Thesis (MComm)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Training represents an expensive investment organisations make in their human resources. For this reason, it is imperative that the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours gained in training be transferred into visible on-the-job performance and results. Unfortunately, despite the increasing amounts of time, effort and money being spent on organisational training, the so-called “transfer problem” remains a threat. Continued low transfer puts a major portion of the training investment at risk, thus justifying practical efforts to leverage greater transfer of training. This study is one such effort. The primary goal of this study was to develop and test an empirical model of the transfer process so as to establish the effects of trainee ability and motivation on this process. More specifically, it aimed to establish the relationships between the constructs trainee ability to learn, motivation to learn, intention to learn, learning and retention, motivation to transfer, intention to transfer and consequently, transfer. A comprehensive study of the transfer of training literature was conducted so as to gain a better understanding of the issues relevant to the purpose of the study. The sample used for this study consisted of 116 trainees attending an assessor training course provided by the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authorities (W&RSETA) in South Africa. Five questionnaires were administered during the course of the study, of which two were developed especially for the purposes of the study. The Motivation to Learn Questionnaire consisted of three sections. Section A was designed to give an indication of the demographic data of the trainees. Section B measured Motivation to Learn and Section C measured Intention to Learn by means of a Likert-type scale. The Motivation to Transfer Questionnaire also consisted of three sections, with Section A providing demographic data, Section B measuring Motivation to Transfer, and Section C measuring Intention to Transfer via a Liker-type scale. A Mental Alertness Scale, giving an indication of ability to learn (i.e. general cognitive ability), as well as a pre- and post Knowledge Test, measuring learning and retention, also had to be administered during the study. These measures were distributed to the various training facilitators for administration according to specified instructions at their respective training sessions. The data was subsequently analysed using SPSS. Unfortunately, not all hypotheses could be corroborated in this study, yet useful insights were nonetheless gained. It was discovered that ability to learn significantly affects the amount of learning and retention that occurs during training. Ability to learn was also positively correlated with motivation to learn the training material. Motivation to learn produced significant relationships with three variables, namely intention to learn, intention to transfer, as well as motivation to transfer learning into on-the-job performance. Intention to learn was also found to positively correlate with intention to transfer. Finally, motivation to transfer indicated a significant correlation with intention to transfer. Consequently, conclusions were derived from the results obtained and recommendations for future research made. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Opleiding is ‘n duur belegging wat organisasies in hul menslike hulpbronne maak en daarom is dit uiters belangrik dat die kennis, vaardighede, houdings en gedrag wat tydens opleiding aangeleer word, oorgedra word tot sigbare werksprestasie en resultate. Ongelukkig bly die oordrag van aangeleerde kennis en vaardighede ‘n probleem, ten spyte van die toenemende besteding van tyd, inspanning en fondse aan organisatoriese opleiding. ‘n Groot deel van die belegging in organisatoriese opleiding word op die spel geplaas deur voortdurende lae vlakke van oordrag. Om die rede, regverdig dit praktiese pogings om hoër oordragsvlakke te bewerkstellig. Hierdie studie poog om ‘n bydrae te maak in hierdie verband. Die primêre doel van die studie is om ‘n empiriese model van die oordragsproses te ontwikkel en te toets, en sodoende die effek van leerders se vermoëns en motivering op hierdie proses vas te stel. Meer spesifiek, poog dit om die verband tussen die konstrukte van leervermoë, motivering om te leer, intensie om te leer, leer en retensie, motivering om oor te dra, intensie om oor te dra, en oordrag, vas te stel. ‘n Omvattende literatuurstudie van die oordrag van leer is uitgevoer om sodoende ‘n beter begrip te kry van die konstrukte ter sake. ‘n Steekproef van 116 leerders is in die studie gebruik. Die leerders het ‘n assessoropleidingsprogram bygewoon wat deur die W&R SETA verskaf is. Vyf vraelyste is gedurende die studie toegepas, waarvan twee vir die doeleindes van die studie ontwikkel is. Die motivering-om-te-leer vraelys bestaan uit drie afdelings. Afdeling A verteenwoordig demografiese items, en Afdeling B en Afdeling C meet onderskeidelik motivering om te leer en intensie om te leer met behulp van ‘n 7-punt Likert-tipe skaal. Die oordragmotiveringsvraelys bestaan ook uit drie afdelings, waar Afdeling A weer op demografiese informasie fokus. Afdeling B en C meet onderskeidelik oordragmotivering en oordragintensie met behulp van ‘n 7-punt Likerttipe skaal. ‘n Verstandelikehelderheidsskaal (wat leervermoë gemeet het), sowel as ‘n voor- en na-kennistoets (wat leer en retensie meet) is ook toegepas gedurende die studie. Hierdie vraelyste is aan die verskillende opleiers versprei sodat hulle dit volgens die instruksies in hulle onderskeidelike opleidingssessies kon toepas. Die data is geanaliseer deur die gebruik van die rekenaarpakket SPSS. Al die hipoteses kon nie bevestig word nie, maar nuttige insigte is nogtans ingewin. Resultate toon dat leervermoë ‘n beduidende effek het op die hoeveelheid leer en retensie wat gedurende opleiding plaasvind. Leervermoë het ook ‘n positiewe verband met leermotivering getoon. Leermotivering het beduidende korrelasies met drie veranderlikes getoon, naamlik leerintensie, oordragintensie en oordragmotivering. Leerintensie het ook ‘n positiewe korrelasie met oordragintensie getoon. Laastens is ‘n beduidende korrelasie tussen oordragmotivering en oordragintensie bevind. Gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings vir toekomstige navorsing is gemaak.

