Measuring Learning In The Context of Knowledge Management

1. Measuring Learning In The Context of Knowledge Management Jing Luan (convenor) Andreea Serban Julie Slark Linda Umbdenstock Harriett Robles May, 2002

2. In 45 minutes… • Why Knowledge Management (KM) • Knowledge Management Concepts, Processes and Taxonomy • Examples of KM Applications • The Social Life of Knowledge Management – Strategies • KM as Organizational Capacity Building - Skill Sets • Q&A

3. Why Knowledge Management • Information overload • Technology advancement • Increased professional specialization • Competition • Job turnover and need to preserve employees’ knowledge • Capitalize on organizational knowledge

4. Key KM Concepts • Tacit Knowledge • Explicit Knowledge • Data => Information => Knowledge

5. Knowledge Content Knowledge Management Processes • Create • Discover • Realize • Conclude • Articulate • Discuss • Capture • Digitize • Document • Extract • Represent • Store • Organize • Structure • Catalog • Abstract • Analyze • Categorize • Access • Present • Display • Notify • Profile • Find • Use • Make • Improve • Perform • Service • Learn Collaborate Find Mediate Facilitate Augment Share Align People Processes Source: Gartner Research KM Content and Processes AS

6. KM Taxonomy of Products • Business Intelligence; • Knowledge Base; • Collaboration; • Content and Document Management; • Portals; • Customer Relationship Management; • Data Mining; • Workflow; • E-Learning; • Search. AS

7. Illustrated KM ModelsTiered Knowledge Management Model (TKMM) Tiers: Tiers: three Data Mining Knowledge Base Knowledge Workers one Portals CRM Middleware OLAP two Collaborative Working Environment (CWE) two one Data Warehouses Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Knowledge Mapping three Explicit Knowledge Tacit Knowledge

8. TIER THREE: Mining : Clementine, Enterprise Miner, Statistica, Mineset, Darwin, SpotFire Classical statistics SPSS, SAS, BMDP, SysStat TIER TWO Querying: BrioQuery, Business Objects, PowerPlay Access, Foxpro Online Data Processing: ASP, JSP, iHTML, XML TIER ONE Data Engines SQL Server, Oracle, Informix, Sybase, UniData, DB2 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) PeopleSoft, Datatel, SAP, Oracle, Banner Topography of Tiered Knowledge Management Model (TKMM) for explicit knowledge Illustrated KM ModelsTKMM: Explicit Knowledge Management Many information research projects fail due to lack of understanding of these three tiers, particularly in data extraction in Tier One.

9. From Theoretical Model to Application Model Decisions Insights Knowledge Competencies Accountability

10. What Others Have Said • Knowledge is information in Action – O’Dell and Grayson • Sharing knowledge is 90% culture, 5% technology and the rest is magic - Bob Buckman of Buckman Laboratories

11. KM Applications - SBCC • Santa Barbara City College KM Purposes • Improve Decision Making • Improve Access to Information • Increase Collaboration • Improve Understanding of Information • In Context • Timely • Organized and Structured

12. SBCC Portal Overview • Oracle iPortal • Decision Support • Document Management • Web Content Management • Database Administration • Campus Pipeline Portal • Single Sign-on and Authentication • Course Materials and Information • Web Instructional Delivery • Student E-mail

13. SBCC Institutional Research Role within the KM Framework BENEFITS Better information leads to better decisions! Improved sharing of internal and external information to minimize redundant efforts and lessen the work involved in external reporting Enhanced ability to develop up-to-date and market-focused strategic plans Shared knowledge from a variety of constituents to begin to create a “learning organization” responsive to change and innovation ROLE Create and maintain a portal for internal information that organizes the strategic plans, reports developed for various audiences, and ensures clear data definitions Create and maintain portal for external information, including benchmark studies, environmental scans, links to relevant research and publications Market “watch” developed with the Enrollment Management and Marketing committees to document trends and identify potential implications Repository of data related to accreditation, accountability, PFE, outcomes, institutional assessment, etc

14. The Social Life of… Knowledge Management . . . of Institutional Research . . . of Learning Outcomes Assessment • Create • Knowledge • How Do • You Know • How to • Create • Knowledge? Capture Knowledge Organize Knowledge Access Knowledge • Use • Knowledge • How Do • You • Facilitate • the Utility • of • Knowledge? KM Strategies Collaborate Find Mediate Facilitate Augment Share Align Aggregate Compare Select Combine Understand Participate People Processes

15. Knowledge Requires BehaviorsIt is not inert. • Data = Discrete facts • Information = Combinations of data that result in meaning • Knowledge = * Combination of information with minds of knowers * The unit of reference is one’s mind * Requires mental connection(s) – experience, value, context, expertise Thus, knowledge, and knowledge management, has a social, experiential, contextual nature.

