For those who are satisfied with the face validity of the 6 steps to a "0"
cost CRM program and don't care about the science upon which it is built,
you can stop reading now, take another sip of coffee, and spend your
morning in other pleasant pursuits... This will bore you to tears.
For those who are looking for the complexity behind the simplicity... Here
goes...
Perhaps the easiest answer to Marc's question can be found in an FAA
Advisory Circular. AC 60-14 is the Aviation Instructors Handbook. In
chapter 1 it highlights six laws of learning based on the work of
Thorndike. I have a whole library full of other education and training
theory literature that would apply to the both the Air Force Reserve CRM
program and the 6 step process but Thorndike's laws explain it all the
easiest. Let's apply Thorndike to two alternatives:
*Model A: Today's prevailing model of CRM training (mostly classroom and
perhaps some LOFT training if your company has the resources).
*Model B: The model for CRM training used for both the Air Force Reserve
CRM program as well as the 6 steps to a "0" cost program.
Six laws of learning have been attributed to Thorndike:
The LAW OF READINESS
The LAW OF EXERCISE
The LAW OF EFFECT
The LAW OF PRIMACY
The LAW OF INTENSITY
The LAW OF RECENCY.
The LAW of READINESS
"Individuals learn best when they are ready to learn, and they do not learn
much if they see no reason for learning... If students have a strong
purpose, a clear objective, and a well fixed reason for learning something,
they make more progress than if they lack motivation. " (AC 60-14).
Model A: In this model, the pilot sits in an auditorium and learns about
CRM (awareness training). Maybe the accident videos get his or her
attention for a little while. The objectives, if there are any at all, are
purely awareness objectives. There is no sign of a skill objective
anywhere. The pilot asks: What is the reason for learning about
heuristics? What does all this really mean to me when I am flying a broken
jet on an approach to minimums? The pilot answers: "I don't know and I am
not going to take the time to figure it out. This psychobabble will be
done in 30 minutes and it will be another year before I have to endure this
again."
Model B: In this model, the pilots brief CRM in the mission briefing. The
CRM portion of the briefing is designed to be about 1-minute reviewing the
CRM skill objectives and how they apply to today's flight. Debriefs
includes a review (detailed if necessary) of the CRM skill objectives as
they applied to today's flight.
Law of Exercise
"This law states that those things most often repeated are best remembered.
It is the basis of practice and drill... The mind can rarely retain,
evaluate, and apply new concepts or practices after a single exposure...
They learn by applying what they have been told and shown. Every time
practice occurs, learning continues. The instructor must provide
opportunities for students to practice or repeat and must see that this
process is directed toward a goal." (AC 60-14)
Model A: Until AQP came into town, there was little evidence of any
definable CRM objectives or direct connection between what was taught in
the CRM classroom and what was taught in the LOFT sim. The company for
whom I work was in AQP for over 4 years before the current set of CRM skill
objectives were developed. Regarding practice and drill, lets take a
giant step back from our current training programs and review them with an
eye toward the law of exercise. If your company provides an opportunity
for LOFT, the session is probably a one hour video production studio that
relies entirely on the strength of the debrief to extract learning. The
learning is accomplished through a combination of serendipity,
self-discovery (if the instructor finds a good segment of tape), and an
instructor's ability to extract lessons learned against unstated
objectives. The reason that many instructors find LOFT instruction
difficult is that it defies many of the laws of good instructional design.
Observing behavior without intervention might be great for behaviorists in
a laboratory, but it creates some real difficulties when it is used as a
training methodology. I do not know of any other sim session where there
are no specific skill objectives for the period. The objective is often to
finish the period, get a good video tape, and hope for the best in the
debrief. If there is something that did not go so well, there is no
opportunity to try it a different way or to refine the skill (See you in
next year's LOFT). The FAA mandates that the LOFT session is at least 60
uninterrupted minutes. Most companies have interpreted this to mean 60
minutes of LOFT and not a minute more. Period! Therefore, there is no
opportunity for an instructor to make a mid-course correction with the
students, or to try something different because it is one uninterrupted
60-minute session. Question: Is there practice and drill in the current
method? Answer: Not much if any. Question: Is this single exposure that
the law of exercise advises against? Answer: The worst form of single
exposure is when a pilot gets only CRM awareness training in a classroom.
The second worse form of single exposure is when they get a sim session
with no objectives, disconnected from the classroom session, with no
opportunity to correct deficiencies found in the debrief. Today's
prevailing model of CRM instruction crucifies the law of exercise.
Model B: For the entire month/quarter, a subset of CRM skills are briefed
as a special interest item on every mission. Briefing it with some
consistency over a month or quarter directly supports the law of exercise.
