7.1 Foundations of Training and Leaming 267 Principles of Learning Practice and Overlearning The old saying "practice makes perfect"is applicable to training.particularly because practice is critical to retaining newly learned skills.The Greek philosopher Aristotle stated that "what we have to do we learn by doing."which indicates that active practice Active practice Appruac has been emphasized for many centuries.The principle of active practice is still used h城mvolves attivel today in many training programs.For example,military recruits actively practice assem- particpating in a training or e线akhn bling and disassembling guns,which promotes learning far more effectively than having paely observing someone them passively watch someone else,such as a drill sergeant,perform the task.Recent e performing the task. research indicates that active practice emphasizing learning and exploration during com. puter training tasks has positive effects on transfer of training back to the job(Bell Kozlowski,2008). Training researchers and practitioners often ask,"How much practice is enough?"Some suggest that it is sufficient to practice until the task can be performed once without errors. However,as many concert musicians can attest,this approach is unlikely to lead to ade. quate,long-term task performance.If you have ever taken piano lessons,you have proba- bly observed that playing a piece without errors in one practice session does not in any way guarantee that you will be able to play it flawlessly a week later or even the next day.Instead. you need to continue practicing it to the point of overlearning.Similarly,training pro- grams should emphasize overlearning by presenting trainees with several extra learning opportunities even after they have demonstrated mastery of a task.Overlearning results in automaticity,which enables the person to perform the task with limited attention.An Automaticity Result that example of automaticity is when experienced drivers pay little attention to steering while ocurs when tasks can be driving.People often refer to automaticity by saying they can do the task"on autopilot"or performed with limited gon品y to develop in my sleep. when leamers are gven Overlearning is critical in jobs in which the task is not likely to be performed on the job extra learning opportunities very often,where performance on the first attempt is critical,and where there is little to no after they have demonstrated room for error;examples include the avoidance of accidents while driving,emergency mastery of a task. routines performed by pilots,and military operations performed by soldiers(Rohrer Pashler,2007).In a meta-analysis of over 50 studies on overlearning,Driskell,Willis,and Copper(1992)found that overlearning had a significant and positive effect on long-term retention for both physical and cognitive tasks.In sum,overlearning increases the length of time training material is retained:thus,if training involves learning a skill,then employ- ees should be asked to demonstrate the skill even after they have reached some initial mastery level. The extent to which the task trained is similar to the task required on the job is referred to delity Extent鱼whih as fidelity.It is important that training tasks have fidelity so that the extra time and expense of he task trained is sim白年o overlearning in training can directly benefit performance on the job.To best develop the three the tak required on the job types of learning outcomes (cognitive,skill-based,and affective)described by Kraiger and col. Physical fidelity Extent leagues (1993),training tasks should have both physical and psychological fidelity.Physical which the trainin网ak fidelity refers to the extent to which the training task mirrors the physical features of the actual s the physical features of the tank performed on task.For example,airplane simulator tasks possess physical fidelity when they accurately rep. the job resent the layout of the cockpit as well as the motion that occurs in actual aircraft(Goldstein Ford,2002).Psychological fidelity refers to the extent to which the training task helps train- Pychological fidelity ees to develop the KSAOs that are necessary to perform the job.A training program that tak helps trainees to emphasizes the development of critical KSAOs identified in a task analysis would possess high psychological fidelity.For example,if lieutenant candidates in a fire department are trained ,and other (and tested)in a simulated setting where they have to respond to a fire by actually speaking dharacterastio (540) the directions and orders they would give,this setting would elicit their communication to perform the job Scanned by CamScanner
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268 Chapter 7 Training and Development and decision-making skills and would possess psychological fidelity (Goldstein. Zedeck.Schneider.1993). High-fidelity simulators are often very expensive.Research has investigated whether low-fidelity simulators are effec. tive in training required KSAOs.For example,Jentsch and Bowers (1998) found that flight simulators with low physical fidelity do elicit behaviors that are important for on-the-job perfor. mance.Nevertheless,pilots often prefer to receive training on the more expensive, high-fidelity simulators.Overall,training specialists must consider the trade-offs Trainee pilots use simulaters with high physical and psychological fidelity. among fidelity,cost.trainee preferences, and transfer of training to the job. Whole versus Part Learning Whole learing Fraining Another important consideration in training is the size of the tasks practiced.Whole learning p间och in which the ereme occurs when the entire task is practiced at once.Part learning occurs when subtasks are task is practiced at enc生 practiced separately and later combined.Trainers and training designers should consider Part learing Traeng the task's difficulty level (task complexity)and the extent to which the subtasks are inter- app阿ach in whichuba多 related (task organization)in determining the usefulness of whole and part learning.Whole are practiced