Situated Learning: A Theory for Learning Situation Awareness

Abstract

In aviation, situation awareness is the accurate perception of the factors and conditions affecting the aircraft and flight crew. The pilot's situation awareness in the flight environment is recognized as an important factor in flight safety, yet no known training method exists for improving situation awareness in novice pilots. The educational theory of situated learning is based on the idea that learning takes place as an interaction between a novice, an expert, and their social and physical environment. This theory has many commonalities to flight training with the student as the novice, the instructor as the expert, and the flight training environment as the physical environment. Based on this theory, the theories of situated learning are related to the flight environment and the way in which these educational theories could be used as a foundation in developing instructional techniques to improve situation awareness.