CHAPTER 2

How Do You Learn?

What do you know about learning? Have you ever thought about it? You’ve been learning since you were born. In fact you can learn a great deal by observing how a baby learns. Volumes and volumes have been written about how people learn. In this chapter I only have space to scratch the surface. This chapter introduces you to key theories that provide solid grounding for how people learn.

Training is a method to enhance performance. Whenever a person’s ability to perform a job is limited by a lack of knowledge or skill, there’s an opportunity to bridge the gap by providing the required instruction.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Not really. The problem begins with the fact that learning something you don’t already know requires another person (a trainer) or medium (a book, smartphone, or computer) to provide it. Trainers need to think about not only what, but how they are covering the topic, making sure they do not prevent the learner from uncovering it themselves. This only happens by virtue of the learner’s own activity. Ultimately, you—or a book or a computer—cannot do the work for the learner.

Ensuring that learning occurs requires knowledge of how adults learn and all the techniques available to you as a trainer. Most often the key to effective training is how the learning activities are designed and delivered—the participants should acquire the knowledge and skills rather than merely receive them. Trainers do not deliver knowledge and skills; they facilitate learners to acquire them.

There is so much more to training than “show and tell.” Learning is not an automatic consequence of pouring information into another’s head. It requires the learner’s own mental involvement and participation. Lecturing and demonstrating, by themselves, will not lead to real, lasting learning. Only trainers who facilitate participants to take control of their own needs will ensure learning lasts.

 

 

What Happens When Learning Occurs?

As mentioned in chapter 1, there are four learning theories that attempt to describe what is happening when we learn:

• Constructivism focuses on knowledge acquisition through experiences and interactions with the environment. When you learn you use previous knowledge to “construct” new understanding.

• Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior and the reasons that learning occurs when strengthening or weakening associations between stimuli and responses. Learning designs would include chunking and creating objectives.

• Cognitivism is based on the idea that learning occurs when you store information in long-term memory. Learning is based on how content is processed, stored, and retrieved, relying on Gagné’s nine conditions of learning.

• Connectivism explains how Internet technology has created new opportunities for learning by using networks to access information you need, when you need it.

So which theory is correct? All of the above. It appears that cognitivism replaced behaviorism in the 1960s as the dominant paradigm, but if you want to be practical, all four theories have strengths depending upon what the learner needs to learn. According to Darryl Sink (2014), good designers select the best practice from all four theories based on the desired results.

Let’s build on these learning theories and examine other areas that help define how you learn best: adult learning principles, cognitive science, and the 70-20-10 framework.

Adult Learning Principles

Malcolm Knowles is considered the father of adult learning theory in the United States. He took the topic of adult learning from theory to practice with his adult learning theory assumptions and principles. He popularized the word andragogy to describe the growing body of knowledge about how adults learn. His easy-to-read book The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species, published in 1973, took the topic from theoretical to practical.

So, what’s so special about these principles? They have deep and foundational meaning to trainers. When training adults, Knowles believed that:

1. They need to know why something is important. Adults have a need to know why they should learn something before they’ll invest time in a learning event. As trainers, we must ensure that the learners know the purpose for training as early as possible. Participants need to know how this information or content is going to affect them, why they should care, and how it will make a difference.

2. They have a self-concept of who they are. Adults enter any learning situation seeing themselves as self-directing, responsible grown-ups and don’t like taking directions from others. Therefore, trainers must help adults identify their needs and direct their own learning experience. They will establish their own goals.

3. They bring life experiences and want to be recognized. Adults come to a learning opportunity with a wealth of experience and a great deal to contribute. Trainers will be more successful if they identify ways to build on and make use of adults’ hard-earned experience and knowledge.

4. They prefer relevance. Adults have a strong readiness to learn those things that will help them cope with daily life effectively. Training that relates directly to situations adults face will be viewed as more relevant.

5. They are practical. Adults are willing to devote energy to learning those things that they believe will help them perform better or solve problems. Trainers who determine needs and interests and develop content in response to those needs will be most helpful to adult learners.

