Saturday, January 31, 2004

Tip #4: Treat the learner with respect.

There are only two immutable rules for a trainer. The first is to treat the learner with respect. This includes recognizing and respecting the learner's previous experience, current expertise, and pressing interests and needs. The trainer can discover these through formal training needs assessments, informal e-mail queries, or introductory questions at the beginning of a session.

The workshop should be tailored to meet the learners' needs. This also includes respecting the learner's time by ensuring that there is good, relevant content and appropriate training methods that build or strengthen necessary skills; and using training methods that meet the needs of different learning styles.

The trainer must also treat the learner with respect when interacting during the session. This means that the trainer needs to be willing to recognize that the learners are thinking adults, treat learners with courtesy and respect, and actively listen to their feedback.

When a trainer treats the learner with respect, s/he establishes and maintains an environment that is conducive to and supportive of learning.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Tip #3: Avoid negative transfer.

All trainers want what is learned in a workshop to "transfer" out of the classroom back into the participants' lives. What trainers overlook is that the participants' previous learning and experience will also "transfer" into the classroom. It is imperative that a trainer consider whether this previous learning and experience can have a positive or a negative impact on new learning. A trainer can build on "positive transfer"- but should do everything possible to avoid "negative transfer," which can derail even the most well-designed and effectively presented training program.

In a basic computer skills class, the trainer can ask "common ground" questions* to see how many of the participants have had previous success in typing and in using a microwave oven. If most of them answer in the affirmative, the trainer can correlate typing to "keyboarding" and programming the microwave to "programming" the computer, and build on that "positive transfer." In essence, their previous success will lead the participants to expect that they will have similar success in the computer skills class.

However, the trainer should probably avoid asking the participants "How many of you can successfully program a VCR or DVD?" because it will create unnecessary "negative transfer." If they have previously failed in this endeavor, their negative experience with "programming" will transfer into any discussion regarding computer programming- and chill their ability to learn.

Saturday, January 17, 2004

Tip #2: Create a sense of inclusion for all participants.

Begin training by asking "common ground" questions that help the participants feel that they have something in common in relation to the training topic. A "common ground" question begins with: "How many of youÉ?" The participants who relate to the question should respond by raising their hands. Make sure that you ask enough questions to ensure that every participant feels included. For example, at the beginning of a conflict management class, if you ask: "How many of you have experienced conflict in your life?", it is a good possibility that everyone will raise their hands. However, if you ask: "How many of you enjoy conflict?", you probably need to follow that by asking: "How many of you would rather do anything else than engage in conflict?" You can then segue into an overview of how the training will meet those different needs.

An additional benefit: When you ask questions to which the participants respond by a show of hands, you subtly prepare them to actively participate during the training session.

Sunday, January 4, 2004

Tip #1: Do not waste time teaching learners what they already know.

For example:

If you have six hours to accomplish six learning objectives, do not allocate one hour for each objective.

Instead, think about what the learners may already know, and then check for their level of learning, using an interactive exercise, such as a discussion question, a questionnaire, or a case study.

Working in small groups, the participants will have an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and/or prompt each other to remember the information.

In this fashion, you may be able to cover two or three of the learning objectives in an hour or so. This will leave more time for what is truly new learning for the participants to be sufficiently taught and practiced.