Performance Analysis (PA)

http://www.josseybass.com/legacy/rossett/rossett/what_is_pa.htm

What is Performance Analysis?

A serious definition goes like this:

Performance analysis involves gathering formal and informal data to help customers and sponsors define and achieve their goals. Performance analysis uncovers several perspectives on a problem or opportunity, determining any and all drivers towards or barriers to successful performance, and proposing a solution system based on what is discovered.

A lighter definition is:

Performance analysis is the front end of the front end. It's what we do to figure out what to do. Some synonyms are planning, scoping, auditing, and diagnostics.

What does a performance analyst do?

Here's a list of some of the things you maybe doing as part of a performance analysis:

Interviewing a sponsor

Reading the annual report

Chatting at lunch with a group of customer service representatives

Reading the organization's policy on customer service, focusing particularly on the recognition and incentive aspects

Listening to audiotapes associates with customer service complaints

Leading a focus group with supervisors

Interviewing some randomly drawn representatives

Reviewing the call log

Reading an article in a professional journal on the subject of customer service performance improvement

Chatting at the supermarket with somebody who is a customer, who wants to tell you about her experience with customer service

A performance analysis identifies where we are, where we want to go, the reasons why we aren't there yet, and recommends ways to get there.

According to Wendy Clash an Educational Technologist at San Diego State University
Department of Educational Technology offers this information.

After determining the cause(s) of a performance problem, you recommend solution systems.

Cause:	Solution:
Motivation	information, documentation, coaching.
Environment Support	flexibility with schedule and job duties, availability of tools, reorganization of workplace.
Organization Support	incentive programs and appraisal process, change in policy
Knowledge and Skills	instruction, coaching, job aids, and electronic support systems.

Solution systems are easy to implement when they require minor changes to company policy and/or the working environment.

When delivery of information or more significant changes are needed, it's time to call in the experts.

Knowledge Engineering

http://www.epistemics.co.uk/Notes/61-0-0.htm

Knowledge engineering is a field within artificial intelligence that develops knowledge-based systems. Such systems are computer programs that contain large amounts of knowledge, rules and reasoning mechanisms to provide solutions to real-world problems.

A major form of knowledge-based system is an expert system, one designed to emulate the reasoning processes of an expert practitioner (i.e. one having performed in a professional role for very many years). Typical examples of expert systems include diagnosis of bacterial infections, advice on mineral exploration and assessment of electronic circuit designs.
Importance of Knowledge Acquisition

The early years of knowledge engineering were dogged by problems. Knowledge engineers found that acquiring enough high-quality knowledge to build a robust and useful system was a very long and expensive activity. As such, knowledge acquisition was identified as the bottleneck in building an expert system. This led to knowledge acquisition becoming a major research field within knowledge engineering.

The aim of knowledge acquisition is to develop methods and tools that make the arduous task of capturing and validating an expert’s knowledge as efficient and effective as possible. Experts tend to be important and busy people; hence it is vital that the methods used minimize the time each expert spends off the job taking part in knowledge acquisition sessions.
Knowledge Engineering Principles

Since the mid-1980s, knowledge engineers have developed a number of principles, methods and tools that have considerably improved the process of knowledge acquisition. Some of the key principles are summarized as follows:

* Knowledge engineers acknowledge that there are different types of knowledge, and that the right approach and technique should be used for the knowledge required.
* Knowledge engineers acknowledge that there are different types of experts and expertise, such that methods should be chosen appropriately.
* Knowledge engineers recognize that there are different ways of representing knowledge, which can aid the acquisition, validation and re-use of knowledge.
* Knowledge engineers recognize that there are different ways of using knowledge, so that the acquisition process can be guided by the project aims.
* Knowledge engineers use structured methods to increase the efficiency of the acquisition process


Knowledge engineering (KE) was defined in 1983 by Edward Feigenbaum, and Pamela McCorduck as follows:

KE is an engineering discipline that involves integrating knowledge into computer systems in order to solve complex problems normally requiring a high level of human expertise.[1]

At present, it refers to the building, maintaining and development of knowledge-based systems.[2] It has a great deal in common with software engineering, and is used in many computer science domains such as artificial intelligence [3], [4], including databases, data mining, expert systems, decision support systems and geographic information systems. Knowledge engineering is also related to mathematical logic, as well as strongly involved in cognitive science and socio-cognitive engineering where the knowledge is produced by socio-cognitive aggregates (mainly humans) and is structured according to our understanding of how human reasoning and logic works.

