Factors Affecting Motivation to Use Computer-Based Training.

Abstract

Billions of dollars are spent each year on training in an effort to increase productivity so businesses can stay competitive. However, little is known about factors that impact the trainee's decisions to use what they learned in these training programs, back on the job. Guided by a conceptual model of training evaluation and research, this research examined the influence of five sets of variables on training participant's motivation to use what they learned during a computer-based training (CBT) program in a large petro-chemical plant in southern Louisiana. The variables included in this study were: individual and general attitudes (love of learning, organizational commitment, and internal work motivation); situation specific attitudes (training attitudes and computer confidence); reaction (perceptions of the physical environment of the CBT program and content validity of the training materials); learning; and environmental factors (peer support, supervisor support, supervisor sanctions, and opportunity to use). Hierarchical regression was used to explore the relationships of the variable in the conceptual model and determine the amount of variance in motivation to transfer explained by each successive group of variables that entered the regression analysis. The hierarchical regression analysis produced a R$\sp2$ of.605. The first model, which contained only the individual and general attitudes, was significant and had an R$\sp2$ of.198. The next three successive models did not add significantly to the explained variance. However, a significant portion of additional variance (26.4%) was explained with the addition of the environmental variables in the last step of the hierarchical regression. These data suggest a holistic approach should be taken to improve motivation to transfer. Motivation to transfer appeared to be largely a function of individual and general attitudes, and environmental attitudes, both of which are outside the design of the training program. Several of the "earlier" entering variables were significant predictors but later became non-significant after the entry of additional variables, which suggested several mediated relationships and lends a measure of support to the conceptual model. In the final model the significant predictor variables were: opportunity to use; computer confidence; peer support; and supervisor sanctions.

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