The role of context in the assessment of operational skills: a case in Air Traffic Control

We are interested here in the assessment of operational skills for training purposes. It has been established that this assessment should be performance-based [Alem et al. 96]. We propose to go one step further by analysing these performances in context in order to assess the learning. We describe why the notion of context is necessary in the assessment of operational skills, how it is characterised and modelled, and how the student's performance is analysed in context in order to assess the learning. These considerations are illustrated in the context of the ATEEG system, a simulation-based learning environment for Air Traffic Controllers [Alem & Keeling 96].