#EDCI 528

[arnettraisalearningdesigner]

Here, at the end of all things EDCI 528

I now think the most relevant parts of HPT are the understanding why an employee is turning in the performance they are turning in and how the organization is contributing to this performance. An HPT consultant needs to have an understanding on how an organization's culture influences the performances of its employees. My original definition surprisingly didn't focus enough on how much the organization's processes and their implementation of these processes impact an employees motivation and performance.

How important processes are and how they are introduced and implemented. One wrong step from senior management and the employee morale plummets, people immediately resign, resent new management and their changes, and, of course, the "new" trend of quiet quitting; I am now "obsessed" with the concept of process implementation and am looking forward to conducting research into this topic.

Anything focusing on communication/relating to people will always be my main strength-my nifty English degree really honed my critical thinking skills which helps me decide the best way to communicate with people to ensure my message is heard. Analyzing performer characteristics is a strength due to my experience as a creative writer-I know how to deconstruct motivation and how it influences behaviors. Analyzing structures of jobs, tasks, and content are also a strength due to the writing background-I can thank outlining stories/novels for the ability to break down concepts and target the most important point to articulate. I also think my creative background helps with planning, managing, and monitoring performance improvement projects (the editing process/deadlines), and demonstrating appropriate interpersonal, group-process, and consulting skills (building relationships with editors, publishers, and other writers to build a community that makes me the strongest artist).

While I am a champ at soft skills, hard skills is something I still struggle with and will need to work on things like sequencing performance intervention outcomes, specifying performance improvement interventions and strategies, sequencing performance improvement activities, creating performance improvement implementation plans, and evaluating performance improvement interventions. I will need to simply look for ways to evaluate processes at my current employer, analyze and write up my intervention recommendations and provide those to direct management for review-can't get better at something if I never do it.

I'm not sure what my next step will be; this class has got me thinking about change management, process introduction and implementation, employee engagement, organizational effectiveness, all areas completing the Performance Analysis, Solutions and Change Management, and Evaluation Plan have helped me gain insight into and skills in. I am excited to see what's next in my learning design journey.

#edci 528 #learning design #human performance

[edci-528-blog]

Presenter 1 - Antonio Cortes

I had the pleasure to listen to Antonio Cortes speak about his experience with HPT and it was truly wonderful. Antonio works for NonProfit HR as the team lead for their Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Justice, or EDIJ, department. NonProfit HR is one of the country’s oldest firms that exclusively focuses on supporting nonprofit organizations, specifically talent lifestyle solutions. They do a multitude of things in the human resource space such as education, training and development, or anything that is people related that a nonprofit organization may need. Antonio and his team specialize in helping these organizations with DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). Depending on the organization's needs they will provide the following services; conduct equity assessment and strategy design, EDJI training, strategic advisory, and/or act as the interim equity officer. Essentially they will conduct staff surveys to understand perceptions of the organization, take the data they have collected and make a plan of action, provide training if needed, either create or implement a partnership with a committee to advise them on solutions and act as an EDJI officer if they do not have anyone in house that can do so. Antonio mentioned that in the past most nonprofits didn’t have much funding for things like DEI or didn’t find them important but in today's everchanging society, they have started to see the importance. What sounds so great about NonProfit HR is that they are always working to understand the nonprofit and they need to be successful. 

Antonio’s presentation had a great impact on me and has me very interested in working for either a nonprofit or a company like NonProfit HR which helps these organizations. I wasn’t sure at first how DEI would connect to HPT but after a few minutes of listening to Antonio, he quickly made those connections. When he was discussing how his team will do equity assessments with an organization it was about conducting staff surveys and having conversations to develop an understanding of people’s perceptions of the organization to figure out where the gaps are. This is some of the things we’ve been learning in EDCI 528. It’s not about training or even the instructional side of things, it’s about the people. Figuring out what those performance gaps are and realizing they are coming from the people in an organization can be extremely helpful when developing a solution. Antonio also touched on how most organizations think they can train their way out of a solution when in reality they cannot. It reminded me so much of what Keeps and Stolovitch talk about in the book, Training Ain’t Performance which discusses how training isn’t the end-all-be-all when it comes to problem-solving. Antonio and his team have realistic conversations with organizations when they want training and usually include them saying things like, “Tell me what you think training will solve.” or “Training may help but it will not resolve the issue.” These are very similar to some of the things found in our book as well. I found it very interesting that the first presenter we had this semester said almost word for word what was found in our textbook but also what is discussed in class. It reminded me once again that training may be a part of helping an organization but it is not always the answer.

