Chapter 6 Managing Learning Programs Flashcards
Strategic business drivers are defined as______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Internal and external forces that affect the organization’s culture and values and the need to facilitate change within an organization
Internal and external forces that affect the knowledge, skills, and information in the organization and determine learning needs of individuals
Internal and external forces that affect an organization’s revenue, expenses, and expected profitability
Internal and external forces that affect an organization’s strategy, goals, business needs, and performance needs
Internal and external forces that affect an organization’s strategy, goals, business needs, and performance needs
Response D is correct because strategic business drivers are factors that affect how the organization does business. An example of an external business driver is government regulations, while an example of an internal business driver is technology.
Which of the following environmental factors includes technology, new products, and changes in systems processes or policies? (Choose the best response.)
Contractual
External
Employees
Internal
Internal
Response D is correct because internal factors encompass forces within the organization that can affect its strategy and goals. Examples include changes in systems, processes, or policies that may require changes in employee skills and behavior.
Which of the following environmental factors includes economic changes and human resource and skill shortages? (Choose the best response.)
Contractual
External
Employees
Internal
External
Response B is correct because external factors encompass forces outside the organization that affect its strategy and goals and include economic changes, human resource and skill shortages, governmental decisions, public perception, and market or customer requirements.
You have just started your job as a TD director in a new company. You spend most of your first few weeks learning about the company’s history, mission, goals, strategy, tactics, vision, and plans. This information will help you understand which of the following? (Choose the best response.)
Company’s culture
Department’s budget
TD group’s strengths and weaknesses
Who the organization’s informal leaders are
Company’s culture
Response A is correct because the company’s culture encompasses all the ways that things are done in an organization. Therefore, the company’s history, mission, goals, strategy, tactics, vision, and plans are good places to learn about how things get done in the organization.
You are a director of a Talent Development department. Your manager is meeting with you to express her disapproval that you signed off on poor training supplier agreements. Which of the following environmental factors does your manager think you managed inadequately? (Choose the best response.)
Contractual
External
Employees
Internal
Contractual
Response A is correct because contractual factors include stipulations laid out in supplier agreements for services and raw materials.
You own a small consulting firm. You are very busy. Although you have tried to hire additional consultants, qualified candidates do not seem to be available. Which of the following environmental factors is negatively affecting your company? (Choose the best response.)
Contractual
External
Employees
Internal
Employees
Response C is correct because employee factors include shortages in the number of employees or in the number of employees with a certain skill set.
An organization’s dynamic capabilities include things such as ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Number of computers
An organization’s ability to efficiently distribute and apply organizational learning
Availability of tablets
An organization’s mobile devices
An organization’s ability to efficiently distribute and apply organizational learning
Response B is the correct response because dynamic capabilities concern the organization’s technological capabilities versus hard technology capabilities, such as number of computers, mobile devices, and availability of tablets.
Which of the following delivery methods is best for learners with a low level of motivation? (Choose the best response.)
Expand All
VR
EPSS
Online asynchronous
Classroom instruction
Classroom instruction
Response D is the correct response because classroom learning requires that learners be present. In addition, it is the job of the training facilitator to ensure that all attendees engage with the material being presented.
Which delivery method has the primary advantages of being excellent for teaching rote skills and prerequisite materials, offering flexibility in scheduling, and being capable of quick delivery? (Choose the best response.)
Job aids
EPSS
Asynchronous online learning
Classroom instruction
Asynchronous online learning
Response C is correct because asynchronous online learning can be repeated as many times as it takes to learn rote skills without the learner having to feel embarrassed if he or she does not succeed at first. Similarly, the learner can prepare for classroom training sessions by using online learning on his or her own time to brush up on prerequisite materials.
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of a job aid? (Choose the best response.)
Excellent for infrequent tasks
Excellent for tasks with short reaction time
Excellent for tasks with high consequence of error
Excellent for tasks that may change in the future
Excellent for tasks with short reaction time
Response B is correct because tasks with short reaction time require that the performer be able to do what he or she needs to do without taking the time to find a job aid and look up what to do. In other words, the performer needs to know what to do at a moment’s notice; this is true in the case of, for example, a pilot reacting to an emergency on a plane.
One of the biggest barriers to implementing technology-based learning is _____________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Organizational culture
Learner skills
Mission and vision of the organization
Cost
Organizational culture
Response A is correct because no matter how great and streamlined the technologies, if the organizational culture and perceptions of the learners do not accept technology-based learning or perceive that it is inferior to traditional classroom instruction, then nothing will make the learning program a success.
