Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Workplace learning'
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Boychuk-Lapp, Cheryl. "Learning opportunities in the workplace." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ40132.pdf.
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Mac, Lean Catherine A. "Learning organizations, enabling workplace democracy." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0020/MQ56810.pdf.
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Klunk, Clare Dvoranchik. "Workplace Devaluation: Learning from Experience." Diss., Virginia Tech, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27337.
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Many successful professionals, recognized for their experience, knowledge, competence and commitment to their field, experience a contradiction when they realize that their contributions are no longer valued by decision-makers in their organizations. Professionals, regardless of gender, position, education, race or profession, who experience workplace devaluation agree that this experience devalues their contributions and demeans their sense of self.
This study illuminates the professionals' perspective of workplace devaluation through their experience. Within the framework of grounded theory methodology, this research examined three research questions: (a) What is the experience of professionals' workplace devaluation? (b) How did professionals learn from the experience? (c) What did professionals learn from the experience? The unit of analysis is the professional within an organization. Four participants were selected who (a) had several years experience with their organization; (b) were previously valued by the organization; (c) were current in their field; (d) had experienced workplace devaluation; and (e) were able to articulate insights, thoughts, and emotions on their experience. Multiple interviews with each participant provided the data.
A comparative, iterative analysis of the data yielded: (a) a seven-phase process of the experience; (b) six constructs embedded in the process, and (c) four categories of learning. The dialogic interview method facilitated the participants' apperception, reflection, and progress through the process. Three emotions--fear, powerlessness, anger--and their interaction with the other constructs (autonomy, communication, personalization, authority, and recognition) influenced coping strategies and actions taken by each participant. The four narratives explicate the interrelationships of the findings.
Three major conclusions are: (a) A rich description of the workplace devaluation experience offers a glimpse into the complexity of this topic and into the professionals' "lived world." (b) The learning process, grounded in the data, depicts how these four professionals used the power of their emotions to create balance within themselves as they attempted to explicate their situation of workplace devaluation. (c) The results indicate that greater learning occurred in organizational knowledge and intrapersonal knowledge for these professionals. Questions for further research are noted along with practical suggestions and recommendations for the praxis of adult educators, decision-makers, and professionals.Ph. D.
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Seth, Aileen. "Workplace learning through structured interactions." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12128.
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Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-114).
Individuals need to keep learning to stay employable and compete in today’s job market, and organisations need to keep learning in order to maintain a competitive advantage in the economy. The workplace is thus being recognised as a legitimate environment for learning new skills and knowledge, through participation in everyday work activities. This recognition has led to numerous studies that connect learning and the workplace, giving rise concepts such as ‘the learning organisation’, ‘organisational learning’, ‘workplace learning’ and ‘informal learning’. All of which have created confusion, uncertainty and complexity in understanding how learning takes place. In order to understand how individuals learn in the workplace, and thus understand how organisations can enhance such learning, this study investigates individuals’ perceptions of their workplace as a learning environment and their experiences of learning through participation in work activities.
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Putrino, Pasco John. "Workplace formation : how secondary school students manage structured workplace learning." University of Western Australia. Graduate School of Education, 2006. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2007.0004.
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[Truncated abstract] Changes in the international and Australian economies and labour markets during the 1980s and early 1990s substantially reduced employment opportunities for young people, causing higher education participation and increased school retention rates. Schools responded to these pressures and to Government policy with the development of Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs that integrate school-based learning with industry training, resulting in rapid growth in the participation of senior secondary students in such programs in recent years. Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) is an integral part of many such programs. How students manage their learning in these new environments was the focus of this study . . . The central finding of the study was the theory of ‘Workplace Formation’ that explains the processes students use to manage their workplace learning during the first year of workplacement. ‘Workplace Formation’ is comprised of five categories of processes – preparing, familiarising, committing, adapting, and building. Each category is comprised of two or more processes. While students generally proceed through each category sequentially, there is a degree of overlap between them. This general sequential progression can be disrupted if circumstances change. The extent of ‘Workplace Formation’ may vary from one student to the next. The theory of ‘Workplace Formation’ provides a new perspective on how school students manage their learning in the workplace while still at school and adds to the theoretical literature in this field. Implications of the findings for further research, and for policy and practice are discussed.
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Pedro, Simone. "Workplace learning and the workplace educator: a South African retail story." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4473.
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Magister Educationis - MEdThis study investigated how workplace educator development programmes prepare workplace educators for their roles and responsibilities in facilitating learning in the workplace. Framed by the literature, the research shows that workplace educators’ qualifications prepare them for facilitating learning in the workplace. The most important findings show that their qualifications have prepared them for their roles and responsibilities in facilitating transformative learning within the workplace. Furthermore, the findings show that their qualifications, roles and responsibilities in facilitating learning in the workplace also impacted on workplace educators’ own thinking, prompting them to question their own values and beliefs. This perspective transformation allows for workplace educators better facilitating transformative learning in the workplace.
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Martin, Trudi. "Workplace learning for Learning Support Assistants in a special school." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2017. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/workplace-learning-for-learning-support-assistants-in-a-special-school(8490d814-7a76-431e-bafe-13e3cf2edc04).html.
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This research explored the factors that influence whether Learning Support Assistants (LSAs), who support the learning of pupils with very complex learning needs, are equipped with the necessary skills to help these students learn. A significant feature in the delivery of educational support to pupils with low incidence needs is that it is LSAs who provide the majority of educational instruction and, furthermore, these paraeducators work with only limited supervision from class teachers. It therefore follows that if high quality educational assistance is to be available to pupils, then those undertaking the majority of this support need to have appropriate pedagogical knowledge. I explored this complex subject by undertaking a workplace ethnography at a single special school over the course of an academic year. In my ethnography, I used a number of data collection methods, including semi-structured interviews with teachers, LSAs and therapists, as well as participant and non-participant observations. The limited literature on the topic of LSA learning concludes that they are not being provided with the learning opportunities they need for the demanding work they do. However, because of the scarcity of information in the literature pertaining to the development of this important group of the educational workforce, I needed to look to the literature on organisational learning more broadly to inform my work and relate it to my own area of interest. The lack of priority given to non-formal learning was a key theme across these texts, with opportunities for participative learning emerging as an important feature. However, this aspect alone could not explain the reasons why these paraeducators did not have access to learning provision appropriate to their needs and so I looked to other theories of workplace learning. The conceptual and analytical approach of the Working as Learning Framework (WALF) (Felstead, et al., 2009), with its incorporation of the concepts of systems of production, discretion, and learning environments and territories, offered me the opportunity to scrutinise the situation regarding the learning and development of LSAs from a wide perspective. Through my adoption of the WALF I have identified the influences that shaped the workplace learning environment of the LSAs at the special school. In doing so, I have added to the limited research on this important and yet inadequately understood group. Although my study focused on one special school this research can inform how the abilities of paraeducators in different educational settings can be developed, because of my adoption of the theoretical standpoint of the WALF. Furthermore, by applying the WALF, my thesis has utilised workplace learning theory to make an important intellectual contribution to the discussion about how high quality educational provision can be delivered. My thesis is also apposite, because the number of children with more complex learning difficulties is increasing and these individuals require specialist paraeducators to be appropriately equipped to meet their needs, whether they are being educated in special or mainstream schools.
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Zuvcenko, Zoya B. "Workplace learning : exploring confidence & motivation." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2015. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10566/.
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How are adults affected by studying maths and English as part of a workplace-learning programme? Is confidence enhanced by the way they learn? This thesis attempts to understand the roles of confidence and motivation in learning. I have tried to explore how adult learners feel when it comes to studying maths and English in a formal environment. Specifically, my research explores the microlevel interaction between eleven adults who study in a classroom for one day a week over five months. They all work in the care industry. Using a diary and reflective methods, I also explore my role and relationship with them as their tutor of maths and English, and my personal attitude towards aspects of my learning - both past and present. I interview the participants on two occasions. From these dialogues, several one-to-one conversations emerge, which I describe as cameos. I also use reviews with participants that are completed by the training manager. These examine the impact of my role as their tutor. Analysing my data thematically, my findings show that confidence in learning occurs, in part, due to personal relationships. Whilst the use of scaffolding and situated learning are seen to develop confidence, participants also acquire it from their group peers. When adult learners work together and share an interest in caring for one another, their perception of their own development is affected. I have found that encouragement and building trust are vital for their learning. The development of the tutor/learner relationship has tended to increase learners’ motivation because they want to please the tutor as well as themselves. For both participants and myself, the confidence to continue to learn and to use the knowledge gained took place when encouragement, trust and motivation were present in the process.
