People learn
in different ways
That
ought to be obvious, even from personal experience, yet we persist
in
expecting all trainees to achieve a standard proficiency regardless
of whether we lecture, show a video, ask them to read a technical manual,
or
complete
an e-Learning module. But only 30% of adults say they learn best by
listening; another 30% report they'd prefer to learn by reading and
reflection.
Among
the other generalizations that have emerged from recent studies:
• Learning is often a gradual process that happens through a series
of shaping activities, which are not always instructor initiated. This
is sometimes called tacit learning. The coaching process recognizes
this, and so do many hands-on courses where we expect trainee skills
will develop only over time and experience.
• On complex topics/judgment issues, people need to get comfortable,
to "mess around" with the topic before they can understand it;
understanding does not necessarily flow in a linear manner from breaking
the task/object into simpler component parts.
• Learning communities work; there is a social as well as cognitive
dimension to learning. Students transform the information they get from
instructors and texts into meaningful knowledge through conversations,
arguments, lunches, discussion groups and other real-world activities.
Any
instructional strategy needs to be built up from an understanding of
how
people are likely to learn the cognitive aspects and the related skills
& competencies of the topic. An e-Learning course that ignores learning
styles is likely to produce sub-marginal results.
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