Unit 4 notes_updated

KMS2014Design & Management of Training Programmes

Unit 4

Effective Teaching and Learning Strategies

Objectives

At the end of this unit, you will be able to:– Explain the reasons for conducting a

trainability analysis– Explain ways of arranging training so that

learning is facilitated– Identify and explain the factors that affects the

transfer of training to the work place

Introduction What does a trainer need to do to maximise learning on the

part of trainees? Three main questions of interest:

– Is the individual trainable?

– How should the training be arranged to facilitate learning?

– What can be done to ensure that what was learned during training will be retained and transferred to the job?

2 main sources of guidance

– Principles of learning

– Theories of motivation

Trainability

Function of ability + motivation Ability

– The extent to which an individual possess aptitude or skills to perform the tasks at hand – examples

• Muscular coordination

• Visual acuity

• Personality characteristics such as self-confidence, persuasiveness, sociability, decisiveness, assertiveness etc

• Mental ability

Trainability (ctd)

Motivation– Concern with variables which influence trainee’s effort,

persistence and choices – examples• Need for achievement or competence• Feeling of job involvement as well as level of career

interest• Expectancy of individuals that participation in training

will lead to desired outcomes such as feelings of accomplishment, greater responsibility, higher pay, job security etc

• Anxiety effects (facilitated or interfered depending on the types of learning: simple or complex)

Trainability (ctd)

Performance = Ability × Motivation Objective is to train individuals who

possess both the ability and motivation to perform what is taught in training

Trainability (ctd) Trainability tests How do we assess whether learners are trainable

or not?– Through instruction and demonstration– Perform the task unaided– Noting errors on standardized error checklist

Findings from trainability tests revealed:– Scores produce worthwhile level of validity– Could be used to predict success in training and job

performance

Arrangement of the training environment Learning conditions – external to learner Learning defined as relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a

result of practice Following variables needed to be considered to facilitate learning

– Conditions of practice

• Active practice

• Over-learning

• Masses vs. distributed practice session

• Size of the unit to be learned

– Feedback

– Meaningfulness of the material

– Individual differences

– Behaviour modelling

– Maintaining motivation

Conditions of practice

Active practice– Learner given an opportunity to practice what is being taught

– Early stages of learning skills, trainer should be available to guide practice – to minimise risk of learner develop inappropriate behaviours

Over-learning– Provides trainees with continued practice far beyond the point

when the task has been performed correctly several times

– Relevant to:• Activities that must be practiced under simulated conditions because

the real situation is either too expensive or too dangerous

• Tasks which are designed so that individuals cannot rely on lifelong habit patterns e.g. certain emergency procedures

Conditions of practice (ctd)

Importance of over-learning– Increases the length of time training material

will be retained– Making learning more reflexive – to become

automatic– More likely to maintain quality of performance

during emergency and added stress– Helps trainees transfer what they have learned

during training to job settings


Massed vs. distributed practice sessions– Problem of dividing practice periods into segments

OR– Plan one continuous session– Decision depends on nature of task to be trained– Possible problem about distributed practice session –

management frequently anxious about getting individual trained to standard as quickly as possible

– Better for learning motor skills as rest period between practice sessions allow fatigue to dissipate (Hull, 1943)

Conditions of practice (ctd) Size of unit to be learned Issues to consider:

– What is the optimum size of the unit to be learned?– Should you attempt to teach the entire task at each

practice session?– Is it more efficient in the long run to teach individual

subtasks initially and as the trainee starts mastering each subtask begin the process of combining them?