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Mare, Angelique. "Motivators of learning and learning transfer in the workplace." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/52441.
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Motivating employees to learn and transfer their learning to their jobs is an important activity to ensure that employees - and the organisation - continuously adapt, evolve and survive in this highly turbulent environment. The literature shows that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators influence learning and learning transfer, and the extent of influence could be different for different people. This research sets out to explore and identify the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors that drive learning and learning transfer.
A qualitative study in the form of focus groups was conducted. Three focus groups were conducted in which a total of 25 middle managers from two different multinational companies participated. Content and frequency analysis were used to identify the key themes from the focus group discussion.
The outcome of the study resulted in the identification of the key intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors that drive learning and learning transfer. The findings have been used to develop a Motivation-to-learn-and-transfer catalyst framework indicating that individual intrinsic motivators are at the core of driving motivation to learn and transfer learning. It also indicates which training design and work environment factors to focus on in support of intrinsic motivation to learn and transfer learning in the workplace for middle managers. It is hoped that the outcome of this research will contribute to catalysing learning and learning transfer for middle managers to achieve higher organisational effectiveness.Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
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Ndlebe, Pamella Panphilla. "Workplace Learning: Understanding financial sector institutions as learning environments." University of the Western Cape, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/6979.
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Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL)The objective of the research is to understand the learning affordances offered at Insure Company, a large financial sector institution in South Africa and to explore how employees exercise their agency in responding to these opportunities for learning. The study draws on the concept of co-participation (Billett, 2004: 03) to explore how learning at work is shaped through learning affordances in the workplace on the one hand and engagement with these learning affordances on the other. Drawing on data gathered through interviews and analysis of company policies, this case study discusses how employees learn to perform their roles competently, how they access guidance and support from peers and more experienced colleagues and how they respond to these opportunities for learning. It also discusses the factors which enable or constrain their learning and agency. The research confirms that negative perceptions of workplace learning - as informal, unplanned, unstructured, limited to particular contexts and not transferable - are inaccurate. It supports the argument that there should be a clear understanding about how learning proceeds in workplaces and how best that learning should be organised. It is hoped that this case study makes a useful contribution towards developing such an understanding.
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Vollenhoven, Gerald. "Workplace learning experiences of TVET college candidates in learnership programmes : an exploration of the workplace learning environment." University of the Western Cape, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4953.
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Philosophiae Doctor - PhDSkills development policies in South Africa and further afield consider learning in and from the workplace as critical to the training of artisans at intermediate level. Since the inception of democracy, South Africa has become part of a globally competitive economic arena where highly skilled workers capable of engaging with new technology in a changing environment are increasingly required. Continuous innovation, it is held (Kraak, 1997), is dependent on the presence of two knowledge forms in society and work: an abundance of formal (scientific and technological) knowledge, and skilled worker 'know-how' or tacit knowledge. In the present system of technical and vocational education, theoretical learning and some practical skills are obtained in institutions, mostly in the recently renamed TVET colleges, while job specific training occurs through prescribed periods of work placement. In light of common assumptions about the value of workplace learning, this research was concerned with exploring whether, and how such learning is taking place. It sought to understand the methodologies, practices, and affordances available to learning in the workplace, from the perspective of candidate apprenticeship/learnership students. To this end this study employed a qualitative approach for investigating how candidates experienced and interacted with the 'real world environment' of the workplace. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposively selected sample comprising candidates engaged in programmes that necessitated a workplace learning component, namely, the apprenticeship and learnership in fitting and turning, motor/diesel and the auto electrical trades. Data analysis was undertaken using both Atlas ti software and manual methods for coding and identification of themes. Lenses used to describe and explain learning in the workplace included the conceptual frameworks of Engestrom‘s (1987) Activity theory; Vygotsky‘s (1978) notion of learning via the 'expert other' within a Zone of Proximal Development; and Lave and Wenger‘s (1991) theorising of situated learning in Communities of Practice. This triangular juxtaposition of complementary theories formed a richly informative explanatory system for my further exploration. As a qualified artisan myself I was familiar with the negative connotations of a historical 'sit by Nellie' approach, a phrase used to caricature the way apprentices learned in the past, by simply being passive observers of the experts. However, my findings were to reveal a vastly different picture of learning in this modern, visual and tactile age. Learners in this study experienced a range of learning modalities, methodologies and affordances that were reported in 'thick' descriptions, building a vivid picture of engagement and interaction. In addition to the abundance of learning opportunities candidates experienced, their responses revealed the indisputably central role played by 'expert others' in moving them towards competence – the expert artisan emerging as the quintessential didactic practitioner. This thesis proceeds to highlight the experiences of candidates on their learning journey in the workplace, and suggests recommendations in respect of these. Key learnings are distilled, which ultimately point to the need for collective effort in appreciating and retaining for the benefit of future generations of artisans, the mentoring potential that exists in our expert artisans wherever they may be found.
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Walsh-Roberts, Patricia. "Paper folio one : foundations of workplace learning. Paper folio two : workplace learning, influences and approaches. Paper folio three : authentic assessment of learning /." Internet access available to MUN users only, 2003. http://collections.mun.ca/u?/theses,172038.
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Cronin, Camille. "Workplace learning : an examination of healthcare landscapes." Thesis, University of Essex, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.558829.
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Background Growing and sustaining a healthcare workforce is an area for concern for all those working in today's health and education systems. Consequently, understanding the workplace and the learning that takes place within it is fundamental to ongoing strategy, planning and direction. Aim To explore how students learn in different healthcare settings. Method Case study research has been used systematically to examine five students' experience of learning in healthcare settings over a two year health studies study programme. These learning environments were investigated through critical incident interviews, observations, documentation; and data was collected and comparatively analysed. Results The findings of this study suggest the learning environment is unpredictable and the learning experience open to a set of random interconnected variables. With these intrinsically linked variables a model of workplace learning has been proposed and provides a useful way to review the complexities that exist within the learning environment, how they interact with each other and the possible impact they may have on learning in the workplace. As the learner engages in each new environment, the skills they develop are transferrable. Reflective practice is associated with learning in the workplace and is an important learning strategy for all health professionals. Confidence and acceptance was seen as essential pre-requisites to achievement in the workplace; and a positive staff-student relationship is crucial for students to feel accepted, included and valued. Students learn when allowed to take responsibility and self-confidence increases. Conclusion Workplace learning constitutes a significant part of healthcare education providing at least half the education experience. Workplace learning allows students to develop skills and experiences which they would not gain solely from an academic course. Understanding the nature of the learning environment is crucial to developing effective practitioners and education programmes. ' -.
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Tracey, Edward A. "Firefighter Workplace Learning| An Exploratory Case Study." Thesis, University of Rochester, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3579816.
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Despite there being a significant amount of research investigating workplace learning, research exploring firefighter workplace learning is almost nonexistent. The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study was to explore how firefighters conceptualize, report, and practice workplace learning. The researcher also investigated how firefighters learn informally in the workplace and how that informal learning was manifested. A qualitative multi-case research study of six full-time career firefighters employed by a fire department in New York State was conducted. Data were collected through field observations, interviews, and document analysis. The data were analyzed using grounded theory analysis as detailed by Charmaz (2006). Several themes emerged from the data analysis revealing how firefighters learn in the workplace. Findings indicate that firefighters learn necessary workplace information through both formal and informal learning practices. Firefighters learn formally in the workplace by (a) attending the fire academy, (b) participating in the in-service training programs, (c) taking external fire service courses, (d) attending college-level fire science programs, and (e) teaching and instructing. Firefighters learn informally in the workplace (a) through practice, (b) from each other, (c), through self-directed learning activities, and (d) from prior exposure to the fire service. These findings highlighted a complex, hybrid interaction between formal and informal workplace learning activities. The findings present implications for both fire service practice and policy. Findings from this study suggest workplace learning may be enhanced through training fire officers to identify and foster firefighter's informal workplace learning practices. The policy implications for fire department managers and trainers include improving firefighter informal learning in the fire service through the provision of support, resources, and time for learning activities as well as by developing mechanisms to record and document the time spent on informal learning activities.