Which of the following was created to minimize or remove technical roadblocks and fosters creation of reusable learning content as “instructional objects”? (Choose the best response.)
SCORM
Section 508
Blended learning
Wikis
SCORM
Response A is correct because SCORM stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Model. SCORM was designed by the Department of Defense to foster creation of reusable learning content as “instructional objects” within a common technical framework consisting of guidelines, specifications, and standards.
The most important consideration in the process of selecting a learning technology is ______________. (Choose the best response.)
Identifying the learning objectives and desired outcomes and selecting the technology to support those goals
Identifying the target learners and geographical location(s)
Determining which activities and interactivity are needed
Constructing a rationale for the technology choice
Constructing a rationale for the technology choice
Response D is correct because the organizational culture plays the most significant role if online learning is supported and if technology-based learning will be sustained for future efforts. If sponsors and learners do not believe that technology-based learning solutions are beneficial and preferable to traditional instructional approaches, then the learning programs will likely fail.
Which of the following is best defined as a wide set of applications and processes, such as virtual classrooms, digital collaboration, and so on? Delivery of content may be via the Internet or intranet, satellite broadcast, mobile devices, and more. (Choose the best response.)
Podcasts
Online learning
Vodcasts
Teleconferencing
Online learning
Response B is correct because online learning is an umbrella term that refers to anything delivered, enabled, or mediated by electronic technology for the purpose of learning, and it can be delivered through a wide variety of methods.
Which of the following is best described as an exercise with a simplified form of a real-life situation so that participants can practice making decisions and analyzing results of those decisions? (Choose the best response.)
Simulation
EPSS
VR
Social network
Simulation
Response A is correct because a simulation is a representation of a piece of equipment or a system that enables users to provide inputs and see the system’s typical responses. This enables learners to practice doing certain tasks and see the results of what they have done in a safe environment.
Which of the following gives learners a realistic, three-dimensional, interactive experience? (Choose the best response.)
Simulation
Online learning
VR
Psychomotor skills
VR
Response C is correct because VR allows learners to perform skills in a realistic, engaging simulation of a real-life environment.
What is the most challenging aspect of evaluating the impact of new technology? (Choose the best response.)
Beta testing
Usability testing
Integration into program design
Transfer of learning to the workplace
Transfer of learning to the workplace
Response D is correct because while beta testing, usability testing and integration into program design are all essential elements to consider, transfer of learning to the workplace is the most challenging.
You need to select a training delivery method. Your goals include (a) cost-effectiveness, (b) low amount of trainer travel, and (c) low amount of learner time away from work. Immediate learner feedback in real time is not required. Which delivery method would best address this situation? (Choose the best response.)
Blended online learning event
Synchronous online learning event
Facilitator-led classroom event
Asynchronous online event
Asynchronous online event
Response D is correct because reducing trainer and learner time away indicates a technologically-driven solution. An asynchronous solution further reduces the need for schedule management.
A manager of a small company has asked for your advice. He is trying to decide if high-end simulations are an appropriate training option to deliver new product training to salespeople. Which of the following factors makes simulations inappropriate for this company? (Choose the best response.)
The company has five regional offices
The company needs to monitor post-assessment scores
The training will be updated quarterly
The training must include product demonstration videos
The training will be updated quarterly
Response C is correct because simulations or other high-end online learning content typically require lengthy development times and have high development costs. Quarterly updates would be expensive and could probably not be achieved quickly enough.
You are a manager who needs to provide a rationale to senior leadership to invest in EPSS as a job aid. Considering the following scenarios, which one is the best reason for using an EPSS? (Choose the best response.)
Access to computers is limited
Employees require just-in-time performance assistance
Information and processes are changing constantly
The tasks are highly technical and fairly complicated
Employees require just-in-time performance assistance
Response B is correct because for employees who need just-in-time performance assistance, EPSS provides on-demand information, guidance, examples, and step-by-step dialog boxes without the need for training or coaching.
You are a TD professional working in a federal agency. Your manager tells you to search for vendors who provide online learning content that is accessible by federal employees with disabilities. The standard that your manager is referencing is______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
SCORM
Section 508
Mobile learning standards
Collaboration tool standards
Section 508
Response B is correct because Section 508 refers to a standard in the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires that when federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use EIT, federal employees with disabilities must have comparable access to and use of information and data as federal employees who have no disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency.