This problem was designed to evaluate the work performance change effected by each of three training programs; stepping, running, and bicycle ergometer riding. The study determined the specific work improvement of each training program by using a stress test designed from each of the training modes. Two of the purposes of the study were to determine the work performance effects and the specificity of training effect of each of the training procedures. The effect of body weight and leg strength were also measured in relation to performance, and the relative value of each of the three training procedures was evaluated. An analysis of the data showed that no training method was statistically superior to the others, but in order of improvement they ranked (1) bicycle ergometer riding, (2) stepping, and (3) running. Training by each method did appear to be specific to the type of work involved. In each method of training, the most significant improvement was in the work performance test related to that particular training procedure.

Mudanças recentes na área de Treinamento, Desenvolvimento e Educação (TD&E) introduzem novas formas de oferecer programas instrucionais, que passam a ser realizados via internet, suscitando discussões acerca de sua viabilidade, efetividade e potencial para retornar melhorias aos seus participantes e benefícios tangíveis às organizações. A avaliação da efetividade de ações de TD&E exige medir seus efeitos sobre o desempenho individual dos egressos, incluindo uma complexa gama de variáveis da organização, do treinamento e do indivíduo explicativas do processo de transferência de competências adquiridas ao ambiente de trabalho. Nesse sentido, o presente estudo teve como objetivo propor e testar um modelo de avaliação de ações educacionais corporativas ofertadas a distância, visando identificar fatores que influenciam na efetividade de treinamentos dessa natureza, entre variáveis do indivíduo (estratégias de aprendizagem), de reação ao curso (procedimentos instrucionais e desempenho do tutor) e do ambiente (barreiras e facilitadores em contexto a distância e suporte à transferência de treinamento), tendo como variável critério o impacto do treinamento no trabalho, medida em termos de desempenhos específicos (impacto em profundidade) e gerais (impacto em amplitude) no trabalho. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio da aplicação virtual de questionários aos membros de uma organização pública brasileira do setor bancário, que participaram de um treinamento a distância (autoavaliação), e a seus superiores hierárquicos (heteroavaliação). Foram realizadas a adaptação e a validação teórica de instrumentos nacionais utilizados na coleta de dados; tradução ao espanhol dos instrumentos de medida e aplicação em estudo piloto na Espanha que antecedeu o estudo de campo principal; análises estatísticas (descritivas, consistência interna, fatoriais exploratórias e confirmatórias) para a verificação de evidências de validade dos instrumentos de medida; regressões múltiplas e modelagem por equações estruturais para testar o conjunto de relações entre as variáveis presentes no modelo de investigação proposto (predição, mediação e moderação). Foram confirmadas a validade e a confiabilidade dos instrumentos, configurando-se como ferramentas de avaliação úteis ao diagnóstico da efetividade de treinamentos em ambientes corporativos. Os achados, baseados nos altos níveis de ajuste dos modelos encontrados, comprovaram o poder explicativo da satisfação com os procedimentos instrucionais, das estratégias de aprendizagem, sobretudo as de elaboração e aplicação prática, e do suporte à transferência (material e de pares), para o processo subsequente de aplicação das novas habilidades no trabalho, na autoavaliação de ambos tipos de impacto; na heteroavaliação, o suporte de supervisores e as estratégias cognitivas e busca de ajuda explicaram, respectivamente, a ocorrência do impacto em profundidade e em amplitude; além da identificação do papel mediador/moderador das reações e do suporte à transferência. Os resultados empíricos obtidos por meio da utilização de modelos mais sofisticados de análise de dados e combinado à inclusão de hipóteses preditoras, mediadoras e moderadoras para a investigação do fenômeno do resultado do treinamento no desempenho dos egressos suprem lacunas de pesquisa e oferecem importantes subsídios à área de avaliação de programas de TD&E, beneficiando o desenvolvimento do campo científico, em termos de avanços teórico-metodológicos, e trazendo implicações práticas, ao apresentar orientações aos profissionais que influenciam sobre o desempenho de suas atividades e facilitam as intervenções em contextos organizacionais e de trabalho. / Recent changes in the field of training introduce new ways to offer these programs in organizations, which are currently delivered by the Internet, raising questions about their feasibility, effectiveness and potential to return improvements to the participants performance and tangible benefits to organizations. The evaluation of e-training effectiveness requires measuring its effects on the individual employees performance, including a large and complex range of organizational, training design and individual variables that explain the transfer of training process at the workplace. Though, the present study aimed to propose and test an assessment model in a distance corporate context, to identify factors relating to individual characteristics (learning strategies), reaction (instructional procedures and tutors performance) and the work environment (barriers and facilitators in e-learning and support to training transfer) that can influence e-training outputs. To measure the effectiveness of training at work, the dependent variable was the transfer of training, measured in terms of specific (in depth impact) and overall (in width impact) performance at work. Data collection was conducted through online questionnaires delivered to members of a Brazilian public organization of the banking sector that had participated in an e-training (self-evaluation), and to their supervisors (hetero-evaluation). Adaptation and content validation of national instruments used in data collection were conducted; translation into Spanish of the measuring instruments and application in a pilot study in Spain prior to the main study; statistical analysis (descriptive, internal consistency, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis) to verify the reliability of the scales; multiple regressions and structural equation modeling to test the relationships between the variables in the proposed research model (prediction, mediation and moderation). The validity and reliability of the instruments indicate them as useful assessment tools in diagnosing the effectiveness of training in corporate environments. The findings, based on the high level of fit for the models, confirm that the trainee satisfaction with the instructional procedures, the learning strategies, mainly the elaboration and practical application strategies, and the perception of material and peer support, contributed to the subsequent process of applying the new skills at work in the self-evaluation of both types of impact; in the hetero-evaluation, the supervisor support and the cognitive and help-seeking strategies explained, respectively, the in depth and in width impact; besides, the mediating/moderating role of reaction and support to transfer was identified. The empirical results obtained through the use of more sophisticated models of data analysis and combined with the inclusion of predictive, mediating and moderating effects to investigate the transfer of training in the employees performance clarify research gaps and provide important subsidies to the training evaluation field, benefiting the development of the scientific literature, in terms of theoretical and methodological advances, and bringing practical implications, offering guidance to professionals that influences on the performance of their activities and facilitates interventions at work and organizational settings.

