L&D Industry CrowdThinking Project

, ,

CrowdThinking Project on L&D Professionalization

At the L&D Conference 2020, which starts in a few days (seats still available), we are hosting the CrowdThinking Project, a two-pronged crowdsourced exploration designed to create a future-vision for the L&D field.

You and I, as learning professionals, are effective–but certainly, if there were more and better structural supports within the industry, within our organizations, within ourselves; you and I might be even more effective in our work.


First Part

The first part of the CrowdThinking Project is a survey of people like you to gather data along seven factors that influence our effectiveness and professionalization.

  1. The competencies, skills, and abilities we have as professionals
  2. The requirements and training/education needed to enter the L&D field
  3. The feedback we get on our effectiveness (learning evaluation)
  4. The support we get from our trade organizations
  5. The support/guidance we get from our graduate programs and universities
  6. The support and constraints from our business/organizational stakeholders
  7. The effort, direction, and perseverance we lend to our own development.

I developed this survey with the help from Fernando Senior.

This survey is open to all L&D professionals. I ask you to share it widely with your colleagues and friends in the L&D field.

 

Second Part

The second part of the CrowdThinking Project will take place within the L&D Conference (sorry, only if you’ve enrolled). Fernando Senior will take us through a modified world-cafe-style dialogue, focusing on four key questions.

  1. Consider your current circumstances in your L&D work situation—and more importantly, how those circumstances will change as a result of future trends in learning, technology, business, and society. Given the future you imagine, what will be the most important challenges to your work in L&D?
  2. What capabilities will L&D professionals like us need to acquire in anticipation of these upcoming challenges—to maximize our level of professionalization and our effectiveness?
  3. Whether today or in the future, how can we L&D professionals evidence and document our level of professionalization or maturity—in ways that will be understood and respected, and in ways that will add to our effectiveness.
  4. What other factors—besides our knowledge, skills, and attitudes—influence our ability to maximize our effectiveness? And, how will we be able to utilize these factors in the future to support our effectiveness?

 

Third Part

We will generate a report or reports on the findings of the survey and the discussions with recommendations for how the L&D field can continue to maintain and develop professionalization standards and practices.


How You Can Help

The most important thing I’d ask you to do right now, if you are in the workplace learning field is:

  1. Complete the survey (it’s not short. It takes 30 minutes)
  2. Ask others you know in L&D if they would consider it.


Joining the Conference

The L&D Conference 2020 runs over six weeks, it’s going to be truly amazing, and it starts in a few days (June 22 to July 31). Here’s the conference website: https://www.learningdevelopmentconference.com/

This is my conference. I’m the co-host along with my podcast partner, Matt Richter.

I know it’s last minute, so if you have trouble getting the funding figured out from your organization and want to get started, feel free to contact me to see if I can help.

Use this contact page to email me: https://www.worklearning.com/contact/

Proposed Taxonomy for Types of Learning

, ,

I’m trying to develop a taxonomy for types of learning. I’ve been working on this for several years, but I want to get one more round of feedback to see if I’m missing anything. Please provide your feedback below or contact me directly.

Types of Learning (Proposed Taxonomy)

SHORT LEARNING

  • READ AND ACKNOWLEDGE (rules, regulations, or policies)
  • WEBINAR (90 minutes or less)
  • DISCUSSION-BASED LEARNING (not training, but more of a discussion to enable learning)

TRADITIONAL GUIDED LEARNING

  • CLASSROOM LEARNING (where an instructor/facilitator leads classroom activities)
  • LIVE-FACILITATED ELEARNING (eLearning facilitated and/or presented by a live person; more involved than a basic webinar)
  • SEMI-FACILITATED ELEARNING (eLearning periodically facilitated by an instructor or learning leader as learning takes place over time)
  • NON-FACILITATED ELEARNING (where materials are presented/available, but no person is actively guiding the learning)

LEARNING OVER TIME

  • SELF-STUDY LEARNING (learners provided materials that they largely learn from on their own)
  • SUBSCRIPTION LEARNING (short nuggets delivered over a week or more)

PRACTICE-BASED LEARNING

  • SKILL-PRACTICE (where focus is on improving based on practicing, not on learning lots of new information)
  • ACTION LEARNING (involving both training and on-the-job experiences designed to support learning)
  • APPRENTICESHIP (where people learn by working under the close guidance of more-experienced others)
  • MENTORSHIP, INTERNSHIP, COACHING, SUPERVISION (where a person gets periodic feedback and guidance to elicit learning)

MISCELLANEOUS LEARNING

  • ONBOARDING (where people are introduced to a new organization, unit, or job role)
  • TEAM LEARNING (where groups of people plan and organize themselves to intentionally learn from each other)

Happy Birthday Work-Learning Research!! 20 Years Old

, , ,

On August 25th 1998, Work-Learning Research was officially born in Portland, Maine, in the United States of America. Please help me celebrate an eventful 20 years!!

