Review No. 8

Here's one more from Adel Alkeaid, a Ph.D. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on ISO 9000 and creativity in community colleges:

This article goes down a slightly different path with ISO 9000, but still within the framework of an area close to instructional design, the area of teaching and learning.  The setting is in community colleges, which is still dealing with adult education, the general umbrella that covers military training as well. Among several questions the author asks about the relationship of ISO 9000 to adult learning is one about the advantages and disadvantages of implementing ISO 9000 in community colleges. Another is whether or not ISO 9000 standards can be implemented in community colleges while preserving some flexibility. Finally, the author asks where ISO 9000 fits in the continuum from behaviorism to constructivism, of which both theories are reflected in military technical training (p. 657/para 1).

The author’s main interest is “to examine the relationship between the ISO 9000 standard and creativity” (p. 657/para 1). However, this is beyond the scope of the current study on the impact of ISO 9000 registration on instructional design and development efforts in military training. Therefore, the intent is to glean information that has more relevance to that topic. Nevertheless, one statement the author quotes from Cropley (2001) is very interesting and applicable to the general topic of military training. Cropley (2001) cites research findings in Australia that indicate 75% of all new college graduates are deficient in the skills of “creativity, problem solving, and independent and critical thinking” (p. 159). Certainly these are skills that could impact the military member’s survival on the battlefield. Alkeaid wants to know how ISO 9000 registration can impact these skills.

Alkeaid posits that from a behaviorist perspective, creativity depends on whether or not the learner faces a stimulus-rich environment. Much of military training today starts in the classroom, not usually a very stimulating environment. However, these initial training lessons often incorporate a SmartBoard display which presents the lesson in graphic form, coupled with individual computer workstations for the learners which duplicate the presentation on the monitor, followed by testing and graphically simulated application. After these initial training lessons, the learners are often presented with further training with mock-ups, active training devices for hands-on practice, and full-fledged simulators that combine the “actual equipment” with a graphical interface, such as a flight simulator (2007, para 8).

However, Alkeaid (2007) asserts that “According to constructivism, discovery learning is one of the most important techniques to foster creativity” (para 19). Thus, he puts creativity at the far end of constructivist theory rather than behaviorist. Certainly, military training is traditionally “by the book” and is built on procedures and checklists which do not usually encourage discovery learning. Alkeaid also cites Argyris (1993), the proponent of double-loop learning. Alkeaid identifies the behaviorist approach with what Argyris (1993) calls single-loop learning, which is defined as “the learning that occurs when intended goals are accomplished” and “is relevant for routine, repetitive” situations (para 20). Thus, Alkeaid (2007) surmises, ISO 9000 “is more likely consistent with the theory of behaviorism by specifying objectives and controlling the learning or working environment in order to achieve pre-specified objectives” (para 20). This one concept alone would seem to support an association between ISO 9000 standards and instructional design and development efforts in military training.

Alkeaid is pro-ISO 9000. The author feels that adopting ISO 9000 in community colleges “would help them to make sure that their graduates are qualified and meet the criteria that business and universities require” (para 24). This is based first on the organization of administrative work and procedures that flows from ISO 9000. Secondly, ISO 9000 adoption would include providing each student and parent with a quality manual to keep them informed as to the college’s goals, giving them a basis from which to evaluate achievement of those goals. Third, ISO 9000 focuses on training, which would be of great benefit to instructors and staff. Finally, businesses and universities recognize the ISO 9000 registration as synonymous with consistency and quality. Thus they are more prone to hire or accept these graduates based upon the ISO 9000 registration of the community college.

Nonetheless, while Alkeaid assembles and synthesizes a great deal of research and theory, he does not offer any new evidence based on any studies of his own. Though he logically and cogently presents his argument, that is, in the end analysis, all it is: an argument. And, after all, isn’t “argument” just another word for “opinion”?

References:

Alkeaid, A. (2007). ISO 9000 and creativity: Potential advantages of implementing ISO in community colleges. College Student Journal, 41(3), 657-667. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Argyris, C. (1993). Organizational learning II: Theory, method, and practice. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.

Cropley, A.J. (2001). Creativity in education and learning: A guide for teachers and educators. London: Kogan Page.