Training and Development Commons^™

Pedagogical Agents, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are pedagogical agents?

Pedagogical agents are “lifelike characters presented on a computer screen that guide users through multimedia learning environments” (Clarebout & Heidig, 2012, p. 2568). Pedagogical agents can vary in multiple ways. The following characteristics have been most studied: appearance (two-dimensional [2D] vs. three-dimensional [3D]), eye gaze, facial expression, gesturing, motion, and gender. The simplest pedagogical agent would be a static, 2D image with just text, and a complex agent would be a dynamic, 3D person or character that talks, gestures, and has eye movements and facial expressions.

Why are pedagogical agents valuable?

Pedagogical agents are valuable because …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Intervention Background, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

What is the intervention and why was it selected? The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) conducted a comprehensive needs assessment with nine participating Ohio counties in partnership with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). The assessment revealed that organizational culture and climate across counties was above average in rigidity and resistance, and below average in engagement. In addition, over half of staff had recently experienced elevated levels of secondary traumatic stress (STS) symptoms. Supervision was also identified as a challenge at every level of the agencies (i.e., from directors to managers, managers to frontline supervisors, …

Psychosocial Work Influences On Adaptive Performance, Eli Alvin Dickinson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study sought to understand why some employees may be more or less able to adapt to the changing work environment. Adaptive performance can help employees to be resilient to technological advances, economic factors, and/or cultural shifts, making it an important form of extra-role performance. According to conservation of resources (COR) theory, one reason employees may fail to adapt is because they lack resources that are required in order to be adaptive. I proposed that the resources needed for adaptive performance aggregate in a resource caravan. Job embeddedness is a proposed resource caravan that may facilitate more adaptive performance …

Elements Of Effective, Engaging, And Enjoyable Education Environments, Ivan Harjehausen

Senior Theses

I explore three elements of effective education that promote student development. First, a classroom culture that encourages students to be responsible for managing their own learning rather than relying on the teacher can boost student learning. Two ways of accomplishing this are teachers communicating high expectations for students and teachers normalizing the concept of failure by acknowledging that making mistakes is an essential part of learning.

Second, teachers can model the skills and attitudes they hope to cultivate in students. Children learn by observing behavior of parents then imitating; these same learning mechanisms do not stop in childhood but rather …

Implementation And Evaluation Of Employee Health And Wellness Program Using Re-Aim Framework, Unab I. Khan, Asra Qureshi, Karishma Lal, Shehreen Ali, Arshnoor Barkatalia, Shamim Nayani

Department of Family Medicine

Purpose: To describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of an employer-sponsored health screening program [Employee Health and Wellness Program (EHWP)] in an academic healthcare system in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach: One-year after implementation, we use the RE-AIM framework (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance) to evaluate and report participant- and organizational-level indicators of success.
Findings: Of 5286 invited employees, 4523 (86%) completed blood work and 1809 (34%) completed health risk assessment (Reach). Of the 915 (51%) who required referrals, 3% were referred for new diagnoses of diabetes, hepatitis C or severe anemia; 63% for elevated 10- year risk of cardiometabolic diseases (cardiovascular …

Data Visualization (Video), Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Workforce Analytics Resources

Data visualization can communicate data in a clear, concise, and engaging way that is easy for us to understand. During the convening of the Institute, the QIC-WD Data Visualization Team lead, Robert Blagg, conducted a presentation on data visualization that addressed the following:

How to make data visualizations useful?

• How can you better collect and organize data to support visualization?
• How can you develop visualizations that respect visual perception of information?
• How can you better focus users on actionable findings?

To learn more about data visualization, watch Dr. Blagg’s 9-minute presentation.

Dr. Blagg’s Data Visualization Resource summarizes key …

Training Tests, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are training tests?

