Training Flashcards
3 Components of an Organizational Needs Assessment System
- Training is not always the answer, and a needs analysis will tell us if we need training
- When finished, we know:
i. If training is needed
ii. What kind of training is needed and in what areas
iii. What content do we need to train on
iv. Who do we need to train
Organization-wide analysis, an analysis of the work performed, and an analysis of the persons performing the work.
- Organizational analysis
- Work Analysis
- Task Analysis
Organizational Analysis- Determining where training emphasis can and should be placed within the organization based on its objectives and resources
- Establish top relationships/ org. members to establish goals of the org., identify resources, training climate, etc.
Task Analysis (Job Analysis)- Determining the content of training in terms of what the employee must do to perform a task, job, or assignment effectively ** Requires a job analysis
Define target of job, choose methods, identify participants, determine points of contact, anticipate problems. develop protocol
Identify relevant tasks and KSAs
Perform Linkage analysis
JOB ANALYSIS REVIEW
Techniques- interview, survey, observation (direct/indirect), panel, O*Net
Types of Job Analysis - Job vs. Worker - developing work to be employed vs. employees
Person Analysis- determining KSAOs an employee must develop to perform tasks involved in his or her job.
Develop performance indicators, KSA gaps in target participants, determine approach to resolve gaps.
- Is the individual trainable?
- How should the training program be arranged to facilitate learning?
- What can be done to ensure what was learned during training will be retained and transferred on the job?
Trainability- only train employees who are trainable
- Selection into training - same laws as selection into the organizations
- Training as short as possible, not to pull workers
- Need ability and motivation
Active Practice - people are engaged in skills (related to active learning)
Overlearning- you have to get the task right many times, not just once
** Promotes automaticity (if the goal is to make the behavior or skill automatic, continuously practice it)
Massed vs. Distributive - Distributive is better for physical tasks/motor skills because with rest periods you can make up for fatigue.
-Effectiveness is less clear-cut when you are trying to learn factual information.
Blocked vs. Random Task Order- Randomly presenting training order can improve learning because you learn the relationships of different parts more deeply.
Whole Training- Train everything together and in order - when things are related this works best, but when they aren’t as related, partial trainings are more effective
Feedback- allows for corrections/adjustments, increases interest/stimulation, leads to goal-setting
Task-related, not personal, timing should be immediate but not too much
Meaningfulness of material- effective for training/engaging/effortful- reduces cognitive load
High Aptitude vs. Low Aptitude Trainers - learn differently so using diff. methods/treatments for people of varying levels of ability might lead to better outcomes
Personality traits, cultural background, etc.
Individual diff. that Influence Training: Cognitive ability, self-efficacy, previous experience, age, motivation, non-ability related differences (openness, goal orientation, neuroticism, anxiety, motives)
Performance Avoidant individuals would not do well in error management type of training
Bandura- Social Learning Theory- basis for behavioral modeling
Creating an environment for learning - influences how individuals connect and support which makes it easier for people to learn
- Motivation
a. Encourage self-regulated learning
i. Self-regulated learning: the process by which we set and achieve goals or alter goals if necessary – setting learning goals and activities and altering them
ii. E.g., the goal is do to well on comps, so review information and test myself
b. Goal setting
i. Trainers ask trainees what their goal is and give feedback
c. Reinforcement theory
i. Principles of this theory (skinner) can influence how you design your training environment – designing feedback
d. Expectancy theory
i. If you think your effort will be rewarded, you will be more motivated to work
ii. Valence: do I care
iii. Instrumentality: will I get the reward
e. Self-efficacy
i. Close relationship with transfer because if you believe you can do the training tasks on the job, you will be more motivated for training
- What is Engagement?
a. Level of interest, how attentive/active someone is towards a task
b. Can be measured in different ways (cognitive, affective, behavioral) - Why is it important?
a. Must be engaged to learn – the more engaged, the more you learn
b. Learners who are engaged more learn more from interventions
c. Associated with more favorable learner reactions - How to we promote it?
a. 3 conditions to promote engagement:
i. Meaningfulness - Receive return on investment of effort
ii. Safety - Being able to express yourself without fear of repercussions (predictable situations)
iii. Availability - Enhanced when individuals possess physical/cognitive/physiological resources to invest in job efforts (e.g., sleep, time)
iii. How do changes in the workforce (e.g., age, diversity), training design (e.g., e-learning) and training content (teamwork training, soft skills training) inform training motivation?
