Seung Youn Chyung

Factors that influence informal learning in the workplace

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate factors that influence informal learning in the workplace and the types of informal learning activities people engage in at work. More specifically, the research examined: the relationship between informal learning engagement and the presence of learning organization characteristics; and perceived factors that affect informal learning engagement.Design/methodology/approach – Workplace learning and performance improvement professionals were invited to respond to an anonymous online survey, and 125 professionals volunteered to participate in the study.Findings – This study did not find a significant correlation between informal learning engagement and the presence of learning organization characteristics. While age and education level did not impact informal learning engagement, it was found that older workers tended to engage in more informal learning. There were also certain types of informal learning activities in which they were most likely to eng...

Systematic and systemic approaches to reducing attrition rates in online higher education

Abstract Prior to 1997, the Department of Instructional & Performance Technology (IPT) online program at Boise State University faced a high student dropout rate. The IPT turned to Kellers ARCS model, Kaufmans Organizational Elements Model, and Kirkpatricks evaluation model throughout the processes of improving the motivational appeal of the online course for the first‐time adult learners and solving the attrition problem. In this article, the author describes a long‐term evaluation case study and explains how she systematically designed and implemented various instructional interventions to reduce attrition. She also presents the results of systemic evaluations.

Building a Competency-Based Curriculum Architecture to Educate 21st-Century Business Practitioners

Competency-based instruction can be applied to a military setting, an academic program, or a corporate environment with a focus on producing performance-based learning outcomes. In this article, the authors provide theoretical and practical information about underlying characteristics of competencies and explain how the Department of Instructional & Performance Technology at Boise State University developed a set of competencies and has been modifying its curriculum on the basis of these competencies. The departments curriculum architecture flowchart illustrates the process of developing and applying competencies to curriculum design for producing performance-based learning outcomes. Detailed steps taken in developing a competency-based course are described.

Invisible Motivation of Online Adult Learners during Contract Learning.

