New way of learning in the nuclear industry: space simulation as a tool for vocational knowledge and work practices acquisition

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to contribute to the project to overhaul Common Training for Nuclear Workers (Commune Intervenant du Nucléaire – CIN) aimed at service providers involved in maintenance on nuclear power plants (NPPs). Design/methodology/approach The study is devised as a methodology for designing and assessing a training system (work operation scenarios and steering method) and draws on a qualitative methodology through group interviews and observations during situational training. More specifically, the aim is to devise a training system that would enable trainees to gain a better understanding of activity in the nuclear sector, its execution, its challenges and its requirements, and to make them able to think and act individually and collectively to contend with the various types of work situations. Findings The results of this study confirm the relevance of providing different pedagogical orientations that emphasise the activity over the previous task-oriented and top-down approach. The instructors–trainees and trainees–trainees interactions take place in an open and dynamic space with an important interindividual variability to promote active learning that is based on the joint discovery and analysis of real work by the collective. In this context, the co-presence of the participants is more important than the task at stake. Moreover, this new way of learning is a challenge for the instructors and trainees, as well as for training designers. Practical implications Moreover, this new way of learning is a challenge for the instructors and trainees, as well as for training designers, and has to be taken into consideration when designing training programs. Originality/value This operational research work is being conducted by researchers, as well as industry professionals, and enjoys special access to the constrained environment of NPPs. Several studies conducted by the Organisational and Human Factors team of EDF Research and Development (Couix and Boccara, 2015; Fucks and Boccara, 2014) have focused on the effectiveness of training. In particular, they found that to be effective, training must faithfully reflect the real-life work situations of the future environment in which the worker trainees will be active.