6. They are internally motivated. Adults are more responsive to internal motivators, such as increased self-esteem, than they are to external motivators, such as higher salaries. Trainers can ensure that this internal motivation is not blocked by barriers, such as a poor self-concept or time constraints, by creating a safe learning climate.

Learner Questions

Knowles’s assumptions highlighted questions participants ask themselves when entering a training session. As adults we wonder:

• Why do I need to know this?

• Will I be able to make some decisions or are you going to re-create my grade-school memories of having to obey the teacher?

• Why am I here? How do I fit? What do they think they can teach me?

• How is this going to simplify my life? How will this make my job easier?

• Do I want to learn this? How will it help me?

• Why would I want to learn this? Does this motivate me? Am I open to this information?

Apply Adult Learning Theory

Theory and principles are great, but it is not enough to simply know adult learning principles. You must be able to apply them. They should become part of your basic makeup as a trainer. Think about how to incorporate each of Knowles’s principles in your future designs and in your delivery. Think about what you could do to address your participant’s concerns. We’ll review these as they relate to design in chapter 3 and delivery in chapter 7.

Cognitive Science

Cognitive science helps you understand how knowledge is held together in a “mental model,” how you process it, and how you remember it. It is all related to the input, short- and long-term memory, and how these three stages work together. Trainers need to ensure that the content is relevant, and remember that short-term memory can only handle two to four chunks of information at a time. This means that to be successful as a trainer you should draw on personal memory, use questions to help structure a mental model, work with multiple senses to grab attention quickly, and structure information in short chunks.

So how does the brain work? John Medina (2008), author of Brain Rules, says, “We have no idea. We are still in the very beginning stages of understanding the basics.” The brain is made up of between 50 and 100 billion neurons that transmit chemical and electrical signals to form networks (Jensen 2008). Stimuli cause signals to be sent from one neuron to another across a synapse (tiny gap). Thousands of neurons connect using trillions of synaptic connections. We’ve known for more than 30 years how important it is to strengthen and build these neuron bridges to teach a skill or change behavior.

Memories are not held in one part of the brain, but are scattered throughout different regions. Retention is achieved by repeatedly drawing them all together (sometimes with different results). Cognitive scientists study learning to determine how the brain reacts to different stimuli in different environments. They help us understand how social, environmental, and physiological changes affect learning (Halls 2014).

This is not about quick fixes, but about understanding our learners better.

What Can We Learn From the Study of Neuroscience?

In her ATD Science of Learning blog post, “What Do You Know About Brain Science and Adult Learning,” Patti Shank (2016) tells us that we have learned little from neuroscience and that many of the things being attributed to neuroscience are really cognitive science. But we hear something attributed to “neuro” almost daily. It seems that most of what is related to our profession is actually from cognitive science. However, using terms such as neuroscience or brain science are more appealing than cognitive science, and marketing departments have co-opted both terms!

Disappointed? Don’t be. Neuroscience has made understanding what’s known about cognition and adult learning cool again. Ultimately, it’s good that people are seeking out scientific approaches, but they may have a foundational misunderstanding about where those findings come from.

What’s the difference between neuroscience and cognitive science? Neuroscientists are proficient in methods of scientific inquiry and neuroimaging. They offer a descriptive approach. Cognitive scientists actually offer prescriptive approaches and suggestions for how we can support learning. Unfortunately, neuromyths abound (Corballis 1999). For example, humans only use 10 percent of our brains; we have different learning styles; we use different sides of our brains for different tasks; and novices and experts think the same way.

I’m amused at some of the statements attributed to neuroscience: physiology affects learning; people learn better in a safe environment; learners respond best when they are solving real problems; trainers should use visual aids to enhance learning. Isn’t that what Malcolm Knowles professed in the last century? Bringing these important basic adult learning principles to light is positive. No matter which science gets the credit, it is important. It’s up to you to take these scientific facts and artfully build them into your training design or delivery.

What Is Neuroscience?

Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary science that looks at thought, emotion, and behavior using sophisticated technology such as brain-scanning devices. Its popularity is due to a form of brain imaging called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures brain activity and translates it into the colorful pictures you’ve seen in news sources and journals for every profession. Unfortunately, neuroscience is not responsible for as many things as you may have heard.

