STC fellow Saul Carliner is launching an academic study into customer perceptions about training, and what drives those perceptions. He is calling on STC-Montreal members to participate.

This study is intended to assess the perception of training and the drivers that underlie it. To get at these perceptions and drivers, Carliner’s research team will conduct interviews with users of training in three Information Technology departments in large, medium, and small-sized organizations. The study is funded by Concordia University’s Seed Grant Program.

Interviews will be conducted with front-line workers, and first-line and second-line managers. All responses will remain anonymous, as will the names of the organizations. The results of the study will be published in both academic and trade journals.

Carliner is looking for participation from STC-Montreal members. Your participation in the study can provide insights into how your organization approaches training and might provide insights into whether your organization is realizing the full benefit of its investment in training.

In addition to participating in an interview yourself, Carliner is looking for participants who can provide the researchers with access to three levels of employees in their organization (front-line workers, and first- and second-line management) for a series of interviews. The front-line employees would be interviewed together in one or two focus groups of 2 hours, with 6 to 12 participants. First- and second-line managers would be interviewed individually. Interviews last 45 minutes to one hour.

To participate or to learn more, contact Saul Carliner at saulcarliner [at] hotmail [dot] com.

Saul Carliner is an associate professor of educational technology at Concordia University in Montreal, where his teaching and research focus on the management of workplace communication and learning groups, and communication for the workplace and related management and evaluation issues. Also an industry consultant, he provides strategic planning services to organizations like Alltel Wireless, Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, IBM, and several government agencies. Among his publications are the best-selling Training Design Basics, Designing e–Learning, Advanced Web–Based Training (with Margaret Driscoll), and articles which won the Frank R Smith Outstanding Article Competition in 2000 and 2001. He is a board member of the Canadian Society for Training and Development, past Research Fellow of the American Society for Training and Development, and a Fellow and past international president of STC.