A Human Factors Perspective on Helicopter Human External Loads

Human external loads (HEL) refer to operations where humans are transported while suspended below a helicopter. HEL operations are often required to access remote work sites, to access power lines in need of maintenance and repair, for transport of offshore ship captains, and for rescue operations. This paper reports a human factors investigation of HEL operations and the devices used to secure HELs involved in work (non-rescue) activities. The goal of this investigation was to determine if HEL operations pose a significant safety hazard. Specifically, the paper describes the various devices used to secure HELs, the accident history associated with HELs, and human factors recommendations for the regulation of HEL devices and operations. Review of 616 helicopter accident reports revealed that only 1.5% of the accidents occurred during HEL operations and only 0.5% were directly attributable to the presence of an HEL.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Clinical Assessment of Electromagnetic Compatibility of Hearing Aids and Digital Wireless Phones

Research studies have shown that digital wireless phones interact with some hearing aids, creating a buzzing noise that may reduce speech intelligibility. Interference signals for three phone technologies were generated at five sound pressure levels (35 dB, 45 dB, 55 dB, 65 dB, and 75 dB) and mixed with speech at 65 dB SPL to test the speech intelligibility of 24 hearing-impaired people. A “No Noise” condition was also tested. Scores for the TDMA-217 Hz phone signal at low speech-to-noise ratios (<10 dB) were significantly lower than those for CDMA and TDMA-50 Hz at the same level. The CDMA and TDMA-50 Hz phone signals had a similar effect on speech intelligibility. Speech intelligibility scores at speech-to-noise ratios of 20 dB and 30 dB were similar to those for the “No Noise” condition. The articulation index represented the best index for predicting the impact of wireless phone interference on speech intelligibility.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Experiences Moving from Residential Camps to Non-Residential Day Camps

This paper describes a recent change in our engineering summer outreach program and how that change was enacted and perceived. Nonresidential summer camp programs are often scheduled to be delivered on successive days, meaning that the attending students interact with the camp’s curriculum, staff, and instructors daily for several consecutive days. Our College followed this model for many years, with students experiencing guided engineering activities for a block of time in the morning and a block of time after lunch. Each block was generally focused on one particular discipline-related activity. An alternate model is to schedule camp programs to be delivered one day per week over a period of multiple weeks, resulting in a weekly interaction between the students and the camp’s programming. This model was implemented for the first time during summer 2015. The camp was delivered on consecutive Fridays for a period of seven weeks and the curriculum for each Friday was designed to introduce high school rising juniors and seniors to a particular academic program in the College of Engineering. The camp was structured and marketed in such a way to allow students to register for and attend those days of interest to them and/or those days that fit within their summer schedule. During summer 2015, the total attendance across the seven days of the program was 262. This total comprised 95 individual students that attended one or more days of camp; on average, each student attended 2.8 days. Interestingly, the distribution for the number of days attended by students was bimodal and 24% of the students attended five or more days. Experiences and initial assessments of this weekly summer camp program model are described and a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of weekly versus daily program schedules is provided.Ye

Effects of display design on signal detection in flash flood forecasting

The Flooded Locations and Simulated Hydrographs (FLASH) project is a suite of tools that use weather radar-based rainfall estimates to force hydrologic models to predict flash floods in real-time. However, early evaluation of FLASH tools in a series of simulated forecasting operations, it was believed that the data aggregation and visualization methods might have contributed to forecasting a large number of false alarms. The present study addresses the question of how two alternative data aggregation and visualization methods affect signal detection of flash floods. A sample of 30 participants viewed a series of stimuli created from FLASH images and were asked to judge whether or not they predicted significant or insignificant amounts of flash flooding. Analyses revealed that choice of aggregation method did affect probability of detection. Additional visual indicators such as geographic scale of the stimuli and threat level affected the odds of interpreting the model predictions correctly as well as congruence in responses between national and local scale model outputs

Effectiveness of 2-D Views for 6-D Robotics Simulation Maneuvers

This study examined operator performance on 6-D robotics simulation maneuvers using a single 2-D view of the robot arm. The BORIS simulator, developed by NASA to support Generic Robotics Training, was used to present four “fly-to” tasks with views representing combinations of good and poor control-display movement compatibility and perceptual quality. Translational (x, y, z) and rotational (pitch, yaw, roll) accuracies were used to assess performance. A significant interaction between movement compatibility and perceptual quality was found for both the overall translational and y accuracy measures (p = 0.0289 and p = 0.0155, respectively). This interaction appeared to indicate that performance was hindered only if both factors were poor. Perceptual quality significantly affected the z accuracy and pitch accuracy measures (p = 0.0461 and p = 0.0429, respectively) with the views identified as poor perceptual quality actually yielding better performance. These results suggest that performance on a 6-D robotics maneuver is not necessarily hindered by using only a 2-D view. If a single view cannot simultaneously provide both good movement compatibility and good perceptual quality, the results suggest that either one is sufficient with respect to overall translational accuracy.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Adaptive Learning Pedagogy in UDL and Multi-Modal Training