[grifstromldt]

The purpose of this blog

I will be able to document, share my thoughts, and reflect during my time in EDCI 528. I will be devolving an understating for Human Performance Technology through speaker presentations, reading the course text, and participating in discussions.

[lisa-hicinbothem]

Blog Post 4: Personal Inventory

My week 1 definition of HPT was:

“HPT entails root cause analysis of a given performance problem to determine the best intervention possible for improved performance. While this intervention may be training, it may also be coaching, an attitude adjustment, a change of scenery, etc. There is a vast array of performance enhancers outside of training.”

My personal definition hasn’t changed since then.  If anything, I’m more secure in that as my definition.

The thing I learned most from the EDCI 528 course is how to defend my analysis of a problem, especially if I’m going to suggest learning is not the correct intervention.  Between the organizational table and the format of the analysis document, I’m confident that I can explain to someone why coaching or some other intervention would be more beneficial, and have the other person actually get on board with finding a better solution

My areas of strength:

1. Conducting performance gap analysis – I’m able to use metrics in addition to analyzing the questions being asked to determine where there’s a knowledge or performance gap. 2. Focusing on client need – I sometimes take a different approach in determining who the client is.  While the “company” may be the ultimate client, if I’m working on a teammate performance gap, I’m thinking of that teammate and their client, and how best to serve them. 3. Cause-conscious, not solution-oriented – If you don’t fix the cause, you’ll never truly find a solution.  By being cause-conscious, you’ll be much more effective at finding a solution. 4. Generous with giving credit to others – I find that when I give credit where it’s due, the people who make the greatest impact stay motivated and continue to lead change and growth 5. Analyzing the structure of jobs, tasks, and content – I’ve taken a lot of time to analyze the structure of jobs, tasks, and especially content.  Over the years, I’ve developed a strength here that enables me to get to the root cause of a problem very quickly.

My areas of opportunity:

1. Evaluating performance improvement interventions – I struggle knowing how to determine which intervention is responsible for improvement if there are multiple interventions 2. Organized, rigorous, and prudent – I try so hard to be organized.  I continue to fail, but I keep trying.   3. Able to sort out priorities – I struggle to find the line between “need to know” and “nice to know”, and I tend to think everything is a priority. 4. Sequencing performance improvement activities – while I think I’m great at sequencing learning activities, performance improvement has proven to be more challenging. I’m still trying to figure out the most effective way to break bad habits and replace them with good habits in many cases. 5. Creating a performance improvement implementation plan – since most of my plans seem to require the backing of leadership, getting those extra people on board has been a struggle.  Making them part of the implementation is pivotal, yet making it work proved challenging for me.

While I don’t plan to focus my future career on HPT, the skills will still be instrumental in my role as an instructional designer.  In my current role, we’re regularly asked for training interventions, where training (at least to us) is clearly not the best option.  Having basic HPT understanding will help me articulate why training isn’t the best intervention, and will enable me to give some ideas that may be more beneficial.

[nichighland]

Goals and Expectations

Good morning and Happy Fourth of July weekend 😊

Today, I will talk about the goals and expectations I have for my class EDCI 528- Human Performance Technology. When I first read the syllabus of this class, I was really excited to begin. The course is extremely interesting to me and I’m looking forward to diving in.

I have briefly heard the term Human Performance Technology, but I was not too familiar nor had I studied it before this class. For those of you who are thinking- wait, what is Human Performance Technology? Don’t worry, I wasn’t entirely sure either. I’m sure my definition will change as I take this class; however, currently to me, Human Performance Technology entails studying the concepts and values of human performance and the approaches taken to solve performance issues. Simply put, it’s the systematic approach to improving human performance or productivity.

