Abstract :
In multinational corporations, new models of learning are developing. A
particular model with direct applications for challenges facing distributed
workforces is one that combines the strengths of formal and informal learning
while focusing on participants’ work-based tasks. An operationalisation of this
model in the context of the ongoing professional development of the engineers,
geologists, and other technical specialists in a multinational oil company (Shell
EP) is described. Important for the quality control and continual improvement
of the implementation of the model is a set of criteria for the design and
evaluation of courses reflecting its work-based learning approach. Merrill’s
First Principles of Instruction (2002) form a starting point for such a model,
but need to be expanded to reflect the particular needs of the Shell EP context.
This article presents the expansion of Merrill’s First Principles as the
Merrill
+
design and evaluation criteria
for courses with work-based activities for technical
professionals and demonstrates how the criteria can be applied through a
selection of some results of evaluations of more than 60 of the Shell EP courses
using a course-scan methodology based on the Merrill
+
criteria. Implications
of use of the Merrill
+
criteria for design and evaluation are discussed.