separatelyand learning is more effective when a complex task has relatively high organization.When a later combined complex task has low organization,part learning is more efficient For example,developing skills to land airplanes involves complex tasks that can be decomposed;thus,it is often beneficial to use a part learning approach,which is less intimidating and frustrating to novice pilot trainees than a whole learning approach.Once some of the difficult parts of the task have been automatized,trainees can gradually be moved to performing the whole task (Rogers,Maurer,Salas,Fisk,1997).Another example of part learning is the way that actors rehearse various parts of a play (e.g.,dance steps,fight scenes,pieces of dialogue) without the other actors.Gradually,the pieces are brought together until the actors are ready for a run-through of the entire play,which they then do intact for the rest of rehears- als.When using part-learning approaches,it is important for trainers to determine the cor. rect sequence for learning the subtasks and how they should be combined so that trainees can eventually perform the overall task effectively and efficiently (Goldstein Ford,2002). Massed versus Distributed Practice Trainers and training researchers have also considered how to set up practice sessions. Massed practice Massed practice conditions are those in which individuals practice a task continuously Candition时nwhh ndidu地ataa and without rest.Distributed practice gives individuals rest intervals between practice taskcontinuously and sessions,which are spaced over a longer period of time.In general.distributed practice heu时mt results in more efficient learning and retention than massed practice because the rest peri- Distributed practice ods reduce fatigue and allow time for strengthening of learned associations (Cascio Condtion tht pdes Aguinis,2011).For simple motor tasks (e.g.,computer keyboard skills).brief rest periods ndividual with mstinten边 between practice sessions are helpful.For tasks of high complexity (eg.air traffic control between practicei simulation.airplane flight simulation),longer rest periods between practice sessions are 肉hhmp时框a longer perodof tme more beneficial for learning and skill acquisition.In terms of implications for training design,these findings suggest that we can expect a significant increase in learning from Scanned by CamScanner
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7.1 Foundations of Training and Leaming 269 training programs that present distributed as opposed to massed material (Donovan Radosevich.1999). College students preparing for a test often wonder whether weeks of inattention to a course can be remedied by pulling an all-nighter,which involves cramming information into their memory just before an exam (Landy,1987).Cramming is the equivalent of massed practice and,in general,is an ineffective learning strategy.Although cramming may improve performance marginally if the exam comes within hours of the massed practice, the material will not be retained as part of the body of knowledge students accumulate in school.The research described above suggests that students can benefit from studying that is distributed over time,which will lead to better exam performance and higher retention of the material.This research also suggests that although foreign-language immersion classes are a popular way to learn a new language,their lack of rest periods and breaks is likely to produce high levels of initial learning but not long-term retention (Rohrer Pashler,2007).Even students who have taken semester-long foreign-language classes are often disappointed at how few foreign words they can remember a few months later unless they continue using the language regularly.This is even more likely to be the case if the student crammed for the language exams. Learning Organizations Peter Senge's(1990)book The Fifth Discipline:The Art and Practice of Learning Organizations popularized the concept of the learning organization,which is a useful extension of the principles oflearning described above.Learning organizations are companies that empha- Leaming organization size continuous learning.knowledge sharing,and personal mastery (Jeppensen,2002). Company that emphasizes Several additional features include the following: leaming owedge sharing.and penonal mastery. 1. Emphasizing problem solving and innovation Developing systems that enhance knowledge generation and sharing 3. Encouraging flexibility and experimentation 4 Valuing the well-being and development of all employees Encouraging employees to find or make opportunities to learn from whatever situa- tion is presented (Confessore Kops,1998;London Mone,1999) Organizations with such features are more likely to have the knowledge and skills essential for innovation and new product development(Kim Wilemon,2007).Successful organi- zations encourage learning at the individual,team,and organizational levels by emphasiz- ing and rewarding knowledge sharing in their training and performance management systems (Noe,2012). Executives and managers interested in fostering a learning organization have increas. ingly developed corporate universities,which promote learning throughout the organiza- tion.Corporate universities provide relevant learning opportunities for different job families in the organization for new hires as well as for the development of workers throughout their careers (Morrison Meister,2000). Well-known corporate universities include Motorola University,General Motors University.Xerox's Document University,Caterpillar University,Capital One University. Apple University,Pixar University,and McDonald's Hamburger University,which has granted more than 65,000"bachelors ofhamburgerology"degrees since the program began in 1961 in the basement of a McDonald's restaurant.At Hamburger University,McDonald's managers learn about supervisory skills,employee motivation,and company values such as quality,service,cleanliness,and pride(Wexley&Latham.2002).Training and learning are Scanned by CamScanner
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