Introduction
The AIP Qualification Framework is a tool for building a binary assessment system for an employee’s work activities (a personal potential assessment) and organizing isolated personal training tailored to business goals and objectives, including training for specific objectives to optimize execution timeframes.
The AIP Qualification Framework is based on the principles of lifelong learning and targeted application of competencies. These competencies are developed using the Adaptive Information Potential Methodology and applied using an inter-age individual potential map: the Dynamic AIP Map.
The AIP Qualification Framework enables the processes of assessment, training, and project management to be combined.
The AIP Qualification Framework solves such problems as:
- The inconsistency of units used to identify the goals and objectives of staff assessment and training.
- The lack of efficient staff training tools for specific company goals and objectives involving measurable sets of necessary basic actions, which together comprise an employee’s more complex professional duties.
- The gap between training processes and actual work activities, which makes it difficult to estimate the effect of staff training on how efficiently tasks are performed.
There are many disparate units currently in use in society that define the goals and objectives of assessment and learning, including:
- skill, experience, ability, knowledge
- specialty, course, test, examination, specialization, profession
- specialization, position, job description
- type of activity, professional duty, work activity
- branch of science, specialist group, specialty
- professional fields (Medicine, Law, Economics, etc.)
- domain, department, sub-department, sub-domain
- etc.
Due to the wide range of terms in use, the proposed AIP Qualification Framework uses the aggregated universal unit “Package” and the minimal unit “Adaptive Information Potential” (AIP). The content of a “Package” is determined by the multidimensional evaluative characteristics of the classification systems used. In the context of this document, a “Package” is also referred to as a “Competency” (or “Qualification,” to refer to an amalgamation of several competencies).
The unified system for hiring, training, and assessing the qualifications of an individual using the AIP Methodology is built around work activities. A work activity is a process of interaction between an employee and an object of labor, during which a certain task is performed. This is the lowest level of activity breakdown in the professional standard. The same goes for the Adaptive Information Potential.
An AIP /ˈeɪ ˈaɪ pɪː/ n [C], abbr.: (Adaptive Information Potential)is a piece of information containing a semantic core that is presented in several contexts and scenarios. It is evaluated using a binary assessment of the feasibility of its application (“carried out” or “not carried out”, “can do” or “cannot do”). It is a unit of information measurement, regardless of its nature or type.
Qualifications lifecycle
The AIP Qualification Framework ensures interaction between labor market and education participants throughout the qualification lifecycle.
The qualification lifecycle is implemented through the mechanisms of the AIP Methodology, such as:
- Qualification standard – assessment of ability to meet requirements, enabled by internal AIP binary proficiency assessment mechanisms.
- Professional standard – standardization of professional requirements, achieved through the universal unit “Package” and its adaptability to different classification systems.
- Educational standard – these requirements are mastered in line with the AIP training methodology through completion of multiple “Levels” and “Scenarios” according to the individual’s profile.
Training through AIP Qualification Management
Training principles
- INTERACTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. The learning process should enable a high level of interaction between the learner and the learning environment to allow the learner to build understanding.
- PURPOSE-BASED LEARNING. The learning process should contain clear learning goals and objectives that allow learners to actively and clearly monitor, evaluate, and develop their learning behavior to achieve these goals and objectives.
- OBJECTIVES AND FEEDBACK. The learning process must have a specific, clear, and valid purpose and goal that is appropriate and conducive to the achievement of the learning outcome(s). Activities should provide feedback to students about their performance and what they need to progress to the next level of achievement.
- CUMULATIVE LEARNING. The learning process should build knowledge and understanding that can be accumulated to achieve a clear and explicit learning goal. Lesson outcomes should be cumulative and shape the outcome of the course.
- STUDENT INTERACTION. The learning process should build understanding through student interaction, providing a forum for active discussion of their research in understanding and expertise in the field.
- PURPOSE-BASED SCENARIOS. The learning process should include purposeful activities that provide opportunities for students to develop their abilities and acquire knowledge through active, purposeful tasks and learning-by-doing in natural learning environments.
- EMBEDDED FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT. The learning process must include and integrate embedded formative assessment in which students receive constructive, descriptive, and formative feedback about their performance in comparison to other activities. Identifying and interpreting this feedback helps all participants to improve performance and achieve better results.
- LEARNING REQUIREMENTS, EQUALITY, AND INCLUSIVITY. All learning processes should include activities that address all student needs, learning styles, learning preferences, types of intelligence, and interests.
- EXTENDED PERFORMANCE EVALUATION. Lessons should include assessment tools and activities that measure and evaluate student learning in addition to the original activities and assessment tools.
Application of cognitive theories
Application of cognitive theories in learning involves considering the processes occurring in the body when new information is received. This response begins in the senses, passes through the cognitive system, and culminates in a response to the stimulus produced by the information.