Why the fascination? Well, first it’s about people! It’s about your brain and my brain, and it’s captivating to learn what makes everyone tick. (I’m sure you’ve taken one of those quick 10-question quizzes to learn how you rate on your career, IQ, personality, saving habits, or another facet of who you are and how you think.) Your brain is the most complex structure known to mankind. And now neuroscience promises that you can understand it better in colored pictures.

Neuroscience has been linked to finding answers in politics, marketing, addiction, mental illness, hiring, and even in training and learning. As Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld (2013) state in their book, Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience, “To regard research findings as settled wisdom is folly … from a technology that is still poorly understood.” A great deal of information is available, but the snags lie in the interpretations. Scientists can’t just look inside your brain to find answers—maybe someday, but not today.

Fact or Fiction?

So how can you separate any scientific fact from fiction? Stella Collins (2015) suggests that there are six questions you should ask about any scientific fact:

1. Who did the research?

2. What’s on their agenda?

3. Where was it published first?

4. When was it published?

5. How was the science conducted?

6. What does the result really say?

The bottom line is that you need to be wary of what you read and even more wary of what you hear. Anyone who says they have the magic elixir based on neuro-anything probably doesn’t have anything you need or want.

The Reality of 70-20-10

In the 1980s colleagues who worked at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in North Carolina set out to conduct research about how leaders learned the craft of leadership. The team included Morgan McCall Jr., Michael Lombardo, and Ann Morrison. Their research concluded that 70 percent was learned as hands-on experience on the job and directed by the individual’s manager; 20 percent was learned through developmental interactions that some now call social learning; and 10 percent was learned through formal learning that consisted of classes, workshops, or reading (Lombardo and Eichinger 2011). The research came to be known as the 70-20-10 framework—perhaps one of the most well-known sets of numbers in our profession.

The framework continues to serve as a valuable guideline for using a wide variety of developmental options. As talent development professionals we are experts in the 10 percent category—delivering training or programs—but are still creating a place for ourselves in the other two. Lombardo and Robert Eichinger adapted the research that led to the current 70-20-10 framework. Today 70-20-10 is often used as a talent development strategy aimed at improving workplace performance. Chapter 4 is dedicated to the 70-20-10 framework, so all we’ll note here are a few bullet points about its relationship to how we learn:

• The purpose of 70-20-10 was always meant to serve as a rough guide to help think about how people develop.

• The numbers project a solution that isn’t as simple as it first appears.

• The numbers will never be exact and an organization should use them as a guide not an absolute.

• Three essential ingredients to learning must accompany the framework: challenging tasks, support from others (which includes feedback), and a supply of new content.

• The 70-20-10 framework is a powerful holistic approach.

• The guidelines are more relevant today than ever before.

• Although formal learning is only 10 percent or so, it is critical to gain new information and learning.

• The best learning strategy is one that draws upon elements of all three categories.

And the Winner Is

You may have heard about the formal versus informal battle. Which is better? Well it turns out neither is better. We need both to learn, grow, and develop. Most of us in this profession, however, need to learn more about how we can support and encourage more of the informal elements. We need to uncover, discover, or perhaps even create a new role for ourselves and our organizations that support managers and employees to be thoughtful about implementing more learning on the job and through social connections.

Adult learning principles, cognitive science, neuroscience, how we learn—is your head spinning yet? Let’s begin to think about how you can use this information as a trainer.

How Trainers Create Successful Learning Experiences

Combining what you know from adult learning theory, cognitive science, and the 70-20-10 framework allows you to create effective learning experiences for your participants.

For people to learn something well, they must hear it, see it, question it, discuss it, and do it. They may even teach it to someone else to solidify their understanding of the information or skill. An active approach to training requires a variety of strategies that promote all six processes—hearing, seeing, questioning, discussing, doing, and teaching. Take time to consider more fully how each of these learning experiences emanates from the science of learning. Determine how you can add to them so they work for you.

Involve Multiple Senses

You probably know that participants retain less when listening to a lecture and more when what they hear is paired with a visual; they retain even more when they practice by doing. There are several reasons why most adults tend to forget what they hear. One of the most interesting has to do with the rate at which a trainer speaks and the rate at which participants listen.

