I’m currently studying employees’ application of knowledge in unfamiliar situations.

One major part of the research methodology is the analyses of their behaviours, actions and processes they employ in undergoing team-problem solving and/or accomplishing missions of events on these experiential-in-the-outdoors courses. On these courses, these employees have to undergo events repeatedly, that though are different in nature but are basically exactly similar conceptually. For example, though the events per se are different, all of them basically require the use of knowledge of concepts, principles and theories of problem-solving; teamwork; communication; formal, informal and emerging leadership; management of resources; management of conflict; etc; that are analogous to `tools’ that could be used for any other events that are conceptually similar.

From the precourse assessment conducted, these knowledge (tools)they already have. And even if there were some elements of the knowledge they were not clear about or may not have before the course, by the time they completed the first exercise on the course, they would then have been equipped with what they lacked through their own analyses of the first exercise, their subsequent sharing from the presentations of the various learning points as findings of their analyses, and the folow-up elaborations by the Head Facilitator during the subsequent Central Reflection session.

One set of `obstacles’ that have lately waylaid me has been the nagging problems posed by various literature of the differences between the definitions of: education; learning; training; and development.

I hope some members could share with me some of their exposures they have had of the definitions above.

Col Nik Zainin (retired)
Col Nik-Zainin Rahman (retired)