I can recall on my 733 check to the line years ago .. the checkie had a leg and, in CAVOK, three parts the way downwind .. started drawing circuits on the box. No problem and he did a nice circuit and landing .. but why bother ?
The check pilot should have been sacked or at the very least dropped back to F/O. Now let's see how he planned to fly the presumed visual circuit. On LNAV, maybe? Whether on LNAV or following a magenta line on his MAP with the hdg bug he would be forced to follow his flight director which gives him the LNAV steering. So now you either have a pilot heads down in the circuit blindly pinning his hopes on the FD to teach him how to fly a circuit.
OR: If he intends to fly a visual circuit by actually looking at the runway as he tracks downwind and base then what is the logic in setting up an LNAV flight plan unless he is going to rely on the FD. Like JT I have observed first officers frantically pushing buttons on the CDU to build a beautiful circuit pattern that Picasso would have been proud of. And why? I 'll tell you why. Because they cannot keep their fingers of the buttons. It is a simple case of automatics addiction and my guess is 70 percent of glass cockpit pilots are addicted. I have seen countless times, pilots settling themselves into a simulator for local airwork flying. Even before adjusting their seats you see them dive into the CDU and type madly away. And you know even then the poor bastards are addicted. A sad tale, but true..