The AIP Qualification Framework incorporates theories of cognition, which are based on the idea that each person perceives information according to the cognitive schemas available to him/her, many of which may be due to innate characteristics.
Genuine connections and bridges are made between courses and learning objectives. These range from functional occupational areas to cognitive mental processes such as: thinking skills, involved functions, learning styles, and behavioral mechanisms.
This ensures an individualized approach to each student, accelerating and improving the quality of their learning. Each student is personally matched to the appropriate “AIP Level,” nature of content, type of content, and delivery of content according to different “scenarios.” The selection of levels and scenarios is based on cognigraphic and non-cognigraphic data (for more information, read Cognigraphic Data) from which the personal characteristics of the learner’s profile are determined.
The following levels are built around the principle of tailoring AIP information to the personal characteristics of the learner’s profile (cognitive abilities, characteristics of perception, etc.) and user needs (learning objectives, course complexity).
- Types of levels according to the hierarchy of learning objectives (Bloom’s Taxonomy). AIPs can be divided into levels for each group of goals highlighted in Bloom’s Taxonomy:
- cognitive – related to learning and remembering
- psychomotor – related to the development of physical activity
- affective – related to the emotional component
- Levels according to learning style, highlighted in the work of A.F. Gregorс (1985). (*Gregorс Style Delineator: Development, Technical and Administration Manual. Columbia, CT:Gregorс Associates, Inc.)
- Concrete sequential (CS) – students prefer a sequential and orderly approach to organizing sensory information.
- Concrete random (CS) – students are risk-takers and learn mostly by trial and error, like to explore unstructured problems, take intuitive leaps in solving them, and use creative and original solutions to AIP problems.
- Abstract sequential (AS) – learners have strong analytical abilities and are logical thinkers, prefer verbal forms of learning, but also tend to picture concepts (for AS, a picture is worth a thousand words).
- Abstract random (AR) – students prefer unstructured environments and learn holistically. They demonstrate a preference for strictly visual perception of information and instructions.
- Levels by learning style highlighted in a research paper by P. Honey and A. Mumford, (1986b) (Learning Styles Questionnaire, Peter Honey Publications Ltd.)
- Theorist – these students like to understand the theory behind the activities.
- Reflective – these people learn by observing and reflecting on events.
- Pragmatist – this type prefers to see the practical, real-world application of what they learn.
- Activist – these people learn by doing.
- Division into levels according to the modalities of intelligence highlighted in Gardner’s work (Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. PBS. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2012.)
- Musical-rhythmic and harmonic – students show sensitivity to rhythm and sound;
- Visual-spatial – students think about physical space like architects and sailors;
- Verbal-linguistic – students use words effectively;
- Logical-mathematical – students can reason and calculate;
- Bodily-kinesthetic – students use their bodies effectively, like dancers or surgeons;
- Interpersonal – students understand and interact well with others;
- Intrapersonal – students understand their own interests and goals well;
- Naturalist – students learn well by nurturing and relating information to their natural environment;
- Existential – students use collective values and intuition to understand others and the world around them.
- Levels distinguished according to a person’s cognitive abilities (can be used either individually or grouped):
- Attention mechanisms
- Information processing speed
- Cognitive flexibility and control
- Working memory
- Categorization (classification)
- Pattern recognition and inductive reasoning
Application of different learning theories
Associationism
In essence, associative learning is a set of interrelated concepts in which learning is interpreted as associating stimuli with reactions (in operant conditioning), or stimuli with other stimuli (in classical conditioning), or stimuli with valences (in evaluative conditioning). The following standards have been set to ensure maximum implementation of the features of associationism and design principles.
Constructivism
Constructivism asserts that learning occurs only in an active constructive process involving concepts and knowledge. The learner forms knowledge and meaning through experiences. Some of the most influential subfields of cognitive research are: schema theory, information processing theories for problem solving and reasoning, levels of processing in memory, general competencies for thinking, mental models, and metacognitive processes.
Situational Learning
This theory focuses on the social aspect of learning and how knowledge is distributed in society. Knowledge is distributed through community interactions, where the intended learning outcomes are realized only by increasing the ability of individuals to successfully participate in these communities and practices.
Assessment through the AIP Qualification Framework
The unified system for hiring, training, and assessing the qualifications of an individual using the AIP Methodology is built around work activities.
A work activity is a process of interaction between an employee and an object of labor, during which a certain task is performed. This is the lowest level of activity breakdown in the professional standard. The same goes for the Adaptive Information Potential.
An AIP is a minimal element of any kind of human action, evaluated using a binary assessment of the feasibility of its application (“carried out” or “not carried out”, “can do” or “cannot do”).