In lieu of a big birthday-party bash, I’d like to offer some thanks, brag a little, and invite you to leave a comment below if my work has touched you in any beneficial ways.

If you want a history of the early years, that’s already written here.

I set out 20 years ago to help bridge the gap between scientific research and practice. I had some naive views about how easy that would be, but I’ve tried over the years to compile research from top-tier scientific journals on learning, memory, and instruction and translate what I find into practical recommendations for learning professionals—particularly for those in the workplace learning field. I haven’t done even one-tenth of what I thought I could do, but I see only a little harm in keeping at it.

Thanks!

I have a ton of people to thank for enabling me to persevere. First, my wife, who has been more than patient. Second, my daughter who, still in her mid-teens, brings me hope for the future. Also, my parents and family who have built a foundation of values and strength. A great deal of credit goes to my clients who, let’s face it, pay the bills and enable this operation to continue. Special thanks for the 227 people who sponsored my Kickstarter campaign to get my smile-sheet book published. Thanks also for the other research-to-practice professionals who are there with ideas, feedback, inspiration, and support. Thanks go out to all those who care about research-based work and evidence-based practice. I thank you for standing up for learning practices that work!

Brags

I’ve made a ton of mistakes as a entrepreneur/consultant, but I’m really proud of a few things, so permit me a moment of hubris to share what they are:

  1. Work-Learning Research has freakin’ survived 20 years!! As the legendary Red Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione might say, “Can you believe it?”
  2. I have avoided selling out. While vendors regularly approach me asking for research or writing that will publicly praise their offerings, I demur.
  3. I published a book that added a fundamental innovation to the workplace learning field. Performance-Focused Smile Sheets will be, in my not-so-humble opinion, an historic text. I’m also proud that 227 people in our field stood up and contributed $13,614 to help me get the book published!
  4. I was talking about fundamental research-based concepts like retrieval practice and spacing back in the early 2000’s, over ten years before books like Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel (2014) popularized these concepts, and I continue to emphasize fundamental learning factors because they matter the most.
  5. I have developed a new Learning Evaluation model (LTEM) that enables us to abandon the problematic Kirkpatrick-Katzell Four-Level Model of Evaluation.
  6. I have developed a number of extremely useful models and frameworks, including the Learning Maximizers Model, the Learning Landscape Model, the SEDA Model, the Decisive Dozen, etc.
  7. I have pioneered methods to overcome the limitations of multiple-choice tests, specifically enabling multiple-choice tests to overcome its recognition-only problem.
  8. I have created a robust catalog of publications, blog posts, and videos that share research-based practical wisdom.
  9. I have, at least a little bit, encouraged people in our field to be more skeptical and more careful and to be less inclined to buy into some of the biggest myths in the learning field. I’m attempting now to reinvigorate the Debunker.Club to enable those who care about research-based practice to support each other.
  10. I have, in a small way (not as much as I wish I could) attempted to speak truth to power.
  11. I have, I hope at least a little bit, supported other research-to-practice advocates and thought leaders.
  12. I have had the honor of helping many clients and organizations, including notable engagements with The Navy Seals, the Defense Intelligence Agency, Bloomberg, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Walgreens, ADP, Oxfam, Practising Law Institute, U.S. National Park Service, Society of Actuaries, the Kauffman Foundation, ISPI, the eLearning Guild, ATD, and Learning Technologies among many others.
  13. To make it a baker’s dozen, let me say I’m also proud that I’ve still got things I want to do…

Celebrate with Me!

While I would have loved to host a big party and invited you all, in lieu of that dream, I invite you to leave a comment.

Thank you for embracing me and my work for so many years!

