Train-the-Trainer by DataHomeLab

9.6 Instructor / Operator Station

What the IOS does

The Instructor / Operator Station (IOS) is equipped with digital and analogue systems to:

  • Monitor training in progress.
  • Modify and control the flying environment.
  • Provide feedback in the instructional process.
  • Document training events.
  • Support management of information generated and used in the training process.

These five functional roles map onto the training-conduct lifecycle: monitor (during exercise), modify (in response to instructional need), feedback (in real time and post-event), document (for training records and quality assurance), and information management (for lesson-plan delivery and trend tracking).

What the instructor controls from the IOS

The instructor's station allows control of:

  • Visual (scene selection, time-of-day, weather state).
  • Malfunctions (system-failure injection across the airframe).
  • Lesson plans (loading, tracking, documenting against the lesson-plan schedule).
  • Initial conditions (state of the airplane at the start of an exercise).
  • Repositioning on the ground and in air.
  • Introduction of systems failures (inserted at instructor-selected points during the exercise).

The control set is what makes the IOS the man-machine interface for simulator training: every one of the five functional roles above is delivered through some combination of these controls.

The instructor as the indirect interface

The IOS and the instructor together constitute the man-machine interface in the simulator training process. An instructor may be aware of the training requirements of students; however, proficiency in delivering these requirements will depend on their expertise in conducting training in the simulator.

Why instructional support matters

Use of the instructional support features of the Instructor / Operator Station is a major determinant of the overall efficiency of the training conducted. Two specific failure modes:

  • Setup time consumed by the instructor. The time required for the instructor to set up the simulator for an exercise is time which is no longer available to the student. Every minute of fumbled IOS setup is a minute the trainee is not training.
  • Mechanical operations dominating attention. In other instances, the instructor is engaged in mechanical operations demanding their full attention, thus making it impossible to attend to their primary job of instructing. An instructor whose attention is captured by IOS controls is not observing trainee performance, not maintaining situational awareness of the exercise, and not preparing the next instructional intervention.

Electronic lesson plans and the IOS

The lesson-plan management subsystem of the IOS is what the approved A4.2.6 Guidance for Using Electronic Lesson Plans integrates with. The lesson-plan content (cockpit preparation, exercise sequence, malfunction pre-selection, weather state, runway selection) is generated externally and consumed at the IOS. See A4.2.6 Guidance for Using Electronic Lesson Plans for delivery guidance, including:

  • Why electronic lesson plans replaced earlier static formats (older formats could not generate the data and option set EBT requires).
  • The electronic lesson-plan structure (navigable table of contents; each exercise links to its description and the competencies to be observed).
  • Delivery on tablet or workstation with a PDF reader approved by the programme.
  • The reduced "Amplified Instructor Actions" section, because all the information required to run the session is contained within the body of the lesson plan; the instructor consults the lesson plan, not a separate amplification document.

The operational consequence: the IOS and the electronic lesson plan together form a closed loop. The trainee's session is loaded onto the IOS from the lesson plan, exercises are conducted against the lesson-plan sequence, and the documentation captured at the IOS feeds back into the trainee's training record. This section treats the device side; the A4.2.6 Guidance for Using Electronic Lesson Plans treats the plan side.

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