A-N Flashcards
360-degree feedback evaluation
is based on opinions and recommendations from superiors, direct reports, peers, and internal and external customers on how a person performs in any number of behavioral areas.
4-D cycle
is the approach used in appreciative inquiry consisting of four phases: discovery, dream, design, and destiny.
4-Ds
are the four steps in David Cooperrider’s appreciative inquiry model for change: discovery, dream, design, and destiny.
9-box grid
is a widely-used tool to facilitate conversations about employee development and succession planning. (This should not be confused with Rummler-Brache’s Nine Box Model.)
5 Vs of big data
are dependent upon
– volume,
– velocity,
–variety,
– veracity,
–value for accuracy and value.
Academic assignment
is a development action that gives individuals the opportunity to partner with others in an academic environment to extend their learning through activities such as co-authoring articles and leading initiatives.
Accelerated learning (AL)
is the practice of using a multimodal, multisensory approach to instruction to make learning more efficient. It’s accomplished by honoring the different learning preferences of each participant and using experiential learning exercises (such as role plays, mnemonics, props, and music).
Accessibility
most often refers to ensuring that employees with disabilities have comparable access to information or services as those without disabilities.
Accommodation
is part of Piaget’s constructivism theory to describe how a learner must reshape or change what they already know. (This is a more substantial change than assimilation.)
Achievement oriented
describes leaders who set challenging goals and encourage high performance as a means of showing confidence in a group’s ability.
Action learning
is a process of organizing small teams of individuals to solve real problems in their work environment while reflecting on their actions and what they are learning throughout the process.
Action planning
is a written acknowledgment of the current coaching situation. It expresses specific goals with steps to attain them and lists timelines, expected outcomes, and ideas about the coach’s role.
Action research
a term first coined by Kurt Lewin, is also known as participatory research. It is learning by doing in the sense that a group of workers or teams as part of a community of practice identifies a problem, develops a resolution, implements the solution, and then analyzes the final results. Transformative change occurs through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research, which are linked by critical reflection.
Active listening
describes a process in which the listener has a high level of interaction with the speaker, listening for content, meaning, and feelings.
Active training
is an approach that ensures participants are involved in the learning process. It is based on cooperative learning, in which participants learn from one another in pairs or small groups, such as in group discussions, games, simulations, and role plays.
Adaptive leadership framework
introduced by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky (2017), is the ability to adapt and thrive in challenging environments. It is based on four principles: emotional intelligence, organizational justice, development, and character.
Adaptive learning
is defined as an approach that works to tailor the learning experience to the specific needs of the individual, often using technology that makes it scalable across a larger number of learners.
ADDIE
is an instructional systems development model composed of five phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation.
Adjourning stage
Adjourning stage is the last stage of the five-stage Tuckman model, when the team prepares for termination. Once the goal is achieved, the team recognizes its own accomplishments, may be rewarded by others, and disbands.
Adult learning theory
Adult learning theory is the collective theories and principles of how adults learn and acquire knowledge. Popularized by Malcolm Knowles, adult learning theory provides the foundation for L&D professionals to meet learning needs in the workplace.
Advanced degree education
Advanced degree education is participating in higher education programs for exposure to fresh and innovative best practices.
Affective objective
Affective objective is a learning goal that specifies the acquisition of particular attitude, value, or feeling.
Affinity diagrams
Affinity diagrams are used to organize a large number of ideas (often generated by brainstorming) into logical groups based on the natural relationships among the ideas. Each idea group is defined and labeled. The tool is effective when a group of people need to make a decision. (See also interrelationship digraphs.)
After action review (AAR)
After action review (AAR) was first developed by the U.S. Army to encourage individuals to learn for themselves after an activity, project, or task by evaluating and analyzing what happened, why, and how to improve performance.
Aggregation
Aggregation is the act of curating the most relevant information about a particular topic into a single location.
Algorithm
Algorithm is a logical set of rules that create a method to solve a problem. It includes calculations, data processing, and reasoning.
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is legislation passed by the U.S. Congress in 1990 that prohibits discrimination in employment, public services, transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunications services against persons with disabilities. An individual is considered to have a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. The ADA prohibits discrimination in all employment practices, including job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.