Maybe it’s weird that I’m leading the celebration. Maybe it seems sad! Let me just say, f*ck that! The world doesn’t hand out accolades to most of us. We have to do our own work and celebrate where we can! I’m happy it’s Work-Learning Research’s 20 anniversary. I invite you to be happy with me!

I am truly grateful…

One more thing… the official anniversary is in a week, when I’ll be pleasantly lost in a family vacation… Apologies if I can’t respond quickly if you leave a note below!

 

What Do Senior Business Leaders Want in Terms of Learning Evaluation?

,

 

Let’s find out by asking them!

And, let’s ask ourselves (workplace learning professionals) what we think senior leaders will tell us.

NOTE: This may take some effort on our part. Please complete the survey yourself and ask senior leaders at your organization (if your organization is 1000 people or more) to complete the survey.

 

The Survey Below is for both Senior Organizational Leaders AND for Workplace Learning Professionals.

We will branch you to a separate set of questions!

Answer the survey questions below, or you need it, here is a link to the survey.

 



Send me an email if you want to talk more about learning evaluation...

Jobs in Learning Measurement — Let’s Try Something

, ,

Dear Readers,

Many of you are now following me and my social-media presence because you’re interested in LEARNING MEASUREMENT. Probably because of my recent book on Performance-Focused Smile Sheets (which you can learn about at the book’s website, SmileSheets.com).

More and more, I’m meeting people who have jobs that focus on learning measurement. For some, that’s their primary focus. For most, it’s just a part of their job.

Today, I got an email from a guy looking for a job in learning measurement and analytics. He’s a good guy, smart and passionate, and so he ought to be able to find a good job where he can really help. So here’s what I’m thinking. You, my readers are some of the best and brightest in the industry — you care about our work and you look to the scientific research as a source of guidance. You are also, many of you, enlightened employers, looking to recruit and hire the best and brightest. So it seems obvious that I should try to connect you…

So here’s what we’ll try. If you’ve got a job in learning measurement, let me know about it. I’ll post it here on my blog. This will be an experiment to see what happens. Maybe nothing… but it’s worth a try.

Now, I know many of you are also loyal readers because of things BESIDES learning measurement, for example, learning research briefs, research-based insights, elearning, subscription learning, learning audits, and great jokes… but let’s keep this experiment to LEARNING MEASUREMENT JOBS at first.

BOTTOM LINE: If you know of a learning-measurement job, let me know. Email me here…

Improving Our Performance in Watching the Presidential Debates

, ,

I work in the learning-and-performance field. I watched the first two presidential debates. They were problematic to say the least. So, I thought to myself, “Hey Will, you’re a learning-and-performance professional. What might be done to improve them?” Actually, it was more like, “Damn, somebody’s got to make these debates better. They’re not creating the best outcomes. They’re not really educating us on the important issues for the presidential election. Our debates are not helping the democratic process. Indeed, they’re probably creating harm.”

24564574914_0cdd268f92_zPicture above by Donkey Hotey 2016 Creative Commons on Flickr

In looking at the debate process, there are several leverage points, including the following:

  1. The debate format.
  2. The questions asked.
  3. The candidates’ responses.
  4. The citizenry’s cognitive processing of the debate.
  5. The news media’s and social media’s messaging about the debate.
  6. The citizenry’s cognitive processing of the media messaging.

For most of these, we — the citizenry — have very little direct leverage to influence the process. Together, we can influence the social-media messages, but as individuals, we have very little influence there. Tears in the ocean.

But certainly the media and the candidates are acting with intentionality to influence the citizenry. Candidates act bold and confident because they know that people, in general, are suckers for those who display confidence. Candidates use certain words to influence — even if those words are too general to be meaningful (words like freedom, equality, strength, diversity). Candidates avoid talking about complicated issues, because they think we can’t understand. Candidates speak in terms of black and white, good and bad, either this or that — though the world is shaded in sepia tones — because they think we need certainty.

They act because they think we as citizens will react in predictable ways. But what if we changed and improved our responses to the debates? What if we as citizens improved our cognitive processing and instead of having knee-jerk reactions, we improved our thinking? What if instead of being persuaded by irrelevancies, we were persuaded by a clear understanding of the issues? Is there anything we can do to improve and deepen our thinking about the debates?

