Human Performance Technology

Identify a performance problem in your area of work and identify non-instructional solutions that may help solve the problem.

A performance problem is an issue that occurs in the work area that prevents something to fall out of place and have issues meeting a goal. From my experience, an example of a performance problem occurred when we alter our campus schedule. Earlier this week we had to shut down campus for intervention testing. This process allowed groups of students to come through the labs and test for 45 minutes in Reading and will do the same testing on Wednesday for Math. The previous Friday we had a brief meeting discussing how the process would take place. As I was preparing my lab, I was given a lot of last minute information. This information consisted of writing the directions on the board. As I was writing the directions it stated to open a specific icon on the desktop. This icon was not on the desktop because it had not been communicated to the computer lab teachers that we needed to download something. Another instance, as I was preparing my students to take the test someone knocked on my door to tell me they needed headphones. This was another issue because headphones had not been handed out to our labs yet for the year. A non-instructional solution to this issue could have been to meet with the lab teachers separately. Also, the teacher that was in charge of the testing was a first-year teacher. On our campus as a first-year teacher you are assigned a mentor to work with so it is a smooth transition. He and his mentor should have met prior to Friday to make sure all of the bases were covered. 

Define performance support systems and explain how a performance support system might (or might not) help solve the problem you identified above.

A performance support system is some type of aid whether it be electronic, print, or a person that can provide immediate assistance in a time of need. An example of this according to my scenario above would be our google drive system. Our school district has invested in google to make information easily available. Google drive is what the teacher in charge of testing could have used to share this information. Some may think this would be time consuming, but it is really nice because everyone has access to it at all times, it is even accessible on our cell phones. This would have been a more reliable source of communication rather than speaking to teachers and not reaching very single teacher. I almost refer the issue to a game of telephone. The more it gets passed on/ or doesn't get passed on, the less information is received. 

What knowledge would help solve the problem you identified above and how would that knowledge need to be collected and managed to help facilitate problem solving?

The knowledge that would have helped this scenario out was that the testing teacher should have known more about the lab set-up process and implementation. In education I have learned to NEVER just wing it, often times you find yourself in a bit of a pickle and other issues arise. If he would have come to our labs on a day or two before testing, we could have gone through the scenario of testing day and by questions from us, the computer teachers, we could have guided him in including the correct information to us. (It is almost as if he was being a information hog, as referred to in the book, and didn't even know it.) This way we would have known that the icon was not on the desktop and headphones needed to be accessed. This is a type of tacit knowledge because we would experience the situation and walk through the process to inform all of us. We could ask questions to him to guide the communication as well as he could have asked us questions in regards to what he needs to know going forward with computer labs. Going forward I would suggest that meeting with those who are directly affected to gather information and create the process for implementation before training the staff so that all information is consistent and communicated consistently.

What informal learning experiences have you participated in at your organization? Could those informal learning experiences be shared with others? Could the knowledge gained in those settings be codified and managed? And should it be managed or should the informal experiences be replicated or broadened for others?

An informal learning experience occurred last school year when all I thought I was doing was being a seen adult, I actually learned somethings. Our Principal and Assistant Principals were all out at a conference for three days. During these three days, I prepared for the worst, prayed for the best, and hoped we survive. We thought that if our students found out that they were gone for three days our campus would turn into chaos. An idea was brought up that if we gear our attention to the teachers then they wouldn't notice the absence of our administration. The idea was that during your conference period you were assigned to another classroom for 30minutes. So at all times of the day teachers were going in and out of rooms. Where the informal learning experience came into play was the interaction with students in a different atmosphere. I began noticing students act one way in one class and another way in other rooms. This was a learning process for me because I was able to see different ways to intervene with students. For example, I had a student who could never stop talking. I mean it was in her DNA that she must talk at all times. In this classroom the teacher had my talkative student sitting towards the front of the classroom and utilized her in the instruction process. This teacher had given her some queues to use to ask more question which stemmed more group collaboration and used her talking skills in a positive way. In turn, in  other situations I may have had a positive experience with a student in my class and shared my process with that teacher. So this became a learning process for both of us. Lastly, for those students who I may not have had in class, but were either being very disruptive or causing issues in class I was able to go work with that student one-on-one. This allowed the teacher to continue on with their lesson and myself getting to work with this student to getting back on track. 

From this experience, we have used this information and really expanded our communication on campus as far as students we share with other teachers. Not all students are going to learn from every teacher, so if another teacher has insight to help hopefully we can be more beneficial in the future. We also participate in a campus-based program called ARK, Adults Relating to Kids. In this program we meet monthly to discuss what is going on in our classrooms. What is beneficial is that we are grouped by grade level so this really assists in communicating experiences with students. This has become a learning community where we can share the experience, let loose any frustrations, and then collaborate on some alternative ways to work with that student or what has worked for that student in another classroom. 

From the outcomes that I have seen with my students after having this knowledge, I believe that it should be continued. The fact that when our Administrators were off campus not one student recognized it because they were focused on the new teacher representation. Yes, it does take up time from planning, but the overall benefit was well worth more value than the 30 minutes of my conference period missed. As well as the ARK meetings should be continued because it is a time to reflect, share and collaborate on solutions to issues that could easily be solved from your peers.