New Kid on the Block? Hardly!
When I received an e-mail reminding me of the deadline for this writing, I was on the last leg of my rigorous effort to have ACNS mount and read a magnetic tape for some data analysis purposes. For the PC generation, these are the magnetic reel-to-reel round tapes that a display of their intermittent movement on a tape drive was once an impressive show of digital power on numerous television shows. However, when the help desk operators passed me on to a wiser voice, I was told that they no longer handled tapes like that. Surprised by my persistence that the tape was produced on FSU's mainframe computer and there was no reason for them not to be able to read it, the wiser voice asked me when the tape was produced. Looking at the date on the cover of the tape, I realized that it has been a long time since I worked at FSU.
I thought, at the risk of sounding very old a brief review of this separation time well explains what my research interests are. Yes, I started my professional career at the Center for Performance Technology (CPT) as a Research Associate. Through the years I worked on different aspects of several computer-based and performance analysis projects. In my last couple of years at CPT, I served as the project director for the final phases of a multi-million dollar contract with the US Army. This project, Job Skills Education Program (JSEP), resulted in close to 400 hours of instruction that ran on two mainframe computer systems worldwide. Many of our graduates like, John "Jack" Dempsy, David Dick, Sharon Shroadel, and John Jacob worked on that project and received their practical experiences at CPT. Also many of the founders and pioneers of our Instructional Systems (IS) program here at FSU like Dr. Robert Gagné, Dr. Walter Dick, and Dr. Robert Branson, the principle Investigator of the project, were involved in the conceptual and operational phases of JSEP.
Pursuing my research interest, later I joined state agencies in their research and program evaluation efforts. First at the Florida Department of Corrections and Later with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), I designed computer management systems, conducted research projects, and administered program evaluation. As the head of DJJ research unit within the Bureau of Data and Research, I led a team of professionals in conducting research and evaluation of prevention, and intervention programs. DJJ's large clientele, (over 100,000 children annual average), for educational, vocational, and treatment programs provided us with an excellent opportunity for serving the children of Florida through research and evaluation in this field.
No matter how involved I was in practicing my craft as a researcher, my urge for teaching, originating from my earlier teaching career overseas, was still strong and eventually propelled me back into my current position with the IS program. Currently, my teaching assignments are the EDF5461: Introduction to Program Evaluation and EME 6691: Performance Systems Analysis. I am also working as a Research Associate in the Center for Performance Technology.
I am very excited about this opportunity and intend to take full advantage of it by making significant contribution to a program that practically trained me. I owe it.
Oh, and About That "Vision Thing"
The field of instructional systems has always been one of the more practical fields in academia. It is one of the programs that teaches students how to do something in addition to providing them with the theories of what that something is and why it exists. Our IS program here at FSU is one of the better known programs around the world and deserves to maintain this status for the time to come. I truly believe that one way of working toward this goal throughout the college is to expand the practical aspects of our programs. By that I mean to increase the know-how component of our programs through providing courses with more how-to-do modules. The two prime candidate programs for this proposal are IS and the newly established Program Evaluation. Here is why:
It is not news that Performance Technology is spreading like a wildfire. The instructional technologist is going trough a metamorphosis and becoming performance analyst or consultant. We need to embrace this change and realize that designing instruction and developing training programs no longer suffice. We need to prepare ourselves to compete in the field of human performance technology by learning how to study organizational systems, analyze organizational problems, and provide system solutions as well as we design and develop instruction.
Fortunately we have recognized this change and have responded to it by taking steps toward that direction. The Performance Systems Analysis course is a good example that is designed around this concept and provides valuable experiences for the future performance consultants.
I also think the same is true for Program Evaluation. My supervisory experience in field of research and evaluation gave me the opportunity to recruit research professionals. Unfortunately like most of the managers in this field, I always found it difficult to find qualified graduates with the necessary know-how. The brilliant applicants mostly lacked the research design and methodology knowledge let alone the practical application of these in the field of program evaluation. Considering the graduation rate of the universities in this town, this situation always puzzled the research managers.
It was for this reason that when I was offered the chance to teach the Introduction to Program Evaluation course couple of years ago, I designed it around conducting a program evaluation project in class in addition to teaching its theoretical basis. By the end of the semester, the students taking this course found themselves to be conceptually and practically prepared and skilled to at least have an intelligent interview with a potential employer about conducting program evaluation.
I certainly see this approach as the key to our students' success in the field of instructional system, performance technology, and program evaluation. Graduating with the latest theoretical knowledge and skills gained through hands-on experiences, they will definitely build the bright future of our programs.