Originally Posted by PHLbuddy
In my experience, namely grade school, this was called "seatwork."
I saw this back in my Air Force days among missile launch officers (the guys who pulled shifts in Minuteman and Titan II silos waiting for WWIII to start). Because everyone was fully trained, qualified and completed their "check rides" successfully, the only way you could ultimately tell how well they did their jobs was during WWIII. Obviously, there wouldn't be anybody left to rate them. So, the only way to get ahead was to get a masters degree, which virtually everyone did to help cope with the boredom and to volunteer for additional duties -- wing safety officer, Combined Federal Campaign Keyworker, you name it -- just so they would have something to say on their annual officer evaluation reports.