RESEARCH IN SIMULATOR/DEVICE MIX METHODOLOGIES

A TWELVE-TASK, SIX-MONTH, TECHNICAL EFFORT IS DESCRIBED TO PRODUCE DESIGN GUIDELINES AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION ALGORITHMS TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF SELECTING AN APPROPRIATE DEVICE OR MIX OF DEVICES IN TRAINING APPLICATIONS. BASICALLY, THE APPROACH REQUIRES A COMPARISON OF STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS AND DEVICE ATTRIBUTES WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL TASKS FOR TRAINING AS CONSTRAINED BY ORGANIZATIONAL UTILIZATION AND CONSTRAINTS. A COMPUTER SYSTEM - THE ESSEX TRAINING ANALYSIS SYSTEM (ETAS) - WILL BE USED TO PROVIDE THE FRAMEWORK FOR THIS COMPARISON. IN GENERAL, SIX STEPS ARE HIGHLIGHTED AMONG OTHERS: (1) IDENTIFICATION OF RELEVANT LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS, (2) IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL TASK CHARACTERISTICS, (3) REQUIREMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS IN THE TRAINING ENVIRONMENT, (4) IDENTIFICATION OF DESIRABLE PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES, (5) DEFINITION OF TRAINING DEVICE FUNCTIONAL ATTRIBUTES AND CANDIDATE SUITES OF DEVICE MIXES, AND (6) INTEGRATION OF THE STUDENT-CRITICAL TASKTRAINING DEVICE-INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES PARAMETERS INTO GUIDELINES AND ALGORITHMS FOR THE OPTIMAL SELECTION OF COST-EFFECTIVE SIMULATOR/DEVICE MIXES.