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Skippington, Peter A. "Windows into learning : workplace assessment by videoconferencing." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 1998. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/36548/1/36548_Skippington_1998.pdf.
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This study investigates the outcomes of assessment and learning when adult learners and
their assessors use desktop videoconferencing to conduct assessment of workplace skills.
In particular it examines whether a virtual learning environment created through the
application of desktop videoconferencing systems allows for meaningful workplace
assessment and associated learning.
A review of the literature associated with videoconferencing showed that the majority of
studies on the use of videoconferencing in learning have focused only on the delivery of
learning. That is, there was no identifiable research which addressed specifically the use
of videoconferencing for assessment purposes. This study, therefore, builds on identified
general research on the application of videoconferencing and extends the research in two
specific ways. Firstly, whereas current research on videoconferencing bas traditionally
focused on the delivery of programs in the school and higher education sector, this study
examines applications in the vocational education and training sector. SpecificaJly, the
study examines the impact of videoconferencing in the development of skills in the
workplace. Secondly, by focusing on assessment as a significant element of the learning
process, the study extends the current research base which has focused only on the
delivery and support of learning.
A qualitative research design was implemented which aimed to produce 'interpretative
accounts' of the phenomena under investigation. The interpretative research methods and approaches implemented in this study allowed the researcher to emphasise the
contextual setting in which the events under investigation occurred. The research
methods and approaches allowed the researcher to examine a particular, small scale
innovation in a specific context and to examine the unique ways in which the innovation
was implemented.
Major findings of the study include the following:
• Desktop videoconferencing was reliable, convenient and easy for both teachers and
learners to use.
• The use of videoconferencing increased the flexibility and ease with which
assessment could be undertaken in the workplace.
• Workplace assessment by videoconferencing proved to be as re liable and valid as
face-to-face assessment techniques (including site visits and the use of contract
assessors).
• Workplace assessment by videoconferencing provided consistent approaches which
facilitated the development of meaningful relationships between teachers and
learners thereby encouraging an appreciation of assessment as a major part of a
continual learning process.
While the findings extend the knowledge base of the educational applications of
videoconferencing, there are limitations to the research that must be recognised. The
research is limited to a small number of learners and teachers working and learning in a
specific location within a specific context. Conclusions and findings of the study must be recognised as site specific. While the study offers significant insights into a particular
and unique learning context, it is not the purpose of the study to deve]op abstract
propositions that are universally acceptable across sites.
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Kaiser, Robert Cresswell. "Adult Learning: Evaluation of Preferences for Technology and Learning Sources for Workplace Learning." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2016. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc955033/.
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The purpose of this research was to provide an initial investigation of the preferences for both technology and learning sources that are available today in the modern workplace at a large financial institution with a national presence in the USA. In addition to the preferences of the participants, the research includes insights about the culture of the learning organization by using the Dimension of Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) and two preference surveys. The research methods used in this study are categorized as mixed methods and include both quantitative and qualitative methods. This study is nonpositivist and descriptive. It is based on a triangulation design method which is comprised of analysis from data obtained from the DLOQ and preference surveys, as well as semi-structured interviews with several survey participants. The results of the studies provide the foundational information for an extended quantitative analysis.
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Gibbs, Elizabeth Stephanie. "Unison, workplace learning and enhancing learning network theory : a case study." Thesis, Open University, 2011. http://oro.open.ac.uk/54229/.
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Following a review of the UK's long term skill requirements in 2006 (Leitch 2006), the government has been looking at ways to increase the UK's skills base through employer engagement in training and education. Trade unions and higher education institutions have had a vital role in this process through the establishment of a wide variety of collaborative projects aimed at enhancing basic, intermediate and higher skills. One example of such a partnership is the Learning Partnership Route (LPR) to Social Work qualification. Whilst a number of authors have detailed the role of trade unions in work-based learning partnerships with public sector organisations, including in social care (see, for example, Sutherland and Rainbird 2000), there is a shortage of academic literature relating specifically to UNISON's role in informal learning in these organisations. This research study uses a case study method applying a critical realist approach, to look in depth at one social care organisation in which the LPR was run. The key theory utilised for data analysis is the Learning Network Theory (LNT) (Poell et al 2000). The LNT is one theory which has been put forward to describe organisational learning in the literature and uses the actors, structures and processes to interpret and describe how learning is organised. The case study findings revealed how Unison's trusting relationship with the social care employer and their coherent notion of the concept of a learning organisation, enabled them to become involved in both formal and informal aspects of workplace learning. Evidence is also presented to critique and enhance the LNT, extending the LNT to incorporate the concepts of formal and informal learning.
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Silva, Polly M. "Epistemology of Incidental Learning." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/29287.
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The study explored incidental learning in the workplace. Three research questions guided the study:
1. What is the nature of incidental learning in the workplace?
2. How does professional context impact incidental learning?
3. How do incidental learners know they know in the workplace?
A series of three interviews were done with seven human resource professionals and with seven engineers following Seidmanâ s phenomenological interview protocol. The first interview focused on the participantâ s life history concentrating on the context of the participantâ s early learning experiences and their professional choices. The second interview provided details of the participantâ s current incidental learning experiences and an example of their current professional tasks. The third interview provided an opportunity for the participants and me to explore the meaning of their experiences.
Analysis of individual experiences was done via profiles, and an analysis of thematic findings was done across all participants.
Findings showed that in the â lived worldâ the experience of the participants and the nature of incidental learning is mediated by the individualâ s conception of learning and by the individualâ s learning style. At a professional level, frames and reflection-in and on-action further guide the focus of and validation of the incidental learning. For the researcher â and perhaps for co-workers or for participants themselves â incidental learning is easy to overlook; lessons learned often appear to be simply common sense after the fact. This may, in part, be due to the fact that the stories of incidental learning ultimately had successful outcomes. This study confirmed and expanded the importance and impact of context on incidental learning, showing how the elements of an individualâ s personal and professional context also impact incidental learning.
Recommendations for future research and implications for practice were provided. Recommendations for future research included: replicating the study to explore incidental learning in more professions and to explore of the impact of formal higher education on incidental learning. Process recommendations include studying incidental learning as an adjunct to other studies of organizational learning and as a part of an action research project. These methods allow the researcher to study the construct indirectly and as it happens.Ph. D.
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Jarche, Harold. "Learning in the New Brunswick information technology workplace." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ38385.pdf.
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Ruiters, Astrid. "Proficiency enhancement in the workplace through informal learning." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/4514.
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Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS)The study examines three emerging salient themes. Firstly, it highlights the current perception of informal learning in the workplace which has multiple definitions and descriptions. The second theme draws attention to the sociocultural structures and the impact on individual engagement in workplace learning. The last theme illustrates the potential of informal learning and how individuals and their learning environment at work cannot function independently. Employees no longer have time for the inefficiencies of the past, old-style training they want to be co-participants in learning not simply receivers (Cross, 2007).By diagnosing the current status of informal workplace learning, the research examines the employee engagement, the perceived factors that affect learning engagement and explores the links between informal workplace learning and the performance of the organisation. Against the background of informal learning in the workplace, a learning organisation has been characterised, as an organisation that has development in place that supports learning and recognises the value of learning and extends itself towards the enhancement of employee’s proficiency and transfer of learning to others (Berg & Chyung, 2008).
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Chih, Ginger. "Creating the transcultural workplace in China." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.368615.
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Belling, Ruth. "Transferring managerial learning back to the workplace : the influence of personality and the workplace environment." Thesis, Cranfield University, 2000. http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/11360.
