Skill Sets for the Human Performance Technologist

Demand for human performance technology (HPT) practitioners is growing at the same time as their numbers are increasing. Yet no standard repertoire of professional skills exists, nor is there any agency with authority to define required skill sets. A number of sources do, however, offer guidelines. These are observation of current practice, a rich and expanding literature, professional societies, recognized practitioners and knowledgeable clients. These sources provide us with strong indicators as to what constitute skill sets for both current and future practice. This article presents suggested basic and advanced skill sets, identifies future skill needs, and concludes with suggestions for maintaining and enhancing proficiency as a human performance technologist.     

Teachers,schools and using evidence: Considerations of preparedness

Despite assessment being viewed as integral to practice, there are questions about schools’ preparedness to engage in this process. Data from three studies conducted in New Zealand primary schools explore whether use of student achievement data is part of the professional canon or skill set. (1) When implementing new literacy materials, evidence of need did not necessarily inform choice nor was achievement data used to make decisions about effectiveness of materials or use. (2) When a classroom initiative designed to achieve literacy goals was implemented, few schools collected evidence adequate for its evaluation. In both cases, practitioners appeared to hold a theory about acceptable evidence at variance with current policy expectations. Further, they may have lacked necessary skills. (3) Teachers, with practice, learned to interpret data accurately but this skill did not relate to student progress. A high level of pedagogical content knowledge may be needed to relate achievement information to teaching practice.     

基于职业核心能力导向的高职院校教学诊改与实践

紧密渗透于教学实践的课堂教学是塑造学生核心职业能力的主要渠道和构建学生核心能力的根基。教师作为任务驱动者在教学活动中促使学生发挥自身能动作用,提升职业素养;学生是课堂教学活动的主体和认知能力的实践者。探讨以构建学生职业核心能力为目标,以教学诊断为突破口,在智慧教育环境下,聚焦课堂微观教学实践,提升学生专业素养和优化学生核心技能培养的途径。     

A New Perspective: The Common Factors Model as a Foundation for Social Work Practice Education

Foundation social work practice education is critical to the preparation of BSW practitioners for professional practice and the establishment of a theoretical and skill base upon which graduate students may build competencies in the advanced curriculum. Issues in the foundation practice curriculum may hinder this development. The common factors model holds promise as an organizing framework for foundation social work practice education. This model may help to resolve some key issues in social work and social work education, and may provide a useful, coherent, and empirical base for the foundation practice curriculum.     

Yoga From the Mat Up: How words alight on bodies

Abstract

Yoga is a unique form of expert movement that promotes an increasingly subtle interpenetration of thought and movement. The mindful nature of its practice, even at expert levels, challenges the idea that thought and mind are inevitably disruptive to absorbed coping. Building on parallel phenomenological and ethnographic studies of skilful performance and embodied apprenticeship, we argue for the importance in yoga of mental access to embodied movement during skill execution by way of a case study of instruction and practice in two related traditions, Iyengar and Anusara. Sharing a pose repertoire, they are based on distinctive philosophical systems with different teaching styles and metaphoric structures. To address relations between pedagogy and practice in embodied expertise, and to investigate the reciprocal influences of embodiment and thought, we explore in detail the linguistically mediated learning context where practitioners work with yoga teachers. Here, the mind/body problem comes to practical life. We demonstrate the effects of words on bodies, as knowledge is literally incorporated. We show why interpersonal influence on our movement capacities is sometimes needed to enhance expertise. We theorize and identify ‘signature patterns of tension’ among practitioners. These patterns have four sources: ghost gestures, innate differences in bodily form, functional fusing, and signature patterns of affective experience, modulation and expression. These patterns of tension produce ‘silent zones’, cognitively impenetrable actions, functional fusing of a skilful, compensatory form, and signature patterns of pain and damage. We show how instruction can disrupt these silent zones, enhancing mental and physical flexibility.     

Pedagogy: the silent partner in early years learning

This paper sets out to look critically at the influences on pedagogy in early years education, at the ways in which it is enacted in practice and the pedagogical perspectives held by practitioners. The aim of the paper is to explore the current state of understanding and suggest areas to be included in an agenda for future research. The factors that influence practitioners’ actions are reviewed and the consensus around child‐centredness and play is challenged. Findings from two studies of pedagogy in action in the early years are presented and examined in terms of sociocultural theory and its implications for practice. The first of these studies draws attention to the varied nature of pedagogical interactions that support learning while the second looks at the experience of pedagogical innovation. The need for researchers and practitioners to find effective ways of communicating and working together is stressed throughout the paper.     