A supportive work climate is critical for successful transfer of learning. Influences in the work environment affect the trainee's ability to apply new skills to the job. The supervisor can be a significant figure in the trainee's perception of a supportive transfer climate. Little is known of the effect of supervisor participation in the training on transfer climate. The purpose of this study was to identify differences in trainee and supervisor self-perceptions of the factors affecting transfer climate. Additionally, this study examined the effects of supervisor participation in the training program on perceptions of transfer climate. The participants in this study were trainees in a union-sponsored instructor training program and their supervisors. The study found perception gaps between the overall perception of transfer climate and supervisor support. The level of supervisor participation in the training program was not to be a factor in the differences between the trainee and supervisor perceptions. No statistically significant difference exists in the perception of other transfer climate factors: supervisor sanctions, peer support, resistance/openness to change, and feedback/performance coaching. In addition, the study found that supervisor participation in the training made little difference in the perceptions of transfer climate by supervisors and trainees. Studies comparing trainee and supervisor perceptions of transfer climate and the effect of supervisor participation in the training on these perceptions are needed from other organizations before extensive generalizations can be made.

Twenty-six participants, divided into three groups, learned to relate English words to Czech and Portuguese words in a matching-to-sample procedure. Half the word pairs were learned using English words as samples and foreign words as corresponding comparisons and the other half were learned with the foreign words serving as samples and English words as corresponding comparisons. The only difference in training across the three groups involved a programmed delay between the removal of the sample stimulus and the presentation of comparison stimuli. For Group 0, Group 2, and Group 8, the programmed delay values between sample offset and comparison onset were 0 s, 2 s, and 8 s, respectively. Test trials assessed the extent to which the conditional discriminations established during training had become reversible or the extent to which the effects of learning had transferred to a new situation. The results suggest that the likelihood of transfer was greatest for the group that learned the task with the largest delay (i.e., an 8 s delay between sample offset and comparison onset).

