Learning transfer: The views of practitioners in Ireland
- Authors: Donovan, Paul , Darcy, David
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Training and Development Vol. 15, no. 2 (2011), p. 121-139
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Considerable expenditure on human resource development(HRD) has not necessarily resulted in a significant impact on organizational performance, and research suggests that the failure to transfer learning may be an important explanation.The search for factors affecting transfer has been extensive, as shown in Grossman and Salas’s article in this issue, but, as they also show, more research is needed. The purpose of the present study is to ascertain the views of HRD practitioners (in Ireland) about the factors that they believe are relevant to the transfer of learning in the workplace. The aim is to discover whether practitioners have identified potential factors which researchers have not explored or not explored sufficiently. This group of practitioners was chosen because of the considerable control they wield over significant tranches of organizational resources. The method first involved engagement with 28 senior HRD practitioners in a workshop setting to create a transfer inventory based on their expert opinion. The initial inventory was then responded to online by a group of 314 practitioners indicating the relevance of the items to the question of transfer.Factor analysis was used to achieve parsimony among items,and 21 potential factors were identified. This study focused on the 15 factors adjudged by practitioners to be most relevant. It is concluded that trainer effectiveness, organizational linkage and training event climate, all deemed relevant by practitioners, may justify further research.
- Description: Learning transfer: the views ofpractitioners in IrelandPaul Donovan and David P. DarcyConsiderable expenditure on human resource development(HRD) has not necessarily resulted in a significant impact onorganizational performance, and research suggests that thefailure to transfer learning may be an important explanation.The search for factors affecting transfer has been extensive, asshown in Grossman and Salas’s article in this issue, but, asthey also show, more research is needed. The purpose of thepresent study is to ascertain the views of HRD practitioners (inIreland) about the factors that they believe are relevant to thetransfer of learning in the workplace. The aim is to discoverwhether practitioners have identified potential factors whichresearchers have not explored or not explored sufficiently. Thisgroup of practitioners was chosen because of the considerablecontrol they wield over significant tranches of organizationalresources. The method first involved engagement with 28 seniorHRD practitioners in a workshop setting to create a transferinventory based on their expert opinion. The initial inventorywas then responded to online by a group of 314 practitionersindicating the relevance of the items to the question of transfer.Factor analysis was used to achieve parsimony among items,and 21 potential factors were identified. This study focused onthe 15 factors adjudged by practitioners to be most relevant. Itis concluded that trainer effectiveness, organizational linkageand training event climate, all deemed relevant by practitio-ners, may justify further research.ijtd_374 12
The measurement of transfer using return on investment
- Authors: Donovan, Paul
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Transfer of Learning in Organizations Chapter 9 p. 145-168
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Research into transfer of learning was originally focused on outcomes’ evaluation in terms of reaction, learning, behavior, and results. Outcomes’ evaluation, widely accepted by practitioners, is criticized by researchers seeking a more systemic approach for assessing the effectiveness of training interventions. As a result, the field of transfer research developed approaches more cognizant of context with a muted emphasis on outcomes. In turn, these approaches were criticized for their lack of tangible evidence of transfer of training. This chapter describes the development of evaluation from its early days up until its current evolution. The original outcomes’ model, the Four-Level Model by Donald Kirkpatrick, is described and its contributions and criticisms are discussed. Phillips’ return on investment approach (ROI) is also described. An account of how to measure the transfer of training using ROI is discussed. Finally, the implications of using ROI as a measure of transfer are considered.
Actors and avatars : why learners prefer digital agents
- Authors: Donovan, Paul
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Journal of Training and Development Vol. 39, no. 9 (2015), p. 738-768
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- Reviewed:
- Description: Purpose – The purpose of this study is to compare learner experiences of recorded instructional videos (DVDs) with Machinima. Design/methodology/approach – In this exploratory study, sets of learning sequences in management skills training were delivered to 32 learners using both methods, and learner reactions were gathered using post-event interviews. Findings – Analysis of learner responses showed that participants prefer Machinima as a learning delivery mechanism. Participants also reported being better able to concentrate on the message of the Machinima learning sequences. Research limitations/implications – The sample was not representative, being a convenience sample derived by open invitation from cohorts of two master’s degree programmes conducted at the School of Business, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare. The age range of the participants was significantly skewed toward a younger age grouping. No learning test was given to assess the teaching efficacy of the methods. Implications for practice include using Machinima to model desirable behaviours to trainees. Future research should extend the research to other settings. Practical implications – Research should be considered into the potential for Machinima to be considered as a replacement for DVD in management training. Sufficient encouragement arises from this study to suggest that Machinima contains none of the distractions of DVD that are recorded in this study. In addition, many organisations seek to utilise training materials with diverse audiences. Originality/value – Originality of the study stems from the potential replacement of DVD with Machinima in learning. © 2015, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Buckley's Bunyip
- Authors: Donovan, Paul
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Goldfields and the gothic : A hidden heritage & folklore p. 181-191
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Australia's folklore has developed over two and a half centries of cultural diversity. It is influenced by stories, songs, traditions, rituals, and ideologies from every corner of the globe. Despite the attempted genocide of Australian Indigenous peoples and their languages and cultures, certain aspects of their mythology and folklore have been powerful enough, interesting enough, or pertinent enough to have survived and been translated, adapted or appropriated holus-bolus into the wider mainstream Australian mythology.
A living chessboard : make your own medieval world
- Authors: Waldron, David , Donovan, Paul
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Agora (Melbourne, Vic.) Vol. 54, no. 3 (2019), p. 44-49
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- Description: Teaching through engaging students with excursions, artefacts, objects and practical projects is an effective way to communicate ideas about a past way of life. In Australia, we have a rich choice of destinations for many topics, but medieval history is not one of them. We don't want our medieval students to miss out on the benefit and excitement, simply because medieval action took place on the other side of the world, and for most schools a medieval incursion is more practical than a trip to Europe. If resources permit, you could contact a specialist company, such as History Up Close, which has years of experience in replicating historical material culture and presenting to schools, or you could take the do-it-yourself path and create a medieval world in the classroom with common craft materials.
Contrasting colonial collectors: an examination of nineteenth-century collectors of Victorian Indigenous cultural artefacts, violence and antiquarianism
- Authors: Donovan, Paul
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: The motivations and methodologies for collecting Indigenous Australian cultural material from colonial Victoria from 1802–1900 have varied widely. Some collectors enacted frontier war to disarm a colonised people and dispossess them of their land. Others sought to salvage a material scientific record of the culture of a race they believed was doomed to imminent extinction or build museum collections for public education. Some sought souvenirs or gifts to document tourism experiences, and some acquired exotic material for commercial enterprise. This dissertation offers a historical overview of political and scientific paradigms underpinning the collection of Indigenous Australian cultural material from nineteenth-century Victoria and characterises the resulting collecting practices. The nature of the collection methods and the content of the collections were examined. The dynamics of relationships between nineteenth-century collectors, Indigenous Australian communities, the source of collections, and collecting institutions were analysed following on from Nicholas Thomas’s entangled objects framework and using the methodologies of Geertz’s thick description, McBryde’s ethnohistory, Denzin’s interpretive biography and Thomas, Znaniecki and Shaw’s biographical analysis. By examining evidence in the primary sources of Indigenous Australian value for colonial material and colonial value of Indigenous material, this dissertation deconstructed the nature of the relationships between agents. It explored the nexus between objects, institutions and individuals. The case studies add depth to the understanding of the collections of Victorian cultural material still held in museums.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy