Unique Learning TRAjectory (ULTRA) - A Revolutionary Approach For Personalized Training

ABSTRACT:We will design, prototype, and demonstrate the Unique Learning Trajectory (ULTRA) LMS. ULTRA will incorporate features from personalized medicine (PM). Two key PM features as applied to Air Force training are 1) a systems approach to capturing descriptors for each Airman and 2) big data analytics. Descriptors include person factors such as personality dispositions, gender, age, and interests. Descriptors also include situational factors such as the Airman's mission, recency and scores from past trainings, and the transfer environment. Big data analytics crunches through the resulting massive amounts of data to tease out nuances with regard to how to deliver the right training, at the right dosage, at the right time to each Airman. These analytics can also reveal data at the organizational level such as the optimal refresh rate for particular knowledge and skills within a career field. Moreover, ULTRA will provide hooks to enable any Air Force training system to adapt its instructional delivery on-the-fly for an Airman or group of Airmen. Finally, we describe innovations for increasing transfer. These innovations address research findings which suggest learning from formal training only accounts for as little as 10% of workplace learning. Most workplace learning takes place informally.BENEFIT:The benefits of this revolutionary approach to training are immense. They address a common complaint amongst trainees in the military, corporations, and higher education that formal training is not relevant to their individual needs. In contrast, our approach will demonstrate how personalized training leads to faster acquisition of job competency, longer retention, and faster refresh than anything possible today.