Category: Research

Aviation Human Factors Pioneer

~ cjois

Stanley Roscoe (1920-2007)

Through my Masters degree, most of my papers focused on Aviation Human Factors. Each time I looked into literature, Stan Roscoe’s work couldn’t be missed.

Stanley Roscoe was a prominent figure in aviation human factors, best known for his contributions to enhancing aviation safety. Roscoe’s work focused on understanding how human performance and behavior impact aviation operations, with the ultimate goal of minimizing errors and improving overall safety. His book on flightdeck performance (O’Hare & Roscoe, 1990) provides a unique perspective on human interactions with the machine. 

Roscoe’s research often delves into the cognitive and psychological aspects of human performance in aviation, examining factors like decision-making, communication, and workload management. He emphasized the importance of designing aviation systems considering human capabilities and limitations and creating training programs that enhance pilot and crew performance. Roscoe’s work not only advanced our theoretical understanding of human factors in aviation but has also influenced practical applications, leading to the development of training protocols and safety measures that have contributed to the continual improvement of aviation safety standards worldwide. 

I was particularly interested in his work on developing a metric known as the Transfer Effectiveness Ration (TER) (Roscoe, 1971). 

No work in aviation human factors will be complete without a thorough study of some (or all) of Roscoe’s work. 

CP

References: 

O’Hare, D., & Roscoe, S. N. (1990). Flightdeck performance: The human factor.

Roscoe, S. N. (1971). Incremental transfer effectiveness. Human Factors, 13(6), 561-567.

Sample Research Problem Statement

~ cjois

Problem Statement

There has been debate on whether simulators can cut the time to complete training (Allerton, 2000; Miller et al., 1995; Myers, Starr, & Mullins, 2018). Especially for a student outside of the environs of a University or school that is equipped with simulator devices, access to a simulator may in itself be a limiting factor (Fussell & Truong, 2020; Judy, 2018). Before we establish studies to determine whether simulator intervention can produce shorter training cycles, it is worth establishing whether those who have access to a simulator complete their training faster than those who do not.

Purpose statement

The purpose of this study is to determine if a relationship exists between simulator access and the time taken to complete training.

Research Questions/Hypotheses

RQ1: Is there a relationship between student pilots’ access to a flight training device and the time taken to complete their training (elapsed time)?

H1: Flight training elapsed time is correlated to having access to a flight training device.

H0: Flight training elapsed time is not correlated to having access to a flight training device.

Participants

Participants of this study will include current student pilots at NWF Flight School in Schaumburg Airport (06C) and IAA’s flight school in Dupage Airport (KDPA). Participants at 06C have access to an advanced flight training device and those at KDPA do not have access to a flight training device.

Procedure

The time taken from the point when a student enrolls in the flight school to the point the student achieves the Private Pilot Certificate will be measured as elapsed time. This data will be collected for a period of 12 months at both schools. Since the data collected will not include any item that can identify the student, there is no requirement to acquire IRB approval.

Proposed Data Analysis

The data is best analyzed with a one-way, between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA). There is a single independent variable (i.e. Access to a flight training device) and one dependent variable, ‘Elapsed Time’. Since there are two groups, one with access to the flight training device and another with no access, the Between-Groups model works well. (Wilson & Joye, 2017).
References

Allerton, D. J. (2000). Flight Simulation-past, present and future. The Aeronautical Journal, 104(1042), 651-663.

Fussell, S. G., & Truong, D. (2020). Preliminary results of a study investigating aviation student’s intentions to use virtual reality for flight training. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 7(3), 2.

Judy, A. (2018). A study of flight simulation training time, aircraft training time, and pilot competence as measured by the naval standard score (Doctoral dissertation, Southeastern University).

Miller, R., Hobday, M., Leroux-Demers, T., & Olleros, X. (1995). Innovation in complex systems industries: the case of flight simulation. Industrial and corporate change, 4(2), 363-400.

Myers III, P. L., Starr, A. W., & Mullins, K. (2018). Flight simulator fidelity, training transfer, and the role of instructors in optimizing learning. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 5(1), 6.

Wilson, J. H., Joye, S. W., (2017). Research Methods and Statistics: An Integrated Approach. Sage Publications, Inc.