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Streamlined job analysis for exam and training manual development. Andrew Martin Purdue Pesticide Programs. What is job analysis?.
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Streamlined job analysis for exam and training manual development Andrew Martin Purdue Pesticide Programs
What is job analysis? • Job analysis refers to the systematic collection and organization of data that describes what workers do and what [worker] qualities are necessary to perform a job.
Definitions • Tasks - Discrete units of work-related behavior • Competencies - The collective knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform a job • Knowledge - An article of information that jobholders need to know in order to perform the job • Skill - An acquired proficiency needed to perform a function or task • Ability - A stable attribute necessary for performing a range of tasks
Licensure testing: A balance between public protection and individual rights1 • Licensure tests focus on competencies critical to public protection. • Testing standards need to be sufficiently strict to protect the public, but not so strict as to be unreasonably demanding on the practitioner. 1 In this presentation licensure is synonymous with certification.
Why is job analysis the appropriate basis for licensure test development? • The proper approach to licensure test development is the adoption of standards advanced by the testing community. • Professional standards are articulated in Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999). • Standard 14.14 stipulates that job analysis is the primary basis for defining a credentialing test content domain.
A generalized job analysis model • Establish an SME committee. • Conduct worker interviews, observation, and document analysis. • Draft a survey instrument. • Pilot the job analysis survey. • Administer the job analysis survey to the survey sample. • Analyze the survey data and prepare a job analysis report.
National Railroad Contractors Association job analysis • NRCA was formed in1975. • There are currently five member companies. • The five member companies employ approximately 165 hi-rail and spray train operators. • The five member companies employ approximately 45 persons who supervise operators.
Railroad vegetation control operator interviews • Participant interviews yielded 119 job tasks organized under five functions: • I. Planning and Initiating Work Activities • II. Operating Spray Equipment • III. Monitoring Work Site Conditions • IV. Documenting Work Processes and Products • V. Maintaining a Clean Workplace and Functional Equipment. • Interviews also identified 27 broad competencies organized as 17 knowledge statements, four skills, four abilities, and two [other] characteristics. • Interview data formed the basis for a first round Delphi instrument mailed to 12 subject matter experts.
Delphi round one results • Delphi panelist responses to the round one survey instrument refined the preliminary draft of tasks and competencies to include 103 tasks and 27 competencies by recommending the • deletion of 23 tasks, • revision of 38 tasks, • addition of 7 tasks, • removal of 2 tasks to different functions, • deletion of 3 knowledge statements, • addition of 2 knowledge statements, • revision of 4 knowledge statements, and the • addition of 1 ability statement. • Delphi, round one results formed the basis for a second-round instrument mailed to [the same] 12 subject matter experts.
Delphi round two results • Delphi panelists rated each task on a five-point, Likert-type, importance scale. • Means and standard deviations were calculated for each task and tasks were prioritized accordingly within each function. • Delphi panelists assigned points, also according to importance, to the knowledge, skill, and ability statements, such that the sum of the points equaled 100. • Means were calculated for each knowledge, skill, and ability statement and statements were prioritized accordingly within knowledge, skill, and ability areas.
Implications for testing and training • Sufficient data was collected to develop a test plan. • There was a marked cost and time savings to analyst and industry participants. • Program instructors revised and reinvigorated a long-standing program.
Some thoughts on job analysis and test development • Remember that there is no single best job analysis method. • Don’t let concerns about generalized job analysis models become an impediment to collecting job-related data. • Adopt a job analysis method that meets your agency’s needs and accommodates the idiosyncrasies of the regulated occupation.