Most trainers speak at about 180 words per minute. But how many of these words do participants hear? It depends on how they are listening. If the participants are really concentrating, they might be able to listen attentively to about half of what a trainer is saying. That’s because participants are thinking while they are listening. Even if the material is interesting, it’s hard to concentrate for a sustained period of time. Participants probably hear at the rate of 400 to 500 words per minute. When they are listening for a sustained period of time to a trainer who is talking more slowly at 180 words per minute, they are likely to get bored and their minds will wander. A steady diet of lecture is problematic, because the lecturer and the listener are often not in sync.

To alleviate the audio bombardment of lecturing, master trainer Becky Pluth Pike (2016), CEO of The Bob Pike Group, recommends that participants should be given a chance every eight minutes to internalize what they have been hearing before it’s simply supplanted by the next wave of information. Ruth Clark (2014) points out that still visuals are helpful to learning, and generally impose less mental load than animated visuals. Still visuals have been shown to be more effective for teaching general content (animated visuals are better for procedures). That could be true because between 80 to 90 percent of all information that is absorbed by the brain is visual (Jensen 2008).

When teaching has both an auditory and a visual dimension, the message is reinforced by two delivery systems. It helps to not only use presentation slides along with meaningful words, but several other sources of visual information too, such as objects, documents, or vivid stories. Some people prefer one mode of delivery over the other. By using both you have a greater chance of meeting the preferences of more participants.

Ask Questions

The adult brain does not function like an audio or video recorder—it doesn’t just receive information; it processes it. The brain is suffused with a vast number of networks through which it sorts all incoming information. Information already stored influences how and what you understand and eventually learn. Through these mental models a learner’s brain tries to make connections.

If adults discuss information with others and if they are invited to ask questions about it, their brains can do a better job of connecting with information they’ve already stored. The brain starts the work of learning because it has a question about information it is obtaining from the senses (hearing, sight, touch, taste, smell) that feed it. If the brain could talk, it would ask questions such as: Where does this information fit? Does it confirm what I already know? Does it disagree with what I already know?

If the brain isn’t curious about incoming information, however, it takes the path of least resistance and attends to something else. Therefore, getting participants to ask questions puts them in a seeking mode rather than a passive mode. Their brains are activated to obtain answers rather than merely “logging in.” If participants are asked to listen to a lecture or view presentation slides with few or no questions, their brains treat the information superficially. If they are trying to find out something, their brains will treat the information with more consideration. Better yet, if adults can discuss the information with their peers, they can obtain feedback about how well they understand it.

As a trainer you can help by asking questions and facilitating discussion. Learning is enhanced if you ask participants to:

• Volunteer information in their own words.

• Provide examples of it.

• Reflect on the information.

• Look for connections between it and other facts or ideas.

• Practice higher-order thinking, such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

• Apply it to case situations.

Increase Involvement

Even better than simply asking questions is giving your participants an opportunity to do something with the information. Research conducted at Stanford University suggests that the optimal environment for learning allows people at different times to be partners, teammates, and teachers (Levin 1996). In a training context, this occurs best when learning teams are organized to engage in “action learning” tasks, in which they challenge participants to solve problems and apply what they know to real work situations. Furthermore, giving participants the opportunity to learn information or a skill and then teach it to peers allows them to discover that teaching, coaching, and mentoring others can be a great way to learn.

In many ways, the brain is like a computer and people are its users. A computer needs to be “on” to work. The brain needs to be on as well. When learning is passive, the brain isn’t on. A computer needs the right software to interpret the data that are entered. The brain needs to link what’s being taught with what is already known and how you think. When learning is passive, the brain doesn’t make these linkages to the software of our mind. Finally, a computer cannot retain information that it has processed without “saving it.” The brain needs to test the information, recapitulate it, or explain it to someone else to store it in its memory bank. When learning is passive, the brain doesn’t save what has been presented.

