Matching learning conditions to explicit knowledge characteristics: informing employer-supported investments in individual human capital

Abstract

Employers are increasingly making investments in formal education in order to impart explicit knowledge to employees. However, employers rarely match the explicit knowledge sought with the delivery platforms available in formal education when making such investments. Due to inconclusive prior validation of such a match, this study explores the association between three explicit knowledge characteristics (conceptual, applied, and contextual), three delivery platforms (face-to-face, video-based, and blended), and learners’ reactions to video-based versus traditional instructor-led face-to-face lectures. Quantitative analysis of learners’ assessment data and qualitative content analysis of learners’ reactions from a survey of learning conditions revealed conclusive matches. The face-to-face delivery platform was salient for conceptual and applied explicit knowledge characteristics and its engaging, informative quality, but was faulted for being unreviewable. Technology-enabled video-based and blended were salient for the explicit knowledge characteristic that required review for contextualization, but were tempered by video-viewing fatigue due to loss of motivation over time.