Analysis
Analysis is a systematic examination and evaluation of data or information that uncovers interrelationships by breaking it into its component parts. Common analyses in talent development include training needs analysis, training design analysis, root cause analysis, job analysis, and SWOT (a matrix analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). In addition, as the first phase in the ADDIE model, analysis is the process of gathering data to identify the who, what, where, when, and why of the design process.
Analytics
Analytics is the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data; for example, talent management analytics refers to the use of HR and talent data to improve business performance.
Analyzing
Analyzing is the systematic examination and evaluation of data or information. It uncovers interrelationships in the data by breaking it into its component parts and requires sorting, tabulating, and comparing raw data.
Andragogy
Andragogy (from the Greek meaning adult learning) is the method and practice of teaching adults. It was advanced by Malcolm Knowles, whose theory outlines five key principles of adult learning: self-concept, prior experience, readiness to learn, orientation to learning, and motivation to learn.
Appreciative inquiry (AI)
Appreciative inquiry (AI) is an approach to large-scale organizational change that involves the analysis of positive and successful (rather than negative or failing) operations. The AI 4-D cycle (discovery, dream, design, destiny) includes identifying areas for improvement, analyzing previous successes, searching for solutions, and developing an action plan.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships combine on-the-job training with related classroom instruction. The apprentice learns the theoretical aspects of a highly skilled occupation in the classroom, as well as the practical elements while being supervised by a journey-level craft person or trade professional on the job.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is typically defined as the ability of a machine to simulate human cognitive processes, such as perceiving, reasoning, learning, interacting with the environment, problem solving, and creativity.
Assessment center
Assessment center is a process that organizations use to determine candidates’ suitability for a job or during a performance appraisal. It may include a variety of activities such as simulations, problem analysis, interviews, role plays, written reports, or group exercises.
Assimilation
Assimilation is part of Piaget’s constructivism theory to describe how a learner fits an idea into what they already know.
Association for Talent Development (ATD)
Association for Talent Development (ATD) is a not-for-profit, individual membership organization for professionals worldwide who are involved in learning, development, training, or talent development.
Assumption
Assumption is something that is accepted as true without proof. The “without proof” part of an assumption is what people tend to forget when they evaluate a situation.
Asynchronous training or learning
Asynchronous training or learning is when the trainer and the learner do not participate simultaneously in time or location; for example, asynchronous e-learning.
ATD HPI Model
ATD HPI Model is a results-based, systematic process used to —
–identify performance problems,
–analyze root causes,
–select and design solutions,
–manage solutions in the workplace,
–measure results, and
–continually improve performance in an organization.
Attitude
Attitude is the disposition, belief, feeling, or opinion an individual has about something or someone else.
Attending and focusing skills
Attending and focusing skills indicate that TD professionals are giving their physical attention to others. They are nonverbal messages that show they care and are listening.
Attentive listening
Attentive listening describes a situation in which the listener has no interaction with the speaker, such as listening to the radio or a podcast.
Audience analysis
Audience analysis is conducted to gather data about a target population, demographics, and other relevant information prior to job analysis, training, or other solutions.
Audio
Audio is one-way delivery of live or recorded sound.
Augmented reality (AR)
Augmented reality (AR) overlays digital information onto real-world environments through a mobile or head-mounted device. This information may include navigation directions, location information, or a wide range of other location-based details. AR is of particular value for talent development as a means of performance support, because targeted information can be displayed in-context without requiring users to stop their work.
Augmented workforce
Augmented workforce is a reference to the use of non-employees to support the work required in an organization. It includes consultants, contingent workers, freelancers, and even AI and robots.
Authoring tools
Authoring tools are software programs that allow a content expert to interact with a computer in everyday language to develop courseware.
Balanced scorecard approach
Balanced scorecard approach is a strategic planning and management system for measuring and tracking an organization’s performance through four perspectives: the customer, learning and growth (or innovation), internal business processes, and financial.
Baseline
Baseline is a measured starting point used for comparison.
Behavioral career counseling
Behavioral career counseling is a scientifically precise approach to career decision making that leverages concepts from psychology.
Behavioral objectives
Behavioral objectives are goals that specify a new observable skill or knowledge that a learner should be able to demonstrate after training or a learning event.