Currently, most learning methods are based on classroom teaching through unidirectional communication using boards or slides. However, the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) asserts that the students can increase their performance if the instructors can provide the students with diversified information representation, expression, and engagement means. Although UDL minimizes the mismatch between the teaching and learning styles, we lack the detailed methods to implement the UDL and its associated multi-modal training methods in the context of air traffic control candidates and/or technical operators. We propose an approach that adapts the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) based on four categories: perception, input, processing, and understanding. Tailored to air traffic control candidates, we show how the adapted ILS framework can be used to (1) map the UDL principles (associated with multi-modal training methods) with the ILS outcomes using specific examples, (2) assess the teaching and learning styles of instructors and students, and (3) provide possible approaches to address any mismatch and/or ways to enhance the teaching materials. The developed approach will be used as a framework to investigate whether and how we would be able to enhance the air traffic control candidates’ performances at the FAA academy

Investigating the relationship between eye movements and situation awareness in weather forecasting

Physiological indicators, including eye tracking measures, may provide insight into human decision making and cognition in many domains, including weather forecasting. Situation awareness (SA), a critical component of forecast decision making, is commonly conceptualized as the degree to which information is perceived, understood, and projected into a future context. Drawing upon recent applications of eye tracking in the study of forecaster decision making, we investigate the relationship among eye movement measures, automation, and SA assessed through a freeze probe assessment method. In addition, we explore the relationship between an automated forecasting decision aid use and information seeking behavior.In this study, a sample of professional weather forecasters completed a series of tasks, informed by a set of forecasting decision aids, and with variable access to an experimental automated tool, while an eye tracking system captured data related to eye movements and information usage. At the end of each forecasting task, participants responded to a set of questions related to the environmental situation in the framework of a survey-based assessment technique in order to assess their level of situation awareness. Regression analysis revealed a moderate relationship between the SA measure and eye tracking metrics, supporting the hypothesis that eye tracking may have utility in assessing SA. The results support the use of eye tracking in the assessment of specific and measurable attributes of the decision-making process in weather forecasting. The findings are discussed in light of potential benefits that eye tracking could bring to human performance assessment as well as decision-making research in the forecasting domain

Adaptive Learning Pedagogy of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for Multimodal Training

Traditionally, students or trainees usually receive training through a unidirectional instructional approach that can lack interactive activities or through a single material source in classrooms. Therefore, it is possible that some trainees might encounter a sink-or-swim situation if they are not able to understand the materials presented during classroom lectures nor execute correct procedures during laboratory sessions with time-intensive training. To address this issue, the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) asserts that trainees can increase their performance if instructors can provide the trainees with diversified means of information representation, expression opportunities, and engagement means. However, we lack the framework on how to adapt and integrate the process of evaluating the trainees’ learning styles with the UDL principles, especially in the context of time-intensive tasks such as air traffic control training. In this article, we propose an adapted framework that (1) utilizes the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) based on categories such as perception, input, processing, and understanding, (2) maps the UDL methods with the ILS outcomes, and (3) provides possible approaches to address any issues with the teaching materials. The developed approach might be used to investigate whether and how we could enhance the air traffic trainees’ performances at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Academy with minimum need to elongate the training time. The proposed approaches were benchmarked with a small group of qualified Aviation students at the University of Oklahoma who are preparing for the FAA training program to see whether we could find ways to support their learning styles given the time and resource constraints. This preliminary research provides a foundation to improve our approaches when we investigate the learning styles of the trainees’ at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Academy in the near future

Does Rotary Pursuit Data Predict Mouse Task Performance? a Pilot Study

Knight & Salvendy (1992) suggested that performance of mouse task depends on precision control and arm-hand steadiness. However, the claims lacked empirical support. This pilot study collected rotary pursuit data, measured by time-on-target (TOT), to assess participants' precision control ability. Performance of mouse task was operationalized using a Fitts' pointing task. Stepwise multiple regression revealed target diameter (D), distance amplitude (A), and TOT contributed to the variability of movement time (MT). Despite highly significant relations, the regression coefficients were so small that they offered little practical value. However, the results indicated that precision control ability is indeed predictive of the performance of mouse task. Several recommendations were made for subsequent studies, they include (i) psychomotor ability should be assessed using multiple trials, (ii) a wider range of ID values should be tested with, (iii) a multi-directional Fitts' paradigm should be employed, and (iv) the mouse task should be more representative of the direct manipulation paradigm.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The influence of engineering competition team participation on students’ leadership identity development

Background: Engineering competition teams (ECTs) allow college students to learn about and practice leadership within a technical domain, yet we know little about the mechanisms by which leadership development occurs within these teams. This paper explores how ECT participation contributes to students' leadership identity development (LID). Purpose: This paper addresses the following research questions: RQ1: How does the ECT experience contribute to students' relational LID? RQ2: What other factors influence ECT participants' LID? RQ3: Does the ECT experience provide opportunities for LID that are different from those provided by other experiences? Design: This paper reports the second phase of a mixed-methods study. ECT members participated in individual semistructured interviews. Transcripts were analyzed via an interpretivist approach using deductive and constant comparative methods. The analysis employed the LID model as the primary theoretical construct. Results: ECTs contributed to most participants' LID. Factors affecting the extent of development included project complexity, team practices related to the claiming and granting of a leadership identity, positional leadership experi- ence, involvement with other organizations, and preconceptions of leadership. Compared with other experiences, ECTs placed more emphasis on leadership based in expertise. Technical competence was considered a key attribute of ECT leaders. Conclusions: ECTs enhanced the LID of most participants, helping them understand leadership as a relational process. The LID model offers promise for designing engineering leadership development programs.Ye