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The conservative approach to instructional design assumes training can be based upon general modes of learning and an analysis of the skill. The liberal approach assumes students need to develop individually appropriate strategies for skill performance. The reconciliation of these two approaches is proposed through the organising concept of 'transfer of training'. Conservative approaches best support transfer to anticipated contexts. Liberal approaches best support transfer to unanticipated contexts. A combination of both approaches may lead to safe and efficient performance in defined situations as well as the flexibility to cope with novel situations.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the transfer of learning of professional competences from vocational colleges to the workplace context in vocational education. Concretely, the study examined the relations between the professional competences learned at school and the use and further development of those competences at the workplace during the practice module in vocational education programmes in Spain. The study analysed individual, educational design and work environment factors that facilitate or hinder transfer of learning. The study took a multidimensional approach to professional competences by observing four dimensions: hard-specific, hard-generic, interpersonal and intrapersonal. The data collection drew from a questionnaire administered to students of vocational education programmes after they had completed the practice module scheme. A moderation analysis was applied to observe the effect of individual, educational design and workplace factors on the relation between the competences learned at school and those used at the workplace. The findings showed that compulsory placement, school-work alignment, work-based supervisor, access to resources and task complexity are significant moderators between the competences learned at school and those used at the workplace. The study highlights the coherence between the school and workplaces and work environment characteristics as factors conducive to transfer of learning.

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Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present a study performed in conjunction with a branch of the Italian Public Italian Administration, the ISSP (Istituto Superiore di Studi Penitenziari - the Higher Institute of Penitentiary Studies). The study aimed to develop a Transfer of Training (ToT) evaluation methodology that would be both scientifically robust and practitioner-friendly, in an attempt to build a bridge between researchers and practitioners on the topic of ToT process evaluation. Design/methodology/approach: The ToT evaluation system was built using an action research approach, taking into account workplace specifics and stakeholder needs. An 'action research' (with the researchers involved throughout the ToT system building phases) and a 'Focus Group' (to identify factors influencing ToT and to define items and grids for behavioural assessment) were used.

Findings: This study showed that the active engagement of stakeholders (trainees and their supervisors and colleagues) is useful in designing context-adapted tools for ToT evaluation and can help organizations improve the fit between their training activities and organizational goals. Research limitations/implications: The generalizability of the proposed ToT evaluation methodology is not guaranteed, and the procedure needs to be replicated and monitored in different organizational settings and cultures. Practical implications: The organization decided to implement the ToT evaluation methodology developed during the course of the study for all future training programmes. Originality/value: In this study, a ToT evaluation methodology was built that will be both scientifically robust and practitioner-friendly.

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Purpose: This paper aims to identify the relationship between organizational learning culture, psychological contract breach, work engagement, training simulation and transfer of training, to examine the effect of transfer of training on organizational citizenship behaviour and to determine the mediating effect of transfer of training on the relationship between organizational learning culture, psychological contract breach, work engagement and training simulation with organizational citizenship behaviour. This study investigated these relationships in the context of public sector organizations in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: The data for this study were collected by using the purposive sampling from Malaysian Civil Defence Force or Angkatan Pertahanan Awam (APM) employees who attended a disaster preparedness training programme between March to May 2015. The questionnaire was the main tool for the data gathering. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling technique using AMOS 22 version software.

Findings: The findings showed that work engagement and training simulation are the factors that influence the transfer of training, and there is a positive effect of the transfer of training on the organizational citizenship behaviour. The result also demonstrated that the transfer of training is the mediator in the relationship between work engagement, training simulation and organizational citizenship behaviour. Research limitations/implications: This study focuses on public sector areas which is Malaysia Civil Defense Force (APM). No interview session was conducted due to the time constraint in completing this study. Originality/value: This study extends the existing understanding of factors that influence transfer of training and the effect of transfer of training on employees and organization. In other words, through the positive transfer of training, organizations not only attain positive returns on their training investment but also improve the performance and the work attitude of the organization's employees.

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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to look at how customer input was used in a front-end needs assessment to formulate a training package that covered the necessary elements of product use, and how the training material was presented in a manner best suited for the trainees and their perceived needs. Design/methodology/approach - A quasi-experimental study was designed to compare the number of help desk calls for groups trained using the needs-based training approach with the number of help desk calls from the most recent training groups that were trained with the standard training package. Findings - Groups trained using a training package developed around their initial perceived needs had significantly fewer help desk calls than those who received the standard training. The number of help desk calls was reduced by over 75 per cent from previous training sessions. Research limitations/implications - Verification of transfer of training in other applications, with other products and other learner groups, would further validate that the needs-based training approach is more effective. Practical implications - All reasonable effort that can lead to more effective training will improve the customer's overall perception of the organization and will contribute to customer retention. Both customer satisfaction and retention are critical elements in the ongoing success of any company. Originality/value - The demonstration of effectiveness and the utilization of assessment data for continuous improvement may have both practical and legal implications for the future; including enhancing customer satisfaction and retention, and reducing the likelihood of successful legal claims for negligence, particularly negligent training.

