Summary Kraiger & Ford 2013 PDF

9. The Science of Workplace Instruction: Learning and Development Applied to Work – Kraiger & Ford 2013 The paper deals with learning in general and specifically in workplace / training settings. Important is to look at the training systems framework with instructional events as input and instructio...

9. The Science of Workplace Instruction: Learning and Development Applied to Work – Kraiger & Ford 2013 The paper deals with learning in general and specifically in workplace / training settings. Important is to look at the training systems framework with instructional events as input and instructional output as dependent variable. It is not quite clear how learning events and learning outcomes function as mediators. Also important are the elements of the science of workplace instruction and its facets: principles, learners, and delivery. There are core instructional principles that have shown to be effective and therefore shall be used regardless of other factors (e.g., learner age or learning styles). Introduction • • • • • Three major cycles of training research o Theories of learning and skill acquisition o Training methods and institutionalizing training events within a larger organizational context o Application of cognitive science to understand changes in the learner and broader systems perspectives to understand organizational influences on training effectiveness Purpose: direct attention to how individuals learn in order to organize what we know and need to know about maximizing training effectiveness Science of learning + science of training; → understand factors affecting learning outcomes Science of workplace instruction Consists of three parts: 1. Framework of possible areas of inquiry with respect to learning and training 2. Core elements of science of workplace instruction (instructional principles as mechanisms for improving training practice and stimulating training research) 3. Intersection of instructional principles with two emerging trends in training: selfdirected learning & synthetic learning environments 1. A training systems framework • Learning definitions: a) Change in knowledge, skill, and/or affect b) Relative permanency of change c) Inferred from observed changes in the learner • Learning in organizational context must be intentional and lasting • Learning as multidimensional construct → learning is an increased capacity to do the right thing at the right time Instructional Outcomes Dynamic changes in the learner as a result of instructional events • Instructional/ training outcomes are observable and measurable criteria that occur as a result of learning • Question: Whether (or which) instructional events lead to instructional outcomes of value to learners or the organization? System Components • Mediators: learning events and learning outcomes for relationship between instructional events and instructional outcomes • Learning outcomes = constructs that change as a result of learning events (cognitive, skillbased, affective) • Training evaluations = practice of assessing the achievement of learning outcomes • Instructional events = observable events (typically initiated by the organization) to trigger learning events within individuals (focus on formal instructional events) • Learning events = learning from instruction requires cognitive processes of encoding (select content into working memory), organizing, and retrieving, as well as the importance of building connections in an active, intentional way Advancing Training Research and Practice • Science of training: focus on effectiveness of training • Science of learning: what are the most effective instructional events given what we know abut how people learn? How Effective Instruction Works • Effective workplace instruction facilitates encoding by improving learner engagement, directing attention to key material, drawing connections between new content and what the learners already know or need to know to perform their jobs, and organization by providing an overarching structure to the content, providing sufficient time for organization and consolidation to occur, and helping learners understand connections between content elements and between content elements and the work context • Retrieval processes occur during and after training (practice); prepare learners to generalize or adapt newly acquired knowledge or skills to novel contexts 2. Elements of the science of workplace instruction Primary elements of the science of workplace instruction: Learners, instructional principles, and delivery • Goal of instruction: facilitate change in the learner The Learner • Science of training seeks to identify individual difference variables (e.g., motivation to learn or goal orientation) → predictors or moderators of the learning during training or transfer after it • Important to consider but provides little guidance as to how to use this knowledge to build better training • Science of learning reveals that learning events are relatively intransient across learners and are facilitated by the same set of empirically supported instructional principles Instructional Principles • Science of workplace instruction = application of evidence-based principles that have been found to help individuals learn knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to job performance and organizational effectiveness • Instructional Principles = empirically supported propositions that guide the design and delivery of effective training; can affect instructional events & learning events • Useful principles must be actionable, resulting in instructional design or learning events that result in knowledge/ acquisition and retention Core instructional principles • Core principle = empirically supported approach to facilitating learning (can be accomplished in multiple ways) Empirically supported instructional principles 1. Organize content – coherence (Zusammenhang, Schlüssigkeit), contiguity (Zusammengehörigkeit), advanced organizer 2. Optimize sequencing of material – scaffolding, adaptive difficulty, interleaving (training schedule with mixed problems and training content) 3. Engage learner in own learning – generative effects (make connections between new knowledge and existing knowledge), prompts/ metacognition (facilitate self-regulation by questioning learning strategies), retrieval (aka testing effect) 4. Conduct effective practice – variability of practice (transfer of learning), spaced practice, identical elements (accurate representation of real life) 5. Develop past initial mastery – knowledge of results (provide learner with correct answer), feedback and feedforward, overlearning (repeated practice, refresher training) • Effective instruction: organize content in ways that are meaningful and helpful to learners, the more the instruction actively engages the learners in the learning event, the better the outcomes, overlearning – continued study after one already knows the material Delivery • Delivery = process by which instructional events are designed and shared to facilitate learning events; consists primarily of instructional methods and training media Methods → theoretically sound approaches to structuring learning events Media → materials and physical means that are used to convey content to learners, (when design principles are held constant, media should be equally effective as other media) Intersection of Learners and Methods: • Aptitude-treatment interactions → not empirically supported (better: linking instructional principles to training delivery for all learners, independent of aptitude) • Learning styles → not empirically supported (well-designed instruction works for all learners) • Age-specific learning → well-designed training works for all (there may be treatment by age interactions) 3. Advancing the science of workplace instruction Intersection of Instructional Principles and Training Models • Variance in training properties including practice and feedback explained significant variance in training outcomes • Theory-based training interventions are effective, but they work better with they incorporate sound instructional principles → question of future research: how to best integrate instructional principles into effective training methods Enhancing Self-Directed Learning • Self-directed learning = “learners´ active and volitional approach to conceptualize, design, conduct, and evaluate a learning project” • Cumulative evidence that self-directed learning is effective • One variation of self-directed learning is informal learning (= typically occurs on the job and without organizational oversight, e.g., when learners ask a coworker for help or search the Internet for job-relevant information) • Positive effects for informal learning behaviors on outcomes such as knowledge / skill acquisition and job performance The problem: With self-directed learning, the learner assumes greater control in the planning, scheduling, and executing of learning events than during formal training → effectiveness of self-directed learning is limited on how well learners manage these events • Effective self-management requires two broad skills sets o Monitoring the learning process and outcomes o Regulation of the affective, cognitive, and behavioral processes that promote learning • E.g., students rated their learning as superior (using massed study practice) even when they were given feedback that they perform better using spacing → this may be a metacognitive illusion because massed practice is perceived to be easier than spacing Research to enhance self-directed learning: • E.g., trainees could be given freedom to choose the timing or space between learning trials and specific transfer tasks from within a broader population of potential, varied tasks → enhance perceived control and agency • Most importantly: more research needed how to best guide individuals during self-directed learning Enhancing Synthetic Learning Environments • Synthetic learning environments = refer to technology-enabled training media that augment, create and/ or manage learning events in a world characterized by both realistic context and embedded instruction (e.g., simulations, serious games, virtual reality – all involve the creation of technology-enabled interactive and artificial environments that facilitate the development of job-related knowledge, skills, and affect The problem: • Risk: building and propagating high-speed, data-rich instructional tools that do not take advantage of what is known about how people learn (science of learning) or how to best facilitate learning (science of instruction) Research to enhance synthetic learning environments: • Medium much less important than sound instructional design • Some principles can be more easily and more effectively implemented in synthetic learning environments (e.g., through simulation) • Conclusion / Summary 1. The science of workplace instruction postulates that instructional events managed by the organization lead to learning outcomes within the individuals which are manifested as instructional outcomes at the organizational level. 2. The science of workplace instruction postulates that learning is facilitated by active processing of the learner and sound application of instructional principles and delivery. 3. Five core instructional principles have empirical support and can be applied in multiple ways to facilitate learning. 4. The most effective instructional methods are rooted in sound theories of human behavior and incorporate evidence-based instructional principles. 5. The relative impact of different training media or channels is substantially less important than the use of theory-based methods and empirically supported instructional principles. 6. There is little to no evidence to support matching instruction to individual learning styles; effective instruction results from the use of theory-based methods and empirically supported instructional principles. 7. There is little to no evidence to support varying instruction based on learner age; effective instruction results from the use of theory-based methods and empirically supported instructional principles.