I was excited for this course because not only is the content interesting, but I feel like I could relate to several skills that are needed in order to succeed. For example, you will need motivation and excellent organizational development skills. Both of these things I feel like are a strength for me and something I’m looking to continue to grow. I will contribute to this course by reading, writing blog posts about my learnings/research, reflecting with my peers, and completing the projects assigned. I believe this course will apply directly to my future career by helping me understand individuals’ behaviors and how we can produce better results through motivation.

Next week we are learning about what it’s like to work in this field, so I will then have an even better understanding of this content/future uses.

[arnettraisalearningdesigner]

Dr. Mohan Yang

Dr. Mohan Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Training Specialist program at Old Dominion University after graduating from Purdue’s Curriculum and Instruction PhD program in summer 2021. His academic and professional interests are transfer in training, micro learning, online learning, accessible design, and authentic learning.

I found the idea that training should be the last intervention to improve performance instead of the first fascinating as that is the exact opposite of traditional thinking. If there are performance gaps/issues, everyone assumes it is a lack of knowledge that is the issue, and they do not consider any environmental or emotional issues that may be working as roadblocks to a better/higher performance for the employee. I would like to explore environmental and especially emotional issues impacting work performance in depth in my academic and professional research because it goes against my gut instinct of using training to address all performance gaps.

While I do not think I want to return to working in academia once I transition out of student services into either training and development or change management, I did appreciate Dr. Yang highlighting other barriers besides lack of knowledge to performance in the workplace. His focus on the environment and emotion has inspired me to re-examine my own responses to recent changes at my current workplace and how emotion is the main barrier to me accepting training and new metrics and not a lack of effective training from management. This knowledge will only make me a better, more empathetic advocate for employees once I transition to T&D roles in a corporate setting.

#guest speaker #edci 528 #learning design

[arnettraisalearningdesigner]

EDCI 528 Guest Speaker Reflection

The first guest speaker was Amanda Borosh, currently pursuing a Ph.D in special education; prior to pursuing her doctorate, she was a special education teacher, and a board certified behavioral analyst, who worked in the Chicago public school system for three years as a behavioral analyst. It was there that she noticed the disconnect between what research says is the best evidence-based practice and what schools actually implement; her research included applying principles of implementation science and organizational behavior management to improve the implementation and sustainability of evidence-based behavioral interventions at the school-wide, class-wide, and individualized levels.

When I first read her background I was unsure of the connection between her research about implementation of evidence-based practices in the classroom and human performance technology, but her focus on organizational behavior management made that connection clearer. I found her question of: “how do you get people to do what you want them to do in the workplace because just telling them to do it doesn’t work.” If management applies a systems-wide approach (analysis and intervention) to individual performance management, I think they’d receive more authentic buy-in from employees because they would view it as an organizational wide commitment to implement more effective processes and deeper, more meaningful cross-functional collaboration.

While I have no interest in pursuing a career in K-12 education, general or special, I enjoyed how Amanda connected her interest in implementing evidence-based interventions in the classroom to a more organizational behavior management through the lens of her background in behavioral analysis. Her description of organizations applying a systems-wide analysis and intervention to individual performance management helped illuminate HPT for me, especially regarding the evaluation of the effects of the environment on employee behavior, that is a topic I would like to do more independent research on.

#edci 528 #learning design #guest speaker #reflection

[arnettraisalearningdesigner]

Human Performance Technology

What do you think Human Performance Technology entails?

I...don't know. Off the cuff, I'd say it requires, at minimum, an understanding of motivation-intrinsic vs extrinsic-in an effort to to produce the productivity results you want. There would also need to be an understanding on how organizational cultures are created and how they can be changed-for better or worse.

What skills and knowledge do you already have that you feel relate to the content of this course? 

Thanks to EDCI 588 Motivation in Instructional Design, I have familiarity with motivational learning theories and at the beginning of this class, I think that will assist with me understanding HPT.

What do you hope to gain from this course?

Insight into how to create inclusive, supportive organizational cultures that support achievable work/life balances, and pay living wages.

What do you expect to contribute to this course?

