The next part of the procedure provides a pivot point in the discussion. With our learner about knee-deep in the learning experience, we will now discuss the equipment controls. With the background established from the description of components, we will add a new layer, specifically, how we get the equipment to do what we want it to do. Or how to read the equipment to know what conditions are present and whether or not those conditions are acceptable.

In this discussion, every control, every lever, every adjustment dial, etc., is described. Every one. This requires some organization, of course. The best means of organizing the discussion of controls and instruments is to lay them out in the same order that equipment components were discussed.

The progression is designed to allow the learner to add a layer of understanding onto the layer acquired through the description of equipment components. To this point, the boundaries of the procedure/task are understood, the learner understands the implications and consequences of incorrect performance, knows what components are called, where they are located and what they do, and now the learner has learned how components are activated and what instruments monitor the process. The learner is now ready to apply that knowledge to the “doing” represented by the activity descriptions that occur in the sections to follow.