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This thesis identifies the influences of individual characteristics, particularly
psychological type preferences, and workplace environment features, on managers’
perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to transferring their learning from
management development programmes. In doing so, it provides information and
insights to help increase understanding of the transfer of learning process through the
building of a model of transfer.
Guided by a Realist perspective, this research was conducted using longitudinal survey
methodology, incorporating both questionnaires and interviews. The survey gathered
data at three time points, establishing a chronological ‘Base Map’ representing
programme participants’ journeys through four kinds of learning event/experience,
their expectations of those programmes, resulting learning outcomes and applications
of learning back in their workplaces. This research identified 26 perceived barriers and
17 perceived facilitators to transfer of learning from 17 organisations, incorporating a
wide range of workplace environments, described how these barriers and facilitators
operate and identified the need to take the nature of the learning event/experience into
account to provide a meaningful context for the transfer of learning outcomes.
This research presents a series of ‘Route Maps’, highlighting the significant
associations between individual characteristics, workplace features and elements of the
learning and transfer processes, based on programme type. Psychological type was
found to influence perceptions of barriers and facilitators to transfer and is associated
with critical elements in the transfer process.
This thesis contributes to theory and practice about transfer of learning from
management development programmes and has implications for organisations,
programme designers and future participants on such programmes.
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Hewett, Suniti. "Engagement and interaction in blended workplace learning: A case study." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98418/4/Suniti_Hewett_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis is based on a case study of blended workplace learning, investigating learner engagement and interaction in a blended learning program. Results show that various individual, workplace, and program factors influence learner engagement and interaction; and that human interaction has an important role to play in learner engagement in blended learning. The results highlight to designers, facilitators, and learners of blended workplace learning programs, the importance of considering a range of factors and particularly building in human interaction for a successful program.
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Toll, Debora K. "Workplace learning, an assessment of approaches, perceptions and outcomes." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0007/MQ42697.pdf.
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Bouma, Joanne Margaret. "The experience of nurses learning computers in the workplace." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape9/PQDD_0021/MQ47986.pdf.
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Jorns, Whitney. "Learning to work the student senate as a workplace /." Fairfax, VA : George Mason University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1920/3065.
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Thesis (M.A.)--George Mason University, 2008.Vita: p. 105. Thesis director: Amy L. Best. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 3, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-104). Also issued in print.
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Reyt, Jean-Nicolas. "Innovation, Learning and Construal Levels in the Modern Workplace." Phd thesis, Université Paris Dauphine - Paris IX, 2014. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01066641.
Full textAbstract:
Knowledge is increasingly recognized as one of the most critical resources in the modern workplace, because the way knowledge is learned, shared and used determines organizational innovation and effectiveness. In my dissertation, I build on construal level theory to explore the relationship between workers' roles and the types of knowledge that workers create and share. In particular, I draw upon two features of the modern workplace that are evolving dramatically - the increasing use of technology and changing hierarchical structures - to explore how the level of abstraction at which employees mentally represent their work roles mediates the relationship between these structural features of the work context and the practically-relevant and important employee behaviors underlying innovation. I leverage methodological diversity to test the hypotheses in eight studies, including two studies based on archival data, four laboratory experiments and two longitudinal studies based on survey data.
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Oliveira, Gisela Maria Dias Ferreira. "Transfer of learning between higher education and the workplace." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2017. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/17719/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examined the process of learning transfer between university and the workplace by investigating the one-year work-placement experiences of three undergraduate students. For this study, transfer was conceptualised as an ongoing process, based on three distinct dimensions:knowledge, social interactions and self; supported by physical and conceptual mediational means; and framed by the context(s) in which it occurred. In order to address these dimensions, a new learning transfer model was developed, drawing on classical and sociocultural perspectives on transfer. The participants were three undergraduate students from the University of Leeds, from different schools and degrees. They were in between their second and third years, and they were undergoing a paid work-placement. The chosen methodological approach was a longitudinal case study with three instrumental cases, resorting to interviews with the students in transition, observation of two of the students, and further collection of secondary data, including students’ placement reflections. The data was coded and analysed through thematic and cross-case analysis. Using the developed learning transfer model enabled the understanding of transfer of learning, within the transition between university and the workplace, as a multidimensional and intercontextual process of transformation, experienced by the students in a developmental manner. The study’s findings also identified a narrow understanding of learning transfer by the students and discussed the possible implications of this perspective on their ability to transfer. Regarding the context of the study, work-placements were found to be beneficial experiences for the students. However, the study proposes that placement experiences are reframed as broader opportunities for learning and development.
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Becker, Karen Louise. "Unlearning in the workplace : a mixed methods study." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2007. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/16574/1/Karen_Louise_Becker_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Contemporary organisations face a raft of challenges in coping with competing demands and rapidly changing environments. With these demands and changes comes the need for those within the organisation to be adequately skilled to meet these challenges both now and into the future. There is a growing concern that the rate of change is such that learning will not be sufficient and that individuals will need to be skilled in unlearning or letting go of past practice and behaviour.
This research investigated individual unlearning as it applies in the workplace, and enabled the development of a process model of unlearning that provides specific indication of factors affecting unlearning during times of change.
In particular, this thesis highlights the critical importance of elements of a more personal and affective nature; often referred to as "soft" issues. Six key factors at the level of the individual were identified as impacting unlearning; positive prior outlook, individual inertia, feelings and expectations, positive experience and informal support, understanding the need for change, and assessment of the new way.
Two factors emerged from the organisational level that also impact unlearning; organisational support and training and history of organisational change. Many change efforts will fail because of lack of attention to individuals, how they unlearn and the level of feelings and expectations that accompany change. This research demonstrates that organisations must provide resources and education to provide both those in supervisory roles and those impacted by change with the necessary skills to unlearn and to embrace change at an individual level.
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Becker, Karen Louise. "Unlearning in the workplace : a mixed methods study." Queensland University of Technology, 2007. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16574/.
Full textAbstract:
Contemporary organisations face a raft of challenges in coping with competing demands and rapidly changing environments. With these demands and changes comes the need for those within the organisation to be adequately skilled to meet these challenges both now and into the future. There is a growing concern that the rate of change is such that learning will not be sufficient and that individuals will need to be skilled in unlearning or letting go of past practice and behaviour. This research investigated individual unlearning as it applies in the workplace, and enabled the development of a process model of unlearning that provides specific indication of factors affecting unlearning during times of change. In particular, this thesis highlights the critical importance of elements of a more personal and affective nature; often referred to as "soft" issues. Six key factors at the level of the individual were identified as impacting unlearning; positive prior outlook, individual inertia, feelings and expectations, positive experience and informal support, understanding the need for change, and assessment of the new way. Two factors emerged from the organisational level that also impact unlearning; organisational support and training and history of organisational change. Many change efforts will fail because of lack of attention to individuals, how they unlearn and the level of feelings and expectations that accompany change. This research demonstrates that organisations must provide resources and education to provide both those in supervisory roles and those impacted by change with the necessary skills to unlearn and to embrace change at an individual level.
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Bernard, Trevor Marshall. "Environmental Perceptions to Promote Self-directed Learning in the Workplace." Scholar Commons, 2018. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7126.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study was to identify perceptions of environmental changes that promote self-directed learning in the workplace by Human Resources Development (HRD) practitioners and to investigate possible differences of the dependent LPA score variables to independent variables of highest level of education achieved, race/ethnicity, age, gender, position title, industry, size of the organization, and years of HRD experience.
The research used a mixed method design. Qualitative data were recorded through four focus groups until a saturation of comments was reached. Quantitative Pearson product moment correlation and ANOVA statistics were used to show the possible differences of LPA scores with each demographic variable. Tukey post-hoc tests were used to compare significant differences in mean scores of associated variables.
Focus groups were conducted with 14 Human Resources Development (HRD) practitioners to collect the top five environmental preferences that promote self-directed learning in the workplace. The environmental preferences, the Learning Preference Assessment (LPA), and the demographic form made up the survey to measure participant self-directed learning readiness across independent variables. A total of 163 participants completed the survey.
