Human Performance Technology

Much of the world of industry and education is in the business of doing. Getting employees and students to perform is not always easy. Although instructional technology and human performance technology may both look to training as a way of improving performance the latter also takes a larger view. HPT understands that the lack of skills and knowledge is only one cause of the lack of performance. However, they also see six others including incentives, tools, physical environment, and organizational systems. Although many companies will first try to implement training as a cure of poor performance it is not always the best solution. Training can be extremely expensive to do and in many cases is ineffective because the lack of skills or knowledge was not the root of the problem. It may be the equipment is faulty or the temperature is too high both of which are much less expensive to fix. As a result the solutions that a HPT is willing to consider will include just about anything. They do however look at the cost and benefit of a solution. If it is not cost efficient they will not do it.

One thing HPT examines that really caught my attention is incentives. It reminded me of something that I read years ago. It described a daycare in Tel Aviv that tried to stop parents from picking up their kids late by fining them $3.00 every time they did. What they found was that instead of late pickups declining they went up. This was the case because by paying the fine they were removing the moral incentive to do the right thing. This just shows how complex human behavior can be and how difficult the job of HPT can be but it can have dramatic improvements in productivity is implemented correctly.

I also thought of cash for grades programs and I wounder what a human performance technologist would say about the program.

Sidewiki

Naturalistic Evaluation

The Naturalistic Evaluation

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Clay Shirky: Cognitive Surplus at the 2008 Web 2.0 Expo

Reigeluth

Instructional design theory is used in very practical ways to create an environment where learning can easily occur. I thought it interesting that Reigeluth saw learning to include "cognitive, emotional, social, physical, and spiritual" (pg. 5). Unlike learning theory that studies the results of certain events or stimuli instructional design theory focuses on the desired result first and then designs an environment to achieve it. Dr. Gibbons wrote that learning theory looks for cause and effect relationships and instructional design theory seeks for effect and cause relationships. Furthermore, because instructional design theory is designed oriented it is more useful to practicing teachers because it can be applied in practical ways to help them teach their students. Reigeluth writes that the desired outcomes of instructional design theory are effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal. However in actual design their are trade-offs that must be made.

Reigeluth said, "instructional-design theory identifies methods of instruction (ways to support and facilitate learning) and the situations in which those methods should and should not be used." I have been thinking about the paper that I wrote on webcasting. From this reading I realized that the goals I had for the paper were not based on instructional design. I was looking for a solution to an instructional problem that I was having and because of the high poverty rate at my school I was unsure if it would be effective. However, it is clear that learning theory is the foundation for effective instructional design theory.

I have been reading a book called Disrupting Class and found many parallels to this article. Both saw the current model of instruction as ineffective for for solving our modern challenges. They also agree that technology will be the catalyst to start moving toward a more customized form of education. It seems that their thoughts are becoming reality. I recently talked my sister-in-law who had meet with someone who was working with Brain Honey. He had actually brought the book Disrupting Class to the meeting and was describing some exciting ways that they are trying to use technology to customize learning.

Cognitive Apprenticeship

Here is the link for the Content, Sociology, Sequence, Method for Cognitive Apprenticeship (click on page 476): Link

Mr. Zollers Webcast

This is a great example of a webcast that a person can make using nothing but PowerPoint. PowerPoint has a bad reputation but it can be a great tool if it is used well.

Sept 14: Psychological Foundations of Learning

Video Link: http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=9

I have to admit that I left class a little overwhelmed. I have always heard the importance of pretesting and schimas. I always looked at pretesting as a way to see if they already knew the material so that we could save time in class by skipping over it. I did use pretesting at times to learn that information and it was helpful. Today though I realized that I was missing something. I needed to pretest to discover misconceptions. For example, I'm sure that my students had misconceptions about Greek mythology (thank you Walt Disney!). I believed that their misconceptions were not a problem because I could simply wash them away by explaining the truth. I realize now that I was underestimating the power of "prior misknowledge."

Bransford talks about the importance of teaching metacognition. This reminded me of practice of Cognitive Apprenticship. Cognitive Apprenticeship contends that the same apprenticeship teaching strategies used to teach tangible and physical skills can be used to teach cognitive and metacognitive skills. Cognitive Apprenticeship’s primary purpose is to teach students the authentic skills that domain experts use in completing complex cognitive tasks. In order to teach complex cognitive skills the expert and novice need to externalize their internal cognitive processes. Once this is done their cognitive and metacognitive processes for completing the task can be compared. The master will then model correct cognitive skills, coach, and scaffold the apprentice in their independent attempts to use the same skills (Collins, Brown, & Newman, 1989). Cognitive Apprenticeships are based on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development because the apprentice is asked to do tasks that are just beyond their independent capabilities. As the apprentice develops the scaffolding will fade away until the apprentice’s skills are close to that of the masters. I think that Cognitive Apprenticship and Active Learning go hand-in-hand. Through Cognitive Apprenticship a student could answer, "What strategies might [I] use to assess whether they understand someone else's meaning? What kinds of evidence do [I] need in order to believe particular claims? How can [I] build [my] own theories of phenomena and test them effectively?"

Copyright and Fair Use

This is a great video explaining copyright and fair use using nothing but Disney clips.

Learning Theory

(For a summary of the Behaviorist Theory read my previous post.)

Cognitivism was created in reaction to the Behaviorist Theory. The Cognitivists theory states that in order to understand learning the black box needs to be opened. In order to truly learn something the cognitive structures in the mind has to mirror the structures of reality that exists outside of the mind. Similar to a computer information is coded into the mind where it can be retrieved. Unlike Behaviorism, it is not actions that demonstrate learning but it is the individual's "mind structure and the representations developed" in that mind.

