University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-1996 The Factors Affecting the Transfer of Training Based on the Opportunity to Perform Trained Tasks David Arnold Blair University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation Blair, David Arnold, "The Factors Affecting the Transfer of Training Based on the Opportunity to Perform Trained Tasks. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1996. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3239 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by David Arnold Blair entitled "The Factors Affecting the Transfer of Training Based on the Opportunity to Perform Trained Tasks." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Human Ecology. Gerald Cheek, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Clifton Campbell, Roger Haskell, & Robert Maddox Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by David Arnold Blair entitled "The Factors Mfecting the Transfer of Training Based on the Opportunity to Perform Trained Tasks." I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Human Ecology. Gerald Cheek, Major Professor Accepted for the Council: Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School FACTORS AFFECTING THE TRAN SFER OF TRAINING BASED ON THE OPPORTUNITY TO PERFORM TRAINED TASKS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree University of Tennessee, Knoxville David Arnold Blair December, 1996 Copyright© 1996 by DavidArnold Blair , 1996 All rights reserved ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my father Mr. James A. Blair. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my major professor, Dr. Gerald Cheek, for his guidance, patience and friendship. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Clifton Campbell, Dr. Roger Haskell, and Dr. Robert Maddox for their assistance and for being my mentors for the last several years. I would also like to express my thanks to Deborah Hatcher, for her understanding and patience through the whole process. Words cannot express my thanks to my mother, Essie, for giving me encouragement, and invaluable educational opportunities. A special thanks to Tim Patton. iv ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to identify and define the factors that affect the transfer of newly learned skills to the job. One factor that has been shown to affect the transfer of training to the job is the extent to which the training participants are given the opportunity to perform trained tasks once they retum to their jobs. The opportunity to perform was to consist of two dimensions: breadth and activity level. Training participants from a government facility and their immediate supervisors (N = 7 4) responded to two different questionnaires which measured the three dimensions of the opportunity to perform and various organizational, work context, and individual factors 90 days after the trainees had completed a Project Management training program. The study utilized a one-shot program evaluation design. A Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient and a multiple regression analysis was performed to determine if significant relationships existed at the .05 level of significance. Correlated variables were the opportunity-to-perform index and the independent variables under study: type of tasks, supervisory perception, work group support, pace of work, self-efficacy, and career motivation. The study found that (a) trainees received differential opportunities to perform trained tasks after training and (b) differences in opportunity were related to factors in the trainee's transfer environment, as well as the trainee's individual v characteristics. Findings indicated that trainees who were perceived by their immediate supervisor to be competent obtained greater breadth of experience and performed the more complex and difficult tasks than those with less supervisory support. The study also showed that trainees assigned to work groups that were perceived as highly supportive were more likely to perform a broader range of tasks, with more repetitions, and more complex types of tasks than those trainees in less supportive environments. Additionally, trainee's with higher levels of self-efficacy and career motivation were similarly found to have significantly greater opportunities to perform. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ...................... ...... ...................... .... .... ...... 1 Statement of the Problem . ............................ .. ........ ............. 4 Purpose of the Study .............................. ......... .. .... .. ............ 5 Theoretical Framework .......... .... ... ............. .... .................... 5 Research Question .............. ............... ................................ 16 Rationale ............................................................................ 19 Assumptions ........ ..................................... .... ..... ... .. .... .... .. 22 Delimitations ...... ....... ... ............ ............... ... .... ... .... .. ......... 23 Definitions........ ........................ ... ... ........... ..... ................... 23 II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND RESEARCH . ... 31 Overview of Transfer Research . ............. .... .... ...................... 35 Difficulty of Achieving Transfer .... ..... ................................... 38 Conditions of Transfer ... ... ........ ... ....... ................................. 41 Summary of Review of Literature and Research ...................... 85 III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES .. ..... ...... ........................... 89 Population and Sample ...................... .................................. 89 Independent Variables ... .................... .................................. 91 Dependent Variable ........... .................... ...... ... ......... ........ .... 91 Research Design ................................................................. 92 Research Instruments ......................................................... 94 Data Collection Procedures .......... ................ ... ................. ... 95 vii CHAPTER PAGE III. (Continued) Data Analysis ... ........... ..................... ............. .. .......... .... ....107 IV. ANALYSIS OF DATA AND RESULTS ......... .... ................. ... llO Responses.. .... ..... ................... ............ ......................... .. .... 110 Research Question ......... .......... ......................... .... ...... .. .... ... 116 V. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ........ ........ ......... .. 127 Summary ........................................................................... 127 Major Findings .... .............. ............ .. .. ...... ....... .. ......... .. ... ...132 Conclusions ..... ..... .. .............. ............. ............ ... .. .... ...........136 Recommendations . .. ..... ...... ........ ......... .... .. .. ...... ...............138 Implications .......................................................................141 REFERENCES .. ............ .................. ....... ....... ....... ........... ......144 APPENDICES . ... ..... ............... ..... ......... .. ... ..... ......... .............. ..168 Appendix A Participant Task Activity Questionnaire .... .. ....... ..... .... ..... 100 Appendix B Supervisor Questionnaire ......... ........... .... ..... ... ..... .... ...... 176 Appendix C Letter to Participants Requesting Participation ....... ...... .... .. 179 viii CHAPTER PAGE Appendix D Project Management Task List .........................................181 Appendix E Letter to Supervisor - Notification of Training Transfer Study ................................................................184 Appendix F First Follow-up of Non-Respondents by Electronic Mail .......187 Appendix G Second Follow-Up of Non-Respondents (Telephone Script) ..........................................................189 ix LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Descriptive Statistics for Raw Data, Standardized T-Scores and Opportunity to Perform Indices .....................112 2. Correlation Coefficient Matrix of Opportunity-to-Perform Variables and Probability Levels ...... ................. ....... ....115 X LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Baldwin and Ford transfer process model .......... ... ....... ...... 8 2. Quinones, Ford, Sego, and Smith mediated effects model......................... .......................................... 10 3. Hypothesized opportunity to perform transfer model .........................