{ Learner Performance Analysis }
CPResearch conducts a wide variety of behavioral research to support the development of command performance.
{ Instructional Design }
CPResearch uses a combination of behavioral research and educational program evaluation findings to optimally fit instructional designs to learner need and provider readiness.
{Organizational Implementation}
CPResearch has been involved in educational program evaluation since its founding, investigating ways to conceptualize and measure the adult learning process.
Using 3D-Animated Stories to Promote Social Learning
Social learning—the process by which people learn from each other—is essential for sustaining professional expertise and requires interaction with others. When learning communities are geographically distributed (i.e., their members are not located in the same place), group interaction must take place over the Internet. Distributed learning communities are becoming increasingly common, however stimulating productive discussion can be difficult to achieve in online settings. With funding from the U.S. Army Research Institute and the U.S. Army Battle Command Knowledge System, we investigated the use of 3D-animated stories for stimulating online conversation about leadership, culture, and negotiation.
Our stories, Trouble at Checkpoint 4 and BREAKDOWN, were produced in collaboration with Auteur Media. Consistent with well-established methods for testing experience-based knowledge and situational judgment, both stories feature a critical incident that remains unresolved at the video's end. Supporting materials are provided with the videos to help discussion leaders stimulate knowledge sharing and reflection on how to handle the incident (or related incidents) and how such problems could be prevented. BREAKDOWN also features a short-curriculum, designed by Dr. Dan Shapiro of Harvard University, to help discussion leaders foster understanding of the role emotions play during negotiation.
Click the images below to see Checkpoint 4 and BREAKDOWN for yourself.
Checkpoint 4 (top): An otherwise routine checkpoint operation in Iraq goes awry when an Iraqi citizen refuses to allow his car to be searched.
BREAKDOWN (below): Two U.S. Army advisors attempt to convey the importance of fuel accountability to their Afghan Army counterpart while the media looks on.
Need help with the video?
To play the BREAKDOWN video, please use the free VLC media player. Here’s how to install it:
- 1. Download a “VLC media player” file from this page.
- 2. After the download completes, double click the file which was downloaded to your Desktop, and follow its instructions.
- 3. That’s it! You can use this program to watch the video.
Related Publications
Cianciolo, A. T. & Evans, K. M. (in press). Distributed communities of practice. To appear in J. Lee & A. Kirlik (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Engineering. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cianciolo, A. T., Cianciolo, D., Prevou, M. I., & Morris, R. F. (2007). Using digital storytelling to stimulate discussion in Army professional forums. Proceedings of the Interservice/Industry Training, Education, & Simulation Conference (I/ITSEC). Orlando, FL. Best Paper Nominee
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Organizational Analysis of Training & Education
Ultimately, the successful implementation of professional development comes down to people. People must specify the organizational outcomes to be achieved by training and education, which in turn drive the selection of instructional strategies and learning environments. People must provide instruction and technological support and track whether investments and activities are producing the intended effects. People must participate in learning, and learning must compete with other demands on professionals' time. Behavioral research can be applied to organizational analysis in order to understand and quantify the impact of these human factors on professional development. Through people, the organization must set and maintain the necessary conditions for training and education.
We have conducted multiple U.S. Army Research Institute-funded studies to support the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command in its efforts to adopt advanced instructional strategies and learning environments. In one set of studies, we investigated methods for assessing the learning impact of instructional technology. We developed a generalizable logic model for specifying how investment in technology affects the organizational bottom line. Our findings highlighted the importance of organizational policy and social networks to maximizing return on investment. In ongoing research, we are exploring techniques the Training and Doctrine Command can use to better prepare Army instructors to facilitate problem-based learning. This instructional method is widely used in civilian education to foster problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and we are identifying ways to implement it in Army training and leader development.
