Constructible Assessment for Situation Awareness in a Distributed C2 Environment

Abstract

A method for assessing situation awareness (SA) in field command and control exercises is described in this paper. This method is an adaptation of the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) by M. R. Endsley (1995) that takes into account specific constraints for use in a field exercise, such as minimizing the level of intrusiveness. Endsley's model of SA separates SA into three levels: Level 1, perception of elements in the environment within a volume of time and space; Level 2, the comprehension of their meaning and integration of multiple pieces of information; and Level 3, the projection of the elements' future status and ability to forecast future situation dynamics. This constructible assessment for SA (CASA) requires that military subject matter experts observe exercise events, construct specific and relevant questions to probe the situational knowledge of the exercise participants, and decide upon the suitable timings for administration of these questions. CASA was tested in a division-level army C2 exercise. An objective of the exercise was to investigate issues related to distributed command teams using situation awareness as one of the measures. Having applied CASA in this exercise, the strengths and limitations of CASA were identified. To analyze the findings, several methods of computing situation awareness of teams were utilized. It was found that CASA yielded results consistent with expectations stemming from exercise roles and events. Further validation and refinement of CASA would improve its utility and efficacy as a tool to measure objective SA in a field exercise. Twenty-three briefing charts summarize the presentation.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2004
Accession Number
ADA466920

Entities

People

  • Alfred W. Seet
  • Cheryl A. Teh
  • John K. Soo
  • Leonghwee Teo

Organizations

  • Defence Science Organisation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Command And Control
  • Data Analysis
  • Environment
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Information Science
  • Information Systems
  • Knowledge Management
  • Measurement
  • Motor Skills
  • Reliability
  • Situational Awareness
  • Social Sciences
  • Systems Engineering
  • Task Forces
  • Task Performance And Analysis
  • Word Processors
  • Workload

Readers

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  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.

Technology Areas

  • Fully Networked C3
  • Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
  • Space