Syllabus
Business Improvement Through Training and Development (MGMT 376)

This course was last offered prior to 2007.  The syllabus may be revised for future offerings, including possible changes in the textbooks.

This is a three-credit graduate level course and is one in a series of elective courses in the Human Resource Management program. The Human Resource Management program is part of the online Master of Professional Studies degree offered through the University of Connecticut's Center for Continuing Studies.

The developer of this course is Dr. Abdou Ndoye.

Course Title: Business Improvement Through Training and Development (MGMT 376)

Credits: 3

Instructor: Abdou Ndoye, Ph.D.
E-mail: Abdou.Ndoye@uconn.edu

This course provides the student with the essentials of training development and workforce skill development practices.

By the end of the semester, students will be able to:

• Recognize the principles of adult learning and how professional adults go about learning.
• Identify business goals.
• Match training objectives successfully with business goals.
• Recognize the processes and steps to develop a workplace training program.
• Explain how individual characteristics and the environment influence learning and skill development.
• Develop strategies to maximize learning in the workplace.
• Recognize training evaluation techniques and procedures.
• Monitor the transfer of learning on the job.

Grading Procedures:

Three Case Studies	75%
Weekly Assignments	15%
Discussions	10%

You will develop three case studies for this course. The case studies will relate to theories, principles and guidelines of training and workforce development practices. Each case study will be worth 25%, making the three case studies 75% of your final grade. You will also have weekly assignments posted in the discussions area worth 15% of your grade. Additionally, you will be required to comment on your peers' discussion postings; this will count for 10% of your course grade.

You are responsible for acting in accordance with the Student Code, available at http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/student_code.cfm.

These texts may be purchased locally or through an online bookstore.

Required Texts:
Goldstein, I. L., & Ford, J. K. (2001). Training in organizations: Needs assessment, development, and evaluation (4th ed.). U.S.: Wadsworth. ISBN 0-534-34554-9

Robinson, D. G., & Robinson, J. C. (1989). Training for impact: How to link training to business needs and measure the results. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 1-55542-153-9

Required Articles
Additional required articles will be provided in the course through the Electronic Course Reserve (ECR). 

• Word processing software
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Your Internet browser and browser settings need to be Vista compatible.
  See Settings.

Module 1: Relationship between training and professional development

• Basics of adult learning and training practices
• Skill development and business performance

Module 2: Assessing strategies, goals and needs

• Business strategy
• Training needs assessment

Module 3: Designing a training program

• Standards steps of training design
• The importance of instructional objectives
• Translating performance objectives into instructional objectives
• Validity criteria of instructional objectives

Module 4: Training format

• Designing a training program
• Training format

Module 5: Transfer of learning and strategies beyond training

• Transfer process
• Facilitating transfer and keys to successful transfer
• Barriers to transfer
• Training design and transfer of training

Module 6: Evaluation

• Purposes of training evaluations
• Types of training evaluation
• Levels of training evaluation
• Measuring training outcomes
• Assessing training impact on business improvement

 

Students will be provided an opportunity to evaluate instruction in this course using the University's standard procedures, which are administered by the Office of Institutional Research.