In May 1998, at the ceremony celebrating the hundredth anniversary of Beijing University, Party and state leaders put forward the objective of establishing a number of world-class universities among our country's institutions of higher learning. In January 1999, Beijing University launched, in an overall manner, its plan to "create a…

This article considers the nature of complexity and design, as well as relationships between the two, and suggests that design may have much potential as an approach to improving human performance in situations seen as complex. It is developed against two backgrounds. The first is a world view that derives from second order cybernetics and radical…

Those involved in training know that creating instructional materials can become a tedious, repetitive process. They also know that business conditions often require training interventions to be delivered in ways that are not ideally structured or timed. This article examines the notion that learning objects can be reused and adapted for…

The "Facilities Performance Indicators Survey" ("FPI") supersedes and builds upon the two major surveys APPA conducted in the past: the Comparative Costs and Staffing (CCAS) survey and the Strategic Assessment Model (SAM). The "FPI" covers all the materials collected in CCAS and SAM, along with some select new data points and improved survey…

This paper seeks to explore how we may best understand the relationship between teacher identity and national culture. Using Raymond Williams' concept of 'structure of feeling' as a starting point, it is suggested that creative cultural forms of representation of teachers may complement social scientific studies to give a more complete and richer…

Despite the growing body of literature focused on diversity management and its implications for career experiences and perceptions, team dynamics, customer service, and other dimensions of organizational performance, a significant gap remains. To address the gap, this article reviews the managing diversity literature published between January 2000…

Recent research in the areas of human performance technology (HPT), organizational development, and cross-cultural training has suggested the need for developing managerial competencies that are effective in diverse cultural settings. Some competencies such as technical proficiency, knowledge of company systems, adaptability, and the ability to…

With the widespread digitization of art, photography, and music, plus the introduction of streaming video, many colleges and universities are realizing that they must develop or purchase systems to preserve their school's digitized objects; that they must create searchable databases so that researchers can find and share copies of digital files;…

An important issue of the demographic change in the German population is the maintenance and promotion of the employability of aging workforces. However, there are hardly any suitable concepts or usable tools available to realize this goal. Possible approaches should push the individual strengths of the aging workers to the foreground and…

Reports the results of a qualitative study of success factors and barriers to the development of virtual knowledge-sharing communities of practice at Caterpillar Inc. Identified prerequisites for successful knowledge management through virtual communities of practice, as well as barriers to virtual community development, and discusses future…

Explores the "secret sauce" that makes the difference between experts and less successful personnel. Indicates that the successful use of this plan can improve planning time, training time, and task performance time. (Author/LRW)

Describes the Data Information Knowledge Wisdom (DIKW) model of cognitive processes that human performance technology professionals can use to structure performance improvement efforts within a knowledge-intensive workforce. Discusses knowledge management and presents a summary of relevant wisdom studies and how they can be used for developing and…

Discusses the relationship between human performance technology (HPT) and instructional systems design (ISD). Addresses the balance between the benefits of diversity versus focus in the field; key differences between HPT and ISD; and clarifying the distinction between scope of analysis and diagnosis versus the types of intervention to design and…

Examines focus groups from a performance technology perspective, describes the focus group process, and discusses uses and misuses. Suggests that due to the depth and accuracy of insights revealed, focus groups have potential to aid performance technologists in their analyses of performance deficiencies as well as their formative and summative…

Discusses a cognitive apprenticeship approach to teaching design that incorporates elements of modeling, coaching, reflection, articulation, and exploration. Use of the model in an instructional design course that moves novice designers along a continuum of expertise is described, and it is suggested that the model could be adapted for performance…