1. Connection between workforce changes and content (older workers are less motivated to learn new hard skills and more motivated to learn new soft skills)
2. Easier to see value in hard skills
iv. Learner Control
1. What is it?
a. Providing autonomy, discretion, responsibility to the individual learner to make decisions about the learning process/environment/etc.
i. E.g., pace, content, structure
2. Under what conditions is it expected to help vs. hinder learning?
a. Control might hinder ability if learners have lower ability or less experience, or if the task is complex
b. Control over content will hinder learning, but control over pace will help
c. Do not provide control over deep features (content, order, organization)
d. Brown et al. (2016)
i. As people gain ability and experience, you might be able to provide more control (as people learn, they could be trusted with having more control)
3. What recommendations would you make for training designers regarding learner control?
a. Make sure there is adequate support – don’t provide autonomy without having an avenue to reach out for help
ii. Skill Acquisition
1. What is skill acquisition?
a. Performance criterion
i. Can be operationalized as proficiency on an exam
b. Amount of material covered
i. Errorless trials – hope that people get good enough
c. Amount of time spent
i. Number of hours practicing driving or with a patient
d. Mental model/knowledge structure
i. Cognitive map
1. Closeness of two nodes shows how closely related they are, and number of links is important (a lot suggests you don’t know much about a topic)
Skill Retention & Decay
- Decay: loss of knowledge or skill after some period of non-use
- Retention: amount of knowledge or training that has been retained after the period of non-use
- Influential Characteristics that influence the strength of decay or retention:
a. Retention interval
i. Longer interval = more decay
b. Degree of overlearning
i. No significant effect for overlearning – but argue that not many people measure overlearning
c. Task characteristics (closed/open; physical/cognitive)
i. Closed-looped: ordered tasks
ii. Open-looped: less sequential - Closed-looped tasks = less retention than open-looped
iii. Physical tasks are more prone to decay than cognitive based tasks
d. Acquisition criteria
i. Speed is less resistant to decay than accuracy
e. Conditions of retrieval
i. The more similar the environment, the more resistant to decay (strongest moderator)
f. Instructional/design strategies
g. Individual differences - Can attitudes decay?
a. Self-efficacy
b. Job satisfaction
c. Organizational commitment
d. Attitudes towards others (e.g., opposite sex, races)
e. *Environmental factors can effect attitudes – attitudes change over time, and the changes are meaningful
i. Chen et al. (2005) measure job satisfaction at many points over time to capture the dynamic nature
Opportunity to Perform - 3 Factors
- Job Characteristics (depends)
- Work Environment (supports or not)
- Trainee Motivation - the extent to which the trainees seek out opportunities to implement their skills
No opportunity to perform = decay is more likely
Refresher training
Other Contextual Factors
Framing of the Training - How you introduce individuals to the training can influence learning & decay
Higher self-efficacy and lower anxiety - more success when framed positively
Training Climate- supports and rewards training and promotes creativity
**Needs assessment for successful transfer of training and longer retention! ** They are moderators to training design/individual diff. - learning outcome.
Cheng & Ho (2001) social support and continuous learning culture; evidence that supportive climate moderated the effectiveness of goal-setting intervention on training transfer
Individual Factors that Affect Transfer: 1. Cognitive Ability (Strongest) 2. Conscientiousness 3. Neuroticism 4 Learning Goal- Orientation 5. Performance Avoidance Orientation 6. Pre-training Self-Efficacy 7. Motivation 8 Voluntary participation or Job Involvement
