With the growing suburban population, many employees in metro areas are facing long commutes to and from the workplace. According to the 2011 Texas Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report, the average commuter experiences 34 hours of delay per year and spends an extra $713 on fuel (see…

Development research methodology (DRM) has been recommended as a viable research approach to expand the practice-to-theory/theory-to-practice literature that human performance technology (HPT) practitioners can integrate into the day-to-day work flow they already use to develop instructional products. However, little has been written about how it…

Current approaches to workplace learning emphasize designing communities of practice that are intended to support both formal and informal knowledge acquisition. This article presents the design and research of a knowledge-based community of practice for Subaru, based on principles outlined by Scardamalia (2002) and Zhang, Scardamalia, Lamon,…

Needs assessment plays an important role in training and human performance improvement efforts, but the literature contains little research on this topic. This study extended previous research on the Performance Analysis for Training (PAT) model of needs assessment by examining its implementation to determine environmental and occupational health…

This article explores the use of an evaluation model of learning and development utilizing formative, summative, and confirmative steps, along with a framework for developing evaluation tools aligned with organizational change goals. A case study is presented in which formative, summative, and confirmative evaluations were used to assess materials…

Civil Society Organizations (CSO) can improve their effectiveness and add measurable value to society by using a megaplanning approach as the guiding criteria for their organizational planning. This article shows how Asociacion Conciencia, a leading Argentinean CSO, has used megaplanning to clarify its vision, mission, align its goals and programs…

Seductive details are highly interesting information tangential to course objectives. The inclusion of seductive details generally harms performance on recall tests, but few studies have used multimedia training or investigated effects on performance on recognition tests or transfer tasks. We conducted two studies using computer-based training,…

Examines whether certain contextual conditions influence the effectiveness of HRD (human resource development) programs and activities, based on contingency theory. Discusses results from questionnaires completed by stakeholders of two types of HRD programs from companies in two economic sectors. (Author/LRW)

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…

Presents a multidimensional perspective to training transfer for performance professionals that concerns both task adaptability and worker autonomy. Offers principles for effective transfer as well as specific problems which must be solved to achieve the best results. Provides suggestions for evaluating training success. (AEF)

Improving healthcare services in the developing world remains a major goal for many organizations and despite enormous training and program investments from international organizations, service improvements have been modest. This study looks at how to improve results by examining the relationship between the conditions in a healthcare providers'…

As organizations respond to competitive environments and strive to enhance performance, knowledge management (KM) has increasingly become a strategic activity. A KM strategy entails consciously helping people share and put knowledge into action. A key challenge is how to develop and implement KM solutions that provide performance support to…

The workforce development literature contains little scholarly work on how organizations in a community work together to develop a high-skilled workforce. This exploratory case study examined business and higher education partnerships that were instrumental in creating such an educational infrastructure for information technology in Tulsa,…

Presents a theoretical discussion of evaluation research and the need for gathering data to support the decision-making process concerned with training program performance. Guidelines for conducting evaluation research are discussed, the participants involved with successful implementation are described, and data gathering methods are explained.…

This case study illustrates the application of Mega--adding measurable value for all stakeholders including society--as the central and ultimate focus for needs assessment. In this case, two needs assessment studies were conducted within a five-year period (1999-2003) with the State of Ohio's Workforce Development (WD) program. An initial needs…