Results showed the consensus mean scores for importance of implementing environmental preferences that promote SDL in the workplace was 3.39 for other written categories and 3.31 for organization culture encourages employees to learn on their own. The consensus mean scores for ease of implementing environmental preferences that promote SDL in the workplace was 2.53 for flexibility to work virtually with mobile access to learning and 2.16 for managers guide employees/match content to role.
Pearson product moment correlations showed no significant evidence of relationship between the continuous LPA mean scores and age variables. Group mean scores were compared for the remaining independent variables. The results were significant for the level of education and the size of the organization. Tukey post-hoc multiple comparisons tests were conducted for the differences of LPA scores and the demographic variables of highest level of education achieved and the size of organization. Only the level of education categories of high school diploma or equivalent and master’s degree were found to be significant.
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Kauser, Frederick L. "Supporting Workplace Learning: Supervisory and Peer Support Effect on Novice Firefighter Informal Learning Engagement." The Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1483582046599161.
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Anderson, Elena. "Convergence of andragogy and e-learning to facilitate employee engagement in the workplace learning." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2021. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/214045/1/Elena_Anderson_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Workplace learning presents a range of challenges imposed by a lack of understanding of how to engage a mature aged workforce in e-learning practices. Noteworthy, there is potential for andragogic principles to facilitate engagement in workplace e-learning. Therefore this study seeks to investigate how to engage a mid-career workforce through theory-driven convergence of andragogy and e-learning.
This study found that engagement is highly dependent on ‘e-learning readiness’ by both employees and organisations. Also, despite being mature mid-career workers, age characteristics were not considered a barrier to being e-ready; however, educational level and cultural background appeared to be key challenges.
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Welby-Solomon, Vanessa. "The continuous learning cycle. Investigating possibilities for experiential learning." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5357.
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Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL)Scholars focusing on experiential learning argue that experience should be considered as critical for adult learning. This research paper frames experiential learning within a Constructivist framework. This paper focuses on an investigation into the ways that facilitators use the Continuous Learning Cycle, a model for learning based on Kolb's Learning Cycle, to facilitate learning through experience during the triad skills observation role-play in a workshop, which is part of an induction programme, for a retail bank. Indications are that facilitators use the Continuous Learning Cycle in limited ways, and therefore undermine the possibilities for optimal experiential learning; and that the Continuous Learning Cycle has limitations.
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Messenger, Mackenzie Rae. "Millennials and the Changing Workplace: The Process of Organizational Learning." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37041.
Full textAbstract:
Members of the workplace are at the heart of the organizational learning process. They play a major role by communicating their shared perceptions, distributing knowledge, and acting as human components of the broader organizational memory. Today, three generations cohabitate in the work environment, each of whom have their own distinct traits that influence how they perceive and enact learning. This thesis explores how Millennials experience organizational learning and its significance. By applying Crossan et al.’s (1999) 4I Framework, the process of intuiting, interpreting, integrating, and institutionalizing are considered from the standpoint of the Millennial generation. The methodology for this study includes semi-structured interviews and qualitative thematic analysis to better understand this relationship. This is based on 13 conversations with members all drawn from a single organization. The findings describe how Millennials see learning as fundamental as well as how they overcome the challenges they face and apply their knowledge.
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Lazarus, Freyda Cohen. "The synergy of workplace learning : perspectives of cooperative education directors /." Access Digital Full Text version, 1991. http://pocketknowledge.tc.columbia.edu/home.php/bybib/10258838.
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Thesis (Ed.D.) -- Teachers College, Columbia University, 1991.Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: William Yakowicz. Dissertation Committee: Jack D. Mezirow. Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 169-191).
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James, Susan. "Learning to cook : knowledge and skill construction in the workplace." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.401522.
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Mukute, Mutizwa. "Exploring and expanding learning processes in sustainable agriculture workplace contexts." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003421.
Full textAbstract:
The focus of this study is to explore and expand farmer learning processes in sustainable agriculture workplace contexts. It examines change oriented learning processes in the context of three sustainable agriculture practices. The study begins by discussing the history and emergence of environmental discourses and approaches; sustainable agriculture; and the histories of three kinds of sustainable agriculture practices: Permaculture, Organic Farming and Machobane Farming System. It also traces the evolution of agricultural extension approaches within the wider context of education for sustainable development. The main focus of the study is an exploration of how farmer learning can be mediated through an expansive learning process. The study methodology surfaces some of the contradictions in sustainable agriculture and learning activity systems that farmers encounter in learning and practising sustainable agriculture. It uses these contradictions as sources of expansive learning in and between the respective activity systems of farmers, sustainable agriculture facilitators, agricultural extension workers (conventional) and organic entrepreneurs. As shown in the study, the expansive learning processes result in the modelling, implementation and reviewing of solutions to contradictions being faced in the learning and practice of sustainable agriculture. The study also proposes a number of tools that can be adapted and used by development farmers and agricultural trainers to examine and expand learning as well as build farmer agency. The study was conducted in three case study sites in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe the study is located in Hwedza district in the St Margaret Primary School and community that learn, practise and facilitate the learning of Permaculture within the Schools and Colleges Permaculture Programme (SCOPE). The second study site is in South Africa: Durban urban and peri-urban areas where a community of organic farmers, facilitators and entrepreneurs coordinate the marketing of their produce through Isidore Farm and Earth Mother Organic and support each other to learn and practise organic farming. The third study site is based in the Mafeteng and Mohale‟s Hoek districts of Lesotho where the focus was on farmers who learn and practise the Machobane Farming System (MFS) and are supported in this by the Rural Self Development Association (RSDA) and the Machobane Agricultural Development Foundation (MADF). Drawing on three sensitising concepts of dialectics, reflexivity and agency, the study worked with Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) underpinned by critical realism to reveal how farmer learning is mediated and expanded. The theory of practice/habitus also provided a useful theoretical lens with which to examine data generated. Using a two-phased, multiple embedded case study approach, the study worked within the broad framework of social learning. It used semi-structured individual and group interviews, observations and document analysis to explore learning processes and generate „mirror‟ data. This data was then used in Change Laboratory Workshops, within the Developmental Work Research methodology, where double stimulation and focus group discussions contributed to expanding learning processes. Drawing on critical realism the study used inductive, abductive and retroductive modes of inference to analyse data in each case study as well as across case studies. The findings of the study reveal that farmer learning is influenced by both intrinsic motives, such as identity, and extrinsic motives which are primarily associated with economic, ecological and health benefits. Farmers learn through scaffolding and mediating tools that link everyday and scientific knowledge. They also learn from fellow farmers through observation, practising and experimentation. Some of the issues that were raised in connection with farmer learning processes are: language; time to learn, practice and appropriate concepts; time to improve the natural resource base while at the same time improving income generation; and responses to climate change. The study also found that farmer learning and practice of sustainable agriculture in the case studies investigated, is influenced by past and current agricultural and educational policies; societal values and attitudes; social and cultural backgrounds; work affordances and gender relations; quality of training offered; poverty; and, HIV and AIDS. In the second phase of the study, which built on the problematic situations being encountered by research participants (sustainable agriculture farmers, sustainable agriculture facilitators, extension workers, and organic marketers) to surface contradictions, the main finding was that the expansive learning process has potential to enhance farmer learning and practice of sustainable agriculture. It does this by mobilising distributed cognition among participants as well as their preparedness to act. Through the expansive learning processes in each case study, research participants were able to question their practices, surface contradictions, model solutions and implement them, and thus build individual, collective and relational agency reflexively. Observation of this required micro-analysis of agentive talk and reflective talk. The study contributes in-depth insight into participatory research and learning processes, especially within the context of people-centred learning and innovation in the agricultural development arena. It provides empirical and explanatory insight into how change oriented social learning can emerge and be expanded in Education for Sustainable Development, explaining learning and change relationships in three sustainable agricultural practices. It also provides learning and extension tools to work with contradictions that arise from intentionality, experience, context and history in farming and training activity systems. Its key contribution lies in providing in-depth insight into mobilisation of human agency and reflexivity in change oriented sustainable agriculture learning and development, processes that are critical for responding to contemporary socio-ecological issues and risks.
