Defining the Science of Learning: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Interest in research on the Science of Learning continues to grow. However, ambiguity about what this field is can negatively impact communication and collaboration and may inadequately inform educational training programs or funding initiatives that are not sufficiently inclusive in focus.

METHODS

The present scoping review aimed to synthesize a working definition of the Science of Learning using Web of Science and ProQuest database searches.

RESULTS

In total, 43 unique definitions were identified across 50 documents including journal articles, theses, conference papers, and book chapters. Definitions of the Science of Learning differed considerably when describing the fields thought to contribute to research on this topic.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on findings, we propose a working definition of the Science of Learning for discussion and further refinement: the scientific study of the underlying bases of learning with the goal of describing, understanding, or improving learning across developmental stages and diverse contexts.

Examination of the influence of transfer opportunity, assimilation of training content and motivation to transfer in the training transfer process

Purpose

Research has established that 38%, 56% and 66% of training is not transferred to work immediately, six months and 12 months after training, respectively. This has led scholars to advocate the continuous examination of factors that enhance training transfer to have a comprehensive understanding of the factors that enhance it. As a result, this study aims to examine transfer opportunity as a pretraining factor and its influence on assimilated training content (in-training factor); the influence of assimilated training content on motivation to transfer (post-training factor) and training transfer; the influence of motivation to transfer on training transfer; and the mediating role of motivation to transfer in the relationship between assimilated training content and training transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

A structural equation model is developed to test the five hypotheses formulated in this study using survey data obtained from 195 respondents who attended various training programs across different organizations. Following the assessment of the measurement model, the determination of the significance of the hypothesized paths is assessed based on the bias-corrected and accelerated confidence intervals obtained from the bootstrapping of 10,000 subsamples.

Findings

The findings of this study are that: transfer opportunity positively influences assimilated training content; assimilated training content positively influences motivation to transfer and training transfer; motivation to transfer positively influences training transfer; and motivation to transfer plays a complementary mediation role between assimilated training content and training transfer.

Practical implications

The nature of the work environment regarding the opportunity to transfer training influences trainees’ assimilation of the training content when they undergo training. Hence, organizations need to ensure that employees are always afforded the opportunity to transfer training content assimilated from previously attended training programs to assimilate the content of subsequent training programs. Furthermore, for training to culminate in training transfer, organizations and, more specifically, learning and development practitioners ought to pay attention to trainees’ assimilation of the content of training programs.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically consider transfer opportunity as a direct antecedent of assimilated training content. More so, it is one of few studies to empirically examine the influence of assimilated training content on training transfer.

A Process Perspective on Adaptive Performance: Research Insights and New Directions

Given its acceptance and value as an important facet of workplace behavior, research has primarily attempted to understand adaptive performance by way of examining its antecedents. Although useful, these findings provide little insight into the in-situ, intra-individual processes that occur during adaptive performance (i.e., How do people adapt to change? What determines the speed at which people adapt? How do failures to adapt occur?). The current paper develops and presents a process model of adaptation in order to provide a framework for organizing, understanding, and investigating the in-situ process involved when individuals adapt to changes in job demands. In particular, we suggest that in order to successfully adapt to a changing task environment, individuals must go through a series of processes in order to detect the nature of a change, diagnose its cause, develop or refine strategies, learn additional knowledge or skills, and enact appropriate performance behaviors. At the same time, dynamic emotional, cognitive, motivational, and situational factors serve as proximal inputs and outputs of these processes. In doing so, they shape the success and speed with which people adapt and suggest a broadened set of outcomes of adaptive performance. We describe how this model can be leveraged to stimulate dynamic adaptive performance research and to promote adaptive performance in applied settings.

Commute based learning: Integrating literature across transportation, education, and i-o psychology

Though commuting is often seen as a source of stress, commuters may take advantage of travel time to pursue learning and developmental goals—a concept we refer to as Commute-Based Learning (CBL). We draw on self-regulation and learning and development theories to define CBL in terms of its context, content, and process and present the findings of a systematic review of multitasking activities in the transportation literature. This review demonstrates that (a) travel-based activities related to learning are increasingly prevalent, (b) people enjoy being productive during their commutes, and (c) commute mode and environmental characteristics impact multitasking and evaluations of the commute itself. We then integrate these review findings with psychological theories to propose a framework specifying the predictors of CBL, its benefits, and drawbacks, and the commute mode's moderating influence. These efforts yield several practical implications and future research directions to increase CBL's potential benefits while reducing potential harm.

Plain Language Summary

Although commuting can often be a source of stress, commuters may also take advantage of travel time to pursue learning and developmental goals—a concept we refer to as Commute-Based Learning (CBL).To emphasize the potential benefits and pitfalls of CBL, we draw on learning and development, self-regulation, multiple-goal pursuit, and multiple resource theories to define CBL in terms of its context (where it occurs), content (what it includes), and process (how it is done). Next, we present the findings of a systematic review ofresearch on multitasking activities in the transportation literature to gather evidence of the learning activities that commuters may pursue.This review demonstrates that (a) travel-based activities related to learning are increasingly prevalent, (b) people enjoy being productive during their commutes, and (c)commute mode and environmental characteristics impact multitasking and evaluations of the commute itself. We then integrate these findings from the transportation literature with psychological theories to propose a framework specifying the predictors of CBL (individual and organizational), its benefits (expertise, need satisfaction and well-being) and drawbacks (depletion, reduced safety), and the critical role of commute mode as a moderator of these relationships. Our definition and framework of CBL inform practical implications for improving the benefits of learning during the commute, while mitigating its potential drawbacks. We also present suggested directions for future multidisciplinary research. We hope this review provides insight into the state of the literature on commute-based learning and a clear research agenda for advancement in this broadly important, yet underdeveloped area.