In a face-to-face classroom, the instructor can easily diagnose students’ motivational status by observing their facial expressions and postures, but such cues are absent in an online classroom. Therefore, online instructors often estimate students’ motivational level based on their online behavior such as the number of messages they post, and look for effective strategies to help them actively participate in online dialogues. One such strategy is contract learning which facilitates self-directed behaviors through structuring an agreed learning process. This study reports a contract learning strategy in a graduate-level online class, examining whether a sample of 28 students’ motivation could indeed be predicted by their online behavior. Results from the study found that the students’ online behavior was not a predictor for their motivational status, though there were age and gender differences in their online behavior. The students felt more selfdirected and motivated during contract learning, but what they really liked was being able to select assignments that were relevant to their interests and needs. This paper concludes by discussing practical implications of the findings at the end. The Journal of Educators Online, Volume 4, Number 1, January 2007 1 Developing Effective Learners through Effective Instruction A goal of teaching is to help learners become effective learners. To accomplish the goal, four important factors should be analyzed: (a) who the learners are, (b) what they are learning, (c) how they are learning it, and (d) how they should be taught. Among the four factors, learners’ characteristics and the way they learn are closely related. A group of cognitive psychologists has suggested that effective learners are often self-regulated or self-directed. According to selfregulated learning (SRL) theorists, self-regulated learners are “metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their own learning process” (Zimmerman, 2001, p. 5). Similarly, self-directed learning (SDL) theorists explain that self-directed learners “take the initiative, with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and materials resources for learning, choosing and implementing appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes” (Knowles, 1975, p. 18). SRL and SDL are not always interchangeable synonyms, but self-regulatory learning strategies are often used during self-directed processes; therefore, they are viewed as “complementary processes” (Moran, 2005, p. 16). SDL in particular is often used to describe how adults learn, and its opposite term is ‘teacher-directed learning’ which is usually associated with the traditional way of teaching children (Knowles, 1975). Instead of being spoon-fed, selfdirected adult learners actively engage in their learning processes and demonstrate a high degree of desire and control over the pursuit of their learning goals. Self-directedness is not necessarily an inborn trait, and self-directed behaviors can be learned and cultivated through systematically designed instruction (Costa & Kallick, 2004). Knowles (1980a) believes that most people are capable of becoming self-directed learners if proper conditions are provided. Then, how should learners be taught to become self-directed? Which instructional strategies will likely facilitate the development of SDL behaviors? Contract learning is one such method (Brockett & Hiemstra, 1985; Knowles, 1980a), and it has been known to stimulate intrinsic motivation (Knowles, 1986). Through individualized and systematic instruction, learners start taking initiative and become motivated by their own ability to take responsibility in learning (Knowles, 1980b). Knowles (1987) reports that in his experience, learners felt some initial anxiety in using contract learning, but soon their confidence and motivation levels increased and “once they got the hang of it, they wouldn’t think of learning any other way” (p. The Journal of Educators Online, Volume 4, Number 1, January 2007 2 62). Several studies have revealed that contract learning is an effective instructional strategy to address various factors that potentially lead to improving motivation, such as confidence, valuerecognition, responsibility, empowerment and satisfaction (Bauer, 1985; Boyer, 2003; Chan & Wai-tong, 2000; Lemieux, 2001; Lewis, 2004; Williams & Williams, 1999). But, how does contract learning work in an asynchronous online learning environment? What impact would it have on adult learners’ online behavior and their motivation, and would instructors see behavioral evidence of the online learners’ motivational status? Would there be age and gender differences in online behavior? What implications does the absence or presence of behavioral evidence of online learners’ motivational status have for online instructors on adjusting their online teaching and assessment methods? The researcher decided to answer these questions in her online classrooms by adopting action research methodology. Action research is “a spectrum of activities that focus on research, planning, theorizing, learning, and development” (Cummingham, 1993, p. 4). Its purpose is to solve specific problems within a program, organization or community (Patton, 2002), and it intends to close the gap between research and practice in order to bring about improvements in actual practice (Somekh, 1995). Action research can also be “conducted by practitioners to improve practices in educational settings” (Glanz, 1998, p. 20). It is a “process of systematically evaluating the consequences of educational decisions and adjusting practice” (p. 3), involving three phases: 1. conceptualization, 2. implementation and 3. interpretation (McLean, 1995). Organization of the paper The following sections describe the conceptual framework on the effectiveness of using a contract learning strategy in an online environment (i.e., conceptualization), and explain this study’s research methods and outcomes that help understand the impact of implementing a contract learning strategy on adult learners’ motivation as well as the relationship between their motivational status and online visibility (i.e., implementation). Based on the researcher’s reflections of the findings, several practical implications are offered regarding how the study results may help make adjustments to future online teaching methods (i.e., interpretation). The Journal of Educators Online, Volume 4, Number 1, January 2007 3 Contract Learning as a Self-Directed and Motivational Strategy So, exactly what is contract learning? First, a contract is an agreement between parties. Contracts can be formal or informal. Formal contracts such as mortgage documents or marriage licenses are written in legally binding documents. But, formal contracts do not always involve legal documents. For example, a customer goes to a restaurant and orders a meal from the menu. Then, the restaurant agrees to serve the ordered item and the customer agrees to pay the bill. It is a socially-established contract between the customer and the restaurant. People often make informal contracts as well, such as promises. Contract learning is a method that uses a contract to facilitate learning. It is utilized in various forms such as learning contracts, contract grading, or hybrids. A ‘learning contract’ is defined as “a formal, written agreement between a learner and a tutor (or a trainer, or a coach) about what the learner will learn and how that learning will be measured” (Boak, 1998, p. 1). It contains “a plan for acquiring specified knowledge, understanding skills, attitudes, or values by a learner” (Knowles, 1987, p. 62). It is intended to “help learners structure their learning” by providing “a process structure in contrast to the traditional content structure” (Knowles, 1980b, p. 76). The process structure can be laid out in a learning contract with the following 5 elements: • The specific learning objectives to be accomplished; • The resources and strategies to be used in accomplishing them; • The evidence that will be collected to indicate the extent to which the objectives have been accomplished; • How this evidence will be judged or validated; • The target date for completing each objective. (Knowles, 1987, p. 62) Knowles (1975, 1986, 1987), who pioneered the development of the concept and application of learning contracts, uses the terms contract learning and learning contracts interchangeably and explains that, It is the method of choice when regular courses are not available in a particular subject, when learners cannot attend campus-based courses, when desired learning The Journal of Educators Online, Volume 4, Number 1, January 2007 4 objectives cut across disciplines, when there is a wide range of differences among learners, and when instructors or institutions have a commitment to develop the skills of self-directed learning. (Knowles, 1986, p. 42-43) Another more specific form of contract learning is ‘contract grading.’ It is to make “an agreement between a teacher and a student at the beginning of a course as to the grade the student expects to receive and the amount and quality of work he is expected to produce to earn this grade” (Berte, 1975, p. 1). The main purpose of using a contract grading strategy is to help learners build serious commitment for producing agreed or sometimes negotiated learning outcomes. Generally speaking, a learning contract strategy focuses more on helping learners develop processes and activities for learning, whereas a contract grading strategy starts with an end result (i.e., a grade) to facilitate the learning process. However, various approaches to using contracts during instruction are available; therefore, in actual practice, hybrid forms of contract learning are often utilized. For example, Lewis (2004) used the Independent Learning Contract System, which a