What occurs when trainers inundate participants with their own thoughts (however insightful and well organized they may be) or when they rely too often on “let me show you how” demonstrations and explanations? Pouring facts and concepts into participants’ heads and masterfully performing skills and procedures actually interfere with learning. The presentation may make an immediate impression on the brain, but without a photographic memory, participants simply cannot retain very much for any period of time, even though they think they will never forget it. As Eric Jensen (2008), author of Brain-Based Learning, explains, “the traditional stand and delivery approach is brain antagonistic. The brain is not very good at absorbing countless bits of semantic (factual) information.”

Improve Spacing

Learning is not a one-shot event; it comes in waves. The “spacing effect” was first reported by Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885. “Spacing” means that when practice opportunities are distributed over time, learning is better. Learning requires several exposures to material for true understanding. It also takes different kinds of exposures, not just a repetition of input. For example, a software application can be taught with manuals, through classroom exercises, and through an asynchronous online class. Each way shapes the participants’ understanding. Even more important is the way in which the exposure happens. If it happens to the learner, there will be little mental engagement by the learner. As Ruth Clark, author of Evidence-Based Training Methods, states, “Even though the spacing effect has been reported and consistently demonstrated for more than 100 years, this important principle is rarely applied.”

Real learning is not memorization. Most of what we memorize is lost in hours. To retain what has been taught, participants must chew on it. Learning can’t be swallowed whole. A trainer can’t do the mental work for participants because they must put together what they hear and see to form a meaningful whole. Without the opportunity to discuss, ask questions, do, and perhaps even teach someone else, real learning will not occur.

Introduce Moderate Stress

The stress response curve illustrated here represents the Yerkes-Dodson law, a relationship between stress and performance. Originally developed in 1908 by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dodson, the law states that performance increases with mental stress, but only up to a point. As Figure 2.1 shows, stress and performance are related in an “inverted U curve.” When levels of stress become too high, performance decreases (Yerkes 1908).

Figure 2-1: Stress Response Curve

Stimulation to learn requires a moderate amount of stress (measured in the level of cortisol). A low degree of stress is associated with low performance, as is high stress, which can set the system into fight-or-flight mode, causing less brain activity in the cortical areas where higher-level learning happens. Moderate levels of cortisol correlate with the highest performance. Moderate stress is beneficial for learning, while mild and extreme stress are both detrimental to it.

The shape of the curve will depend on the situation and the individual. Four influencers can affect how much pressure people feel: skill, personality, trait anxiety, and task complexity.

Encourage Practice

Quite a few studies have compared learning outcomes among individuals playing a game with individuals assigned to a more traditional instructional method, such as lectures or computer tutorials. In these studies the same content is presented in a game version and in a traditional version and learning is measured with a test. In Evidence-Based Training Methods Ruth Clark (2015) reports that while the results aren’t clear cut, in one study simulation games resulted in learning gains 9 to 14 percent higher than comparison groups. However, the comparison groups learned more than the game groups when taught with active instructional methods. The game groups learned more than the comparison groups when the comparison groups were taught with passive instructional methods. Clark states, “My conclusion from the review is that active engagement leads to learning and any method that incorporates relevant active engagement (with feedback) will lead to better learning than a method that relies primarily on a passive learning environment such as lectures or reading.”

This is supported by research conducted at the University of Wisconsin that demonstrated the educational and social benefits of digital games—even those that are not specifically geared toward education bring together ways of knowing and doing (Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, and Gee 2005).

Make It Social

We all face a world of exploding knowledge, rapid change, and uncertainty. As a result, participants may be anxious and defensive when they show up for training. Abraham Maslow taught us that humans have within them two sets of forces or needs—one that strives for growth and one that clings to safety. A person who must choose between these two needs will choose safety over growth. The need to feel secure has to be met before the need to reach out, take risks, and explore the unfamiliar can be entertained. Growth takes place in little steps. According to Maslow (2014), “each step forward is made possible by the feeling of being safe, of operating out into the unknown from a safe home port.”

One of the key ways people feel safe and secure is when they feel connected to other people and are included in a group. This feeling of belonging enables participants to face the challenges set before them. When they are learning with others rather than alone, they have the emotional and intellectual support that allows them to go beyond their present level of knowledge and skill.

