|
 Human behavior psychology is a very complex
topic, no matter how you try to discuss it or even attempt an explanation of how and why
we function the way we do! According to a few well-known psychologists
"Myers-Briggs" and "Keirsey" there are about sixteen distinct
personality types, which defines our personality. And somewhere mixed into all of
this information they can tell us if we are either a extroverted or introverted type of
person. You know the "Mouse" and "Lion" type's.
If you want to learn more about your own
personality, here would be a good place to start looking. http://www.keirsey.com/
Note! Be sure to make your way back here and finish the rest of the review. We'll leave
the lights on.
Now! That you're back, you can see why we're
not going into any great length, accept to say, its well beyond the scope of what we are
doing here today.
Nevertheless, after all the
things we do and don't know about human behavior and our different
personalities and anxieties. Ranking very high on our list of anxieties, we
find things like, the fear of death and taxes and many more things we humans
fear. And very high on the list of fears we humans have is the fear of
"Speaking in public."
 Its
important to note that no two people will react the same to any given event
that may be on there list of things they fear. So you may also have many of
the same fears they do and didn't realize it! But a good number of us do
have one thing in common, that is when we suddenly find ourselves thrust
into the lime light, so to speak, facing a group of people with the task of
presenting a report or a presentation of some type, will or I should say we
typically will go immediately into and experience various of stages of stage
fright or even experience an anxiety
attack at the mere mention of public speaking.
This
condition can range anywhere from just having a very mild case of the jitters and being a
little nervous about speaking or it can effect a person up to a point where the person is
rendered completely unable to speak a word or they may even pass out cold!
Why? Because it is considered a normal
behavioral trait that we humans all have. We usually exhibit these types of symptoms, plus
a few more, when we are suddenly taken outside of our own comfort zone. Once we're forced
outside of our comfort box, we immediately begin looking for ways to return to the
relative safety and comfort of our own little world. First we begin by
"Visualizing" the worst and then verbalizing to ourselves, saying things like
" Why me, No way, I would rather die first, than speak before a group of
people." Or am just going to embarrass myself, because I do not have a clue where to
start or what to say, these are just a few of the many excuses we will use to retreat with
if possible back to our own little space we call our comfort zone, where we are in control
again of our non-treating environment.
All of us at times have experienced these very
same feeling and have made similar excuses in the hopes it would keep us from doing something
we didn't want to do or we felt uncomfortable about doing. What we are really saying to
ourselves is that we lack self-confidence in
ourselves.
 A
reality check is in order here! Many may consider yourself as an expert in your
chosen field, but the simple truth of the matter is just because you now
have decided to become an instructor, lecturer, speaker or teacher in some
form in your chosen field, that alone in themselves does not shield you or me from experiencing
or showing signs of even the most basic human emotions, such as nervousness,
stage fright or anxiety. In some cases experiencing these emotions are
enough to make even the most experienced amongst us want to run away and
hide.
Those who are seeking to become a instructor/trainer should have a working knowledge of the
Principles of Educational and Human Behavior Psychology. However, this is not a
mandatory requirement you must do before you can teach others.
Nevertheless, taking on the role as a professional trainer and being
familiar with the terms and principles of teaching others is, anyone
considering entering the training world should have a good working
knowledge of the principles used. The better you understand how we
humans function when it comes to learning and how we learn and what motivate us to learn,
the more successful you will be as an instructor/trainer. However, for now only the areas
that deals directly with the learning process will be briefly discussed here today.
First things first, what is a definition of learning? We all know we begin the learning
process the day we are born, and it continues until the day we die. What happens to a
person when they are learning? What process does he or she go through? (I have to say at
this point, we are still learning how we learn things, it's still an on going
learning process.)
We mainly learn new things because of our
individual experiences, which may change our way of thinking, feeling, doing, or
seeing the world around us. So basically, it would be safe to say learning is a change in
behavior as the result of an experience. This change or learning, can be openly observed
or it can be in the mind as a feeling, which is hard to see at times.
The characteristics of learning, learning
concepts and generalizations, the laws of learning, factors that affect learning, and the
transfer of learning are the many things that we need to understand as trainers. The more
we do understand the learning process it only increases our chances of creating an effective learning
environment and becoming a successful trainer.
Let's work our way through some of these learning processes by starting with:
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNING!
Most people have a very definite ideals of
what they want to do and achieve. A student brings his or her goals into the classroom.
Some of these goals may be very personal and some they will share with you and their
classmates. A student will learn best what will help them meet his or her goals. The
learner's goal or purpose is of chief importance in the act of learning. A good instructor
tries to relate learning material to the student's goal.