Various activities of KE specific for the development of a knowledge-based system:

* Assessment of the problem
* Development of a knowledge-based system shell/structure
* Acquisition and structuring of the related information, knowledge and specific preferences (IPK model)
* Implementation of the structured knowledge into knowledge bases
* Testing and validation of the inserted knowledge
* Integration and maintenance of the system
* Revision and evaluation of the system.

Being still more art than engineering, KE is not as neat as the above list in practice. The phases overlap, the process might be iterative, and many challenges could appear. Recently, emerges meta-knowledge engineering[5] as a new formal systemic approach to the development of a unified knowledge and intelligence theory.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_engineers


Knowledge engineers are computer systems experts who are trained in the field of expert systems. Receiving information from domain experts, the knowledge engineers interpret the presented information and relay it to computer programmers who code the information in to systems databases to be accessed by end-users. Knowledge engineers are used primarily in the construction process of computer systems (Bultman, Kuipers & van Harmelen 2000).

Using information relayed by the domain experts, knowledge engineers are experts at constructing meaningful, useful, and simplistic Knowledge-Based Systems (KBS). Often knowledge engineers are employed to break down the information passed on by domain experts into more simplistic terms which cannot be easily communicated by the highly technalized domain expert (ESDG 2000).

SCORM-compliant courseware

What is SCORM?
Wikipedia has this definition. Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. It defines communications between client side content and a host system called the run-time environment (commonly a function of a learning management system). SCORM also defines how content may be packaged into a transferable ZIP file.

SCORM is a specification of the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative, which comes out of the Office of the United States Secretary of Defense.

SCORM 2004 introduces a complex idea called sequencing, which is a set of rules that specifies the order in which a learner may experience content objects. In simple terms, they constrain a learner to a fixed set of paths through the training material, permit the learner to "bookmark" their progress when taking breaks, and assure the acceptability of test scores achieved by the learner. The standard uses XML, and it is based on the results of work done by AICC, IMS Global, IEEE, and Ariadn.

I like to example given by Rustici Software on the website scorm.com. They explain it is terms of DVD's. Regardless to the type of player the you own, you expect for any of the movies that work in that player despite who made it. This is true because to standards that established in that industry.

SCORM stands for “Sharable Content Object Reference Model”.
“Sharable Content Object” indicates that SCORM is all about creating units of online training material that can be shared across systems. SCORM defines how to create “sharable content objects” or “SCOs” that can be reused in different systems and contexts.

“Reference Model” reflects the fact that SCORM isn’t actually a standard. ADL didn’t write SCORM from the ground up. Instead, they noticed that the industry already had many standards that solved part of the problem. SCORM simply references these existing standards and tells developers how to properly use them together.


SCORM is produced by ADL, a research group sponsored by the United States Department of Defense (DoD).

For information on SCORM, check out this sites.
www.toolbook.com/community_scorm.php
www.scorm.com/scorm_explained

Electronic Performance Support Systems

The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology defines EPSS ase an extension and further development of the workplace job aid. As described by Rossett & Gautier-Downes (1991), job aids support work and activity, are external to the individual and have three discrete functions, which are:

1. providing information,
2. supporting procedures, and
3. guiding decision making.

When these three functions of job aids interconnect within an integrated technology-based system, a “highly sophisticated technological job aid” called an electronic performance support system results (Van Tiem, Moseley, & Dessinger, 2004, p. 71). Characteristic advantages of an EPSS over a traditional non-technology based job aid include:

* user ability to quickly access large quantities of information,
* support for multiple users anywhere at any time the delivery technology is available, and
* user ability to receive interactive coaching and guidance.

Electronic Performance Support Systems

Gloria J. Gery, a consultant in the fields of business learning and electronic performance support, is the author of "Electronic Performance Support Systems" (Gery Performance Press, 1991), the seminal book on EPSS.

Gloria Gery published a book in 1991 that defines electronic performance support systems (EPSS) as
"an integrated electronic environment that is available to and easily accessible by each employee and is structured to provide immediate, individualized on-line access to the full range of information, software, guidance, advice and assistance, data, images, tools, and assessment and monitoring systems to permit job performance with minimal support and intervention by others."

Every article that I researched start with Gery's definition. She is concerned the expert of EPSS.

