Determine Elements to be Tested

DOE-HDBK-1205-97

The items to be considered when determining the need for simulation or some other method

of accomplishment in performance testing are summarized below.

Downtime

Effect of task performance on the equipment readiness and

efficiency.

Damage

Potential damage to plant equipment and personnel.

Cost

Cost of using plant personnel, equipment, and materials.

If any limitations result in a change of content in an established test, management,

administrative, and instructional approval should be required for the change.

Determine Elements to be Tested

The elements of the task represent an important design consideration. The developer should

determine which elements can be tested realistically and should focus on elements that have

the greatest number of skill and knowledge statements. When limitations make performing

the task during the performance test unrealistic, task elements should be examined.

Elements that include important decision points are predictors of successful performance of

the task. If they can be tested realistically, they should be included in the performance test.

A critical task element (C) is defined as any element of the task that is deemed crucial to the

satisfactory performance of the task. Task elements such as removing interference,

obtaining the procedure, and cleaning the job site are typically non-critical task elements

(NC). Non-critical elements are generally administrative controls and tend to be generic to

other tasks. The critical/non-critical designation becomes important in the scoring and

evaluation criteria. To determine if an element of a task is critical, consider the following

guidelines. An element may be critical if its omission or improper execution:

Causes or could cause damage to any system or component to the extent that it

prevents the system or component from being immediately available for its

intended purpose