For this purpose, training tests include any form of knowledge assessment intended to gauge learning from training. Tests can be of varying lengths, formats (e.g., true/false, multiple choice, short answer), or labels (e.g., quiz, learning checks). The important feature is that they require learners to practice retrieving training-related information from memory. Thus, the focus here is on knowledge and understanding, versus skill acquisition.

Why are training tests valuable?

Training tests are valuable because the act of taking a test improves subsequent learning outcomes. More specifically, people who take a test perform better on later assessments of …

Organizational Cynicism, Dana Hollinshead, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is organizational cynicism?

Organizational cynicism is defined as “a negative attitude toward one's employing organization, comprising three dimensions: (1) a belief that the organization lacks integrity; (2) negative affect toward the organization; and (3) tendencies to disparaging and critical behaviors toward the organization that are consistent with these beliefs and affect” (Dean et al., 1998, p. 345). Measures of organizational cynicism include statements such as “I’ve pretty much given up trying to make suggestions for improvements around here” (Tesluk et al., 1990, p. 283) and “I believe that [the organization] says one thing and does another” (Brandes et al., …

Coaching, Megan Paul, Tara Myers

Umbrella Summaries

What is coaching?

There is no single universally recognized definition of coaching. In the context of the workplace, common elements of coaching definitions include a one-on-one systematic relationship, learning, behavioral change, self-awareness, and improved performance (Grover & Furnham, 2016). Some notable differences in definitions include who receives the coaching, who conducts the coaching, the type of behavior change that is targeted, and the nature of the coaching behaviors. For example, several definitions focus more exclusively on top leaders receiving coaching from external, professional coaches (e.g., Kilburg, 1996); known more commonly as executive coaching, this was a common arrangement when workplace …

Guidance For Building Motivation In Space Operator Training, Foster E. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Services provided by spacecraft, including communications and global positioning, are integral to small businesses, multinational corporations, and the United States Department of Defense. United States rivals recognize the need to undermine the military advantage provided by the space domain and are exploring ways to degrade these services in their warfare doctrine. In response, the United States will need space systems suited to counter these threats and personnel who are trained to respond to the new reality of a contested space environment. This paper also reviews the academic literature and written guidelines for developing motivation in an interactive environment for improving …

Navigating The Murky Middle: Understanding How Career Aspirations And Experiences Influence The Career Progression Of Women Identifying, Student Affairs, Middle Managers, Lindsey Gilmore

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Even though women have made tremendous strides in many facets of education, ascending the administrative and leadership ranks within universities at a proportionate ratio to the number of women who peak as middle managers is not one of them. In the past 40 years, the number of women serving as presidents of universities across the nation has increased less than 10% from 21.1% in 1975 to 30.1% in 2016 (ACE, 2018). If a woman does find herself serving at the helm of an institution, it is more than likely at a “private, liberal arts schools rather than at doctoral granting, …

An Examination Of Potential Training Regression Recognition Algorithms For Pilot Training Next, Alex R. Gaines

Theses and Dissertations

The initiative to reduce the Air Forces serious pilot shortage lead to the Pilot Training Next (PTN) program. Under PTN, student pilots progress at an individual rate while making increased use of simulator-based training resources. A previous thesis used data from the first PTN class to conceptualize and prototype a student training flight scheduler. This scheduler did not consider training events required to bring students back to achieved levels of performance if in fact that student performance had regressed. This thesis examines three classes of PTN student data to determine whether student regression in training progression can be detected. A …

Gratitude, Stephanie Weddington, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is gratitude?