Maslow’s concepts underlie the development of the small-group learning methods that are popular in training circles. Placing participants in teams and giving them tasks in which they depend upon one another to complete the work is a way to capitalize on their social needs. They tend to get more engaged in learning because they are doing it with their peers. Once they have become involved, they also have a need to talk with others about what they are experiencing, which leads to further connections.

Collaborative learning activities help drive active training. Although independent study and large group instruction also stimulate active learning, the ability to teach through small-group cooperative activities will enable you to promote active learning in a special way. Remember that what participants discuss with others and what they teach others enables them to acquire understanding and master learning. The best collaborative learning methods meet these requirements. Giving different assignments to different participants prompts them not only to learn together, but also to teach each other.

David Rock’s Model: AGES

When learning is passive, learners come to the encounter without curiosity, without questions, and without interest in the outcome. When learning is active, learners are seeking something. They want an answer to a question, need information to solve a problem, or are searching for a better way to do a job. David Rock, director of the NeuroLeadership Institute and author of Your Brain at Work, uses an AGES model that identifies four requirements to embed ideas:

• Attention must be very high; multitasking dramatically reduces recall. The chemical processes to encode memory is activated when we are very focused.

• Generate a mental map around the new ideas; participants can’t just watch or listen. Remember that everyone has a different mental model.

• Emotions need to be high; people only remember things they feel strongly about.

• Spacing learning is critical.

A high AGES score is required for participants to recall ideas. Attention, generation, emotion, and spacing form the AGES model. Practicing in the form of small group work, gamification, contests, or team teaching can all increase a learning event’s AGES score (2009).

Apply Brain-Based Techniques to Your Training

Scientific theories are always helpful, but what really matters is how you apply what you learn. Jonathan Halls says that trainers “are in the business of making things easy to understand and remember” (2014). Whether you are designing or delivering in a classroom or virtually, plan to make it easy for your learners’ brains to absorb the content. What can you modify to enhance the learning experience?

We will cover various brain-based principles in more depth throughout the book. However, just in case you don’t get past this chapter, here are a dozen ways you can apply the research to engage your learners’ brains and increase your chances of success:

1.   Create patterns. Patterns form the way we think, so the brain looks for patterns and uses prior experiences to fill in the blanks. You can use this to your advantage to accelerate learning. Know what your learners already know.

2.   Preclude mindsets. Prior experience noted in the first bullet is good, except when the experience exhibits itself as a stubborn mindset that resists change. The learner’s mindset may have a different pattern that the brain cannot reconcile with the new information and this can interfere with learning. How can you get around this? Provide context, engage emotions, incorporate novelty, and provide time for reflection and practice.

3.   Grab attention immediately. Then hold onto it with novel ways of presenting content, and encouraging learners to ask questions and discover their own answers. Be sure to model what your participants can expect at the start. Don’t start with the boring “housekeeping!”

4.   Involve learners. Prevent your learners from being bored. Your learners come from a world of constant stimulus and interruptions. Build in activities that allow for socialization and movement to increase oxygen flow to the brain. Ask questions. Writing, talking, or even teaching keeps the brain involved.

5.   Plan breaks. Face it, your learners will not be fully engaged all the time. We used to blame it on mental mini-vacations, but now smartphones, email, Facebook, and other distractions can interfere with learners’ attention. Plan for plenty of breaks so learners can address the rest of their world and maintain focus during your session. In addition, from the brain’s perspective, memories are strengthened during periods of rest. Spacing between chunks of content is valuable. Breaks help your learners retain information.

6.   Practice. To move content to long-term memory, build in plenty of time to rehearse new skills—especially those that are critical.

7.   Balance stress. Find ways to stretch your learners. Keep them excited about learning but don’t overdo it; creating too much stress will shut learning down. Align the design to match the learner’s needs. Keep activities relatively risk free early in your sessions.

8.   Know your learners. You need to invest time before the session to understand your participants and their needs. Be ready to cut something that is less important to meet your learners’ needs.