Behavioral theory
Behavioral theory focuses on the actions of leaders, such as democratic leaders, autocratic leaders, and laissez-faire leaders.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is a learning theory focused on observable and measurable behavior. It is usually associated with psychologist B.F. Skinner, who predicted that animal and human behavior occurs through conditioning, which is the reinforcement of desired responses.
Benchmark
Benchmark is a standard or a reference point against which things may be compared or assessed.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a measure of quality by comparing business process metrics to standard measurements or the best industry measures. The purposes of benchmarking are to compare and analyze to similar items to learn how other organizations achieve performance levels and to use this information to make improvements.
Best practices
Best practices are techniques that are believed to constitute a paradigm of excellence in a particular field.
Bias
Bias is prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually considered unfair.
Big data
Big data is a term used to describe multiple lists of data sets that are too large to capture and process using common methods for analysis. Its significance depends on the data’s volume, velocity, variety, veracity, and value.
Blended learning
Blended learning is the practice of using several media in one curriculum. It refers to the combination of formal and informal learning events, such as classroom instruction, online resources, and on-the-job coaching.
Block diagram
Block diagram, more often called a flowchart, is a drawing of a system in which the principal parts or functions are represented by geometric shapes (squares or rectangles) connected by lines that show the relationships of the parts to one another. This terminology is most often used in electronic, software, and hardware design.
Blog
Blog is an extension of a personal website consisting of journal-like entries posted on the Internet for public viewing. Posts usually contain links to other websites, along with the blogger’s thoughts, comments, and personality.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy, developed by Benjamin Bloom, is a hierarchical model used to classify learning into three outcomes or domains—cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (attitude)—referred to as KSAs. The domain categories use verbs to define behavior in a hierarchical relationship that becomes progressively more complex and difficult to achieve. The taxonomy is useful for writing learning objectives.
Bot
Bot, short for robot, is a device or software that can interact with other computer systems to reply to messages or perform tasks automatically. Bots can be chatbots, social bots, web crawlers, or malicious bots that, among other things, may be used to crack passwords.
Boundary spanning
Boundary spanning is the act of employees who communicate with one another and share information across department lines.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group process used to generate multiple ideas through spontaneous and unrestrained participation.
Branding
Branding references the comprehensive marketing concept organizations use to differentiate themselves from other organizations.
Broadband
Broadband is a high-capacity transmission technique using a wide range of frequencies, which enables a large number of messages to be communicated simultaneously.
Browser
Browser is a software program for finding and viewing information on the Internet. Firefox and Google Chrome are two common browsers.
Business analysis
Business analysis is the process of identifying and clarifying primary organizational goals, targets, or needs. It is also a step in ATD’s HPI model that examines the factors affecting the organization’s strategic imperative and outcomes related to the performance.
Business analytics
Business analytics is the practice of using technology, skills, and best practices for continuous examination of past business performance to gain understanding and predict the future.
Business awareness
Business awareness is the understanding of key factors influencing a business, such as its current situation, influences from its industry or market, and factors affecting growth. Having business awareness is essential to strategic involvement with top management.
Business case
Business case is a presentation of the rationale and justification for initiating a project or task.
Business intelligence (BI)
Business intelligence (BI) is an umbrella term that includes applications, infrastructure, tools, and best practices enabling access and analysis of information to optimize decisions and performance.
Business intelligence tools
Business intelligence tools are systems that retrieve, analyze, and report data to help organizations make more informed strategic decisions or identify inefficient processes. Tools can range from spreadsheets to sophisticated software for querying, data mining, or predictive analysis.
Business process.
Business process is how people, materials, methods, machines, and the environment combine to add value to inputs to produce a product or service. It is a series of structured tasks that produce a product or service (output) for a customer.
Business process analysis
Business process analysis is a structured method of observing and documenting related processes and functions to uncover hidden inefficiencies or highlight strengths that could be leveraged to increase productivity.
Butterfly effect
Butterfly effect, which is related to chaos theory, describes how a small local change can result in differences in another location.
Buzz group
Buzz group is a small, intense discussion group that usually involves two to three people briefly responding to a specific question during a learning event.
