Chapter 4: Learning and Transfer of Training

Learning

The acquisition of knowledge by individual employees or groups of employees who are willing to apply that knowledge in their jobs in making decisions and accomplishing tasks for the company; a relatively remanent change in human capabilities that does not result from growth processes.

Transfer of Training

Trainees' applying to their jobs the learned capabilities gained in training.

Generalization

A trainee's ability to apply learned capabilities to on-the-job work problems and situations that are similar but not identical to problems and situations encountered in the learning environment

Maintenance

The process of continuing to use newly acquired capabilities over time

Verbal Information

The mastery of concepts and rules

Intellectual Skills

Motor Skills

Coordination of physical movements

Attitude

Combination of beliefs and feelings that predispose a person to behave in a certain way

Cognitive Strategies

Strategies that regulate the learning processes; they relate to the learner's decision regarding what information to attend to, how to remember, and how to solve problems

Reinforcement Theory

A theory emphasizing that people are motivated to perform or avoid certain behaviors because of past outcomes that have resulted from those behaviors.

Social Learning theory

Employees' belief that they can perform their job or learn the content of a training program successfully

Self-efficacy

Verbal Persuasion

Offering words of encouragement to convince others they can learn

Logical verification

perceiving a relationship between a new task and a task already mastered

Modeling

Having employees who have mastered the desired learning outcomes demonstrates them for trainees

Past accomplishments

A system of allowing employees to build a history of successful accomplishments

Goal setting theory

A theory assuming that behavior results from a person's conscious goals and intentions.

Goal Orientation

A trainee's goals in a learning situation.

Learning orientation

Learners who focus on increasing their ability or competence in a task

Performance Orientation

Learners who focus on task performance and how they compare to others

Need

A deficiency that a person is experiencing at any point in time

Expectancy

The belief about the link between trying to perform a behaviour (or effort) and actually performing well; the mental state that the learner brings to the instructional process

Instrumentality

In expectancy theory, a belief that performing a given behaviour is associated with a particular outcome

Valence

The value that a person places on an outcome

Andragogy

The theory of adult learning

Closed skills

Training objectives that are linked to learning specific skills that are to be identically produced by the trainee on their job

Open Skills

Training objectives linked to general learning principles

Theory of identical elements

Theory that proposes transfer of training occurs when what is being learned in training is identical to the tasks the trainee has to perform on the job

Fidelity

The extent to which a training environment is similar to a work environment

Near transfer

A trainee's ability to apply learned capabilities exactly to the work sitaution

Stimulus generalization approach

Transfer of training occurs when the training emphasizes the most important features of a task or general principles that can be used to solve a task or complete a problem

Far transfer

trainees' ability to apply learned capabilities to work environment even though it is not identical to the training session environment

Key behaviour

One of a set behaviours that is necessary to complete a task; an important part of behaviour modelling training

cognitive theory of transfer

Transfer of training is enhance through increasing storage and retrieval of information through providing meaningful materials and cognitive strategies for coding learned capabilities in memory

perception

The ability to organize a message from the environment so that it can be processed and acted upon

working storage

The rehearsal and repetition of information, allowing it to be coded for memory

semantic encoding

The actual coding process of incoming memory

rehearsal

A learning strategy focusing on learning through repetition

Organizing

A learning strategy that requires the learner to find similarities and themes in training materials

Elaboration

A learning strategy requiring the trainee to relate the training material to other more familiar knowledge, skills, or behavior

retrieval

The identification of learned material in long-term memory and use of it to influence performance

Generalizing

Adapting learning for use in similar but not identical situations

Gratifying

The feedback that learner receives from using learning content

Instruction

The characteristics of the environment in which learning is to occur

objective

The purpose and expected outcome of training activities

Training context

The physical, intellectual, and emotional environment in which training occurs

Practice

an Employee's demonstration of a learned capability; the physical or mental rehearsal of a task, knowledge, or skill to achieve proficiency in performing the task or skill or demonstrating the knowledge

Metacognition

A learning strategy whereby trainees direct their attention to their own learning process

Self-regulation

Learners' involvement with the training materials and assessing their progress toward learning

Advance organizers

outlines, texts, diagrams, and graphs that help trainees organize the information that will be presented and practiced

Overlearning

Employees' continuing to practice even if they have been able to perform the objective several times.

Error Management training

Training in which trainees are given opportunities to make errors, which can aid in learning and improve trainees' performance on the job

Massed Practice

A training approach in which trainees practice a task continuously without resting

Spaced Practice

A training approach in which trainees are given rest intervals within the practice session

Overall task complexity

The degree to which a task requires a number of distinct behaviours, the number of choices involved in performing the task, and the degree of uncertainty in performing the task

Mental requirements

Physical requirements

The degree to which a person must use or demonstrate physical skills and abilities to perform and complete a task

Whole practice

A training approach in which all task or objectives are practiced at the same time

Part Practice

A training approach in which each objective or task is practiced individually as soon as it is introduced in a training program

Reflection

Trainees spend a short amount of time, such as fifteen minutes, reviewing and writing about what they learned and how they performed.

Automatization

Making performance of a task, recall of knowledge, or demonstration of a skill so automatic that it requires little thought or attention

Boosters

Short multiple, short-answer quizzes, or other activities that can help learners consider training information and help retain it

Microlearning

Training delivered in small pieces or chunks designed to engage trainees, motivate to learn, and help facilities retention

Feedback

Information that the employee receives while they're performing how well they are meeting objectives

Learner-content interaction

the learner interacts with the training content

Learner-instructor interaction

Refers to interaction between the learner and the expert (trainer)

learner-learner interaction

Discussion between learners with or without an instructor.

Community of practice (COP)

A group whose members share a common set of goals and interests and regularly engage in sharing and learning as they strive to meet those goals.

Training administration

Coordination of activities before, during, and after a training program

Self-management

A person's attempt to control certain aspects of his or her decision making and behavior

Lapse

A situation in which a trainee uses previously learned, less effective capabilities instead of trying to apply capabilities emphasized in a training program

Climate for transfer

Trainees' perceptions about a wide variety of characteristics of the work environment that facilitate or inhibit the use of trained skills or behavior

Microcredentials

a Competency-based and skill-focused form of credential that demonstrates skills, knowledge, and experience in given subject area or capacity

Internal Conditions

Processes within the learner that must be present for learning to occur

External conditions

Processes in the learning environment that facilitate learning