You are a TD professional who is creating a blended learning program for a large restaurant chain. Your client wants to leverage collaboration tools to facilitate the learning process and provide informal learning experiences outside of formal classroom instruction. You offer all of the following to your client as examples of collaboration software except ______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Wikis
Blogs
CoPs
LMSs
LMSs
Response D is correct because LMSs are not collaboration software. An LMS is a software application that automates administering, tracking, and reporting learning events.
Which of the following systems manages content, such as components that make up a course? (Choose the best response.)
LMS
LCMS
LSS
Collaboration tools
LCMS
Response B is correct because a LCMS is a system that stores, assembles, and delivers learning content in the form of learning objects, which are self-contained chunks of self-instructional material.
Which of the following systems manages learners, including who’s taking which course(s), completion ratios, course progress status, and scheduling? (Choose the best response.)
LMS
LCMS
LSS
Collaboration tools
LMS
Response A is correct because an LMS provides access to learning resources and manages the administrative side of learning.
Which of the following is NOT a benefit of an LCMS? (Choose the best response.)
Faster development with a WYSIWYG authoring environment
Collaboration and storage of learning content with check-in and check-out capabilities
The ability to create once and use many times
Administration of courses
Administration of courses
Response D is correct because a LCMS is not involved with the administrative side of learning (unlike an LMS); a LCMS is used to manage learning content.
Which of the following includes email, computer networks, bulletin board systems, chat rooms, and online presentation tools, which can play an important role in the expansion of online learning and in collaborating on projects, sharing information, and communicating? (Choose the best response.)
LMS
LCMS
LSS
Collaboration tools
Collaboration tools
Response D is correct because collaboration tools provide an environment that enables learners to work together electronically, thereby enabling them to collaborate on projects and assist one another’s learning.
Which of the following is NOT one of the assessments that should be conducted prior to implementing an LMS? (Choose the best response.)
IT infrastructure assessment
Cultural readiness assessment
Training needs assessment
Administrative process analysis
Training needs assessment
Response C is correct because implementing an LMS does not require a training needs assessment. An LMS is not used to create course content.
A training department is collecting requirements for selecting a LCMS. Which of the following is a typical LCMS function? (Choose the best response.)
Manage traditional forms of training
Provide learner profile management
Create test questions
Provide skills gap analysis functions
Create test questions
Response C is correct because a LCMS combines the most essential pieces of the learning puzzle, including creating and administering tests.
As your organization’s director of talent, you must develop a learning information system to support the learning function. The system must support training delivered asynchronously to employees’ work stations. The learning results and data must be readily available to the organization’s human resources system. Which system would best satisfy these requirements? (Choose the best response.)
LMS
LCMS
Collaborative learning software
LSS
LMS
Response A is correct because an LMS is designed to manage multiple delivery venues, track results, and interface with HR and other systems.
Your organization’s TD department is deciding whether it should purchase a learning support system. Which of the following reasons would you NOT tell your manager is a benefit for implementing a learning support system? (Choose the best response.)
Better able to align learning initiatives with strategic goals
A need to provide LMS recommendations based on organizational needs
A need to adjust to a faster speed of response
Better able to deal with technology compatibility issues
Better able to deal with technology compatibility issues
Response D is correct because integrating a learning support system with existing systems may cause compatibility issues rather than solve them.
Of the following, who developed a decision-making model for comparing potential suppliers by dividing criteria into musts and wants and assigning weight to those items? (Choose the best response.)
Kepner and Tregoe
Gardner
Herrmann
Knowles
Kepner and Tregoe
Response A is correct because Charles H. Kepner and Benjamin B. Tregoe identified a practical, straightforward decision-making process that splits criteria into wants and musts and then weights those items.
Which of the following best describes a firm fixed-price contract? (Choose the best response.)
The product or service can be clearly defined (for example, a presentation, video, or generic program)
Analysis and development are involved, and a negotiated percentage of the overall cost is identified as profit. Government procurement offices often use this procedure
When time is critical, the resource gets a bonus if the contract is completed early. The reverse is also possible, in which the contract imposes a penalty for missed deadlines
A certain percentage of the fixed fee is added based on employees’ successful performance on the job. This works only when desired performance can be described and measured specifically
The product or service can be clearly defined (for example, a presentation, video, or generic program)
Response A is correct because a firm fixed-price contract is used when a product or service has a fixed cost and a clear definition; this is much like purchasing a software program directly off a store shelf.
All of the following are standard elements of an RFP except______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Development process and timeline
Deliverables
References
Financial statements
Financial statements
Response D is correct because financial statements are not typically included in RFPs.