Online I-O graduate education: Where are we and where should we go?

As online graduate programs in psychology continue to proliferate, it is important to understand the research addressing the effectiveness of online graduate education so as to advise stakeholders in these programs: applicants, students, faculty, and institutions. In this article, we examine the effectiveness of online education in psychology at two levels of analysis. First, we examine empirical evidence at the course level: Do online, hybrid, and face-to-face instruction lead to different effects at the level of course outcomes? Second, we examine empirical evidence at the program level: Do online and face-to-face graduate programs provide different academic experiences for their respective students, and how does program type influence the employability of graduates? We supplement these discussions with results from a survey of faculty who converted graduate courses to online delivery methods during the COVID-19 pandemic in spring of 2020. Finally, we provide practical considerations for administrators, educators, students, and applicant stakeholders of online programs. We also offer suggestions for optimizing learning and development in online environments. Our intent is to stimulate discussion on building effective learning environments and continuing to educate optimally effective industrial-organizational psychologists, regardless of delivery modality.

Informal (Field-Based) Learning

Most learning in the workplace occurs outside of formal learning environments—it happens informally, “in the field.” In this review, we share what is known about how such informal field-based learning (IFBL) works, offer guidance on how to promote healthy IFBL, and identify future research needs. We first situate IFBL within the broader stream of the learning literature. On the basis of the literature and organizational needs, we propose a CAM-OS framework that emphasizes five personal and situational readiness factors for enabling constructive IFBL: Capability, Awareness, Motivation, Opportunity, and Support. We use the framework to offer practical, evidence-based advice for each of three stakeholder groups—senior leaders, managers, and employees—and conclude with suggested avenues for future research. The review is grounded in the research literature with an emphasis on implications for practice.

The moderating effect of coworkers’ training participation on the influence of peer support in the transfer process

Purpose

The impact of the number of coworkers participating in training on transfer outcomes has largely been overlooked. This paper aims to examine whether the number of coworkers participating in training interacts with peer support (PS) to influence training motivation and transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using a cross-sectional survey from a sample of 688 employees working in 14 midsize and large companies. All participants were recent trainees in various open skill (e.g. leadership) training programs. Moderated mediation was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Motivation to transfer (MTT) mediated the relationship between PS and perceived training transfer. When more coworkers participated in the training, PS had a stronger influence on trainee MTT.

Practical implications

Organizations should consider training coworker cohorts at the same time to influence MTT and training transfer. Generally, whole-team training programs could be used to boost training transfer outcomes, although it could potentially have a negative impact on transfer if PS is low.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was the first study to demonstrate that the number of coworkers participating in training can moderate the effect of PS on MTT and training transfer.

Ein Instrument zur strategischen Kompetenzentwicklung in mittelständischen gewerblichen Betrieben: Die Kompetenzmanagementtabelle (KMT)

Dieser Beitrag in der Zeitschrift Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO) illustriert die Implementierung und Anwendung eines Tools für die strategische Kompetenzentwicklung in mittelständischen Industriebetrieben – der Kompetenzmanagementtabelle (KMT) – anhand eines betrieblichen Fallbeispiels. Der Hintergrund ist, dass auch kleinere und mittlere produzierende Unternehmen die Personalentwicklung ihrer Beschäftigten unterstützen müssen, um langfristig in einer sich wandelnden Arbeitswelt erfolgreich zu sein. Im Rahmen einer strategischen Kompetenzentwicklung sollten dabei sowohl die Unternehmensziele als auch die aktuellen und zukünftigen Tätigkeitsanforderungen sowie der Ist-Stand an vorhandenen Kompetenzen im Betrieb in den Blick genommen werden. Wegen geringer finanzieller und personeller Ressourcen in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen ist es sinnvoll, den Personalverantwortlichen in den Betrieben mit der KMT ein Hilfsmittel zur strategischen Kompetenzentwicklung an die Hand zu geben. Der Implementierungsbedarf und mögliche Nutzungsfelder der KMT werden anhand des Anwendungsfalls eines Betriebs mit ca. 240 Beschäftigten aus der Metallbranche dargestellt. Die KMT wurde aufbauend auf einem theoretisch fundierten Konzept entwickelt und orientiert sich direkt an den praktischen Anforderungen, die mittelständische Unternehmen an Kompetenzmanagementinstrumente stellen. Berücksichtigt werden in der KMT fachliche, interpersonelle, methodische und kenntnisbezogene Kompetenzen; zudem existieren Zusatzanalysetools für sprachliche und außerberufliche Kompetenzen. Dabei erfüllt die KMT die Kriterien der einfachen Handhabbarkeit, der zielgruppenorientierten Verständlichkeit sowie der Umsetzbarkeit als datenbankgestütztes System bzw. der Anschlussfähigkeit an bestehende Systeme. Die KMT stellt damit für Personalentwicklungs- und Führungskräfte in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen eine wesentliche Erleichterung für das strategische Kompetenzmanagement dar.