An Evaluation of Individualized, Job-Specific Maintenance Training.

A study evaluated the efficiency of job-specific training in military technical areas other than electronics. It sought to determine whether individualized, computer-managed instruction (CMI) can be used to avoid some of the administrative difficulties common to more conventional forms of job-specific training, and it sought to determine the cost-effectiveness of this form of instruction. Individualized, job-specific courses were developed for three organizational-level billets in an A-7E squadron--power plant maintenance technician, structures/hydraulics maintenance technician, and plane captain. The courses were supported by the Navy's CMI system. Students, trained in the job-specific courses, tended to do better than conventionally-trained counterparts on a series of written and performance tests. They were rated about the same by supervisors on the job. Training time for the power plant and structures/hydraulics maintenance technicians were reduced by about one half. For plane captains, the reduction was only about 10 percent. Use of CMI alleviated many administrative difficulties. It was suggested that the initial high cost of material development could be offset in the future by training time reductions. Appendixes include outlines of course content and results of tests and questionnaires. (YLB)