There are three ways of thinking about gratitude—as a state, a trait, or a tendency that can be improved through practice. A person can experience a brief state of gratitude in response to a specific event or another person’s kind actions (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). Gratitude is also considered a more enduring personality trait, disposition, or life orientation in which an individual has a general propensity to feel grateful for, notice, and appreciate the positives in day-to-day life (McCullough et al., 2002; Wood et al., 2010). Finally, individuals can enhance their tendency to feel grateful over time …

Junior Faculty Advising For Effective Student Growth And Academic Success: A Qualitative Study, Noreen Powers, Russell Wartalski

Teacher-Scholar: The Journal of the State Comprehensive University

Supporting the academic advising needs of adult learners is paramount for colleges and universities. Research suggests that the faculty advisor's role is pivotal in students' academic progress. At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, faculty advisors are tasked with supporting adult learners in achieving their professional goals and providing resources to ensure their academic success. Specifically, they help students navigate curriculum requirements and provide support both inside and outside the classroom. The tasks and responsibilities associated with faculty advising can vary based on the institution type and program needs. However, junior faculty who take on advising responsibilities at regional public …

Pre-Training Interventions, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are pre-training interventions?

Pre-training interventions refer to strategies that are implemented prior to training, for the purpose of enhancing training outcomes. Thus far, the primary strategies that have been most frequently investigated include (a) attentional advice, (b) meta-cognitive strategies, (c) advance organizers, (d) goal orientation, and (e) preparatory information (Cannon-Bowers et al., 1998; Mesmer-Magnus & Viswesvaran, 2010).

Attentional advice includes guidance to orient the learner to what they will learn. Examples include going over the main learning objectives or highlighting essential aspects of the training and how they relate to the job.

Meta-cognitive strategies include approaches for learners to …

Sleep, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is sleep?

In the context of the workplace, investigations into sleep tend to focus on two main aspects: sleep quantity and sleep quality. Though sleep is occasionally measured using objective measures that assess physiological indicators, subjective self-report measures are most often used (Litwiller et al., 2017). There are dozens of measures for assessing sleep quality or quantity, some of which are single items and others that include multiple items. A more commonly used multidimensional measure is the 19-item Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which assesses factors like sleep duration, sleep disturbance, and sleep efficiency, among others (Buysse et al., 1989). …

Public Service Motivation, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is public service motivation?

Public service motivation (PSM) is defined as “an individual’s predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions” (Perry & Wise, 1990). In other words, it is about a person’s desire or interest to serve the public, often in the public sector, but also in the private, non-profit sector. It was developed in response to calls to revive interest in working in government, to restore the country’s faith in public institutions (Perry & Wise, 1990). The goal of the research was to explore whether people had such values and interests and, if …

Union Commitment And Participation, Tara Myers, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are union commitment and participation?

Union commitment refers to the extent to which employees are dedicated to their union (Cooper-Hakim & Viswesvaran, 2005; Gordon, Philpot, Burt, Thompson, & Spiller, 1980). Union participation is active involvement in the union such as attending meetings, serving on committees, holding office, campaigning, voting, assisting with contracts and negotiations, managing union funds, and filing grievances (Anderson, 1979). Many researchers consider union participation as part of union commitment (e.g., Gordon et al., 1980). Others have speculated that union participation is a consequence of union commitment (e.g., Parks, Gallagher, & Fullagar, 1995). Additional ways to conceptualize …

Emotional Intelligence Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is emotional intelligence training?

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to abilities or tendencies related to recognizing, understanding, and managing emotions. Because of its connections to important work outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, and turnover intentions (e.g., Joseph, Jin, Newman, & O’Boyle, 2015; Miao, Humphrey, & Qian, 2016), there has been great interest in developing EI via coaching and training, even though it has not traditionally been regarded as something that is amenable to change through training. EI is conceptualized, and measured, in three different ways (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2005). When it was first conceived, EI was …

Emotional Labor, Tara Myers, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is emotional labor?

Emotional labor is “the management of feelings to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display” as necessary at work (Hochschild, 2012, p. 50). Thus, people engage in emotional labor when they ensure their facial expressions and body language match what is expected for the job (Grandey, 2000). Clear display rules (e.g., always smile, show empathy, stay neutral, seem stern) are most typically seen within service industries (e.g., customer service, protective services, law enforcement). People accomplish this adherence to display rules through surface acting—managing the expression of emotions—or through deep acting—managing the experience of emotions (Hochschild, …