Maintenance Training Under Uncertainty: Expanding A Smart Tutoring System to Support Acquisition and Retention of Skills

Researcher(s)

Sponsoring Agency
Office of Naval Research

Summary

Training is important for the Navy. In this research program, we will explore the implications of the KRK learning theory, particularly how it can help warfighters not only to initially learn but also to improve retention of skills. We will examine how different learning schedules influence learning retention, and how a range of learning schedules affect the learning and retention of different skills. We will also continue to develop a tutoring system to further test and to apply this theory. We will use maintenance of Navy platforms as a domain of study and analysis, particularly for the tutor. More generalized skills and more robust learning is necessary because Navy platforms increasingly vary as for a given platform its components are less uniform, making the maintenance and association problem solving more uncertain, requiring more general and more robust skill to maintain. Some of the key research areas and questions this program will attempt to answer include (1) identifying the learning theories and associated training protocols that promote development of robust and general maintenance skills, (2) understanding which training architectures will allow efficient practice of complex maintenance procedures to proceduralize and generalize knowledge to improve its availability and retention, and (3) investigating how such an architecture realizes tutors that can actually do the training and whether or not they are effective.

Term
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