The AIP Methodology system for evaluating work activities has the following characteristics:
- Complies with international and national industry standards, methodologies, and qualification frameworks;
- Provides for simultaneous individual assessment of employees of all qualification levels and occupations (from line personnel to senior managers);
- Enables a comprehensive assessment of an individual’s AIPs, covering informational and physiological AIPs as well as various bodily functions;
- Constructs a personal Dynamic Map on the basis of this assessment (Cognigraph). This is a new-generation digital qualifications passport that replaces the résumé;
- The Dynamic AIP Map reflects any changes in the qualifications of an employee, allowing his/her career trajectory to be forecasted;
- Acts as a personal auditor for verifying mastery of work activities and other skills.
Assessing AIP mastery
The AIP structure includes methods for assessing mastery and assigning the appropriate level. These are described in full in the AIP Methodology section.
The AIP ability assessment consists of two mandatory elements:
- The AIP ability test, which is designed to assess whether a student has mastered the AIP. It contains a series of test questions to be answered with “can” or “cannot.” It is used in the Initial Assessment phase.
- The AIP Full Assessment is a dynamically updated list of tests and assignments (or links to them) for evaluating the learner’s progress and performance in relation to the AIP being studied at all levels and scenarios. The AIP Full Assessment contains information about correlations between levels, if any. It is used in the “Mastering” and “Consolidating” phases.
Project management with AIP Qualification Management
Maximizing every employee’s potential is a key task for any company in the context of digital transformation, and one which ensures the achievement of the company’s strategic goals. This task remains a priority throughout the company’s entire HR cycle, from selecting promising applicants to building development paths for talent pool employees.
To fill vacancies in an environment where knowledge and skills rapidly become obsolete, when it comes to professional qualifications, the constantly changing requirements of the market and employers necessitate the use of modern techniques and technologies in human capital management systems and projects.
The AIP Qualification Framework allows you to:
- Provide employees with rapid training and refresher courses for specific project goals and objectives;
- Carry out continuous assessment of employees’ performance and mastery of the necessary competencies for specific tasks;
- Achieve a new level of efficiency in managing and maximizing employee potential;
- Provide employees with a sense of stability and predictability in their careers through clear development paths and an assessment of their actual potential;
- Manage employee productivity, making your company more resilient when operating in highly competitive global markets.
HR departments will gain access to a powerful tool allowing them to hire and train highly skilled workers and employees in key specialties to international standards with the help of technology for discovering and attracting talent and our human potential development methodology, AIP Methodology.
Toolkits
This set of IT tools to facilitate use of the AIP Qualification Framework at all stages includes:
- Virtual Campus – an online platform that provides students with access to educational content and the Qualification Assessment System.
- Cognigraph – an individual’s personal dynamic potential map, created using binary scores for theoretical and practical knowledge and psychomotor, cognitive, and other physiological capabilities, as well as other human activities.
- ADANEC Integrator – an access framework enabling our individual assessment and skill development solution to be easily integrated into corporate and third-party systems.
- ADANEC Editor – a content designer enabling materials to be quickly and easily created or existing materials to be adapted to contemporary requirements.
- ADANEC Repository – a cloud-based content management and team collaboration environment.
- Virtual Assistant – based on natural language processing (NLP) techniques. It provides personalized recommendations on the learning process and adapts to any digital environment on any device.
Benefits
The AIP Qualification Framework aims to standardize and update current professional requirements, based on:
- A methodology for adapting and updating theoretical and practical educational materials to meet modern professional requirements;
- Breakdown of competencies and qualifications into minimal actions to be performed (AIPs) to enable the training and assessment system to be tailored to specific tasks;
- Tools for developing adaptive training materials for approved and newly created professional standards or competency models (ADANEC Editor);
- An information database of competency models structured in the dynamic AIP map – Cognigraph, which replaces the Qualification Passport.
The AIP Qualification Framework permits evaluation of an individual’s qualifications through:
- A personal assessment of the actual capabilities of employees relative to their duties;
- Implementation of a mechanism for assessing and reflecting performance in the workplace in the Dynamic AIP Map (Cognigraph);
- A tool for constructing personal development paths for employees;
- Introduction of a certification standards system for competency levels and a mechanism for mandatory possession of basic competencies in the employee’s Dynamic AIP Map.
The AIP Qualification Framework provides for lifelong learning based on:
- The Dynamic AIP Map (Cognigraph), a new-generation qualification passport that enables achievements to be displayed and development paths forecast according to goals and objectives set throughout the passport-holder’s lifetime;
- In the context of the digital economy, independent certification (assessment) of competencies within the education system and the labor market makes it possible to monitor actual training levels and develop the potential of employees;
- The creation of an updated library of competency and qualification models, with training programs and independent assessment.