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Jones, M. Anita. "A Study of Satisfaction With Online Learning in Workplace Training." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2158.
Full textAbstract:
The American workplace and American culture have rapidly transitioned to online learning and are now more dependent on technology. Yet, in spite of a multitude of studies that explored online learning, it has not been established whether managers are satisfied with application of technology to training. The purpose of this study was to examine receptiveness as expressed by satisfaction with effectiveness of online training among managers to determine if a relationship exists for age, position, and length of service. The research was based on theoretical foundations of Herzberg's theory of motivation and Herzberg's theory of job satisfaction. The goal of the study was to evaluate receptiveness as reflected by managers' level of satisfaction with the use of online learning in workforce training, and the presence of age, lengths of service, or position differences in satisfaction with online training. This quantitative study used nonexperimental stepwise multiple regression analysis, based on secondary data from the 2011 Senior Executive Service survey administered by the Office of Personnel Management of the United States government (n = 4,954). Results indicated that the number of employees managed was an influential factor in determining receptiveness, and supported age, length of service, and position differences in satisfaction with online training among managers. Results linked usage and effectiveness to satisfaction with effectiveness of online training. Based on the results, managers should add or increase online training to provide greater training capability and flexibility. The application may promote positive social change as these results could better equip managers in the public sector with greater training flexibility.
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au, megan leclus@curtin edu, and Megan Adele Le Clus. "Affordances and constraints on informal learning in the workplace: A sociocultural perspective." Murdoch University, 2008. http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/adt/browse/view/adt-MU20090201.195209.
Full textAbstract:
In the last few decades, the workplace has been increasingly recognised as a legitimate environment for learning new skills and knowledge, which in turn enables workers to participate more effectively in ever-changing work environments. Within the workplace there is the potential for continuous learning to occur not only through formal learning initiatives that are associated with training, but also through informal learning opportunities that are embedded within everyday work activities. Somewhat surprisingly however, there have been relatively limited empirical investigations into the actual processes of informal learning in the workplace. This may in part be due to the particular methodological challenges of examining forms of learning that are not structured or organised but incidental to daily work activities. There remains, therefore, a clear need to better understand how learning occurs informally in the workplace, and most importantly, to gain insight into workers own accounts of informal learning experiences. This thesis addresses this issue by examining workers personal experiences of informal learning, and how these contributed to better participation in their regular workplace activities.
Four bodies of literature were reviewed as directly relevant to this research, adult learning, organisational learning, informal learning, and a sociocultural perspective on learning. Together, they provide complementary perspectives on the development of learning in the workplace. A conceptual framework, grounded in the sociocultural perspective, was developed to address the issue of how informal learning leads to better participation in the workplace, and reciprocally, how better participation leads to continuous informal learning. Consistent with the sociocultural perspective, the workplace was conceptualised as a complex social system in which co-workers, who constitute that social system, are assumed to co-regulate each others learning opportunities. Social interactions, therefore, are considered as creating a context in which informal learning is afforded or constrained. Understanding what role workplace culture and socialisation play in affording or constraining informal learning opportunities is therefore crucial. This is because the relationships between co-workers is assumed to influence how both new and established co-workers participate in and experience the socialisation process and how they see their respective roles. The framework developed for the study generated two main research questions: How do co-workers learn informally in the workplace? and How does the workplace, as a social system, afford or constrain informal learning in the workplace?
The methodology chosen for this empirical study was consistent with key concepts from the sociocultural perspective, namely that individuals and their social context must be studied concurrently as learning is assumed to be part of a social practice where activities are structured by social, cultural and situational factors. Accordingly, qualitative research methods were employed to gain knowledge and understanding of informal learning in the workplace from the perspective of co-workers. Co-workers reflections on their informal learning experiences and participation in the workplace are presented in narrative form and their accounts interpreted from the sociocultural theoretical perspective. The narrative format provides a useful way of presenting data in a way that immerses the reader in the phenomenon, with enough concrete details that the reader can identify with the subjective experiences of informal learning of each participant.
The study highlighted how the nature of some relationships between new and established co-workers afforded opportunities for informal learning, while other relationships constrained such opportunities. These afforded or constrained opportunities were by nature spontaneous, planned, intentional or unintentional. The study also revealed that personal and organisational factors co-contributed to creating these social affordances or constraints. Common across groups was the importance given to the quality of relationships between co-workers. The way new and established co-workers participated and interacted in the workplace was found to represent important sociocultural processes that impacted on the effectiveness of informal learning.
Overall, this study draws attention to the complexity of participation and interaction in the workplace. A major implication is that opportunities for informal learning are, potentially afforded or constrained by the social context. The study also highlighted conceptual and methodological issues in identifying and interpreting how co-workers learn informally in the workplace. Future research should establish how opportunities for effective informal learning might be fostered further through the design of more enabling workplace practices. The significance of perceived and expected roles between new and established co-workers also deserves further empirical attention, at the level of everyday informal practices but also at the level of organisational processes and structures that provide the broader context.
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Bashshar, Clarence Eugene. "Virtual Learning Environments' Impact on Adult Learners' Motivation in the Workplace." ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3384.
Full textAbstract:
Virtual learning environments have become prevalent in the workplace to improve talent development. However, because there are so many different types of design options, not all learners are finding success in the virtual learning environment. This mismatch can negatively impact employees' motivation and learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore how design features of a virtual learning environment impacted adult learners' motivation in the workplace. Constructivist and self-determination theories were used as theoretical frameworks. The research question in this study explored how social and external contextual factors influence an adult learner's motivation to learn in a virtual learning environment. A qualitative case study was used to explore the data collected from 8 federal employees who used a virtual learning environment for professional development. Data were collected from interviews, surveys, and direct observations and analyzed using inductive coding to determined patterns and themes for study. The results from the study indicated the participants viewed visual learning, learner control, ease of use, technical competence, instructor support, and technical support as critical factors that must be addressed when using a virtual learning environment to improve talent development. The findings from the study can provide insights that could be used by training developers for how to design virtual learning environments to provide a positive environment. The social change impact will be to improve the virtual learning environments for the federal workforce to improve motivation and create a culture of talent development for individual growth and organizational capabilities.
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Conway, Joseph. "WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION AND LEARNING DISABILITY: THE NATIONAL EEOC ADA RESEARCH PROJECT." VCU Scholars Compass, 2009. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1950.
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Using the Integrated Mission System of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the employment discrimination experience of Americans with Learning Disabilities (SLD) is documented for Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The study examines demographic characteristics of the charging parties and the industry of the responding employer against whom complaints are filed. It establishes the nature of the discriminatory act, specifically, pin-points the issue(s) that predicated the allegation, and shows the final outcome or resolution of these complaints. Key dimensions of workplace discrimination as experienced by individuals with LD are detected using two Tests of Proportion. The first test compared individuals with LD to persons who have similar, non-physical disabilities (mental retardation and autism). The second test compares the experience of the LD group to a group representing all other physical, sensory, and neurological disabilities. The Exhaustive CHAID technique is then used to identify and prioritize the most significant variables that contribute to predicting the outcomes of the allegations filed by persons with LD. The comparative findings of both Tests of Proportion in this study indicate that among other industries, Educational Services is more likely to experience allegations of discrimination charged by individuals with LD. Among disability groups, the LD populace was also more likely to make charges of discrimination relative to Assignment, Testing, Harassment, Training, and Discipline. The predictive findings of this study identify eleven specific Issues that drive allegations of discrimination filed by individuals with LD. Derivative implications are discussed as they affect individuals with LD, designated industries, the EEOC, and other stakeholders. Recommendations for future research are made.
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Cavanagh, Jillian Maria. "Women, Work and Learning." Thesis, Griffith University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367916.
