DCS Contracting, HSC/PKR, 8005 9TH Street, Brooks AFB TX 78235-5353

A -- BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) PKR-95-01-02 FOR RESEARCH IN ARMSTRONG LABORATORY (AL) HUMAN-CENTERED TECHNOLOGY AREAS PART 2 OF 4 SOL PKR-95-01-02 POC Major Julius Clark, Contracting Officer, (210)536-6343, Research and Development Contracting Division. A--PART 2 OF 4 PARTS. BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) PKR-95-01 FOR RESEARCH IN ARMSTRONG LABORATORY (AL) HUMAN-CENTERED TECHNOLOGY. POC: Major Julius Clark, (210) 536-6343, Research and Development Contracting Division. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-9H-PKR AL/HRT, Dr. Sharon Garcia, 210-536-2981 Development of a Generic Decision-Making Trainer for Multidisciplinary Education and Training. The Air Force is conducting research to develop and/or identify instructional strategies and delivery methods for training complex decision making skills. To date, a computer-based instructional system prototype has been developed consisting of lessons to acquaint the student with the decision-making process, and a simulation environment in which students are exposed to various scenarios requiring decision-making actions. While the prototype is oriented toward the Air Force Logistics Command and Control (LC2) domain, the underlying models and instructional strategies are generic enough to permit application of the basic approach to a variety of domains in which complex decision making skills are required. The identification and development of the decision making model was based on classic decision-making principles and concepts as well as those evolving out of the field of Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM). Decision making was defined as a process designed to end uncertainty through a commitment to a particular course of action. The process can further be described in terms of a timeline, with specific phases and/or sequences of tasks. Decision making is viewed as consisting of the following phases, (a) Problem Recognition, (b) Information Gathering, (c) Development of Options, (d) Implementation of Options, and (e) Feedback. This research is aimed toward applying this model of decision making to an academic education and/or training domain in which the development of complex decision making skills are essential. Specifications for development of a decision making trainer relative to the education and training domain will be required. Examples of potential domains include: (a) Psychology and Counseling, (b) Medicine, (c) Law Enforcement, (d) Law, and (e) Management and Business. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-10H-PKR AL/HRT, Dr. Daniel Muraida, 210-536-2981 Courseware Design Guidance for Introductory Academic Courses. The Air Force has a requirement to provide design guidelines for creating effective computer-based lesson materials (courseware) to support both technical training as well as traditional academic education. Existing projects already address the issues in providing courseware design guidance for Air Force technical training. What is not currently addressed is the generalizability of these tools and techniques to the domain of courseware design guidance for academic subject matter. What is of special interest to Armstrong Laboratory is the efficacy of various courseware design performance support tools in accelerating the acquisition of courseware design expertise. Because introductory courses are often taught, and therefore designed, by less experienced instructors, this effort would target introductory academic courses taught by new instructors and would focus on the effects of two kinds of courseware design performance support tools -- one in which the courseware design expertise is explicit and one in which the courseware design expertise is transparent to the user. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-11H-PKR AL/HRT, Dr. Dennis J. Gettman, 210-536-2981 Courseware Exemplars for Introductory Science Courses. The Air Force has a requirement to provide design guidelines for creating effective computer-based lesson materials (courseware) to support both technical training as well as traditional academic education. One tool has already been developed which provides courseware exemplars for the domain of technical training. This tool could easily be expanded and tested in settings involving academic subject matter. What would be of interest to the Air Force as well as to many public colleges and universities is the utility of such case-based courseware exemplars in the domain of introductory science courses. This effort would involve designing and implementing several such cases and then testing the effects of using courseware guidance based on these exemplars in typical college settings. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-12H-PKR AL/HRT, Major Hal Clark, 691-553-7685. Examination and Development of New Capabilities in Distance Learning. Emerging broadband, fiber optics, digital communications networks, i.e., the information super highway, renders distance learning a more viable and even preferred alternative to traditional classroom instruction for many education and training purposes. Three forces are acting to shift the role of the teacher from instructor to facilitator. One is digital multimedia which treats information differently from analog to provide for greater interaction, flexibility and ease of implementation. The second is the vast array of distributed multimedia resources that will become instantly available to the teacher through the information super highway. The third force, fueled by the transformation from analog to digital communication technology, is the trend toward computer supported collaborative learning where students work at a distance as a team. To help prepare distance learning practitioners to capitalize on the astounding technological advances in multimedia and video telecommunications, this research has two objectives: (1) Analyze and prescribe guidelines for the shifting role of the teacher from instructor to facilitator in interactive, videotelecommunications environments, and (2) Develop a model for collaborative learning in interactive, videotelecommunications environments. