10th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT. RESEARCH AND PRACTICE ACROSS EUROPE

The “Working-Group” in the region of Navarre (Spain) as an innovate method for enhancing transfer learning

Mª Victoria Moreno

Carla Quesada

Pilar Pineda

Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain

1. INTRODUCTION

The Working-Group (W-G) is one of the most effective methods of teacher training in Navarre.

The main aim of W-G is to create new materials among all the group members, to use them in class and to share them.

W-G promotes innovation and transfer of learning to the job.

Research’s aim: create a unique evaluation system for all the teacher training programs in Navarre, in order to detect training results.

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

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Principles of the cooperative learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1989)

Cooperative learning is a strategy which encourages

participants to work together and fosters the motivation to

learn

High Performance Teams (Sharp, Hides, Bamber &

Castka, 2000)

HPT are teams who unleash their potential

towards a common purpose shared by its members

Active learning method (Viladot, 2002)

In the active learning method of training,

participants achieve their learning objectives

through their own activity

W-G improve effectiveness of training action trough:

- motivation to transfer - organizational commitment - specific aims - autonomy - similarity training activity / professional performance - peer support

W-G is a training method based on:

3. METHODOLOGY

QUANTITATIVE DATA

173 Questionnaires

16 Group Self-assessment Rapport

16 Coordinator’s assessment Session Descriptive Analysis

Correlation Analysis

Contrast Analysis

SPSS

Evaluation of W-G training results (November 2007 - April 2008 )

RESULTS

4. RESULTS

50% of teachers say that training generated changes in their job

Lower PresenceHigher

Presence

W-G process

Planning improvements

Content Difficulty Content Interest

Sessions’ improvements

Tasks Distribution Participation

Monitoring & Evaluation

Improvements

Mechanisms Adequacy

Systems Adequacy

W-G Results

Results achievedLearning

Application in the organization

Effect of group on Personal Development

Performance Changes

Innovations in the Classroom

Organizational Changes

Participants consider the transfer was medium-high (3,60 out of 5)

Changes were:

4. RESULTS

The materials created in the W-G had been useful (3,81 out of 5).

The agent more supportive was the coordinator (4,74 out of 5).

The factors with major presence in W-G context were: the good working climate in the organization, the motivation to transfer, and the expectations of W-G success.

The principal W-G obstacles were: lack of time, poor tradition of training in the organization, few peer support to transfer, and the absence of the necessary resources to apply training.

The improvement on the job generated by the W-G was linked to the training planning and to the relational factors (motivation, commitment, support, etc).

5. DISCUSSION

Results show that W-G increases the training effectiveness.

Transfer in W-G training is higher than in other types of teacher training, so it is an effective training method and can be useful in other contexts.

It is necessary to train W-G members in team working, HPT skills and cooperative learning skills.

It is essential to ensure and enhance the effectiveness of psychosocial training facilitators.

Some strategies to overcome the main transfer obstacles, might be: Monitoring transfer, giving support for the application of learning Providing opportunities for application of training in the job