Human Performance Technology

 A performance problem, to me, is one that prevents efficient achievement of goals and objectives.  In relation to my therapy students, I have found there is an issue that is beginning to emerge: the students want to ask so many questions that are related to topics other than those we are currently discussing, and there is so much material that needs to be covered in such a short amount of time, I am finding that we are becoming further behind in our learning schedule.  The program director and I have brainstormed an idea that will hopefully decrease that interruptions during class time.  We have decided to periodically, every two-three weeks, have an informal lunch with the students that will allow them time to ask us questions and seek clarification/ answers in a non-threatening, relaxed environment.  This also provides a chance to engage with our students and build a relationship with them that will, hopefully, encourage them to increase their participation and learning in the Program.  It is an intentional sacrifice of our time that is outside our office hours, but our first "meeting" seemed productive.  We can now ask the students to refrain from asking unrelated questions during class time, and reassure them that our Friday lunches can be a time that we can discuss those questions without affecting necessary instructional time.  The meetings are not mandatory, so the students have the opportunity to attend, or not.  We are hopeful that this will prove beneficial to their time in our Program.  

An additional problem we are anticipating is that students may not be understanding the information when it is provided in class, but do not feel confident this early in the Program, to ask questions.   We are planning to provide an index card to the students at the end of class once a week, possibly more, so they can write down something they have a question about or would like further clarification on so that we can address those concerns before they are tested on the material.  It can also be a chance for the students to write down something they have learned in class so we can get an idea about their level of understanding of the material to guide our teaching.  That can give us an indication about moving forward with new material which will build on what has already be provided.  

Performance support systems were first introduced in Gloria Gery's book, "Electronic  Performance Support Systems in 1991.  The definition has evolved in the past fifteen years and can be defined as "a system that provides performers with varying levels of access to support information and tools at the moment of need." (Nuygen, 2012)  As it relates to the problems of my students asking unrelated questions and students asking for clarification of concepts by using the note cards, the idea of performance support is a possibility.  I suppose students can be asked to email questions to be addressed outside of class time; however, the concern I see with that would be the absence of the benefit of others hearing the questions and the answers as well as the removal of the sense of community the face-to-face interaction provides.  It also goes against the idea of "moment of need."  In reality, the "moment of need" idea is what is presenting the problem in the first place.  The students want to share a story or ask about something that doesn't relate.  If I took time out for even half of my students to do that, I would never be able to convey the information needed.  The chance for the students to respond after class on the note cards for their need of clarification of a topic, seems to be a more immediate type of performance support.  Our Program is not set up with a lot of online components to support classroom learning, so the idea of having computer information to directly relate to the material is not a solution at this time.  

In relation to management of knowledge related to the problems we are facing in our Program, the best knowledge would be the tacit knowledge from my fellow professors.  I can ask other, more seasoned, professors how they deal with extraneous questions and how they make immediate assessment of students' learning without asking each of them individually.  The method of collection would most likely be word of mouth. The other possibility would be to include our professional development specialist on campus to see if she had any ideas, and/or if she would help to conduct a short survey of other professors outside the School of Nursing and Health Sciences for ideas and suggestions.  She could then share the information with her monthly PD emails and include the information in the annual new professor training.  She also has links to training and information on her PD page to information for professors to refer to when they have a "moment of need."

Informal learning at the College where I work is frequent, almost daily, in fact.  There are numerous professors in our School and we often have lunch, sit in each other's offices, and email with questions and discussions.  The informal learning is often shared by word of mouth.  Again, our professional development specialist could likely be a benefit to managing and distributing the information we share in those informal sessions.  The technical programs in our School have a unique nature in the type of learning and material needed to be given to the students.  Some of the informal learning could be shared with other professors, but some of the learning might not apply to professors in other Schools.  Most of the informal learning is spontaneous in nature and would be difficult do replicate for others.  It is likely that other Schools within the College conduct their informal learning as we do.  Fortunately, we have a person designated to help provide needed knowledge management and the types of learning for the professors at our College.  She is open to suggestions, addressing needs as they occur, and seeking out new information and making it available to the professors who need it.  

Nyugen, Frank. (2012).  Performance Support.  In R. Reiser & J. Dempsey (eds.) Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (pp. 96-104) Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.