The use of an investment portfolio simulation as an assessment task is intended to reinforce learning by involving students in practical application of theoretical principles in a real-time actual financial market. Simulation as a teaching pedagogy promotes individual involvement and provides students with a deeper understanding of the issues, and…

While the interpersonal relationship between the student and teacher is important for learning, the specific quality of the student-teacher relationship in higher education and its effects on learning remains understudied. Striving to enliven this area of study is the concept of the teaching alliance as understood through Jesuit tradition. The…

Extension personnel, agricultural companies, and contract researchers invest a great deal of resources through time, money, and manpower to educate crop consultants, producers, students, and new employees. Creating an in-field, real world, and hands-on learning environment affords an opportunity to engage individuals to learn in ways that cannot…

In the present paper and the discussion that follows, the author presents aspects of test construction and a careful description of instructional objectives. Constructing tests involves several stages such as describing language objectives, selecting appropriate test task, devising and assembling test tasks, and devising a scoring system for…

On 30 January 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released Rule 33-9002. This rule phased in the required use of XBRL. The accuracy of mapping financial statement line items to the US GAAP taxonomy and the tagging of the financial statement facts are of fundamental importance to the accuracy of the XBRL instance document. Currently,…

Staff of the National Weather Service Offices should be able to understand interpersonal communication and public relations in order to better serve their mission to "protect lives and property" as well as work with their internal and external partners (NWS Internet Services Team). Two technologies have been developed to assist the integration of…

This article outlines the Idea Factory exercise, an interactive exercise designed to help participants examine group, individual, and organizational factors that affect intergroup conflict. Specific emphasis is placed on exploring the relationship between intra- and intergroup dynamics and identifying managerial practices that foster effective…

The decision by the Minister of Higher Education, that Malaysian post-secondary institutions should move to outcomes-based teaching and learning (OBTL), involves a change in teaching in over 1,000 institutions. This massive changeover would be accomplished using the "Train-the-Trainers" model in a series of workshops. We are proud to…

Discussion of constructivism focuses on instructional systems design (ISD) and how it can help develop constructivist instruction. Highlights include ISD limitations; objectives and learning analysis, including Competency-Based Teacher Education and levels of learning; task analysis; and formative evaluation processes. (23 references) (LRW)

This paper deals with the design process of a remote laboratory for labwork in chemistry. In particular, it focuses on the mutual dependency of theoretical conjectures about learning in the experimental sciences and technological opportunities in creating learning environments. The design process involves a detailed analysis of the expert task and…

Description of a management strategy for assessing performance goals called Job Task Systems Management (JTSM) focuses on a study of inspector jobs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The adaptation of business planning strategies to the government sector is discussed, and a job and task analysis is described. (LRW)

This paper reports a project where school guidance staff themselves develop and use instrumentation in order to measure derived behavioral objectives. The task analysis is to provide objective data on the actual use of counselor's time; allow comparison between counselors; provide objective data upon which can be based improvement and change…

Discusses three phases of instructional design (ID)--definition of instructional parameters, analysis and synthesis of instructional alternatives, and implementation of instructional plan--and presents a 15-step ID model. Included for each step are a descriptive name, boxed example, and rationale and (as applicable) current state of technology for…

Describes the Minimal Acceptable Performance Standards (MAPS), which measures worker performance at Consolidated Edison Company. Steps in establishing standards are: to identify tasks to be performed, to establish behavior-oriented objectives, and to write items for lesson-plan content. Sample MAPS forms for a "job performance walkdown"…

Describes functions comprising task analysis process--inventory, description, selection, sequencing, and analysis--and reviews distinctions between the micro/macro level, top-down/bottom-up, and job/learning task analysis processes. These functions and distinctions are combined into a quasi-algorithm suggesting which of 30 task analysis procedures…