Related Publications
Cianciolo, A. T., Grover, J., Bickley, W. R., & Manning, D.(2011).Problem-based learning: Instructor characteristics, competencies, and professional development (Research Report No. 1936). Arlington, VA: U. S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Cianciolo, A. T. (2008). Program Evaluation Metrics for U.S. Army Lifelong Learning Centers (LLCs): Extension to Military Operational Specialty (MOS)-Based LLCs (Study Report No. 2008-05). Arlington, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Cianciolo, A. T. (2008). Further investigations of Army Lifelong Learning: An enhanced assessment framework. Proceedings of the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, & Education Conference (I/ITSEC). Orlando, FL.
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Cianciolo, A. T. (2007). Program evaluation metrics for U.S. Army Lifelong Learning Centers (Technical Report No. 1196). Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Cianciolo, A. T. (2007). U.S. Army lifelong learning: Program assessment metrics and initial results. Proceedings of the Interservice/Industry Training, Education, & Simulation Conference (I/ITSEC). Orlando, FL.
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Computer-Based Negotiation Skills Training
Solving today's problems requires the assembly of diverse teams of experts, many of whom come from different organizations and who have contrasting views on how to handle the situation. Examples of such problems abound, including corporate mergers, government budgeting, labor-management disputes, post-disaster relief management, and health care reform. To work together successfully and have a lasting impact, the members of these problem-solving teams must know how to uncover each others' interests and integrate them into an innovative solution that everyone can live with.
Funded by the U.S. Army Research Institute, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the collaborative problem solving process (also known as consensus building or multiparty interests-based negotiation). Our goal was to design computer-based instruction that would improve foundational consensus building skills. We used our research to develop the Interagency Consensus Forum (ICF), which addresses joint civilian and military problem solving in the context of post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction. The ICF uses a phased, crawl-walk-run approach that first presents multimedia instruction on basic skills, then provides opportunities to practice these skills in a series of online negotiation role-play exercises.Click here to watch an introductory video of the ICF.
To watch the video, download Adobe's Flash Player.
Related Publications
Cianciolo, A. T., LaVoie, N., Foltz, P., & Pierce, L. G. (2009). Augmented performance environment for enhancing interagency coordination in stability, security, transition, and reconstruction (SSTR) operations (Tech. Rep. 1246). Arlington, VA: U. S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Cianciolo, A. T., LaVoie, N., Lauper, U., & Foltz, P. (2008). Emerging concepts in interagency coordination training. Proceedings of the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, & Education Conference (I/ITSEC). Orlando, FL.
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Interpersonal Trust in Networked Teams
Information technology has become the backbone of modern work, enabling larger, more diverse teams to take on more complex problems. Shared information systems come with the promise that they will enhance information sharing, improve coordination, and accelerate decision making. Introducing technology into an occupational environment, however, does not eliminate the “human dimension” of collaborative work. Factors such as information system design, team structure, and work coordination procedures can influence interpersonal interaction in unanticipated ways that undermine the expected benefits of technology.
In a U.S. Army Research Institute-funded research project, we are exploring how interpersonal trust functions in large-scale military command and control teams. These teams have many of the same characteristics as civilian work teams, including shared information systems (some interoperable, some not), partial geographic distribution (some team members located together, some not), cross-organizational alliances, and cultural diversity. To begin our investigation, we conducted a comprehensive literature review on trust in people, in technology, and in networked groups. Together with our collaborators at Dynamics Research Corporation, we are now developing a set of laboratory experiments to test our hypotheses about the factors that influence trust and its development and maintenance in networked teams.
Related publications
Cianciolo, A. T., Evans, K. M., DeCostanza, A. H., & Pierce, L. G. (in press). Trust in distributed military operations. To appear in N. Stanton (Ed.), Trust in Military Teams. Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Evans, K. M., Cianciolo, A. T., Hunter A. E., & Pierce, L. G. (2010). Modeling interpersonal trust in distributed command and control teams. Proceedings of the 15th International Command and Control Research & Technology Symposium. Santa Monica, CA.