Three strategies used in scheduling training– Assume that a task can be divided into three distinct

parts or subtasks


Phase I Phase II Phase III Phase IV

Whole training A + B + C A + B + C A + B + C A + B + C

Pure-part training A B C A + B + C

Progressive part training A A + B A + B + C A + B + C

Feedback Practice without evaluative feedback retards learning Feedback (knowledge of results) is critical for both learning

and motivation Forms of feedback

– Verbal praise– Test scores– Productivity reports– Performance measurements

Functions of feedback– Tells trainees whether their responses were correct– Makes learning process more interesting for the trainees– Leads to the setting of specific goals for maintaining or

improving performance

Feedback (ctd)

Feedback should be provided as soon as possible after trainee’s behaviour

Feedback need not be instantaneous but relationship between behaviour and feedback must be clearly evident

Specificity (amount) of feedback must be appropriate to capabilities and stage of development of learner

Feedback (ctd)

Types of feedback– Positive feedback– Negative feedback

Positive feedback e.g. making praise the consequence of behaviour will usually strengthen that behaviour

Positive feedback is perceived and recalled more accurately and accepted more readily than negative feedback

Feedback (ctd)

Negative feedback– Is often denied by trainees with low self esteem

due to unwillingness to accept critical comments

– Trainees may accept negative feedback from trainers who are perceived as trustworthy, knowledgeable and powerful

– Negative feedback must not be seen as punitive in order for it to be effective

Feedback (ctd) Error feedback

– Associated with BF Skinner’s work on behaviour modification - seen as a form of punishment and is disruptive to learning

– When associated with Frese & Altmann (1988) error feedback is seen as having positive effects because one has to learn to deal efficiently with errors on both a strategic and emotional level – training programs need to be designed so that trainees have the opportunity to make errors, receive feedback on them and encouraged to solve these problems by themselves

Intrinsic feedback– Knowledge of feedback from tasks itself

Effective learning strategy should include both intrinsic and extrinsic feedback

Feedback – most effective when it affects a person’s goals Feedback – works best when it involves simultaneous behavioural

feedback and end-results feedback

Meaningfulness of material

Material that is rich in association with the trainees and is thus easily understood by them

How do we make sure that our training materials can be understood by the trainees?– Provide overview: course outlines– Use familiar examples, terms and concepts:

visual aid– Sequence in logical order

Individual difference

Demographic characteristic Age (Tucker, 1985)

– Younger (40 – 49): preferred management training

– Upper age group (50 – 59): preferred training in technological areas

– 60 & above: showed little interest in any kind of training

Individual difference (ctd)

Management hierarchy (Bernick et. al., 1984)– First line supervisors: technical factors such as

book keeping, written communication– Mid-level managers: human resources courses

such as leadership skills, performance appraisals

– Upper management: conceptual courses such as goal setting and planning skills


Male-female managers (Berryman-Fink, 1986)– Both male and female: assertiveness, confidence

building, public speaking and dealing with opposite gender

– Male managers: listening, verbal skills, nonverbal communication and empathy and sensitivity

Government workers (Tucker, 1984)– Need for human resource planning with regard to

organisation

Individual difference (ctd) Learning rates

– Related to the rate of learning among individuals is the best question: when is learning highest and lowest

Individual difference (ctd) Differences among trainees in abilities, motivation level,

interest and prior history will affect performance and attrition (dropout) in training programmes (Christal, 1974)

– Select applicants for training programme who possesses trainability

Individual differences in trainee abilities is related to learning phenomena

– Abilities are related to a number of different learning phenomena such as performance during massed vs. distributed practice session, whole vs. part training as well as retention and transfer (Fleishman, 1965)


Implications are:– Shorter training programme: if trainees are experienced and

possessed task-related activities– Longer training programme: advisable for relatively inexperienced

trainees (Fleishmann & Mumford, 1989) Trainers differ in the kinds of “mental model” they

formulate and that these mental models affect how well trainees learn what is being taught

“mental models”: schemata Employ a training approach which encouraged trainee

exploration and the active development of an integrated mental model

Mental model – Key characteristics

Mental models include what a person thinks is true, not necessarily what is actually true

Mental models are similar in structure to the thing or concept they represent

Mental models allow a person to predict the results of his actions

Mental models are simpler than the thing or concept they represent. They include only enough information to allow accurate predictions

Mental model (ctd)