The perspective of a marginalized person who has been working for 20+ years. We need to listen to so many more voices than we currently are listening to.

How do you believe you will use what you learn in this course in your future career?

My professional goals are becoming vaguer the longer I'm in the program, haha. Now, I have this nebulous idea of working in change management, but also in learning design, but, either way, a strong grasp of HPT will be beneficial.

#edci 528 #learning design #careerintransition

[arnettraisalearningdesigner]

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille

Hello, my name is Arnettra, and I am in the LDT program at Purdue University. I decided to pursue my LDT degree because I wanted to transition my current career in student services to corporate training; I wanted to create dynamic, engaging learning events that created organizations with competent, capable employees.

I've created this blog for my EDCI 528 Human Performance Technology course; I admit, this is the class that I've been most interested in taking because it most closely aligns with the interests that motivated me to begin applying to instructional designer graduate programs in 2020.

I decided to pursue a career in student services in my first graduate program in 2013 and began working in the field upon graduation in 2015. I've worked in academic advising for the last seven years and feel that I've hit a professional wall and am looking for new challenges. My degrees in the humanities, BA in English and an MA in Liberal Studies, have greatly prepared me to be professionally nimble but wanted some hard skills to support my great soft skills.

I feel like I'm going through a sea change because I've lost interest in things like superhero movies and binging shows and am more interested in taking walks, practicing mindfulness, and planking. I am also getting back into my first love, music, with a new obsession with the British pop rock band, 1975.

I look forward to learning from all of you!

#learning design #EDCI 528 #introductory blog post #hello it me

[arnettraisalearningdesigner]

#hello #new blog who dis #grad school #EDCI 528 #hpt

[edci-528-blog]

Get to know Angie

Introduction

Hi all! My name is Angie and I live in Royal Oak, Michigan, about 20ish minutes outside of Detroit. If you’ve had a course with me before you know that I have two rescue pitbull mixes, Penny and Dublin who are my entire world. Unfortunately, we had to put Penny down two weeks ago and it has been a really difficult time for me and my husband but we know we gave her a great life. I have included pictures below. Penny is the black and white one and Dublin is the brown. 

I have a 6-year-old nephew named Edison who I genuinely think is smarter than my family half the time haha. In my free time, I love reading, traveling, cooking, and going to concerts. I have 6 concerts alone this summer along with some in the fall. My favorite thing to cook is homemade pasta with any kind of cream sauce. My favorite place I’ve ever been to is Ireland, which is actually how my dog Dublin got his name. And in July I am going to visit my best friend in New York so if you’ve ever been and have recommendations please let me know! 

I am an enthusiastic person who is mostly an extrovert but at times can be a homebody. I believe that any bad mood can be fixed with good food and good people. Here is me in Chicago with some friends. It was absolutely freezing outside and we ended up walking more than we thought we would have to but our moods quickly got better once we ordered this giant pretzel haha.

Describe your relationship to the LDT program and the purpose of this blog

This is my 4th semester in the LDT program here are Purdue and it has been such a great learning experience. The purpose of this blog is to discuss what I have been learning in EDCI 528 along with completing assignments within the course. It is a place where I can analyze what I have learned about human performance technology and how I can apply it to the world of ID. 

Describe your professional and educational background

It’s been a while since I graduated but I spent 4 years of my undergrad at Central Michigan University where I was studying special education. During my 4th year, I decided to switch to general elementary education. Although I loved CMU as a school, I didn’t love the city of Mt. Pleasant so I transferred home and finished my undergrad at Oakland University. I just finished my 6th year of teaching with it being the fourth in second grade and prior to that, I taught 4th grade for two years. I started grad school here at Purdue in May of 2022 and will be graduating this December! 

Being a teacher has taught me so much and while I truly enjoyed it, the last two years have been extremely challenging. It is partially to do with my school being a Title I school with a very needy population in a low-income area. The behaviors are extreme and we have little to no support. Ever since starting the LDT program I have found a new passion so am trying to transition to a new career. I have spent the last year and a half trying to leave the classroom and step into the L&D Field. That alone has been a challenge but it is my goal this summer to find a job in the field.