Authentic Performance of Complex Problem-Solving Tasks with an EPSS

Just-In-Time Learning (JIT Learning) is a semester-long graduate course that teaches corporate trainers and instructional designers how to design performance improvement interventions. This course is part of a Master's program in Instructional Technology at San Francisco State University. The course has been offered three times and has been completed by a total of 38 people. Learners produce two major deliverables for this course: a paper describing a performance problem and the design of a system to address the problem, and a shorter paper explaining the design strategy. Based on final grades for the course, participants in this class can be grouped into three broad categories. The A-level performers are 38% of the total students, B-level are 17%, and C-level are 45%. An Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS) was designed and implemented to help the B-level and C-level people improve their performance. The JIT Learning EPSS was designed and developed by Infomark Software Corporation with CGM Communications and assistance from several graduate students in the Department in the first half of 2001. The JIT Learning EPSS was implemented with 15 learners in Fall 2001. For this class the grade distribution was 53% in the A-level, 20% in the B-level, and 27% in the C-level. When compared with prior classes, all of the B-level performers improved to A-level and half of the C-level improved to B-level. A formative evaluation of the system was conducted in the winter of 2002. The results suggest that the remaining C-level performers do not have a sufficient mental model of the design task. The next version of the software will focus on helping users develop and assess their mental models before they begin the design task. Includes three color figures. (Author/AEF)