Effects of Practicing Self-Monitoring of Mathematical Problem-Solving Heuristics on Impulsive and Reflective College Students' Heuristics Knowledge and Problem-Solving Ability.

Abstract The authors designed a step-by-step self-monitoring method to help impulsive students overcome their unwillingness to self-monitor. They predicted (a) that self-monitoring in general would help student learning of the heuristics of solving mathematical problems, (b) that self-monitoring would be more helpful for the impulsive students than for the reflective students, and (c) that step-by-step self-monitoring would be more helpful for the impulsive students than an external reminder that provided cues for general self-monitoring. The first 2 predictions were supported by the results of the study. As for the 3rd prediction, general self-monitoring was found to be more beneficial than step-by-step self-monitoring for the impulsive students. The findings are discussed in terms of competition for cognitive resources between learning and self-monitoring.

Improving caregivers’ confidence with the Powerful Tools for Caregivers program

ABSTRACT The Powerful Tools for Caregivers (PTC) program is designed to help caregivers develop skills to improve their self-efficacy in caregiving. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the PTC program in Boise, Idaho, the program’s pre-survey (n = 277), end-of-program survey (n = 131), and 6-month follow-up post-survey data (n = 100) collected between 2011 and 2017 were analyzed in this study. The end-of-program survey data indicated that caregivers viewed the quality of the program to be excellent and that all of them felt more confident as a caregiver. Factor analysis and reliability testing on the pre-survey data confirmed that seven questions included in the pre- and 6-month follow-up post-survey instruments reliably measured a single factor named as caregiver confidence. A paired samples t-test on 76 complete sets of pre- and 6-month follow-up post-survey data on the seven questions revealed that caregivers improved their confidence in caregiving to a statistically significant level (p < .001, d = 45). Additional paired samples t-tests on each of the seven questions with the Bonferroni correction showed statistically significant improvements in three areas: making tough decisions (p < .001, d = .53), coping with emotions (p < .001, d = .54), and using stress-reducing activities (p < .007, d = .33). Caregivers experienced the greatest improvement in their confidence in making tough decisions. Despite these significant improvements, caregivers still struggled with finding ways to reduce stress and manage their emotions associated with caregiving as shown by the lowest pre- and 6-month follow-up post-survey scores. In addition to the study results, several considerations when synthesizing PTC research results are discussed.