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Using data from the 2001 Australian Census of Population and Housing on adult men in full-time employment, this paper augments a conventional human capital earnings function with information on occupations. It also estimates models of occupational attainment. The results from both the earnings function and model of occupational attainment indicate that the limited international transferability of human capital skills results in immigrants entering into relatively low status occupations when they first enter the Australian labour market. Comparison with similar research for the USA suggests that the different immigrant selection regimes (primarily family reunion in the USA, skill-based immigration in Australia) do not impact on the negative association between current occupational status and pre-immigration labour market experience.

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Skills and job mismatch issues have become common and recurring issues in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET). This issue is associated with the transfer of learning that involves various factors such as the area of training, certification level, curriculum, instructors, facilities and resources and industry recognition. In line with the Baldwin and Ford model, learning transfer involves three major factors such as the trainee's characteristics, the training design and working environment. Therefore, identify the factors which contribute to the effective transfer of learning is necessary. This study attempts to identify which factors are contributing to learning transfer based on National Occupational Skill Standard (NOSS) system in skill institutes in Malaysia to workplace. This is because the lack of relevant studies related to the learning transfer on the NOSS system and at once makes it difficult to emphasize the factors to be considered for effective transfer of learning. The design of the survey study through the distribution of questionnaires to 309 Malaysian Skills Certificate trainees was done to generalize the study findings. This study used the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) tool to validate the model. PLS-SEM is choose because it can predict and explain constructs target. Then it can explore the relationship between the construct. Besides that, PLS SEM is chosen because this method can be done on complex structure equation model that consists more constructs and indicators. PLS-SEM can also control both a reflective and formative constructs. Findings indicate that work environment and training design positively influences learning transfer be represented by generalization and retention construct. The findings provide useful insight and information regarding the learning transfer that correlate with mismatch issues that policy makers, training provider, employers and trainees need to consider to produce highly skill workers subsequently completed this skills mismatch issue.

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Adult English literacy learners (ELLs) are learners with limited or no formal schooling in their first language who are learning to read and write in English. At present, the limited research surrounding adult ELL instruction does not fully investigate the literacies that learners make use of outside of the classroom in a Canadian context. Through the lens of the New Literacy Studies, this case study examines the variety of print-literacy practices that adult ELLs engage with inside and outside of the classroom, highlights the value of these literacy practices, and emphasizes the importance of connecting out-of-class literacy practices with those occurring in the classroom. Additionally, this study uses learner perspectives to describe out-of-class literacy practices and provides a platform for adult ELLs to discuss their in-class preferences. The findings indicate the necessity of acknowledging prior experiences of ELLs in the classroom and provide implications for in-class instruction and resettlement agencies.

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The current study examined the temporal effect of perceived training utility on adoption of a trained method and how perceived organizational support influences the relationship between perceived training utility perceptions and adoption of a trained method. With the use of a correlational-survey-based design, this longitudinal study required participants to complete questionnaires immediately after training and six months posttraining. The results showed that perceived organizational support interacted with the immediate posttraining utility perceptions, such that regardless of whether trainees' initial utility perception was low or high, trainees' perceptions of training utility measured six months posttraining were high when there was a high level of organizational support. Training utility perceptions measured six months posttraining mediated the relationship between initial utility perceptions and organizational support and training adoption.

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Background: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training teaches community members how to provide initial support to someone with a mental health problem. Key gaps in the evidence base supporting the training are the longevity of effects beyond 6 months, effects on mental health first aid behavior, and the impact of support on the recipient of aid. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the Youth MHFA course 3 years after training.

Methods: 384 Australian parents of an adolescent aged 12-15 were randomized to receive either the 14-h Youth MHFA course or the 15-h Australian Red Cross Provide First Aid course. This paper reports outcomes at baseline and 3 years later. Primary outcomes were cases of adolescent mental health problems, and parental support towards their adolescent if they developed a mental health problem, rated by the parent and adolescent. Secondary outcomes included parent knowledge about youth mental health problems, intentions and confidence in supporting a young person, stigmatizing attitudes, and help-seeking for mental health problems. Data were analyzed with mixed-effects models with group by measurement occasion interactions.

Results: 3-year follow-up data was obtained from 149 parents and 118 adolescents, who were aged 16.5 years on average. Between baseline and 3-year follow-up, there was a non-significant reduction in adolescent cases of mental health problems relative to the control group (odds ratios (OR) 0.16-0.17), a non-significant improvement in parental support reported by adolescents with a mental health problem (OR 2.80-4.31), and a non-significant improvement in the quality of support that parents reported providing to their adolescents with a mental health problem (d = 0.38). Secondary outcomes that showed significant improvements relative to the control group were parental knowledge about youth mental health problems (d = 0.31) and adolescent perceptions of general social support from their parents (d = 0.35).

Conclusions: This paper reports on the longest follow-up of Mental Health First Aid training in a controlled trial. Three years after training, participants had maintained their improved knowledge about mental health problems. There were some indications of other positive effects, but the study was underpowered to clearly show benefits to mental health first aid skills and recipients of aid.

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