Also in 1991, Barry Raybould gave a shorter definition:

a computer-based system that improves worker productivity by providing on-the-job access to integrated information, advice, and learning experiences.

According to an article that I found entitled, Types of Electronic Performance Support Systems:Their Characteristics and Range of Designs by Deborah Alpert Sleight in 1993 who is an Educational Psychologist at Michigan State University, types are some common uses for EPSS.

An electronic performance support system (EPSS) displays some or all of the following characteristics.

Computer-based: EPSSs are computer-based, which is what the "electronic" in their name indicates. There have been older attempts at performance support systems, such as a series of manuals, job aids, and other paper material. But it wasn't until the advent of powerful multimedia computers that optimal performance support could be made possible. Optimal support includes quick and easy access to the information needed at the time the task is being performed.

Access during task: EPSSs provide access to the discrete, specific information needed to perform a task at the time the task is to be performed. This is a two-part characteristic: 1) access to the specific information needed to perform a task, and 2) access to the information at the time the task is to be performed. If one part of this characteristic does not exist, then the characteristic changes and is no longer a performance support characteristic. The discrete, specific information provided may be:

* data: the type of data may be textual or numeric, such as prices, locations, and names. Or they may be visual, such as photographs and motion video footage. Or they may be audio, such as conversations, speeches, and music.
* instruction: the instruction may be a list of steps to take, a motion video showing a procedure, or a simulation of a task that allows the user to practice.
* advice: the advice may be an expert system that asks the user questions, then suggests the most appropriate procedure or step to do next.
* tools: the software tools may be a spreadsheet, a statistical analysis package, and a program that controls industrial robots.

This availability of information, instruction, advice and tools makes much prior training unnecessary.

This makes EPSS versatile and user adaptive.

She states that the benefits of EPSS are:
Used on the job: An EPSS provides information to people at their workstation on the job, or in simulations or other practice of the job. The information is provided at the worker's workstation as the worker sees a need for it. The EPSS can be used in simulations or other practice of the job, so that the worker learns both the information he or she will probably need when doing the job, and how to use the EPSS itself.

Controlled by the worker: The worker decides when and what information is needed. There is no need for a teacher, as the worker is guided by the needs of the task. The motivation is provided by the worker's desire to accomplish the task.

Reduce the need for prior training: The easy availability of the information needed to perform a task reduces the need for much (but probably not all) prior training in order to accomplish the task.

Easily updated: The very nature of an EPSS, that it provides the information needed to perform a task, requires that it be easily updatable, in order to keep the information that it provides current. The computerized nature of an EPSS makes updating faster and easier in some ways than in other media, such as print, video, or audio.

Fast access to information: The user must be able to access the needed information quickly when it is needed on the job. Otherwise the EPSS is no better than a set of manuals, which probably contain the information, but the information is difficult to find when needed.

Irrelevant information not included: The user is able to access only the specific, discrete information needed at that instant, instead of having to wade through loads of irrelevant information to find the few details needed. This is one of the problems with instruction that is not specific to a task; it forces the user to sift through it looking for the details needed. This sifting not only slows the user down, but can result in confusion.

Allow for different levels of knowledge in users: In order to speed up information access and understanding, an EPSS can provide minimal information for those who do not want details, yet, through the hypertext links in the databases and through optional tutorials, provide detail for those who do want more.

Allow for different learning styles: Through multimedia, an EPSS can accommodate users with varied learning styles, thus providing more optimal learning. The same information can be presented in visual, textual, and audio formats, with the user selecting the format.

Integrate information, advice, and learning experiences: An EPSS can integrate information, advice, and learning experiences for the user. For example, a database entry might describe a procedure. The user may not know if the procedure is the proper one to use, so he or she might turn to the advisor to find out. The advisor would ask the user some questions about what he or she needs to accomplish, then would suggest which procedure to use. The user might then access a tutorial on using the procedure, and practice it through a simulation, before actually performing the procedure.

Artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence is an essential characteristic of EPSSs, according to Carr (Carr, 1992), but not according to Gery. I think that at this early stage of performance support system design and use, AI is not essential, but that eventually it will be one of the defining characteristics of EPSS. This will happen when research on EPSS and on AI has progressed further.

An EPSS is not an absolute system that contains all these characteristics. Rather, different systems will fall on a continuum of these characteristics. An EPSS displaying all these characteristics would be the ideal. Since performance support systems are still young, it is more likely that many will display only the key characteristics.