Yes! We can do a better job! Not a perfect job, not a brilliant job, but we can improve and deepen our thinking if we take some time to think about what we care about and what matters.

I’m sure my efforts here will be inadequate, but I offer a one-page checklist to spur your thinking. Take a look, try it out at Wednesday’s final Presidential debate and let me know how you’d improve it. Tell me what works and what doesn’t. Better yet, let me know what else we can do to improve the results of the debates.

 

Try the Presidential Debates Insight Checklist

 

Read My Article on LinkedIn

 

 

WHAT ELSE? WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Okay, I really feel like this effort is too inconsequential and too unlikely to make a difference, so I’d love to hear your ideas:

  • What’s wrong with this approach?
  • What could make it better?
  • What else could be done to improve the outcome of the debates — that is, creating a better informed citizenry.
  • Are there other tools in our learning-and-performance toolbox we might use?
  • What could make our debates great again? (sorry, couldn’t resist)

Sweet Mother of Deception — Sugar Industry Lessons for the Learning Professional

,

OMG. If you haven’t heard, the sugar industry engaged in a sophisticated plot to manipulate the public into believing that saturated fat was the enemy of good health–NOT sugar. They were completely successful in capturing the narrative, so much so that they likely caused millions of deaths, complications from diabetes, illnesses due to obesity, cancer and heart disease, and more.

For articles on this blatantly immoral activity: New York Times, Stat — Frontiers of Health and Medicine

Of course, this kind of behavior happens over and over.

  • The great recession found malfeasance within the banking industry.
  • The tobacco industry famously tried to claim smoking wasn’t harmful.
  • The oil and gas industry has fought global warming warnings for years.

In the learning field, are we naive enough to believe that everything is pure?

I’ve seen things that make me mad–real mad! For example, some of the top-10, top-20 lists are basically bought and paid for… The neuroscience hype to sell products… Well-known “gurus” who don’t mention improved practices because they are protecting their legacy offerings … Trade associations that provide members with a diet of information tilted to their vendor benefactors…

What have you seen?

What’s your motto? Regrettably, mine is, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m still taking it…”

I’m dying to know though, have you seen malfeasance? Slippery slopes? Money changing hands?

Sadder still, given all the great, passionate, caring, and honest folks in our field.

Connect with me privately if you need to… (info a.t work-learning d.o.t com)

Sunshine as disinfectant and all that…

Is My Book Award Worthy?

, ,

Is my book, Performance-Focused Smile Sheets: A Radical Rethinking of a Dangerous Art Form, award worthy?

I think so, buy I'm hugely biased! SMILE.

Boxshot-rendering redrawn-no-shadow2

Here's what I wrote today on an award-submission application:

Performance-Focused Smile Sheets: A Radical Rethinking of Dangerous Art Form is a book, published in February 2016, written by Will Thalheimer, PhD, President of Work-Learning Research, Inc.

The book reviews research on smile sheets (learner feedback forms), demonstrates the limitations of traditional smile sheets, and provides a completely new formulation on how to design and deploy smile sheets.

The ideas in the book — and the example questions provided — help learning professionals focus on "learning effectiveness" in supporting post-learning performance. Where traditional smile sheets focus on learner satisfaction and the credibility of training, Performance-Focused Smile Sheets can also focus on science-of-learning factors that matter. Smile sheets can be transformed by focusing on learner comprehension, factors that influence long-term remembering, learner motivation to apply what they've learned, and after-learning supports for learning transfer and application of learning to real-world job tasks.

Smile sheets can also be transformed by looking beyond Likert-like responses and numerical averages that dumb-down our metrics and lead to bias and paralysis. We can go beyond meaningless averages ("My course is a 4.1!") and provide substantive information to ourselves and our stakeholders.

The book reviews research that shows that so-called "learner-centric" formulations are filled with dangers — as research shows that learners don't always know how they learn best. Smile-sheet questions must support learners in making smile-sheet decisions, not introduce biases that warp the data.

For decades our industry has been mired in the dishonest and disempowering practice of traditional smile sheets. Thankfully, a new approach is available to us.

Sure! I'd love to see my work honored. More importantly, I'd love to see the ideas from my book applied wisely, improved, and adopted for training evaluation, student evaluations, conference evaluations, etc. 

You can help by sharing, by piloting, by persuading, by critiquing and improving! That will be my greatest award!