Performance Improvement Project - Research Paper Example

1139390 - PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (PIP) o Purpose for Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Performance improvement plans (PIPs) are used in institutions and organizations for the prime purpose of achieving improved outcomes with performance (quote). Because performance is a measure of the output of work, PIP is often used as an intervention to ensuring that the achievement levels with people delivering any form of task is improved. In the current situation, the PIP is to be used with the specific purpose of ensuring improved achievement among adult learners of a new language. This means that the target audience for the PIP is the adult learners whiles the performance to be improved is the second language to be acquired. One important feature of PIP is the fact that it works as a systematic guideline or plan that is implemented over a relatively long period of time. What this means for the current new learning management system is that the need for the learners to begin recording test scores that is most desirable will not be achieved as an event but a process. o Learning Objectives for the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Because the PIP is to be carried out as a process rather than an event, it is expected that it will be carried out in a systematic manner that has specific time frames within which specific objectives will be achieved. By implication, the collective achievement of the said objectives of the PIP is what must be put together to ensure or realize the overall achievement of the purpose of the PIP. This is because quote (year) noted that purposes, goals and aims of PIPs are always broad and long term expected outcomes. As a result, the best way to go about the purpose of the PIP is to ensure that there are well defined parameters within it that acts as objectives. For this new learning management system, the following objectives will be pursued. i. Learners will be able to acquire new oral skills in the acquisition of new language ii. Learners will be able to identify major differences in sentence construction in their existing language and the new language to be acquired iii. Learners will develop increased confidence level in their expression in new language. o Activities for Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Writing on PIP, quote (year) noted that the objectives that are set to be achieved represent specific tasks that must be carried out as part of the whole process. What this means is that to every objective, there must be very specific activities or tasks that must be performed if the objective can be achieved. Quote (year) advised that one unique feature that every PIP ought to possess is the need for it to be measurable. This is because it is only when the PIP can be measured that the implementers can tell whether or not it has achieved its purpose. With this said, the activities that must accompany the PIP must be such that they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound (SMART). Based on this, the following three activities are identified in line with the objectives set earlier. i. Learners will take role play in greeting people, taking messages, persuading people, seeking information, leading a group. ii. Use sentence cards that break sentences according to their main components as subjects and verbs to differentiate sentence construction in first language from second language iii. Learners to work in group in modifying their oral skills as stated earlier o Tools and Training to solve Performance Problem The activities that have been listed above can only be implemented successfully if the right tools are used together with effective training that addresses the objectives that have been raised earlier. The tools are expected to come in two major forms. The first has to do with tools that will be used at the instructional end, which are those to be used by teachers. The second are those that will be used at the learning end by the students. At the instructional end, such tools as teaching-learning materials (TLMs), audio-visual tools such as interactive PowerPoint and assessment materials shall be used. At the learner end also, such tools as notes taking materials, audio recording devices such as tape recorders, and assessment forms shall be used. o Evaluation Assessment of Learning Plan for Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) The importance of evaluation assessment of learning in any PIP was stressed by quote (year), who note that it is only through effective evaluation of learning that the real outcomes and impacts of the learning that has taken place can be measured. This means that without an evaluation assessment, the PIP would be virtually irrelevant. This is because it cannot be measured to know it the expected performance improvement has been achieved. In light with this, an evaluation assessment of learning plan will be developed. This will be a two-fold evaluation assessment plan made up of formative assessment and summative assessment. The formative assessment will be a form of continuous assessment which will comprise routine home works, quizzes and assignments (quote). There will also be a summative assessment in the form of end of course test which will be taken to comprise evaluation of all that learners have gone through since the beginning of the course. o Short Term Evaluation Assessment of Learning Plan The two forms of evaluation assessment will be expected to serve two different purposes. In terms of short term evaluation assessment of learning plan, there shall be the use of formative assessment. This is preferred for short term evaluation assessment of the learning plan given the fact that it can guarantee periodic evaluation of the learning that has already taken place (quote). Formative assessment can be as short term as daily evaluation of the learning that takes place in the classroom. There can be both formal and non-formal means of undertaking formative assessment. For example oral questions can be asked during lessons and at the end of lessons as non-formal formative assessment to evaluate how well learners have grasped topics that are taught (quote). The formal formative assessment is those that will take place within a well planned environment such as quizzes and assignments. But whether evaluation takes place in the form of formal or informal assessment, one advantage that it will render is that it will make it possible to give instant feedback to learners on their progress of learning. o Long Term Evaluation Assessment of Learning Plan Long term evaluation assessments are often one-time off and take place at the very end of the whole course. Long term evaluation assessments are necessary in taking decision about promotion of learners and whether they can be certified in the area they have studied (quote). From this, it can be seen that the best means to undertake long term evaluation assessment of the PIP would be to use the summative assessment method. One unique thing about the summative assessment method is that since it is a long term evaluation assessment plan, it is not used for the purpose of improving learning or correcting learning mistakes. Rather, it is used with the sole goal of taking decision about learners. It is therefore expected that before the summative assessment period will be reached, enough would be done with the formative assessment to improve student weaknesses. The long term evaluation will take place as a one-off examination. o Conclusion From the discussions above, it can be concluded that the PIP is a very useful aspect of learning that cannot be excluded if learners can be expected to achieve desirable learning outcomes. This is because the PIP helps in not just defining what learners are expected to do but it helps in knowing the specific problems and weaknesses that learners have and basing on these to define the right learning outcomes that they must exhibit. What is more, the PIP is a well connected and systematic approach to learning that ensures that all parts of the system are well connected and related. For example, the activities of learning are built from the objectives and the objectives are rightly linked to the purpose of the PIP. For the very best of results, it is expected that evaluation assessment will be taken very seriously at both the short term and long term levels so that it will be possible to know if the PIP has achieved its goals. Read More