Educating Practitioners as Consultants: Development and Implementation of the Instructional Consultation Team Consortium

The continuing education of current practitioners as consultants is an area requiring both practical consideration and further research. The Instructional Consultation Team (IC-Team) Consortium represents a comprehensive, statewide effort to systematically train a diverse group of educational practitioners as instructional consultants within the context of a team service delivery model. This article describes the IC-Team Consortium and summarizes the empirically based professional development process used to support practitioners' consultation skill development and application. The article summarizes the multi-tiered system of professional development that includes an intense introductory training of consultation skills followed by a structured process of coaching during application. In addition, the article describes the use of the IC-Team as an arena for team members' continued development of consultation skills.     

Comparison of individual factors in school psychology graduate students: Why do students pursue a degree in school psychology?

The purpose of this study was to investigate what factors influenced students to enter the field of school psychology. Although numerous studies have documented the thoughts and perspectives of practitioners regarding why they have chosen to become school psychologists, attempts to recruit and retain an adequate number of school psychology practitioners and researchers have shown limited success. A national sample of 307 school psychology graduate students responded to a survey designed to measure issues related to the current state of professional practice, the influence of parental education, and professional organization recruitment. Results indicated that working with children and personal experiences within the school system were highly related to participant's decisions to become school psychologists. In addition, doctoral level and nondoctoral level students present similar reasons for entering the field. This research is discussed in terms of its implications for future research and the current shortage of school psychology practitioners and faculty. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 865–872, 2007.     

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE MODEL FOR INDEPENDENT PRACTITIONERS WHO WORK WITH OLDER ADULTS IN THE COMMUNITY

This article presents a framework for the integration of community services for older adults. A model for multidisciplinary practice is introduced to teach students and professionals how independent practitioners can integrate their community practices. Practitioners from disciplines such as medicine, nursing, social work, psychiatry, psychology, finance, law, and religion can develop collaborative community practices to more effectively serve older adults. A generic multidisciplinary instrument for use with this model was developed for assessment and referral purposes. Collaboration has been the mark of professional behavior in institutional settings. This article applies these principles to the community practice setting. Reform efforts are necessary to advance from the current ways of thinking to more effective community practice strategies. Community efforts have not followed the lead of professional efforts in institutional settings in the development of collaborative, interdisciplinary planning for older adults. Educators can use this model to teach students and practitioners a new nontraditional method for community practice. It is imperative in this time of challenge in the field of gerontology that practitioners examine new ideas and adopt new models in their teaching and professional practices.     

职业技能大赛在计算机专业实践教育中的应用策略

随着科学技术的进步与发展,国内对于计算机专业人才需求的标准越来越高,人才间的竞争也变得更加激烈.如果职业院校仍坚持传统的教学方法,只会影响和阻碍学生未来的发展.把职业技能大赛及其理念引入到职业教育中,不仅有助提高学生的专业学习积极性,还为学生提供了一个展现自我价值的重要平台.简要论述了职业院校计算机专业教学实践的现状与...     

The motivational paradox of feedback: teacher and student perceptions

The notion that future performance can be affected by information about previous performance is often expressed in terms of ‘closing the gap’. Feedback has long been recognised as a mechanism through which teaching and learning may be influenced. The current wave of support in the United Kingdom for assessment for learning echoes these sentiments. This paper examines the feedback strategies employed by two experienced literacy practitioners in England. Using data gathered from field observations, interviews and documentary sources, the paper presents evidence of espoused practice associated with feedback, demonstrating that whilst teachers may claim that they make effective use of some feedback strategies to support pupils’ learning and motivation, that this is not supported by empirical data. The paper also identifies that whilst some teachers aim to mark every piece of pupils’ written work for perceived motivational benefits; such a strategy can undermine pupils’ intrinsic motivation and lead to a culture of over-dependency, whereby the locus of control with regard to feedback lies solely with the teacher. The paper concludes by exploring some possible implications for practice with regard to the provision of written feedback in particular.     

Narrative-based evaluation demonstrates the value of a higher education professional learning network

Assessing and demonstrating value for money to agencies funding professional learning networks is a universal challenge. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a narrative-based approach to evaluation called story-building that can be employed to complement other more traditional approaches to evaluation. Story-building goes beyond the anecdotal by constructing individual reflective stories, a collective story and a value creation story that are authentic and resonate with stakeholders because they tap into the specific and particular knowledge of practitioners. A key characteristic which sets story-building apart from other approaches is that it collects and collates both individual and collective evidence of a network’s impact from different sources. Members of the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory Promoting Excellence Network created and implemented this rigorous approach to evaluation and found story-building to be an effective practice to demonstrate the value and impact of a network.     