Each month or quarter, new objectives from the master CRM skill list are
used. Every skill will be represented in the briefings at some time during
the year. The contractor is provided the list of skills that will be used
for the upcoming months/quarters. The contractor then creates SHORT
briefing vignettes that are aircraft/mission specific. These are used by
the flight leads, aircraft commanders and mission commanders on daily
missions. The contractor also creates a 10-minute briefing, including
slides, for the safety officer to present at quarterly safety meetings.
These briefings directly support that quarter's CRM skill objectives.
These vignettes and briefing slides are made available via the Internet so
each squadron can obtain them easily.
Law of Effect
"This law is based on the emotional reaction of the learner. It states that
learning is strengthened when accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying
feeling, and that learning is weakened when associated with an unpleasant
feeling. An experience that produces feelings of ... futility are
unpleasant for the student." (AC 60-14) Note: Most professional do not
expect to leave a training session singing a happy tune and skipping a
happy step. They do, however, expect to leave the session professionally
fulfilled. It could be easy to misinterpret the author's use of the terms
"satisfying feeling" and "unpleasant feeling". I have interpreted the
author's use of the word "feeling" to mean "professional fulfillment."
Model A: This model is marked by hour's of classroom instruction where the
student often struggles to make some connection between the classroom
presentation and the cockpit. If you think that pilots associate CRM
classroom instruction with professionally fulfillment, tell a group of
pilots that they have a CRM class today and watch their reaction. LOFT
sessions can be professionally fulfilling if the instructor is skilled at
delivering and debriefing the session. I have had sessions, however, where
the tape didn't work and/or the instructor chose not to use it. In these
cases, the company wasted a bunch of money and the pilots left
professionally unfulfilled.
Model B: This model uses short focused briefings applied to the context of
today's mission. It uses short mission specific vignettes related to the
monthly/quarterly objectives. It provides an opportunity to apply the
skill and see the effect in the cockpit. It uses mission specific
reinforcement in the debrief. The debrief may not be a happy "feel good"
event. In fact, it might not feel good at all. However, there is a
tremendous professional fulfillment in mastering an aspect of ones
profession. It's also very professionally fulfilling to see your
team/flight do well on a mission.
Law of Primacy.
"Primacy, the state of being first, often creates a strong, almost
unshakable, impression. For the instructor, this means that what is taught
must be right the first time. For the student, it means that learning must
be right... Every student should be started right. The first experience
should be positive and functional and lay the foundation for all that is to
follow (AC 60-14).
Model A: Oops. I am not sure we can recover from this one. There is no
misinterpreting what pilots think about the first decade of CRM.
Model B: If it is possible to recover from the past decade of CRM folly,
it will have to be done in a context specific learning environment with
specific CRM skill objectives. Maybe the next generation of aviators will
be introduced to CRM as a set of skills presented in a mission context.
Maybe Thorndike will then be able to roll back to a comfortable position in
his grave.
Law of Intensity
"A vivid, dramatic, or exciting learning experience teaches more than a
routine or boring experience. A student is likely to gain greater
understanding of stalls by performing them than from merely reading about
them. The law of intensity, then, implies that a student will learn more
from the real thing than from a substitute... the classroom imposes
limitations on the amount of realism that can be brought into teaching."
(AC 60-14)
Model A: The pilot gets a combination of classroom and sim if they are
lucky. They get just a classroom session if they are unlucky. A crash and
burn video might get the pilot's attention for a little while. Not many
pilots would place the word "intensity" and "CRM classroom session" in the
same sentence. LOFT sims ARE intense so this law works in today's model if
you get a well designed LOFT as part of your training.
Model B: Real world intensity - no substitute. The intensity of a "Red
Flag" simulated combat mission is far beyond anything I have ever
experienced in a training device. The intensity of real combat was beyond
anything I have ever experienced. The intensity of an approach to mins
with the rain pounding on the windshield so loud you can barely hear the
other pilot, is difficult to replicate. The Air Force Reserve Command has
not reduced the amount of CRM sim training for folks who have sims (not all
weapon systems have them) so the benefit if sim intensity is not lost in
Model B.
Law of Recency
"The things most recently learned are best remembered. Conversely, the
further a student is removed time-wise from a new fact or understanding,
the more difficult it is to remember it. " (AC 60-14)
Model A: Presented annually.
Model B: Presented daily in mission briefings then applied 30 minutes from
the time they were briefed.
If you have made it this far, you are a real trooper... I hope that
explains some of the science behind the model for CRM training applied to
the Reserves and the 6 step process to a "0" cost program.
Best Regards,
Vince Mancuso