Instructor Strategies in the Assessment of Aircrews: Heuristics in CRM Assessment and Their Operational Implications

Abstract

Established Crew Resource Management (CRM) research has concentrated on the analysis of actual crew behaviors and crew training. As CRM research and training matures, assessment issues take on increasing importance. Current research emphasis has broadened and shifted focus from crew training methodologies in recognition of the importance of the assessment process. The identification of the strategies that experienced instructors employ in efficient CRM assessment is essential to a better understanding of the assessment process. These learned strategies help experienced instructors focus on key crew behaviors in complex Line-Oriented Flight Training (LOFT). This present research was designed to identify these strategies employed by experienced instructors as part of a larger effort to develop a prototype CRM assessment expert system. Protocol analysis techniques were used to develop a set of assessment rules for the prototype expert system. The experienced instructor protocols were translated into a set of pseudo-code rules. The lower-level rules, derived from the experienced instructor protocols, were analyzed and abstracted into a set of general strategies. These are the strategies that the experienced instructor has learned to use to help focus on the key crew behaviors in the complex Line-Oriented Flight Training (LOFT) scenario environment where the instructor cannot observe all behaviors. These strategies have a number of implications for training new instructor/assessors, the standardization and calibration of LOFT assessors, and for achieving more systematic CRM assessments.