Unlike Behaviorism and Cognitivism, Constructivism believes that reality is not absolute but reality and knowledge is subjective and relative to the individual and his environment. Knowledge is what the individual constructs it to be from experiences and their is no one true reality.

I have been asked several times what learning theory I agree most with. It is a difficult question to answer. I will say that I agree with Cognitivism in that I think the mind has the ability to code information for later retrieval. I also would agree with Paivio theory of dual-coding which states that information is not necessarily coded separately or independently. Information such as words or images can be linked together improving recall. I also in part believe Soioculturalism and more specifically Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). I also hold to the Behaviorists view of the power of reinforcement to change behavior and fertilize the soil for true learning (although, I think most of Behaviorism is just "fertilizer").

I also believe that situated learning is important for students to become life long learners. Situated learning stresses the importance of learning by doing and engaging the student in real problem solving activities. That information should not be islands by themselves but should be linked to real world context. Brown, Commins, and Duguid (1989) point out that students in schools are too often simply given tools but they are never shown or required to actually use them. They go on to say that students may be successful in school not because they truly understand the content but because they have learned the school's culture. They stress that it is important to teach them the culture of the subject by having practice it much like an apprentice.

Similarly, I was always told to have my students discover information. For years I really struggled how to do that. It wasn't until I went on a couple of archeological digs and became familiar with that culture that I figured it out. I began showing my students pictures of artifacts and then letting them do the problem solving and teaching themselves and peers about the culture of that civilization. I was amazed how well the students were able to do it and their retention was amazing!

The article said, "some students feel it necessary to disguise effective strategies so that teachers believe the problems have been solved in the approved way." That made me think of these pictures.

Behaviorism

In the video above Jim said that he was recreating an experiment where a scientist trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. The scientist that Jim was referring to was the Russian Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov noticed that when a bell was rung when food was given to dogs eventually the dogs would begin to salivate at the sound of bell even when food was not present. This involuntary response to stimuli is referred to as respondent learning or classic conditioning.

Behaviorists also believe that learning can occur through operant conditioning when stimuli is presented (reinforcements of punishments) and the person voluntarily reacts a certain way. Another form of learning is called observational learning which is the Behaviorists' equivalent to the monkey-see-monkey-do effect.

Behaviorists believe that the only way to demonstrate learning is through observable behavior. The mind itself was considered a black box that could not be opened. The only thing that was important to observe was what went into the box and what came out.

In today's teaching it is clear that teachers are attempting to use conditioning to elicit certain behaviors form students. It is true that we all react to stimuli and that we can be conditioned to react a certain way. I have observed classes conditioned to react to certain stimuli. However, when I have seen it done it has always been in a administrative role (getting kids to stop talking, organize themselves in certain groups, or begin to clean up) so that true teaching and learning can occur.

The thought that all learning occurs from stimuli and positive or negative reinforcements says little of the divine nature of man. Man may share their environment with animals but that is not to say that man and animals operate on the same level. Contrary to the Behaviorists' view, we all have agency to react or not react to the things that we learn. Just because I do not change my behavior does not mean that I am not learning.

It better show the black box metaphor I made this image using clip art and word art.



Terms:
Respondent behavior-(classical conditioning) behavior that is an involuntary reaction to stimulus. Pavlov’s dogs or Dwight and the mints

Operant behavior-behavior is voluntary reaction to stimuli or are simply emitted by an inherently active organism. Circus animals performing or students raising their hands.

Observational Behavior-monkey-see-monkey-do effect

Skinner’s S-R-S Response was the framework for operant learning.
S (discriminative stimulus) – R (operant response) – S (contingent stimulus)
Dog sees a wasp’s nest -- sticks his nose inside -- He gets stung

Behavior is more likely to reoccur if it has been rewarded, or reinforced.

Primary Reinforcer – One whose reinforcement value is biologically determined. Food

Conditioned Reinforcers – They are associated with the primary reinforcer.

Gaming in Education

I heard a story on NPR that I thought was really interesting.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112203095

Is Chivalry Dead?

This morning I saw a woman wheeling her book bag walking toward a set of doors. I speed up the pace of my walk so I could open the door for her. Right when I started to open the door she hit the handicap button opening the door next to the one I was holding and walked right through.

Many people say, "Chivalry is dead." I would disagree...it has just been replaced with technology.

An RSS Conversion Story

I just recently started using Google reader. I have easily subscribed to several sites that I have been visiting for several years now. Once I saw how much time I was saving I quickly became a convert.

The true test to see if RSS was truly "really simple" came yesterday. Sure I saw the value in it but would my 65 year old mother. While in a hospital waiting room, my mom started talking about what she had read on blogs of family and friends. I asked her if she visits these blogs only to find that they were not updated. Of course her answer was yes. I knew she was ready for the invitation, "Do you want to see how you can follow blogs and only cheek them when they have been up dated?" For the next hour we found and subscribed to several blogs she enjoyed following (her only concern was that she was going to have to pay for the "subscriptions"). However, I wasn't sure if I was helping her or she was humoring me. Later that day I was showing her a friends Flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpn/) and after viewing a few photographs she said, "Can you add that to my reader?" Success! One more convert saved.

Now that I have seen the social benefits it is easy to see what a powerful educational tool Google reader can be. Teacher blogs can be subscribed to by parents and teacher/students can better follow educational sites. Its simplicity makes a universal tool that can be used by grandmothers and grandchildren alike.