I must say, I entered this week with a vague perception of human performance technology that ended up being not at all correct to what I am now understanding to be this widely popular field.
Listening to Dr. Bonk discuss knowledge management's contributions and connections to human performance technology was really helpful in developing my foundation for HPT. "Both fields are concerned with describing and improving the learning and knowledge acquisition processes that occur within the informal structures of an organization (e.g., personal efforts, breakroom and water cooler discussions)" (Schwen et al., 1998, p. 74). I was surprised when we chatted about the percentage of meaningful informal learning that takes place and how often it is disregarded in professional settings. If meaningful knowledge is gained in informal ways, why not cater to this environment, allowing students, employees, participants to engage in this effective informal learning style?
As I read through Pershing's (2006) article, I began to develop a deeper, true understanding of what HPT actually involves. Now, I must admit, I am still a little confused because HPT is a huge field that is "dynamic and ever-changing" (Pershing, 2006, p. 28), plus there are "no easy-to-use cookbooks or templates for doing HPT," (Pershing, 2006, p. 26), unlike ISD which follows a systematic, cookbook approach. While HPT does seem fitting for a business, corporation, or large organization, I don't know if I completely see it fitting in an educational setting. Many of the foundational beliefs align with education, to include ethical, trustworthy, confidential, do no harm, and so forth (Pershing, 2006), but reading how "results must be tangible and measurable" (Pershing, 2006, p. 13) makes me see the alignment to standardized assessments and how these assessments have become the 'result' versus our students' actual gained knowledge through inquiry, research, etc. which, in my opinion, is not a good fit for education. If anyone has clarity on this connection, I would really appreciate it!
Pershing, J. (2006). Human performance technology fundamentals. In J. A. Pershing (Ed.), Handbook of human performance technology (3rd ed.) (pp. 5-34). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.
Schwen, T. M., Kalman, H. K., Hara, N., & Kisling, E. L. (1998). Potential Knowledge Management Contributions to Human Performance Technology Research and Practice. Educational Technology Research and Development, 46(4), 73–89. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30220219
Hi Rebecca,
I resonate with the confusion you mentioned at the end of your blog. There are many similarities between HPT and IST, especially in the methods and processes, but does applying HPT on business align with the goal of applying IST on education? When we are in a business mode, we have to calculate the cost, time, benefits, etc., which require us to demonstrate the results to our investors, which is why the results of HPT should be measurable – a measurable result is much easier to be visualized and understood. On the other hand, when educating students, we have many different methods to evaluate their learning performance, some of which may take a lot of time and effort,…
Hi Rebecca,
Great question and great sharing from both Mark and Nelson. I agree with both of them. HPT and IST are more of parallel areas to me as well. To add a bit of my thoughts, the goal, process, and emphasis are different between the two. Also, HPT has a pretty strong focus on assessments/evaluations and the analysis of performance, while IST focuses on the design of the learning experience/process. HPT doesn't necessarily involve the design or redesign of a learning experience or an instruction, while IST is almost all about that, and assessment is only one part of the design process. The goal of assessments for the two areas is also very different, one to improve human performance…
Hey Rebecca,
I enjoyed reading your summary of the readings for week ten. I also always had a misunderstanding with HPT and IST. I used to think that HPT was a subsection of IST. Being in this course has helped me get a better understanding of HPT and how it is more like a distant cousin to IST rather than being a product of it. I have learned that in instructional design, the focus is on the design for learning, instruction is often isolated/removed, and it is about understanding the knowledge gaps. HPT on the other hand focuses on analyzing performance gaps, creating design for performance, and the instruction is integrated into workplace protocols. I got this information from this…
Rebecca,
Thanks for your honesty and candor in both your blog post and in the class last night. Sometimes I don't know I have questions because I'm not trying to figure out the same things others are working on, but once you asked those questions in the blog and in the class, it got my wheels turning. Mark's comments here are very helpful, as I navigate the nuances of what we're studying, the field in real-world work, and my past experiences, that have some relation to this, but never knew the terminology or what they were called.
I do agree with you, though, that there have to be better ways to leverage informal learning that is happening all around us.…
Hey Rebecca,
So, here is how I see HPT vs IST. HTP is business-oriented. It is a systematic approach to addressing a performance problem within an organization, using both training and non-training interventions. IST is educational and training-based. IST and HPT interact when training or teaching needs to be implemented. A CPT will use aspects and the foundations of IST to complete their job. There are many aspects of IST that carry over to HPT. Currently, there is not a true HPT graduate degree offered by any US school. The CG program that I am going to school for is an HPT program but since there is no HPT program, those in the program go to IST programs, mainly FSU…