On the average, older trainees require longer to reach proficiency levels than younger trainees and they may have developed alternative ways of organising information which could conflict with the requirements of the training programme

Older trainees need slower presentation rates, longer periods for study, sequencing their learning from simple to complex tasks, greater help in the organisation and memory processes and the greater use of training techniques that provide active participation in the learning process

Behavioural modelling

Based on Albert Bandura’s social learning theory– We can learn by imitating those actions of others that

we see as leading desirable outcomes

How is learning facilitated through the use of a model?– Positive consequences: the model’s action functions as

a cue to what constitutes appropriate behaviour

– Modelling occurs: person imitated is seen as being competent, powerful, friendly and of high status within an organisation

Behavioural modelling (ctd)

– Modelling is increased: person to be imitated is seen as being rewarded for how he or she acts as and when the rewards received by the model (e.g. status, influence, friendship) are the things that the observers would like for themselves

– Observer identification with the models is maximised when the model is similar to the observer

– Showing a trainee a negative model (showing trainee the wrong way of doing things) together with a positive model appears to facilitate transfer of learning to other situations

Motivation What ways are there to motivate trainees? Two theories of motivation: goal setting and

expectancy theory Goal setting

– A goal is anything an individual is trying to achieve– States that an individual’s conscious goals or intentions

regulate one’s behaviour– Hard goals result in higher performance than easy ones– Specific hard goals result in high performance than

having no goals or generalised goals such as “do your best”

Motivation (ctd)– Some research done on the importance of goal setting

in increasing performance of employees Latham and Lee (1986) findings:

– Learning objectives of the training programme should be conveyed clearly to the participants at the outset of training and at various strategic points throughout the training process

– Training goals should be difficult enough so that trainees are adequately challenged and thus are able to derive satisfaction from the achievement of objectives

– The goal should be supplemented with periodic sub-goals during training such as trainee evaluation, work sample test and periodic quizzes

Motivation (ctd) Bandura (1982) & Locke and Latham (1990)

– Show importance of goal setting for increasing self efficacy because without specific goals people have little basis for judging their capabilities

– Self-efficacy refers to the person’s conviction that he or she can master a given task

– Low self-efficacy can result in a decreased level of performance

– However, goal setting also leads to depressed reactions since their adequacy of performance is measured against their personal standards

– Depressed reactions often arise from stringent self evaluation

Motivation (ctd) Expectancy theory Instrumentality theory States that an individual will be more motivated to choose

a behaviour alternative that is most likely to have favourable consequences

“What am I going to get out of that?” If the individual perceived that putting effort may result in

something of value then the individual is motivated to choose a particular behaviour

The key concepts of the theory are– Outcome

• Salary increases, promotion, dismissal, illness, injury, peer acceptance, recognition and achievement

Motivation (ctd)

– Valence• Desirability or attractiveness of an outcome to an

individual

– E P Expectancy• Employees perceived probability that a given

amount of effort will result in improved performance that is quantity/quality of work

– P O Expectancy• Perceived probability that improved performance

will lead in turn to the attainment of valued outcomes (e.g. bonus, pay increase, promotion)

Motivation (ctd) The theory assumes that before deciding how much effort

to exert, employees ask themselves whether or not the following occurs:– That the action has a high probability of leading to better

performance (EP)– That the improved performance will lead to a certain needs related

outcome (PO)– That those need-related outcomes or organisational rewards are of

value (valence) Here are two conditions that affect the two expectancies

– The PO expectancy depends on a person’s perception of the rewards contingencies presently found in the organisation

Motivation (ctd)– The EP expectancy depends in part on the relatively

stable characteristics of the workers such as intelligence, motor abilities and personality traits and the individual’s perceptions of what makes the successful employee – of whether effort can be transformed into an effective performance

What are the implications of expectancy theory in motivating trainees?– The trainee must believe that “there’s something in it

for me” in terms of valued outcomes – higher wages, opportunities for advancement, skill acquisition etc.) If not then the training programme will be viewed as a waster of time or will just lead them to no where