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Contemporary work is beset by changing laws, globalisation and technology. Such changes, together with the growing intensity of work, means work practices are constantly changing. Increasing numbers of women are entering into this work, often in contingent roles and many in administrative and service-related employment. Frequently, these contingent forms of work offer little in the way of career paths or support for ongoing learning and career development. This study investigates the work and learning experiences of a cohort of nine female auxiliary workers within the legal sector. These women are held to be illustrative of the growing ranks of contingent workers and their experiences in contemporary working life. The study examines the affordances for these women’s learning and levels of support available to them for participation in learning through their work.The study is informed by a critical ethnographic approach that recounted the work and learning practices of these women through a series of structured interviews, observations and reflective journals written by both the participants and the researcher. This is interwoven with an autoethnography of the researcher’s work experiences within the legal workplace. Having advanced the case for learning through auxiliary kinds of work, the study describes and discusses three legal practice managers’ purposes of, conceptions about and practices for the learning of auxiliary legal workers in their legal practices. Next, it elaborates and discuses these women’s experiences of, conceptions about and practices to learn through their work. The literature dealing with aspects of the changing nature of work and contemporary issues affecting women at work such as power relations, the impact of policy, gender equity and discrimination illuminates the problems for these women workers. It also elaborates the nature of learning through work, and the self-identity and social identity of women at work and the notion of workplace knowledge within organisational practice. How opportunities were afforded and maximised by these women was important as their learning was set within the structures of the workplace that served to inhibit their progress. Yet, these women needed to learn to perform effectively and to retain their employment, and perhaps to progress. The women worked within an environment characterised by change and the findings of the study positioned each of them as committed workers and continuous, self-directed learners; that is, learning was fundamental to their everyday work and they shared a strong resolve to find ways to learn. The study found strong and consistent evidence of personal epistemologies, reflexive practice and personal agency being exercised in the conduct of these women’s work and learning. Through these processes, the women developed a sense of their own identity at work as workers and learners and they enacted those identities. Yet, all this was found, to be necessitated by and in the face of low workplace affordance for their work and learning. That is, formal learning policies and programs were not readily accessible to auxiliary level women at work. However, the study suggests that if these women were offered opportunities to participate in formal learning programs at work they would probably do so. It was concluded that improvement in the workplace norms, values and practices associated with contingent workers, such as these nine auxiliary legal workers, was needed, firstly, for the legal practices to enact policies, procedures and opportunities for auxiliary level staff to participate in kinds of learning that promote professional and self development and, secondly, for auxiliary level women to be aware of, to learn and to participate in new ways to practice and to strive for professional and self development. Overall, this study illustrated how workplace policies and practices can work against the needs, learning and aspirations of workers, who perform essential support and service roles, yet are not seen as being central to workplace success. Interactive collaborations between workplace managers and contingent workers are needed to continually find new ways to help these workers change and grow at work within workplace environments that are invitational for them. In all, the study found that the agency and personal epistemologies of these auxiliary workers was essential in their negotiation of learning, the enactment of peer support and to necessarily cross boundaries of practice in learning and working. While such agency is commendable, it is held that this agency might be deployed more productively in workplaces, if it were not continually having to be exercised to overcome the low invitational qualities of the very workplaces in which they work and learn.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Education (EdD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Faculty of Education
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Schols, Maurice. "Continuing technology professional development : a technology learning preferences instrument to support teacher educators' workplace learning." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2016. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/continuing-technology-professional-development(07a1731f-420f-42ed-af16-7956aeea8eda).html.
Full textAbstract:
The knowledge-based economy, advances in information and communication technologies and new pedagogical perspectives all influence the need to improve competencies in the 21st century. Innovative educational ideas and concepts have transformed the roles of teacher educators and their students. Adequate technology training is therefore a prerequisite for the teacher educator to develop prospective teachers who can use new technologies to support and improve their students’ achievement gains. However, many of these efforts fail since they are mostly based on a formal, institutional delivery of instrumental knowledge and skills. Adequate technology training is a major factor that can help to promote the uptake of emerging technologies into the curriculum, which in turn benefits students (Yoon et al, 2007; Collins & Halverson, 2009; Earley & Porritt, 2014). This research seeks to add to current knowledge about teacher educators’ technology professionalisation and to provide an instrument for the purpose of mapping teacher educators’ technology learning preferences in the workplace. The technology learning preferences instrument (TLP-instrument) designed, implemented and evaluated in this research is intended to create a link between teacher-educators’ technology learning needs in the workplace and the way in which professional development programmes should be tailored to meet teacher educators’ evolving learning needs. The investigation employs a design-based research approach which is cyclical and appropriate for addressing complex problems in educational practice for which no clear guidelines for solutions are available. To collect and analyse the data, a mixed methods approach was used. The rationale for mixing both types of research is that qualitative and quantitative methods complement each other (Creswell & Plano-Clark, 2011). Findings in this dissertation and in follow-up research are intended to lead to more effective technology professionalisation programmes through suggestions for better design and development based on teacher educators’ learning needs.
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Rautenbach, Linette. "An electronic learning (e-learning) readiness model for distance education in the workplace / L. Rautenbach." Thesis, North-West University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/1172.
Full textAbstract:
This research thesis is about developing an electronic-learning readiness (e-readiness)
model for the training of employees in distance education. The overall purpose of the
model is to improve current computer-facilitated educational practices in the workplace
by enabling e-Iearning practitioners to plan better for the e-Iearning event.
There are various definitions of e-readiness, like the ones mentioned by Budhiraja and
Sachdeva (2005:4) and the APEC Readiness Initiative (2005:1), most of which refer to
readiness in the larger sense, namely of countries' readiness for electronic media use.
The context in which the concept of e-readiness is used in this research is similar to the
definition cited by Online Reporting Specialists (2005), namely "The state or quality of
being ready for electronic learning such as the internet." The context in which it is used
is geographically smaller and in line with Hill and Raven's (2000) description, namely it
is not limited to physical readiness alone but also includes the non-physical readiness of
a business or organisation, e.g. mental readiness as well as organisational cultural
readiness.
The literature research explores the inherent characteristics of distance education,
Constructivist learning and the use of electronic media for distance education. From the
literature research, generic aspects that can influence the readiness for electronic
learning in distance education in a workplace are identified and integrated into an initial
workplace e-readiness concept model.
The concepts underlying the newly constructed e-readiness model are verified through
a quantitative research process, changed according to the findings and further refined.
An e-readiness audit model (evidence required for compliance) is designed through a
qualitative research process. The final model is tested in the workplace by using a
combined qualitative and quantitative research process and the results reported. In
conclusion a workable e-readiness model has been developed to be used as point of
departure for any vocational educationist when planning, diagnosing problems of or
evaluating an e-Iearning event.
Important recommendations as regards further research are made in respect of the
application of the model to relevant fields of study:
- A South African e-Iearning specialist group should be considered to determine the
e-readiness requirements and particularly to focus on e-Iearning habits and needs
in the South African context.
- Further research needs to be done to determine which requirements are
appropriate to the various e-Iearning delivery systems.
- Further research can determine if any criterion of the e-readiness model is more
important than others.
- The study needs to be extended to other more diverse workplaces.
- More research needs to be done to determine the needs and requirements of e-readiness
of each unique group as an entity within a larger diverse group.
- Further research should consider language barriers by translating questionnaires
into the respondents' home language.
- Explanation of computer terminology before the questionnaire is completed is
advisable as not all respondents may be familiar with the concepts.
- Further refinement of the audit instrument as well as questionnaires can be done
through further research.Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.
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Lindén, Edward. "Designing an e-learning approach for UX designers about AI : A workplace e-learning perspective." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för elektroteknik och datavetenskap (EECS), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-279425.
