Mental representation-based task analysis for analyzing value-laden performance

In keeping with recent research findings in the areas of constructivist learning and affective mediation of complex behavior, the authors assert that the conduct of task analysis should reflect the holistic nature of this performance. Although a common practice in special education is for teachers to instruct parents on how to teach exceptional children at home, the differing values that teachers and parents hold regarding the “best practice” for the children often lead to strikingly different implementations of the same teaching approach. Using knowledge representation theory, we attempt to better understand how and why such discrepancies happen. In this paper we explore the theoretical dimensions of a modified task analysis model that purports to integrate cognitive-affective-behavioral dynamics underlying teacher and parental teaching behaviors. Applied in a qualitative study conducted in a special educational program in Taiwan, this model reveals the differences between teachers’ and mothers’ mental representations of teaching at the (a) conceptual orientation, (b) values, (c) reasoning, and (d) behavioral levels. With more applied research, we believe that this model will help trainers and trainees to reach a better understanding of the cognitive and psychological roots of complex value laden performance.     

Organizational Factors that Influence E‐learning Development and Implementation in the Corporate Context

In the context of Autoparts, a multinational manufacturer for automotive electronics, Lotus Notes was employed to create an e‐learning system. This system was titled “Using Notes for Case‐based Learning Environments” (UNCLE). The UNCLE project attempted to encapsulate knowledge and understanding of those organizational factors that might influence e‐learning development and implementation in a corporate context. Based on the findings of this study, and our reflections on these findings, we define that an e‐learning system consists of four critical components: (1) corporate learners with certain prerequisites (people) to carry out (2) learning tasks (process) using (3) e‐learning technology (technology) in an (4) organizational context (organization). This study further suggested that e‐learning is a sociotechnical change process like any technology adoptions, and proposed a systemic framework for exploring and making the most of various sociotechnical factors. Further studies are suggested to investigate the interrelationships among these four components and various sociotechnical factors.     

Sociocultural Factors Affecting the Success of an Online MBA Course

The complexities of the digital age pose challenges to existing instruction technology theory as it applies to a distance learning environment. Research in distance education especially lacks rich qualitative information or holistic analysis that would lead to improve the effectiveness of distance learning environment (Mclsaac & Gu‐nawardena, 1996). Through the lens of activity theory, this study took a broad view of an online course and examines the socio‐cultural mediators affecting the success of a distance course as well as the systematic tensions that characterize the culture of an online course. Recommendations were provided at the group and organizational levels to balance local tensions that emerged in the implementation of a distance course.     

Designing Performance Interventions for the Information Age

Dynamic Online Performance Support Systems (DOPSS) are a new class of intervention that can meet the needs of a quickly changing work force in an information age environment. These systems are customized for the target population, with unique meta tags, unique function sets, and dynamic growth for and by users in use. These unique tag sets allow users to quickly and easily add resources to the system, so it is an intervention that grows and evolves based on continued use and input by users. This paper reports on a case study examining the design of a unique function set for military aircraft maintenance technicians. A new method to guide data collection and analysis is used. The USE method (User‐centric + Sen‐semaking + Evolving) is applied, with Schwen's (2001) knowledge model supporting the user‐centric collection and analysis of data. The result of this new perspective allows the input and analysis of needs on micro, meso, and macro levels, identifying needs that may cross boundaries of traditional interventions.