Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
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Training Controller Module
: this module provides several trainings strategies with different
degree of interaction between the trainees and the system in order to perform the task.
In one extreme it is the
observational learning
strategy, where the trainees do not have
any interaction with the virtual scenario but they just receive information about how to
undertake the task in order to develop a
mental model
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of the task. On the other hand,
there are some strategies where the trainees have to perform the virtual task being able to
receive different types of multimodal aids from the system (based on the fixtures explained
before). In the next section, one of these training strategies is described in detail. Finally,
it is the
learning test strategy
in which the trainees have to perform the virtual task by
themselves without receiving any aid from the system. Usually, a training programme
combines several of these strategies. The selection of the strategies will depend on the task
complexity and the profile of the trainees.
4. Experiment: the use of direct aids to train a procedural task
During the learning of a task, trainees can need to receive information about how to proceed
with the task. As commented in previous sections, the way of providing theses aids is
essential to assure the effectiveness of the training. The
direct aids
provide the information
to perform the task in an easy way, however, some research works suggest that their use can
have adverse effects on training. This section describes the experiment conducted to analyze
if the
controlled use of direct aids
to train a procedural task
does not damage the transfer
of
the involved skills.
4.1 Experimental task
The selected experimental task was learning how to build a LEGO™ helicopter model
composed of 75 bricks. Participants were trained in the task using the multimodal training
system explained in the last section with the OMNI device by SensAble. In order to avoid the
effect of the short-temmemory, the experiment was conducted in two consecutive days. In the
first day, the participants had to learn the procedural task using the virtual training system.
During the second day, they had to build the same model using the physical LEGO™ bricks,
as it is shown in Figure 7.
4.2 Learning conditions
According to the goal of the experiment, two experimental groups were defined to compare
the effectiveness of the controlled direct aids with respect to a classical aid as it is an instruction
manual (indirect aids). The participants of both groups trained in the task using the same
multimodal platform, so all participants were able to interact with the bricks of the virtual
LEGO™ model, through the haptic device, and build the virtual helicopter. The difference
between the groups was the way of providing the information about the task:
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Group1-Indirectaids
: the participants did not receive any aid from the training platform; to
get information about the immediate action to perform, they had to consult an instruction
topic and each consult was logged as one aid. This topic contained step-by-step diagrams
of the 75 steps of the task. Each diagram included a picture of the LEGO™ brick needed
for the current step and the view of the model at the end of the step (see Figure 8). This
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They provide humans with information on how physical systems work. Scientists sometimes use the
term
mental model
as a synonym for
mental representation, knowledge of the task or knowledge representation.
