As an industrial / organizational psychologist, work is always in my mind. Naturally, I am interested in understanding the means to improve work for others, but I also regularly apply research and theory to my own work. A long -standing approach to create better jobs is to make them more interesting for employees. The interesting work is intrinsically more motivating, more satisfactory and reduces turnover (Parker et al., 2017 for a summary).
The main theory of the design of employment is the theory of employment characteristics (JCT) (Hackman and Oldham, 1976). More specifically, JCT describes that the jobs facilitating 1) The variety of skills, 2) The identity of the tasks, 3) the meaning of the tasks, 4) autonomy and 5) the feedback will be the most motivating and the most interesting. Above all, the construction of classes containing these elements for students and instructors can lead to advantages for all.
Below, I describe the details of the five components and ideas for students and instructors. As with all lesson design choices, these ideas are not required for success; You are invited to choose what seems authentic to your style.
1. Variety of skills
The variety of skills refers to jobs that require the use of several different skills or capacities. An example of a low variety of skills is that of a typical manufacturing line. The same movement is used again and again to do the work. In a class, an example may be to ensure that students submit a discussion forum post for each assignment.
For students:
- Authorize the variety in the way students learn information (for example, reading, looking for videos, discussion with peers).
- Create a variety of activities and / or assessments such as oral presentation, a case study analysis, a document or a quiz. When the flexibility of how a project is completed can be given, encourage students to try something new or try a new technology to implement their idea.
- Bloom taxonomy is also useful here to allow a variety of assessments and knowledge demonstration.
For instructors:
- Consider the skills you currently want to develop and use your course to establish responsibility. For example, there may be a new software that you would like to learn. Ask students to learn it also in a course and you can work together through the development of skills.
- Continue to teach fresh for yourself by incorporating various case studies, equipment, videos or guest speakers (when that makes sense!).
2. Identity of the tasks
The task identity focuses on the possibility of executing an entire project from start to finish. If a project requires that each student contributes something different, then assembles the parts, the project can be low on the identity of tasks because individual members have not contributed to the entire project process.
For students:
- The scaffolding naturally adapts under the identity of the tasks. Slowly build knowledge and skills until the students are able to fully engage in the process or project from start to finish.
- By zooming occasionally and discussing how the subject is part of the whole semester, the field of studies or the career path can help students appreciate how they work are part of a wider set.
For instructors:
- Think about your decision -making latitude to design your course from start to finish.
- If you teach a course that is part of a large sequence, meet instructors to make sure that the sequence makes sense. You are not liable to comply with the choices of others, but the construction of cohesion can benefit all those involved.
- If you have a TA for your course, considering the means to involve them in whole processes (for example, the design of an evaluation in addition to classifying it).
3. Importance of the task
The importance of the task facilitates the search for meaning in its work. More specifically, the meaning of the tasks is high when a job has a clear impact on others. Teaching is intrinsically a work with a high task meaning, this is perhaps the reason why many of us are attracted to it.
For students:
- Connect class information to the way this helps to benefit others.
- Create opportunities for students to interact with guest speakers, community members or others who can benefit from their knowledge. A final project that supports a community group, for example, can be developed. Learning the service is great here.
For instructors:
- To make sure you have an impact, regularly and systematically collect information from students (for example, surveys).
- Follow learning by measuring knowledge at the beginning and at the end of the semester. Inevitably, so much growth occurs! Having evidence helps you see your impact, but also helps students appreciate what they also cultivated.
- Create a reception box folder, so save all the positive emails you receive on your work.
- Consider the ways in which you can support new colleagues after installed your position and have advice to share.
4. Autonomy
Autonomy concerns the different ways in which individuals have their say on the way, when and where their work is over. In class, low autonomy could be a discussion forum on a specific subject, according to a specific word requirement which must be completed in a short period of time.
For students:
- Authorize the choices with regard to subjects, formats or types of projects, as much as reasonable.
- Develop opportunities for students to become an expert in a specific field, then to be responsible for sharing this expertise with peers.
For instructors:
- Think about the different ways in which you control how to design and implement lessons, select your courses, select the time you teach and when you work on your class. For many instructors, autonomy is relatively high.
- Develop your courses in a way that is part of the rest of your tasks. For example, remember to execute the possibility of planning the due dates of the final paper for a week that is different from conference time limits.
- Balance your autonomy with student autonomy. You can allow as many choices as you wish, but you also make sense to you.
5. Retraction
A high level of feedback is present when an individual receives information on his performance in a clear and timely manner. The courses with several assessments throughout the semester which are noted with comments provide important comments.
For students:
- Provide a section and include section comments to clearly indicate where students are doing well and where they still need work.
- Provide comments at the level of the summary to the whole class.
- Remind the students to regularly access their notes and review their comments.
For instructors:
- Provide students with means to provide you with comments throughout the semester through surveys, discussion, etc.
- At the end of the semester assessments, include open questions ordering them to share what went well on the course and what they would recommend changing next time. The framing of questions in this way can lead to more constructive comments for you, rather than criticizing.
- Use assignments as feedback on how the equipment landed with students. Revisit the subjects or adjust if necessary.
Conclusion
JCT provides five separate areas on which instructors can concentrate to assess opportunities to do their lessons and their own committing and interesting work. The adjustment of these five levers can make the student’s “work” as well as the work of the motivating and satisfactory instructor.
Of course, no theory is limitless. A note is that individuals who have a high need for growth tend to benefit from this type of job design more than people who are not as concerned about growth. The original theory generally neglects social components, although more recent work has corrected this surveillance (Humphrey et al., 2007; Oldham and Hackman, 2010). Finally, the limits of too much enrichment are not known. It is possible that maximizing the five components can produce a more stressful than interesting course. To fight against any potential over-enrichment, instructors are advised to balance the design of motivation courses with a structure, a routine and clear expectations.
Overall, the design of employment offers five clear areas to consider strengthening the design of your course, both for the benefit of your work as an instructor and the “work” of students as learners.
Sarina Maneotis, PhD is currently a assistant teacher of teaching at Kansas State University where she oversees the applied master’s program in industrial and organizational psychology (MIOP) of K-State. Before joining K-State in 2020, she worked in the industry, advising a variety of security, leadership and human resources analysis projects. She obtained her undergraduate diploma in psychology at Colorado State University and her doctorate in industrial / organizational psychology at the Pennsylvania State University. His research is largely focused on the intersections of performance, well-being and motivation of employees. She is passionate about the development of teaching practices that help students refine skills to translate research results for organizational purposes and to use a scientific survey in the real world parameters of organizations. She recently received the Global Campus Excellence in Online Teaching K-State Prize in recognition for her teaching practices.
References
Hackman, JR and Oldham, GR (1976). Motivation through the conception of work: Test of a theory. Organizational behavior and human performance,, 16(2), 250-279.
Humphrey, SE, Nahrgang, JD and Morgeson, FP (2007). Integration of motivating, social and contextual work design characteristics: a meta-analytical summary and a theoretical extension of literature on the conception of work.Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1332-1356.
Oldham, Gr and Hackman, JR (2010). Not what it was and not what it will be: the future of job design research.Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31463-479.
Parker, SK, Morgeson, FP and Johns, G. (2017). One hundred years of research on work design: looking back and waiting for impatiently.Journal of Applied Psychology,,102(3), 403-420.
(Tagstotranslate) Course design