Call to action
Call to action is a written action plan that acknowledges a current situation and expresses specific goals and action steps, timelines, and expected outcomes. It may be used in coaching situations.
Capital investment
Capital investment refers to a specific amount of money that has been provided to an organization to finance its goals. It can also refer to an organization’s acquisition of long-term assets, such as buildings, property, or equipment.
Career advising
Career advising is professional guidance for making vocation and occupation decisions. It may include outlining required development options.
Career advisor
Career advisor is a professional responsible for helping individuals grow and develop in preparation for new job options. This person is also called a career coach.
Career development
Career development is a planned process of interaction between an organization and an individual that allows the employee to grow within the organization.
Career models
Career models and paths are methods by which employees develop and progress within an organization or through their careers.
Career planning
Career planning is assessing an employee’s interests and capabilities, and the encouraging development that fulfills their aspirations and meets the organization’s needs.
Career profile
Career profile is a summary statement highlighting a person’s work history, skills, and competencies.
Case study
Case study is a learning method in which a real or fictitious situation is presented for analysis and problem solving.
Causal inference
Causal inference occurs when a conclusion has been made based on the conditions of the occurrence of an effect. In other words, something made a difference and that would not have happened without it.
Cause-and-effect analysis
Cause-and-effect analysis is a technique that helps identify all likely causes of a problem. It uses the fishbone or Ishikawa diagram to visualize the data.
Central tendency bias
Central tendency bias describes the tendency to avoid committing to either end of a scale when completing a survey, and instead selecting a response near the middle.
Centralized scanning
Centralized scanning is looking at specific components of the environment or proposing a hypothesis that is may have an impact on current issues.
Centralized scanning
Centralized scanning is looking at specific components of the environment or proposing a hypothesis that is may have an impact on current issues.
Certificate
Certificate is a document that identifies knowledge or skills acquired using attendance and program completion as the requirements; competencies are not tested.
Certification
Certification is a process for increasing technical competencies through studies, testing, and practical application while also working toward a recognized designation.
Chain-of-response (COR)
Chain-of-response (COR), popularized by Patricia Cross in 1981, is a model asserting that adult participation in a training program results from a complex series of personal responses to internal and external variables that either encourage or discourage learning.
Complexity theory
Complexity theory is a concept model referenced during change management. It is the study of how complicated systems generate simple behavior.
Chaos theory
Chaos theory—a concept model referenced during change management—the study of how simple systems can generate complicated behavior. It is an interdisciplinary theory that says there are underlying patterns, constant feedback loops, repetition, and self-organization even in the apparent randomness of chaotic, complex systems.
Characteristics of adult learners (CAL)
Characteristics of adult learners (CAL) is a framework developed by Patricia Cross to describe why adults learn. Cross synthesized research about motivations and deterrents to adult learning, incorporating assumptions of andragogy into the framework as a means for considering the changing adult developmental stages.
Charismatic leaders
Charismatic leaders are generally driven by their commitment to their cause, deriving their influence from their charm and persuasiveness.
Chart of accounts
Chart of accounts is a list of financial categories that identifies each class of items for which money is allocated in a budget.
Chat room
Chat room is a synchronous feature used in virtual training events that allows participants and facilitators to send text or auditory messages in real time to interact. They are similar to breakout rooms in face-to-face training sessions.
Chronology
Chronology is a form of curation that organizes historical information by date to show an evolving understanding of a particular topic.
Chunk
Chunk (n.) is a discrete portion of content that may consist of several learning objects grouped together to improve learner comprehension and retention; (v.) instructional designers break down and group, or chunk, larger pieces of information into smaller, easier-to-process units.
Client
Client is the goal owner who sponsors a project or has engaged a TD professional for support, to complete a project, or to improve a performance.
Climate
Climate represents individuals’ collective assessment of an organization in terms of whether it is a good or bad place to work.
Closed-ended questions
Closed-ended is a form of questioning that seeks to limit the information collected to either a yes/no or a specific content response. It’s used to check for understanding or test for consensus.
Clustering
Clustering is used in statistics to organize similar data points.