A Pilot Study of Classroom‐Based Cognitive Skill Instruction: Effects on Cognition and Academic Performance

Cognitive skills are associated with academic performance, but little is known about how to improve these skills in the classroom. Here, we present the results of a pilot study in which teachers were trained to engage students in cognitive skill practice through playing games. Fifth‐grade students at an experimental charter school were randomly assigned to receive cognitive skill instruction (CSI) or instruction in geography and typing. Students in the CSI group improved significantly more than the control group on a composite measure of cognitive skills. CSI was more effective for students with lower standardized test scores. Although there was no group effect on test scores, cognitive improvement correlated positively with test score improvement only in the CSI group. Beyond showing that cognitive skills can be improved in the classroom, this study provides lessons for the future of CSI, including changes to professional development and challenges for scalability.     

美国社区学院学生交流沟通能力培养引发的思考

交流沟通能力是从事职业活动所需的综合行为能力,是高职学生适应今后不断发展变化的工作任务而获得的跨专业、多功能和不受时间限制的一种基础能力。随着我国经济社会的飞速发展和经济全球化的到来,这种能力的培养对学生的未来发展显得十分重要。通过在美国社区学院的学习培训,借鉴美国社区学院在学生交流沟通能力方面的培养经验,结合我国高职院校的特点,应积极探索和实践加强学生交流沟通能力的培养。     

高职院校教育技术应用特点初探

教育技术是关于学习过程与学习资源的设计、开发、利用、管理和评价的理论和实践；高职教育以培养高级技术应用型人才为目标，其教学必须以训练学生的实践技能、创新能力为鲜明特色。教育技术必须有效地融合于各学科的教学过程来营造一种适合高职特点的新型教学环境，搭建一个既能发挥教师指导作用又能充分体现学生主体地位的教学平台。     

Research and Theory as Necessary Tools for Organizational Training and Performance Improvement Practitioners

Human Performance Technology (HPT) is the applied study and practice of improving organizational performance through training and non-training interventions. For practitioners working in this area that identify themselves as an HPT practitioner, organizational training and performance (OTP) specialist, or instructional designer—offering the right intervention set requires understanding of how humans work and function internally and within organizations that are bounded by environmental, societal, and economic realities. The HPT field is rooted in a multi-disciplinary knowledge base and has its own models and theories, which are generally developed by practitioners to guide their practice. Because HPT follows a systematic, data-driven process akin to action research, HPT practitioners are applied researchers even if they do not see themselves as such. What we need is more collaboration between scholars, practitioners, professional associations, and businesses to create a culture of engagement and involve everybody in the validation of applied research and theory development.     

Surviving troubled times: Five best practices for training professionals

With the current economic downturn and signs of an emerging recovery, executives are trying to determine how to best use their organizations' funds and resources. This may mean downsizing human resource departments and eliminating positions for training personnel. The authors offer five strategies drawn from the professional literature to survive these and future trying times: (1) align efforts with organizational missions and business goals, (2) use training only when it addresses a gap between existing and desired performance arising from a lack of requisite skill, (3) craft instructional objectives that describe exemplary job performance, (4) create sound training programs that promote learning and transfer to the job, and (5) collaborate with sponsors and other stakeholders outside the training department to promote transfer of training to the job. Training personnel who employ these strategies successfully may be able to answer executives' common question, “What have you done for me recently that matters?”     

Skill-oriented task sequencing in an intelligent tutor for basic algebra

As part of a project to develop an intelligent computer tutor for basic algebra, we have been investigating task sequencing. In this paper we present an approach to task sequencing that is based on a component-skills view of intelligence and learning. We postulate that tutors use inferences about past and present student performance to determine a current skill set that will be the new target for learning. The skill set is then used as a basis for generating tasks that should elicit those skills. Current skill sets are modified slowly over time so that lessons appear coherent and well-planned. We first describe the approach at a general level, where it can be viewed as a cognitive model of human task sequencing. Then we discuss the implementation of the model in our intelligent algebra tutoring system.     

Childhood Adversity and Self-Care Education for Undergraduate Social Work and Human Services Students

Many students pursuing social work and human services courses have experienced adverse childhoods. This article focuses on their learning about self-care, an important skill for future practice. Interviews with 20 undergraduate students with a history of childhood adversity found unmet needs both for conceptualizing self-care and developing strategies to implement self-care in their day-to-day lives. Many cited limited role modeling and little importance placed on self-care during childhood. Teaching self-care is conceptualized as not only a core skill for practice but also an equity issue for students with a history of childhood adversity.