Web-based training (WBT) and classroom instruction (CI) constitute two training media that are commonly employed by organizations. Although the effectiveness of one medium relative to the other depends on a number of factors (e.g., Sitzmann, Kraiger, Stewart, & Wisher, 2006) this study aims to address several methodological issues common in the extant media research and investigate the moderating role of training content complexity on the relationship between media and important training outcomes. Utilizing a 2x2 experimental design, one hundred forty-two undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of four training courses. Each training course involved a PowerPoint 2007 training tutorial in which trainees were presented with information about certain PowerPoint functions. The CI training courses included three instructors who presented course material to trainees in a predetermined time frame while the WBT courses gave trainees substantial control over their allocation of time during the training course. Results suggest that trainees in the CI courses spent substantially more time on course-related activities than those in the WBT courses, which led to less knowledge acquisition when trainees in the WBT course were presented with relatively complex training material. These findings suggest that although learner control is generally considered a positive aspect of WBT (e.g., Kinzie & Sullivan, 1989) it can lead to less time-on-task and ultimately less learning and less effective transfer when the training content is complex in nature. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.

Ten developmentally disabled children participated in an assessment of stimulus control and transfer of training. Each subject was taught to perform a simple, nonverbal, imitative task in a training room, and transfer to a novel setting was assessed. During training, subjects were video-taped in order to determine how often each visual stimulus in the training room was looked at. After an initial transfer t est each subject participated in a test of the stimulus control acquired by visual stimuli from the training room. Utilizing two groups (N = 5 each), subjects received an additional transfer test in the novel setting while in the presence of a stimulus that had been either frequently or infrequently looked at during the training process. Subjects tested in the presence of a frequently-looked-at stimulus produced a greater number of correct responses during the transfer tests than subjects tested in the presence of an infrequently-looked-at stimulus. Individual data are also presented fer the subjects. The implications of these results are discussed.

abstract: The focus of this study was to investigate better learning opportunities at the epicenter of field-level aircraft maintenance technical training for the United States Air Force. While narrow in focus, this project may be informative for training communities across diverse industries. The intent of this project is to improve the transfer of training from the classroom to the workplace by implementing a blended learning classroom pedagogy, successively enhancing class time for more meaningful construction of student-centered learning. This mixed-methods research study utilized surveys, observations, and interviews with students, instructors and supervisors to explore perceptions that aircraft maintainers have about the current and potential value of curriculum. The first significant finding was that aircraft maintainers do believe there is opportunity to improve the current rote transmission style of curriculum and make it more learner-centered. The second significant finding is that aircraft maintainers do see a blended learning classroom as a means to explore the curriculum in more depth and improve the transfer of their knowledge in a more meaningful way to the workplace. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2019

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of computer instruction on the near transfer and far transfer of a means-end analysis problem solving strategy.

This qualitative case study sought to better understand the complexity of developing executives to lead in a landscape of disruption and uncertainty, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of the development intervention in a world that is constantly changing. The purpose of this study was to explore how executives make meaning from what they learned in a development program, how these executives transferred the learning to lead their teams in today’s dynamic world, and how their organization benefitted (if at all) from having leaders with increased capabilities in leading through change. The researcher chose a single-case study design to evaluate the long-term impact of an executive development program within a bounded organization by looking at three key areas for the research questions: individual development, facilitators and barriers to learning transfer, and organizational outcomes. The 13 study participants were a subset of a cohort from an Executive Development Program (EDP), designed to harness the power of disruption to prepare leaders to navigate their teams through a constantly changing landscape with care, curiosity, and courage. The EDP took place at Global Financial Analytics & Insights (GFAI,), a pseudonym, which is a firm providing essential information to the global financial markets to inform decision-making. The data collection methods leveraged to conduct this case study were semi-structured interviews with the 13 participants and program architect, and a review of archival program documentation. The data were coded and organized according to the research questions and conceptual framework. Analysis, interpretation and synthesis of the findings were organized into four analytic categories: (1) individual shifts in mindsets or behavior; (2) enabling factors of learning transfer; (3) barriers to learning transfer; and (4) tangible or intangible benefits for the organization. This study revealed that all 13 leaders in EDP experienced a shift in their leadership style in at least one of the three lenses of care, curiosity, or courage. It also revealed that all participants encountered facilitators and barriers to learning transfer, which were grouped into the themes of individual motivation, work environment, and program design. All leaders were able to describe at least one way that GFAI benefitted from the investment in the EDP, with the top benefit being an engaged and committed network of leaders who could rely on each other to solve problems across the firm. Recommendations are offered to practitioners who aspire to build highly capable leaders prepared to navigate a dynamic and disruptive world, including: (1) leverage measurement tools to understand a leader’s ability to adapt to complexity; (2) design learning experiences that provoke new perspectives to enable transformation; (3) evaluate programs over time to allow for participants to apply their learning and for others in the organization to recognize the shifts the leader is making; and (4) engage the Executive Team (the level of leadership that reports directly to the CEO) as program sponsors and champions early in the design process and clearly articulate what is expected of them as organizational leaders and role models. Recommendations for future research are also included.