I reworked the problem statement and learned more about the frustrating iterations of this process. It comes down to wordsmithing and asking the questions:
- So what?
- Who cares?
- What’s the problem?
- What does that mean?
I spent much time last night putting together elements of previous problem statements and reworking the draft from Friday. Once the problem was most clearly written, the rest of the prospectus became crystal clear. What was the biggest learning? Technology means something different to everyone, despite industry understanding of Collaborative Learning Technology, it means nothing. Moreover, in the industry it is broadly encompassing. So I needed to narrow it down into more specific computing technologies.
So here is the problem statement:
Workplace training is not designed to engage members of the Millennial Generation (Galagan, 2006, p. 30). Training in US workplaces is 49.5% instructor-led and considered least effective by learners (Sparrow, 2004, p. 53-54). The Millennial generation of workers are using technology in ways that previous generations have not used that technology and require learning to be technologically enabled, non-sequential, collaborative, social and exploratory in nature (Tapscott, 1999, 7-8). While some studies show that use of electronic communication technology may result in increases in comprehension and acceptance of new materials; (Sanders, McDonough, McDonough, & Burton 2005; Yazici, 2004) the effect of blogs, wikis, and podcasts in corporate learning and performance is still unknown.
The full prospectus is attached to this blog post. Please offer your comments, it will help improve the product and earn you a mention in the acknowledgments of the dissertation.
mike-berta_dissertation-prospectus-presentation_final.ppt
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:20 AM
I’m a Data Support Specialist at a local elementary school and I often have discussions with the Computer Resource Specialist/School Improvement Coordinator about how Web 2.0 (blogs, wikis, podcasts) is changing how information is sought and used on so many person levels, and yet not understood and not used in education. Our conversations stem from classes he’s currently taking. Students are using powerful tools to network with friends and seek information in their personal lives, but the use of technology in the classroom hasn’t moved very far from what was being done while I was in middle school (1997ish). One could say that in the last decade, very little has changed in how technology is used to improve learning, even though an enormous amount of resources has been thrown at the issue. There just doesn’t seem to be a plan of attack that can conform to the changes in technology.
I never thought about this same issue being discussed on a corporate level. The excuse for the snails pace in education has always been staff training and resistance. In the corporate world, I would expect the atmosphere to be a little different.
I’m very interested in how you plan to test your hypothesis. How exactly will Web 2.0 technologies be used in employee training? In education, that’s the type of question that hasn’t been answered yet.
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July 31st, 2007 at 12:20 PM
Joel,
Thanks for being patient in my response, the new baby has been causing some long days of working on my honey-do list and catching up on sleep.
You are seeing the trend evolve in the K-12 setting. Like me, you see some things that are changing and will alter education forever. My focus is on the learning needs for post-schooling environments (companies, NPO’s, etc).
Staff issues are always the largest roadblock to change. In any education setting it begs the question, “Who is the customer?”. A superintendent here in Buffalo, NY was recently quoted as asking of the teachers’ union, “Are we running an employment agency or a school?”. The question gives you some insight into what the major focuses are for the school system and is indicative of other K-12 organizations.
How am I testing the hypotheses? It is a quasi-experimental study. I am going to take 1 process being trained in an organization using standard classroom training that also is highly linked to a performance metric. Then have 2 groups, 1 will get the standard and 1 will get the intervention (blog, podcast, wiki). I should be able to measure the notice any differences in the post-training performance measurement.
This is obviously a simple overview of the testing. There will be some considerations made for population, technology, etc.
Thanks for the comment, again. I am appreciative of the dialogue.
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September 4th, 2007 at 4:14 PM
[...] Here it is…. A Research Plan…Well a Draft of One Gathering Steam Residency is coming Problem Statement Revisions I’ve Got a Problem Nailed It Mentoring Update Continual Attention to the Dissertation Meet Dr. Fischer [...]
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March 18th, 2008 at 1:22 PM
[...] goal here is to re-introduce the problem statement and transition to the review of literature. Having done that I needed to outline what is coming in [...]
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