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On-the-Job Learning in the Software Industry Marc Sacks

On-the-Job Learning in the Software Industry By Marc Sacks

On-the-Job Learning in the Software Industry by Marc Sacks


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Summary

Then, proceeding from the environment to the systems to be learned, the author schematizes all of the resources professionals use on the job--their experiences and thought processes, documentation, their colleagues, the computer, and the software system itself--as learning tools.

On-the-Job Learning in the Software Industry Summary

On-the-Job Learning in the Software Industry: Corporate Culture and the Acquisition of Knowledge by Marc Sacks

Developments in industry in recent years have made employee learning a critical factor in organizations' success. The ever-faster pace of technological development and the variety of tasks that business professionals must perform mean that on-the-job learning is a constant, too quick and vital to be left to training departments. And yet, management knows too little about how workers learn on the job and does not give sufficient time and effort to understanding this process. As learning is largely left to chance, it is amazing that it happens at all, and well enough to enable workers to be productive and not to destroy each other's work. This book explores the daily work lives and learning experiences of programmers and other professionals in the computer-software industry. The book focuses on the staff of one small software firm, allowing workers to tell their own stories, describing their work and their use of all the resources available to them in learning the complex systems they are required to develop and maintain. Based in qualitative sociological method, it is an ethnography of a business setting as well as a study of learning.

After describing the professional world in which programmers work, the book introduces the company to be discussed and the backgrounds of the participants in the study. Then, proceeding from the environment to the systems to be learned, the author schematizes all of the resources professionals use on the job--their experiences and thought processes, documentation, their colleagues, the computer, and the software system itself--as learning tools. All of this material is then related to academic models of learning style, which are mostly found not to be very relevant, as they are not grounded in the life experiences of workers. The author advocates that professionals' learning be modeled in context, that training be developed from experience rather than from theory, and that management strive to build a workplace and an organizational culture as conducive as possible to employees' continual learning.

About Marc Sacks

MARC SACKS is an Advanced Systems Engineer with Electronic Data Systems. His areas of expertise include software development, training, documentation, and quality. His research interests include on-the-job learning, organizational behavior, and qualitative methodologies. He is involved in a variety of professional and community activities relating to education, computers, and research.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Background The Programmer's World The Participants' Background Learning the Environment Repertoires of Thinking Written Materials People as Resources Working at the Computer Building the System Models of Learning Conclusions and Recommendations Bibliography Index

Additional information

NPB9780899308654
9780899308654
0899308651
On-the-Job Learning in the Software Industry: Corporate Culture and the Acquisition of Knowledge by Marc Sacks
New
Hardback
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
1994-09-30
224
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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