Students in complex visual domains must acquire visual problem solving strategies that allow them to make fast decisions and come up with good solutions to real-time problems. In this study, 31 air traffic controllers at different levels of expertise (novice, intermediate, expert) were confronted with 9 problem situations depicted on a radar screen. Participants were asked to provide the optimal order of arrival of all depicted aircrafts. Eye-movements, time-on-task, perceived mental effort, and task performance were recorded. Eye-tracking data revealed that novices use inefficient means-end visual problem solving strategies in which they primarily focus on the destination of aircraft. Higher levels of expertise yield visual problem solving strategies characterized by more efficient retrieval of relevant information and more efficient scan paths. Furthermore, experts' solutions were more similar than intermediates' solutions and intermediates' solutions were more similar than novices' solutions. Performance measures showed that experts and intermediates reached better solutions than novices, and that experts were faster and invested less mental effort than intermediates and novices. These findings may help creating eye-movement modeling examples for the teaching of visual problem solving strategies in complex visual domains.

This pilot study measures university students' perceptions of graded frequent assessments in an obligatory statistics course using a novel questionnaire. Relations between perceptions of frequent assessments, intrinsic motivation and grades were also investigated. A factor analysis of the questionnaire revealed four factors, which were labelled value, formative function, positive effects and negative effects. The results showed that most students valued graded frequent assessments as a study motivator. A modest number of students experienced positive or negative effects from assessments and grades received. Less than half of the students used the results of frequent assessments in their learning process. The perception of negative effects (lower self-confidence and more stress) negatively mediated the relation between grades and intrinsic motivation. It is argued that communication with students regarding the purpose and benefits of frequent assessments could mitigate these negative effects.

In complex cognitive domains such as air traffic control, professionals must be able to adapt to and act upon continuing changes in a highly advanced technological work environment. To function optimally in such an environment, the controllers must be able to regulate their learning. Although these regulation skills should be part of their training, this is not usually the case. This study evaluates a training program that integrates air traffic control skills with regulation skills. The participants were 29 air traffic control students who followed either the original training program (n = 12) or a new program (n = 17) in which the development of regulation skills was embedded in the training of domain specific skills. Compared to students in the original program, the students in the new program showed increased self-efficacy in the use of self-regulated learning skills with improved performance in domain specific competences. The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to the daily training practice of complex cognitive skills.

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