The FY24 version of the WOC Human Factors Track will be released in June 2024. If you are a forecaster in your forecast office who wants to sign up for the next available WOC Human Factors, please complete the WOC Human Factors Registration Form. Note: You should coordinate with your local training facilitators (e.g., SOOs) before completing this form.
Warning Decision Training Division
Office of Chief Learning Officer
The FY24 version of the WOC Human Factors Track will be released in June 2024. If you are a forecaster in your forecast office who wants to sign up for the next available WOC Human Factors, please complete the WOC Human Factors Registration Form. Note: You should coordinate with your local training facilitators (e.g., SOOs) before completing this form.
The Warning Operations Course (WOC) Human Factors Track is a course that consists of approximately 9 hours of training material on topics that are relevant to warning decision-making, but not tied to a specific weather or warning type. There are 5 different instructional components in the Human Factors Track covering topics including warning thought process, individual and team aspects of warning operations, engaging partners and the public, and tools for leaning from experience.
The WOC Human Factors Track modules include a combination of learning technologies including videos, web-based training, assignments, and simulations. The course is designed to allow every NWS Forecaster (Meteorologist and Hydrologist) to participate with the assistance of an on-site facilitator (SOO, DOH, or locally appointed training officer). Each instructional component for NWS employees are tracked by the WOC on-site facilitator using the NWS Learning Center.
The WOC Human Factors Track is designed to improve the performance of NOAA’s NWS offices in issuing a variety of watches, warnings, and advisories.
Click on the panels below to access the content for each topic of the course. For most lessons, there will be two ways to access the training materials:
The lesson content is the same for each link. NWS employees enrolled in the WOC Human Factors Track should already have all of the WOC course content provided on their personal transcript. However, you can also use the LMS Version link to access the content and ensure you receive completion credit.
Brief Description: This module orients you to the WOC Human Factors track, including key concepts and methods for the course.
Delivery Methods: Teletraining and printed materials
Approximate Completion Time: 10 minutes
Content:
Brief Description: These lessons walk through the various thought processes of a warning forecaster. They will discuss the various biases and procedures involved in the decision making process, different decision making styles, types of intuition response, and best practices to develop expertise.
Delivery Methods: Web Modules
Approximate Completion Time: 1 hour 30 min
Content:
Brief Description: These lessons will address the benefits of working as a team, strategies to optimize office situational awareness, and best practices to maintain forecaster health during warning operations.
Delivery Methods: Web modules
Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours 20 min
Content:
Brief Description: This topic includes two parts. The lessons in part one discuss strategies for communicating outgoing messaging with partners and the public and their various impacts. Part two addresses strategies to understand and assess incoming messaging from partners and the public.
Delivery Methods: Web modules, exercises and web support materials
Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours
Part 1 Content: Understanding Warning and Messaging Impacts
Part 2 Content: Leveraging Incoming Information and Reports
Brief Description: These lessons walk you through the process of completing a Root Cause Analysis and discuss the importance of completing after action reviews.
Delivery Methods: Web module
Approximate Completion Time: 1 hour and 20 min
Content:
Other Documentation:
Brief Description: This instructional component will use a Weather Event Simulator simulation to allow forecasters to apply lessons learned from the on-line material from WOC Human Factors.
Delivery Methods: WES scenario
Approximate Completion Time: 2 hours
Content:
Other Documentation:
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