16. To work with the minds of knowers, be strategic: • Understand frame of reference/ practitioners’ experiences, needs • Understand situational context(s) • Develop trust • Develop channels of interaction and • communication • Create • Knowledge • How Do • You Know • How to • Create • Knowledge?

17. Examples: • What knowledge would you share with a Board of Trustees in 15 minutes per year? • What knowledge does a college need to create a plan? • What new knowledge have you acquired at the end of every work week?

18. Ask the right questions – collaborate when creating knowledge • Communicate well and frequently • Position oneself strategically in the organization • Use • Knowledge • How Do • You • Facilitate • the Utility • of Knowledge?

19. Knowledge Management as Organizational Capacity-Building "Knowledge is information that changes something or somebody -- either by becoming grounds for actions, or by making an individual (or an institution) capable of different or more effective action." -- Peter F. Drucker in The New Realities

20. Transmission/Dissemination Discipline framework Empirical research Linear Validity & reliability Knowledge management Archiving & accessing conclusions, how to’s Relating to existing knowledge Creation/Ownership/Use Discipline framework Action research: theories in action Systems mapping Multiple perspectives Knowledge processing Context: Culture of applicability Credibility Communities of Practitioners define “good practice” Meaning & Motivation Institutional Memory From Data & Information Systems to Shared Knowledge: Using What We Learn to Strengthen College Capacity

21. Organizational Strategies for KM • Investing in a diversified portfolio of intellectual & talent capital • Communicating “cross culturally” • Connecting networks of practitioners • Leveraging what we know into action • Invoking new mental maps for change

22. Skill Sets Needed for RP-ers • Technical Skills • Communication Skills • Multiple media proficiency (written, oral, multi-media) • Multiple audiences (level/type of knowledge, purposes/uses, styles) • Complexity to simplicity • Application to new problems • Analogies, visuals, virtual, simulations • CollaborationSkills • Knowledge Ecology—useful to various practitioner groups in context capable of moving to action dynamic, contextual information sharing • Integrative Planning—action oriented, practical, fruitful, connected value-based, vision-oriented • Organizational Development Methodologies & Design • Facilitation and Team-building Skills among multiple types of players • Naturalistic Inquiry Methodologies, Assessment Processes

23. Leadership Skills for RP-ers • Organizational intelligence • Generative, innovative, knowledge leverage • Initiation of multi-perspective dialogue • Synthesis, holistic perspective • Trusted, yet politically astute • Culture changing, transformative, pervasive, long perspective

24. Assessment in a KM Perspective • Context: setting up for institutional learning with a bias toward action (focus on improvement) • Communities of Practitioners working across disciplines & groups vs. private enterprise instruction • Credibility: creating a means of dialogue vs. tasking • Motivation: creating a positive reinforcing experience • Meaning: internalizing the experience over time • Memory (Institutional): moving forward & reinforcing what works w/new applications and extensions

25. KM in the Community College Workplace • Sound familiar? • Why on earth did we ever decide to do it this way? • In the 2 hours I spent looking for that one number, I could have done the original research myself. • When she retires, we are in deep trouble. No one else can do her job. • Never mind learning outcomes. The biggest challenge on this campus is finding out how to replace a projector bulb.

26. KM in the Community College Workplace • What we need is a repository for our information and knowledge that is: • Accessible • Current • Searchable • Useful • User friendly • NOT a cure that is worse than the disease.

27. KM in the Community College Workplace • West Valley College Skunk Works • Research Analyst • Assessment Coordinator • Dean, Information Technology & Services • Staff Development Coordinator • Dean, Instruction & Matriculation • Indispensable Ed.D. student w/KM experience in industry

28. Contacts Jing Luan, Ph.D. Chief Planning and Research Officer, Cabrillo College jing@cabrillo.cc.ca.us Harriett Robles, Ed.D. Dean, Instruction and Matriculation, West Valley College harriett_robles@wvmccd.cc.ca.us Andreea Serban, Ph.D. Director, Institutional Assessment, Research and Planning, Santa Barbara City College, Serban@sbcc.net Julie Slark Assistant Vice Chancellor, Educational Services, Rancho Santiago CCD Slark_Julie@rsccd.org Linda Umbdenstock, Ph.D. Administrative Dean of Planning, Long Beach City College lumbdenstock@lbcc.cc.ca.us