Transfer of Learning From An Action Reflection Learning™ Program*

Learning transfer from training and development programs to the workplace is a central issue of concern for human resource development specialists. Action Reflection Learning™ (ARL™) is a form of action learning that places emphasis on the development of targeted competencies while teams of participants work on real problems which have been given to them by a sponsor. This article examines the kinds of learning and learning transfer that took place in an international food company that was striving to become a global organization. Data were collected through both field observation and formal interviews and analyzed by a team of researchers. Conclusions about the degree of transfer and the mechanisms and process supporting it are presented.     

An Investigation of Pupil Perceptions of Mixed-ability Grouping to Enhance Literacy in Children Aged 9-10

This study is based on interviews with two groups of primary school children after they had completed a project in which children were taught in mixed-ability and mixed-gender groups with the purpose of improving their literacy. It examines the organisation of the children and the collaborative style of learning they were engaged in. Presentation of findings take the form of transcribed extracts from the group interviews. In analysing the children's comments, it is argued that mixed-ability teaching provides a setting in which both low- and high-achieving students value the opportunity to work together where both groups believed they benefited. The study suggests that interactions among peers can facilitate literacy development in individual children. At a time when teachers are being asked to group children according to attainment, especially for the literacy hour, the potential benefits of mixed-ability teaching should not be ignored.     

Early kindergarten identification of academically not-ready children by use of human figure drawing developmental score

The Koppitz Human Figure Drawing (HFD) Test was examined for use in early identification of academically not-ready kindergarten children. HFD developmental scores of a group of children who later “passed” the Metroplitan Readiness Test (stanine score ≥4), as required for admission to the first-grade classroom, were compared with the HFD scores of a group of children who later “failed” the Metropolitan Readiness Test (stanine score ≤3). Evaluation of the test data showed that the optimum HFD score cut-off point for prediction of nonreadiness was ≤3; 42% of the nonready and 90% of the ready children, as defined by the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MTR) score criterion, were correctly identified. An overall hit rate of 75% was obtained on the experimental population. The work indicates that HFD developmental scores are useful for early identification of the academically not-ready kindergarten child.     

Innovating for a cause: the work and learning required to create a new approach to healthcare for homeless people

Innovation occupies a pivotal place in our understanding of knowledge-based economies, and this is raising questions about sources of innovation, how it originates, and the role played by employees, work practices and learning. This paper explores these issues through case study research into a new approach to providing healthcare for homeless people in England, and by bringing together conceptual insights from the employee-driven innovation literature, and more broadly from social and practice-based learning theory and organisational theory. Applying these perspectives to our case enables illumination of the innovation as a process – not an event – and as an ongoing set of organisational practices that transcend their origins. Through our analysis we argue that the notion of ‘a cause’ is helpful in elucidating the impetus and the commitment to making the innovation happen (and go on happening). Our findings are presented under three themes: ‘establishing a cause’, ‘organising for innovation’, and ‘innovative capability in practice’. Building on these, we have identified five key inter-related dimensions which help conceptualise the work and learning that it took to create and (re-)enact the innovation and that we suggest may have relevance for understanding and characterising other employee-led innovations in and perhaps beyond healthcare.     

College student drug usage in a state system as a function of type of institution

Over 4,500 students from 28 universities, colleges, and junior colleges constituting a state system of higher education were compared on extent of drug use. At least two of the three pairs of groups differed on reported usage of six of the substances, with the largest differences being between universities and junior colleges on alcohol and marihuana. A discriminant analysis showed that the nine items formed two differentiating dimensions—Alcohol Usage and Hallucinogen/LSD Usage—in separating the groups. Despite the statistical significance, the differences in terms of actual numbers of users were small. Inferences of the results are discussed.     

Water Quality Statistics

Water quality experiments, especially the use of macroinvertebrates as indicators of water quality, offer an ideal context for connecting statistics and science. In the STAR program for secondary students and teachers, water quality experiments were also used as a context for teaching statistics. In this article, we trace one activity that uses virtual streams and repeated sampling to develop the notion of a hypothesis test for one proportion.