Full textAbstract:
Organizations need to stay on edge by taking advantage of the opportunities offered by emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Modern software with AI-features is efficient when the user experience (UX) is not omitted. To generate better user-centered AI-features in software, UX designers need to be more knowledgeable about relevant AI-techniques and take advantage of their affordances. Currently, many UX designers lack such knowledge, and this thesis aims to fill this gap by suggesting a novel e-learning approach focusing on developing UX designers’ knowledge about human-centered AI. The proposed e-learning approach was developed as well as evaluated in close collaboration with the software company Visma. The overall methodological approach that has been used is Design Science Research (DSR; [16]). The proposed approach and relevant e-learning materials have been developed based on the state-of-the-art analysis and semi-structured interviews with six AI-experts at Visma. The designed e-learning approach was evaluated through a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM; [18]), measuring the UX designers’ behavioral intention to use the novel approach. The results show that they intended to use the e-learning approach for learning about AI-techniques in the near future. The e-learning approach was tested at two different times, and the design was refined, withholding more graphical elements after the feedback from the first test. After the final test, the behavioral intention to use the e-learning approach increased from the first evaluation. This study contributes with a novel e-learning approach for organizations’ transition into having a more proficient workforce within AI. Future research should focus on empowering other job-roles in learning about AI.Organisationer kan ha bästa möjliga teknik genom att dra nytta av nya teknologier, såsom Artificiell Intelligens (AI). Modern mjukvara med AI-funktioner blir effektiv när användarupplevelsen (UX) inte är åsidosatt. För att skapa bättre användarcentrerade AI-funktioner i mjukvara behöver UX-designers bli mer kunniga inom AI-tekniker, och utnyttja möjligheterna som de teknikerna skapar. För närvarande saknar många UX-designers en sådan kunskap, och denna uppsats syftar till att fylla detta gap genom att föreslå en ny e-läro-strategi som fokuserar på utvecklingen av UX-designers kunskap om mänskligt centrerad AI. Den föreslagna e-läro-strategin utvecklades och utvärderades i nära samarbete med programvaruföretaget Visma. Den övergripande metodologin som har använts är Design Science Research (DSR; [16]). Den föreslagna strategin och relevant e-läro-material har utvecklats baserat på state-of-the-art analys samt semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex AI-experter på Visma. Den designade strategin för e-lärande utvärderades genom Technology Acceptance Model (TAM; [18]), och mätte UX-designers beteendemässiga avsikt att använda den nya metoden. Resultaten visar att de tänkte använda e-läro-strategin för att lära sig om AI-tekniker inom en snar framtid. E-läro-strategin testades vid två olika tillfällen, där designen förfinades mellan de två genom att innehålla fler grafiska element efter feedback från det första testet. Efter det slutliga testet ökade den beteendemässiga avsikten att använda e-läro-strategin jämfört med första utvärderingen. Denna studie bidrar med en ny strategi för e-lärande, för organisationers övergång till att ha en mer kunnig arbetskraft inom AI. Framtida forskning bör fokusera på att stärka andra jobbroller i att lära sig om AI.
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Cutter, Joanne Margaret. "Getting learning into the bargain : trade union strategies for bargaining over learning in the workplace." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2015. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/11343/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis presents a detailed study of bargaining over learning at the workplace. The thesis contends that by understanding the nature of actor exchange and the bargaining resources at play in workplace bargaining that the inherent tensions around workplace partnership can be better understood. Specifically, the research examines negotiations around workplace learning agreements developed by UK trade unions in four workplaces. It presents longitudinal evidence about bargaining processes and the bargaining resources that trade unions bring to influence workplace outcomes. Key findings are that unions are able to make strategic choices about the bargaining behaviours that they adopt. Bargaining strategies are in part mediated by workplace, union and external contexts, yet these do not pre-determine bargaining outcomes. The study identifies how unions take advantage of opportunities and the key barriers and constraints faced in advancing bargaining objectives. The central thesis of this study is that unions can secure sustainable learning outcomes through a mix of integrative and distributive bargaining, underpinned by strategies to challenge relationship patterns with employers. The power to extract gains for labour is derived from union capacity to articulate learning with wider union and employer strategies. Successful bargaining over learning focuses not only on extracting employer resources and in codifying ‘rights and obligations’, but also in challenging relationship patterns to counter-act employer ambivalence. The core contribution to knowledge is in understanding the nature of the social processes underpinning negotiations around the learning theme. The implications for union renewal and the role of union learning representatives (ULRs) are considered.
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Barley, Karen L. III. "Adult Learning in the Workplace: A Conceptualization and Model of the Corporate University." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/36619.
Full textAbstract:
By exploring the historical development and current state of the corporate university through literature reviews, case study analyses, and interviews with corporate university practitioners, this study conceptualizes the corporate university. The shortage of knowledgeable workers in technical areas and rapid advances in technology have energized adult learning in the United States. In response to these changes and needs, many corporations have incorporated formal learning programs into their organizations. As conceptualized in this study, the corporate university is Corporate America's vehicle for providing learning programs to their workers with the goal of developing and maintaining a highly skilled, knowledgeable, and adaptable workforce that contributes to organizational performance.Through an historical development and conceptualization based on interviews with corporate university practitioners and case study analyses, this study also examines the strengths and weaknesses of the corporate university. The corporate university does, in fact, provide a useful and innovative way to reach a portion of the adult learning population. Moreover, the corporate university provides learning initiatives that are related to the adult's current and future role in the workplace. In this way, the learning opportunities provided by the corporate university make the knowledge relevant and accessible to the adult learner. However, the corporate university is not founded on adult learning principles and is chartered to consider corporate success rather than individual development. This purpose endangers the corporate university in that it has the potential to exploit the American workforce by forcing undesired learning opportunities.
This study identifies a basic component, partnership, that helps many corporate universities avoid employee exploitation and provide learning opportunities that have meaning to both the individual learners and the organization. The partnership component is foregrounded in a model for program development that is presented in this construct for future and current corporate university planners. The model is not tested in this thesis; however, it has been reviewed and endorsed by a panel of corporate university experts. Provided that partnership is considered and integrated into the approach, this study concludes that the corporate university, as a conceptual and an interactive model, is a useful vehicle for reaching the adult learner and for preparing and maintaining an American workforce able to manage change and remain competitive.
Master of Science
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Singleton, Krista Kirby. "Reimagining the Community of Inquiry Model for a Workplace Learning Setting: A Program Evaluation." Scholar Commons, 2019. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7944.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this study was to conduct an evaluation on a workplace training program using the Community of Inquiry (COI) model as a guide for course construction. Given that online and blended learning programs have gained popularity in the past two decades, companies have struggled with how to prepare trainers in the areas of online teaching methods and instructional technology usage to create an effective and engaging learning environment. In this study, I utilized the COI model, created for use in higher ed settings, in a workplace setting as a curriculum framework to revamp an unsuccessful online learning program. The new curriculum and course logistics framed three presences contained in the COI model—cognitive, social, and teaching. The researcher conducted evaluations by surveying the learners, the training team, and by direct observations of the instructional designers. Results suggested that the COI model was a good foundation for building an online learning course in a workplace setting with slight variations. A recommendation for future use in this new setting was to divide the teaching presence into two presences and create a new design presence, which makes a clear delineation between instructional design and content delivery functions.
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Bing, Robert Russell. "Perceptions of Customer Service Trainers Relating to Informal Workplace Learning Experiences." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1675.
Full textAbstract:
Promoting informal workplace learning to improve workplace learning and performance within a competitive business environment presents a challenge for customer service training managers within a large corporation. The purpose of the study was to determine which attributes of informal workplace learning experiences contributed to meaningful professional development and improved performance. Constructivism and experiential learning provided the theoretical foundations for this study. Conceptually, learning is mediated by the meaning learners attribute to it. The primary research question concerned how customer service training associates perceived informal workplace learning experiences as having meaningful impact on their overall professional development and work performance. An embedded single case study design was used for the study. Data were collected through the use of semi structured interviews of 6 customer service training associates who were selected through maximum variation sampling. Thematic analysis was applied to transcribed interview data. The following were foundational to improvements in learning and performance: (a) participating in work-based projects, (b) receiving feedback through coaching and peer collaboration, (c) associating learning with achieving desired project and professional development objectives, and (d) structuring work activities and support so as to facilitate learning. The study demonstrated that informal workplace learning is grounded in the purposeful integration of certain essential elements. Study results advance social change by contributing to improved learning and performance thus benefitting individual trainers and the customer service organization.