Management instructors are continually challenged to create learning activities in online courses that duplicate the same opportunities to develop managerial skills afforded to students in traditional face-to-face courses. The purpose of this experiential exercise is to provide online students an opportunity to develop the soft skills all managers…

Action learning is being increasingly utilised as a strategy to underpin practitioner focused development and research projects in healthcare generally and nursing in particular. Whilst facilitators of and participants in action learning have a variety of resource materials to guide their practice and participation, there continue to be few…

This paper explores how worker identities are shaped (and reshaped) in the workplace through the interconnected experiences of assessment, work and learning. Drawing on a study conducted at three food production companies in regional Victoria, the paper locates these workplace experiences as social constructions and considers the significance of…

Presents four group experiential activities, primarily for adults and adolescents, focusing on diversity issues. Includes target group, group size, time and space needs, activity level, overview, goals, props, instructions, and suggestions for framing and debriefing the experience. Activities promote perspective taking, honest dialogue between…

A college instructor, already experienced as a consultant and trainer in written and oral business communication, became convinced by two students in an executive management training program that gaining an insider's perspective might be exceedingly valuable. A few years later, the instructor got such an opportunity: she became a corporate editor…

This paper conceptualises a basis for understanding learning in workplaces. This comprises a duality between how access to workplace activities and guidance is afforded, on the one hand, and how workers elect to engage with what is afforded to them, on the other. This reciprocal basis for thinking, acting and learning is referred to as…

Hoechst Celanese, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical and chemical companies, used an Innovation Model as a framework for integrating the technology, business, and human factors needed to solve problems and create business successes. The model involved three elements (expertise, skills, and motivation). An experiential course in principles…

A model on learning that occurs in the workplace is discussed. Two theoretical frameworks are explored: multiple learning domains and action science. Four examples that reflect some of the characteristics of the new paradigm for learning in the workplace are included. The examples concern management development in a large business, a staff…

This article discusses workplace participatory practices: the reciprocal process of engaging in and learning through work. The reciprocity between the affordance of the workplace (its invitational qualities) and individuals' engagement in the workplace is proposed as a means of understanding how learning through work proceeds. How workplaces…

One focus of a year-long study of West German apprenticeship was the conditions that are most supportive of learning on the job. The study design incorporated two distinctions that the Germans consider critical: manual versus white-collar occupations and size of training firm. Two occupations were studied--auto mechanic and…

This document contains four symposium papers on contextual learning issues. "Learning to Learn Strategies of Successful Real Estate Professionals: Implications for Learning in the Workplace" (Margot B. Weinstein) describes a multicase study in which a model called the Individual Learning System was used to identify the strategies and…

After a review of the literature, critical reflective work behavior (CRWB) was defined as: a set of connected, individual activities aimed at analyzing, optimizing, or innovating work practices on the individual, team, or organizational level. The combination of literature review and analysis of case studies led to the operationalization of CRWB…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on organizational culture and climate that was conducted as part of a conference on human resource development (HRD). "A Comparative Profile of Workgroup Climate in Different Organizational Settings" (Allan H. Church) reports on a comparative analysis of climate data on more than 5,000…

This document consists of four papers presented at a symposium on contextual learning issues moderated by John Henschke at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD). "Self-Directed Learning in Organizations: An Analysis of Policies and Practices of Seven Resource Companies in Western Canada" (H. K. Morris…

This document contains three papers on coaching and knowledge transfer. "The Role of the Learning Coach in Action Learning" (Judy O'Neil) reviews the literature on action learning and learning coaches, explores the role of learning coaches in action learning, and demonstrates the existence of external and internal influences that shape…