9.   Engage emotions. Use stories, interactions, experiences, visuals, or other stimuli to improve memory.

10. Build rapport. Create rapport with your learners, but also build learner-to-learner rapport. Start with an icebreaker that introduces everyone. The social aspect helps to decrease feelings of threat from strangers or of learning something new.

11. Plan for follow up. We’d all like to be reassured that our learners will remember everything that happened in the session, but that isn’t going to be true. Plan for continued spacing such as implementing peer practice groups, meeting with supervisors, emailing tips, or texting reminders.

12. Finally remember, all learners’ brains are distinctly their own. We all have our own mental models and preferred methods of learning and thinking. Plan for a broad variety of styles. In addition, be aware of how your own preferences influence you as a trainer. It is critical that you are flexible and adept at facilitating to appeal to all the brains in your session.

 

 

Is Learning to Learn the Answer?

Did anyone teach you effective ways to take notes? Or to read efficiently? Your answer is probably “no.” Learning is something we all do from the moment of birth, so most of us likely take this complex process for granted. Although most of us have a general sense of what it means to learn, you may have many assumptions. Few of us were taught how to learn in school.

Learning to learn has its own set of steps: diagnosing one’s need for learning, establishing goals, identifying essential information, determining patterns, and seeking help when needed (Petrie 2015). It also means using efficient memory tactics and spacing intake of information. These aren’t the kinds of skills that we either seek or learn naturally. We need to be introduced to the concept.

What We Know for Sure

Science tells us that we can rely on several proven facts:

• Learning theories provide models to design better learning events.

• Adult learning principles establish a foundation for understanding how adults learn.

• Cognitive science explains how knowledge is held together in a mental model, how we process it, and how we remember it.

• Neuroscience is the study of how the brain works; at this time, we understand very little about it.

• The 70-20-10 framework defines the circumstances surrounding how and where we learn.

• Learning is enhanced when learners:

o involve multiple senses

o respond to and discuss questions and concepts

o are involved in learning

o have an opportunity to space learning

o experience moderate stress

o have an opportunity to practice skills

o collaborate socially during and after the learning event.

The Art Part

Your success will depend upon how well you adapt to the situation and your learners’ needs. Tap into some of these ideas to help your learners grow, to develop yourself, and to add your personal creative touch.

Knowles and you. List Malcolm Knowles’s principles of adult learning on a page. Think about the last time you attended a training session, either face-to-face or virtually. Write the questions you were asking yourself when you first arrived. How similar or different were your questions from those used as examples? Why do you think that was? How do you compare yourself to what this chapter presented? Next, look at your training from your learners’ perspectives. What do you see? What do you need to change?

Rock with AGES. David Rock’s AGES model is easy to remember and use. If you are short on time, use it to review your training event. It will provide you with enough information to ensure that you are attending to the necessary elements of learning.

Art and Science Questions You Might Ask

These questions provide potential challenges for your personal growth and development:

• How can you incorporate all adult learning principles into your work?

• How would implementing adult learning principles improve your delivery or design?

• What effect do Malcolm Knowles’s principles have on your learners?

• How is your philosophy similar to Knowles’s assumptions? How is your philosophy different?

• Which ideas under the brain-based learning strategies do you need to incorporate in your learning events?

• What creative ways can you involve your learners’ multiple senses in your next learning event?

• What thought-provoking questions will lead to better performance?

• How can you increase involvement in a meaningful way in your next learning event?

• Where can you use the 70-20-10 framework to improve spacing of the learning? How?

• How well do you stretch your participants in your design and delivery?

• How can you focus on encouraging practice in the most critical parts of your learning event?

• How can you make it social?

• If you understood more about how adults learn, how would you use this information?

How Do You Learn?

Science sometimes confirms what you’ve always known intuitively. And it’s good to know that science endorses what all the experts such as Thiagi, Silberman, Pike, Clark, and others you’ve relied on have been telling us for years. We learn best when:

• The design organizes content in a meaningful process; chunks information into small bites; allows time for reflection and practice; builds on what participants know; and is designed around images.

• Your delivery creates a safe and welcoming environment; involves multiple senses; encourages participation; communicates what’s in it for the learner; and encourages social involvement.

And don’t forget to take breaks and serve food!

Resources

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