, without realizing it, most are likely to teach and assess several representational competence skills in their courses. A closer examination of these skills revealed a focus on lower-level representational competence skills (e.g., the ability to interpret and generate representations) and a lack of a focus on higher-level meta-representational competence skills (e.g., the ability to describe affordances and limitations of representations). Finally, some instructors reported self-awareness about their lack of knowledge about effective teaching about representations and the majority expressed a desire for professional development opportunities to learn about differences in how experts and novices conceptualize representations, about evidence-based practices for teaching about representations, and about how to assess student mastery of representational competence skills. This study holds clear implications for informing chemistry instructors’ professional development initiatives. Such training needs to help instructors take cognizance of relevant theories of learning (e.g., constructivism, dual-coding theory, information processing model, Johnstone's triangle), and the key factors affecting students’ ability to reason with representations, as well as foster awareness of representational competence skills and how to support students in learning with representations.


2021 ◽  
pp. 009365022199531
Author(s):  
Tess van der Zanden ◽  
Maria B. J. Mos ◽  
Alexander P. Schouten ◽  
Emiel J. Krahmer

This study investigates how online dating profiles, consisting of both pictures and texts, are visually processed, and how both components affect impression formation. The attractiveness of the profile picture was varied systematically, and texts either included language errors or not. By collecting eye tracking and perception data, we investigated whether picture attractiveness determines attention to the profile text and if the text plays a secondary role. Eye tracking results revealed that pictures are more likely to attract initial attention and that more attractive pictures receive more attention. Texts received attention regardless of the picture’s attractiveness. Moreover, perception data showed that both the pictorial and textual cues affect impression formation, but that they affect different dimensions of perceived attraction differently. Based on our results, a new multimodal information processing model is proposed, which suggests that pictures and texts are processed independently and lead to separate assessments of cue attractiveness before impression formation.


Author(s):  
Caroline M. Leaf ◽  
Brenda Louw ◽  
Isabel Uys

The current article suggests that alternatives to the current traditional learning methods are essentials if learning institutions are to provide people with effective life skills that enable them to be autonomous learners. This suggestion is based on a body of literature on alternative learning which stresses the need for fundamental change and hence, a paradigm shift in perception of learning in order to cope with the world-wide information explosion. The alternative non-traditional approach proposed in geodesic learning which stresses learning how to learn and self-directed inquiry as essential life skills which enable systems as well as the people in the systems to bring about their own transformation in response to changing situations and requirements. The current article discusses an alternative service delivery model, the geodesic information processing model, which falls within the realms of the geodesic philosophy. The implications of this alternative approach for the speech-language therapist are discussed.


Author(s):  
Swaroop S. Vattam ◽  
Michael Helms ◽  
Ashok K. Goel

Biologically inspired engineering design is an approach to design that espouses the adaptation of functions and mechanisms in biological sciences to solve engineering design problems. We have conducted an in situ study of designers engaged in biologically inspired design. Based on this study we develop here a macrocognitive information-processing model of biologically inspired design. We also compare and contrast the model with other information-processing models of analogical design such as TRIZ, case-based design, and design patterns.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emad Mohamed ◽  
Parinaz Jafari ◽  
Ahmed Hammad

PurposeThe bid/no-bid decision is critical to the success of construction contractors. The factors affecting the bid/no-bid decision are either qualitative or quantitative. Previous studies on modeling the bidding decision have not extensively focused on distinguishing qualitative and quantitative factors. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to improve the bidding decision in construction projects by developing tools that consider both qualitative and quantitative factors affecting the bidding decision.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes a mixed qualitative-quantitative approach to deal with both qualitative and quantitative factors. The mixed qualitative-quantitative approach is developed by combining a rule-based expert system and fuzzy-based expert system. The rule-based expert system is used to evaluate the project based on qualitative factors and the fuzzy expert system is used to evaluate the project based on the quantitative factors in order to reach the comprehensive bid/no-bid decision.FindingsThree real bidding projects are used to investigate the applicability and functionality of the proposed mixed approach and are tested with experts of a construction company in Alberta, Canada. The results demonstrate that the mixed approach provides a more reliable, accurate and practical tool that can assist decision-makers involved in the bid/no-bid decision.Originality/valueThis study contributes theoretically to the body of knowledge by (1) proposing a novel approach capable of modeling all types of factors (either qualitative or quantitative) affecting the bidding decision, and (2) providing means to acquire, store and reuse expert knowledge. Practical contribution of this paper is to provide decision-makers with a comprehensive model that mimics the decision-making process and stores experts' knowledge in the form of rules. Therefore, the model reduces the administrative burden on the decision-makers, saves time and effort and reduces bias and human errors during the bidding process.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document