Which of the following is NOT a main step in the outsourcing process? (Choose the best response.)
Determining needs, scope, and budget
Creating the RFP
Contract negotiation
Conducting trainer interviews
Conducting trainer interviews
Response D is correct because the steps in the outsourcing process are determining needs, defining the scope and budget, creating and sending the RFP, evaluating proposals and selecting a supplier, notifying the supplier and negotiating the contract, implementing the project, monitoring the schedule, and completing and evaluating the project. Interviewing trainers is not part of the supplier evaluation process.
Which of the following types of contracts requires analysis and development and also has a negotiated percentage of the overall cost identified as profit? (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately.)
Firm fixed price
Cost plus fixed price
Cost plus incentive fee
Performance based
Cost plus fixed price
Response B is correct because a cost plus fixed price contract is often used by government procurement offices. With this type of contract, the supplier needs to do some analysis and development, but the total percentage of the supplier’s profit is determined by the contract.
The key to efficiently selecting supplier offerings is first to define the organization’s______________. (Choose the option that completes the sentence accurately. )
Competencies
Requirements
Strategies
Contract clauses
Requirements
Response B is correct because it is important to first define the organization’s requirements before selecting a supplier.
Your organization needs to develop a learning program to support a new product launch and sales-force training. Which of the following is the best benefit of developing materials and learning programs in-house? (Choose the best response.)
The end product may have a lower cost because in-house expertise is used
Designers and developers have firsthand knowledge of the company, culture, mission, and goals
Development time is shorter
All resources are available immediately
Designers and developers have firsthand knowledge of the company, culture, mission, and goals
Response B is correct because in-house designers and developers understand the culture of the organization, which enables them to create learning that fits the culture and which appeals to the organization’s learners.
You are the TD manager for a small medical practice. After they return from the annual medical conference and retreat in Hawaii, the doctors in your firm have determined that they want you to create a high-quality, customized customer service training for the practice. They provide you with several names of vendors whom they spoke with at the conference who offer off-the-shelf customer service courseware and received high praise from other doctors. Your doctors believe that their practice is special and want a special training approach that emulates the practice. What may be wrong with this scenario? (Choose the best response.)
The credentials of the vendors may be exaggerated because they attended the medical conference
You are concerned about the degree of cohesion between the vendor’s philosophies and the medical practice
You need a budget for this project before you proceed
You are concerned about the ability to customize the customer service training to meet the “special” needs of the medical practice based on the doctors’ comments to you
You are concerned about the ability to customize the customer service training to meet the “special” needs of the medical practice based on the doctors’ comments to you
Response D is correct because it is often difficult or impossible to customize off-the-shelf products, making it difficult to meet all the training needs.
You provide training services to a small Fixed Base Operation (FBO) pilot shop. They are operated by a dedicated but harried staff. They have asked you to gather proposals from vendors that can teach time management skills to the 25-member staff. The budget is small, but you have found a man that can offer the training under the budget you were given. He is a professor at a junior college who is just starting his consulting practice, so he doesn’t have any previous customers. He says he can put the training together within the month and would not need to waste anyone’s time with a needs assessment, objectives, scope of the effort or timeline; he is sure you will be satisfied with the deliverable. He has asked for half of the fee upfront to pay expenses. The FBO manager and one of the flight instructors have concerns. What is their greatest concern? (Choose the best response.)
Professors are rarely a good choice because they don’t have real-life experience
If the price is so low, it can’t be good training
The lack of desire to conduct a needs assessment or present a scope of work or deliverables is worrisome
Asking for half the cost upfront is unsettling
The lack of desire to conduct a needs assessment or present a scope of work or deliverables is worrisome
Response C is the best. While each of these could signal a problem, it is imperative to have a potential vendor always provide a detailed description of the plan, objectives, scope of effort, a timeline, deliverables, and references. An unwillingness to conduct at least a cursory needs assessment will most likely result in training that does not meet the needs of the FBO staff.
Which of the following activities is most important to being a successful TD manager? (Choose the best response.)
Developing learning programs
Aligning people with departmental and business goals
Double-checking to ensure everything is prepared for a training class
Acting as the lead instructor for all mission-critical learning programs
Aligning people with departmental and business goals
Response B is correct because the role of the TD manager is to enable the department to provide training that supports and furthers the organization’s business goals. To do this, the training manager needs to ensure that his or her people work toward the goals of the department and of the business.