Coaching
Coaching is a widely used term with multiple definitions. The International Coach Federation defines coaching as “a professional partnership between a qualified coach and an individual or team that supports the achievement of extraordinary results, based on goals set by the individual or team. Through the process of coaching, individuals focus on the skills and actions needed to successfully produce their personally relevant results.” It is not counseling, mentoring, training, or giving advice. Coaching may also be used on the job, when a more experienced person, often a supervisor, provides constructive advice and feedback to develop or improve an employee’s performance.
Codec
Codec (short for coder/decoder) encodes a data stream or signal for transmission, storage, or encryption, or decodes it for playback or editing. Codecs are used in videoconferencing, streaming media, and video editing applications.
Cognition
Cognition is the mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through the five senses, thought, and experience. The word dates back to the 15th century, meaning thinking and awareness.
Cognitive dissonance theory
Cognitive dissonance theory states that when contradicting beliefs occur, the human mind invents new thoughts or beliefs or modifies existing beliefs to seek consistency and minimize the amount of conflict between beliefs.
Cognitive empathy
Cognitive empathy is the ability to understand another’s perspective.
Cognitive load
Cognitive load refers to the amount of effort needed to process new information in the working memory, which has a very limited capacity. TD professionals need to design content so that it does not overload this capacity
Cognitivism
Cognitivism is a learning theory that attempts to answer how and why people learn by attributing the process to inner mental activity (thinking, problem solving, language, concept formation, and information processing) and how information is processed, stored, and retrieved.
Cog’s ladder
Cog’s ladder is a team development model with five stages: polite, purpose, bid for power, performance progress, and synergy.
Collaboration
Collaboration is behavior in which two or more individuals work together toward a common goal with equal opportunity to participate, communicate, and be involved. During conflict it is when both parties work together to develop a win-win solution.
Collaborative learning
Collaborative learning is an instructional approach in which two or more learners work together to discover, learn, solve problems, and share information either in person or online. It may be used by facilitators to encourage engagement and involvement.
Collaborative overload
Collaborative overload describes working situations in which employees spend as much as 80 percent of their time in collaborative activities, such as attending meetings, making phone calls, and responding to emails. As a result, they end up having to take work home and performance suffers because they are overwhelmed with requests for advice, access, input, or meeting attendance.
Collaborative learning software.
Collaborative learning software includes platforms for virtual classrooms and meeting spaces, as well as collaborative work.
Committee and task force involvement
Committee and task force involvement is a developmental option that might broaden perspectives and heighten awareness of issues that may also apply to the organization.
Communication’s 6 Cs
Communication’s 6 Cs are the six basic attributes required for sending a message or sharing information:
clear—choosing audience-appropriate words that are precise and descriptive
correct—selecting words that ensure accuracy and using correct grammar; avoiding misusing words
complete—articulating comprehensive messages that include all the details
concise—choosing short specific sentences and phrases; avoiding rambling
coherent—maintaining consistency, selecting simple sentence structures, and presenting in an easy to follow order
courteous—using words that are respectful, friendly, positive, gender-neutral, and sensitive; avoiding accusing or blaming.
Compensating feedback
Compensating feedback describes a situation in which well-intentioned initiatives or solutions call forth responses from the system that offset the benefits.
Competency-based learning
Competency-based learning is an instructional approach that focuses on individual skills or outcomes, known as competencies (usually defined in a competency dictionary created from an occupational analysis of the skills required for successful performance). The approach is focused on individual learners who work on one competency at a time, with the ability to skip a learning module if they can demonstrate a mastery of the skills contained within it. It’s applied most often to skills-based learning.
Completely randomized design
Completely randomized design is a model that assumes treatments are randomly allocated to experimental units.
Completely randomized block design
Completely randomized block design occurs when participants are put into experimental groups—known as blocks. Each block has the same size as the number of participants as treatments. Then each member is randomly assigned a different treatment. Each block sees each treatment exactly once.
Complex systems structures
Complex systems structures feature numerous components whose processes are not linear but self-organizing. Studying the networks within the structure produces patterns that help understand the whole system.
Complexity theory
Complexity theory defines an organization as a complex, adaptive system that needs to respond to the external and internal environment by remaining on the edge of chaos while at the same time self-organizing and continuously reinventing itself. In complexity theory, the future is unknowable.