Motivation (ctd)

– Trainers should not assume that their trainees have accurate perceptions of reward contingencies

– Organisations should ensure that each trainee has a high EP expectancy by providing effective instructors, eliminating obstacles to effective performance, providing accurate role perceptions and selecting trainees with requisite ability and motivation

– Only high valence outcomes should be used as incentives for superior trainee performance

Motivation (ctd)

In summary, the practical implications of the two theories are that they can be applied in motivating learning by making sure that:– Trainees see the value for themselves in

participating in the training– Trainees understand the goals or target

behaviours of the programme– Trainees clearly perceives the link between

their actions during training and their receipt of the valued rewards

Retention & transfer of learning

What can be done to ensure that what is learned in training will be retained and transferred to the job?

Transfer:– The extent to which what was learned during

training is used on the job– Three transfer possibilities

• Positive transfer – learning in the training situation results in better performance on the job

• Negative transfer – results in poorer performance on the job

• Zero transfer – has no effect on job performance

Retention and transfer of learning (ctd) How can we optimise the possibility of getting

positive transfer? Before training begins

– Conduct a needs analysis that includes multiple constituencies

– Seek out supervisory support for training– Inform the trainees regarding the nature of the training– Assign tasks prior to the training sessions

During the training session– Maximise the similarity between the training situation

and the job situation

Retention and transfer of learning (ctd)

– Provide as much experience as possible with the tasks being taught

– Have the trainees practice their newly learned skills in actual situations back on their jobs

– Provide a variety of examples when teaching concepts or skills

– Label or identify important features of a task– Make sure that general principles are understood (not

merely memorized) before expecting such transfer– Provide trainees with the knowledge, skills and feelings

of self-efficacy to self-regulate their own behaviours back on their jobs


– Design the training content so that the trainees can see its applicability

– Use adjunct questions to guide the trainee’s attentions

After the training– After completing the training programme, trainees

should be assigned specific behavioural goals

– In addition, the trainees and/or supervisors should complete behavioural progress reports to monitor the extent of the goal achievement back on the job


– Have the trainer collaborate with each of the trainees in using the applications plan principle

– Make certain that the trained behaviours and ideas are rewarded in the job situations

– Use the relapse prevention strategy which relies heavily on behavioural self-management to encourage confidence and self-esteem (Marx, 1982)

Organisational factors affecting transfer of learning Factors that affect trainee outcome expectancies

(Latham & Crandall, 1981) are: Pay and promotion policies

– Research suggests that pay and performance systems are effective methods for bringing about and sustaining performance (Heneman, 1990)

Environmental constraints– Have deleterious effect on trainee’s outcome

expectancies

Organisational factors affecting transfer of learning (ctd)

– Empirical investigations show the effect of environmental constraints on an individual’s behaviour

– Peter, et al (1982) found that three types of situational constraints affected performance on goal setting tasks:

• Completeness of task information• Ease of use of materials and supplies• Similarity of work environment to training environment

– To minimise the probability of low outcomes expectancies

• Conduct organisational assessment to identify any barriers to transfer before training begins in addition the traditional organisational and person training needs assessment

Social variables affecting the transfer of learning Other environmental variables are social in nature

and stem from interactions with peers and supervisors

Peer groups– The interactive dynamics between the individual and

his pees is a potent force in the socialisation process within an organisation

– Interaction can provide support and reinforcement for not only learning what is being taught in the training programme but also in applying what was learned in the job

Social variables affecting the transfer of learning (ctd) Supervisory support

– To increase the probability of transfer of training to work in the workplace, supervisors need to reinforce the application of what was learned in training to the job

– Do this effectively by undertaking the following:• The supervisor must be fully aware of the training objectives

as well as the training content for attaining the objectives

• Another way to publicise commitment to training objectives is to have the supervisors and the trainees sign a contract

What did I learn from this unit?

Unit 4 notes_updated

Documents

Transcript of Unit 4 notes_updated