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-13H-PKR AL/HRT, Mr. Winston Bennett, 210-536-2932 Examining Individual Differences in Training and Job Performance and Impacts on Training System Design and Evaluation. Explore issues surrounding individual differences in training and job performance. Research exploring the impact of trainee characteristics has typically focused on selecting individuals who are more likely to be successful in a training program, and less upon matching individuals to training methods that capitalize on certain attributes. In addition, understanding how individual characteristics influence training effectiveness has not necessarily been a primary focus of past research. Individuals with markedly different aptitudes, abilities, skills, motivation, self-efficacy, interests, attitudes, and past history are likely to benefit from an instructional intervention in different ways. Research addressing critical training design and outcome measurement issues to be explored in primary laboratory studies. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-14H-PKR AL/HRM, Dr. Malcolm Ree, 210-536-3922 Advanced Techniques for the Detection of Statistical Test Bias. The Air Force, as do many employers, tests applicants for jobs. The federal guidelines on personnel selection prohibit the use of tests which are biased in the prediction of job related criteria. Several unresolved issues exist in our understanding of the techniques of bias detection. Among these are the utility of latent variable models and the role group differential reliability. The object of the research is to obtain greater understanding of these issues with both real data and mathematical simulation. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-15H-PKR AL/HRM, Dr. Malcolm Ree, 210-536-3922 Statistical/Mathematical Methods for Manpower and Personnel Research. Several unresolved issues exist in the application of statistical and mathematical techniques to manpower and personnel research issues. The object of the research is to study correction for range restriction when specified variables have been left out of the model. A second objective is to develop a comprehensive method for correcting for range restriction which takes into account the reliability (precision of measurement) of the variables. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-16H-PKR AL/HRM, Dr. William Tirre, 210-536-2027 Predicting and Tracking Achievement of Minority Students in Simulated Pilot Training. The purpose of this research is to test the hypothesis that the under-achievement of minority students in flight training is due to motivation and not biased major instructors. Put another way, do minority students still under-achieve (relative to their measured aptitude levels) when the instruction is completely automated and there is no instructor-bias operating? and if under-achievement still occurs, does it reflect lower motivation or greater performance anxiety on the part of minority students, and where in the course of instruction does motivation begin to decline? The goal is to develop or assemble a battery of motivation tests (including self-efficacy, achievement motivation, interests) and personality tests (Big 5 plus specific performance anxiety measures) to attempt to explain variation in training performance. Research plan should propose using a subset of all of the BFITS (the Basic Flight Instruction Tutoring System) and/or PCAM (Psychomotor and Cognitive Ability Measurement Battery) as a supplement to a new battery. A research protocol should be proposed to address the question of how course performance and individual attributes (e.g. aptitudes and motivation) are related at different points in instruction. The contractor will be provided with BFITS as the simulated training course, and PCAM as an aptitude battery. BFITS is a flight training system that requires at least a 486DX 33 MHz computer plus commercially available flightstick and rudder control systems. It comprises 31 lessons, 22 of which include practice flights on the simulator or flight examinations. The curriculum requires about 60 hours to complete. PCAM is a comprehensive aptitude test battery also hosted on a 486DX computer. In addition to psychomotor factors, PCAM measures working memory, processing speed, inductive reasoning, general knowledge, associative learning and procedural learning in verbal, quantitative, and spatial domains. It requires about 15 hours to administer. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-17H-PKR AL/HRM, Dr. William Tirre, 210-536-2027 New Directions in Testing Visual Information Processing Ability. The real-time operation of many systems particularly in fighter aircraft requires visual information processing abilities that cannot be assessed by static paper-and-pencil tests. The purpose of this effort would be to develop and evaluate a prototype aptitude battery of visual information processing tests that is administered by microcomputer. Candidate measures should draw from dynamic visual acuity, dynamic spatial ability, spatial orientation /disorientation, visualization, spatial relations, flexibility of closure, perceptual speed, perceptual threshold and other areas of visual perception. Proposed research should address the evaluation of measures in terms of reliability, construct or criterion-related validity, and gender and ethnic group differences. BAA TECHNICAL AREA NUMBER: 95-18H-PKR AL/HRM, Dr. William Tirre, 210-536-2027 New Direction in Testing Attentional Processes. The real-time operation of many systems particularly in fighter aircraft requires attentional processes that cannot be assessed by static paper-and-pencil tests. The purpose of this effort would be to develop and evaluate a prototype aptitude battery of tests of attentional processes that is administered by microcomputer. Candidate measure should draw from attentional resources, visual attention, time-sharing ability, mental coordination, working memory capacity, and other areas of attentional processes. Proposed research should address the evaluation of measures in terms of reliability, construct or criterion-related validity, and gender and ethnic group differences. (0074)

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