Learning comes through experience. Learning is
a very individual process and must be done by the student themselves . . . the
instructor cannot do this for them. Research has concluded that learning and knowledge is
a part of a person. A person knowledge is gained from his or her experiences, and no two
people react to the experience the same way. Each learns different things depending on how
the situation affects their different needs. Previous experience conditions a person to
respond to some things and to ignore others. Some experiences involve the individual as a
whole, while others involve only their eyes, ears, and memory.
There are a number of factors in combination that affect the way in which an individual
learns new information.
Major factors contributing to your learning
style include:
- Sensory Modalities: Auditory, Visually, and
Kinesthetic
- Reasoning Types: deductive, inductive
- Learning Environment: interpersonal (working
with others), interpersonal (working alone)
Sensory Modalities:
The Senses:
Auditory-Listening:
Prefer verbal instructions to written ones.
Is comfortable using spoken reinforcement mentally as well as aloud?
Visually-Seeing:
Reading-Visualizing
Does well with reading comprehension?
Prefers maps to verbal directions.
Kinesthetic-Moving:
Touching - hands-on
Writing things down clarifies thoughts.
Likes to draw pictures.
Enjoys working with hands-likes lab classes.
Reasoning Type:
Deductive reasoning:
Studies premise first, then draw conclusions.
Sees big picture first, then looks for details.
Inductive reasoning:
Likes to see examples first when learning new
information before developing an overview.
Prefers to learn game rules as it is played, not beforehand.
Learning Environment:
Interpersonal: working alone.
Likes to solve problems by oneself.
Does not like to work or study in groups?
Interpersonal: working with others.
Prefers discussion with family and friends before decision is made.
Likes to do assignments and study with others.
Do know how do you take in your information? To determine which methods you prefer, turn
to "Appendix A" in the back of your training manual
and take a few minutes to complete a learning inventory sheet. The information from
the learning inventory is a brief inventory to assist you in determining your own style of
learning. Use the information from this user friendly inventory to discover your own
learning strengths which will help you maximize information gathering.
When everyone is finished let's all take a ten
minute break!
Now your chance to take a break also. Back to
the top or you may continue on, it's your choice!
Now, that you have an indication of your own style of learning,
you can see that as an trainer you must provide to your students with experiences
that are meaningful, varied and appropriate to the situation. It's not as easy as it
sounds, but every effort on your part to provide an learning environment where the student
can use their individual learning styles pay's off big both for your students and you.
However, it requires you to work at it, you need to be creative, innovative, and
challenging to your students.
For instance, by repetitious drill, a student
can learn a long laundry list of principles, for example leadership. But the list is
useless if one can't apply them correctly in real life situations. A person can do this if
their learning experience has been both extensive and meaningful and they understand how
to apply the principles. The learning experience which challenges the student requires
involvement with feelings, thoughts, memory of past experiences, and physical activity is
much better than just requiring the student to memorize a long list of things
Learning is a multifaceted process too. An instructor or teacher who thinks his or her job
is only to train a student's body or memory is wasting their own and as well as the
students time. Students may learn much more than the instructor planned or intended,
because, as humans, they do not leave their thinking mind or feelings at home. As an
example, a student studying Aircraft Maintenance may be learning to perform a check on a
particular piece of equipment. However, in the process, they are learning new concepts and
generalizations. The student may also be learning new uses for the principles of
electronics. And may become more interested in black boxes and learn something about
handling electronic equipment in general.
This experience results in changes in the students way of seeing, thinking, feeling,
reacting and doing, even though the instructor's primary objective was to teach the
student how to read a multi meter. Students in a classroom may also be learning
cooperation, elements of good dynamics, and good and bad attitudes about life in general.
The list is endless and is sometimes referred to as incidental, but it still has a great
impact on the learning situation.
Learning is an active process. Never assume anything just because it is obvious to you.
All too often, after an instructor has taught a lesson many times in the past, he or she
will teach the subject strictly out of habit. Instead of watching their students, he or
she becomes a robot, who walks into the classroom and begins talking. As if they had
just push there on button, and the words begin to flow non-stop, but their minds
are elsewhere.
How can this be avoided? Keep everyone active in the class, the students as well as the
instructor. The more active a student is involved in the class, the greater their chances
are for both learning and remembering. (If a student is to learn, they must react and
respond. They are not a sponge that will soak up knowledge like water. The response may be
outward or inward.) Since learning is a change in behavior as a result of experience, the
interaction between students and instructor must be active. This action can be
either answering the instructor questions, or working a practice exercise. The
responsibility of creating active student participation lies with the instructor.
We have cover a lot up to now, for those who
are reading this we have just scratched the surface a little. During the basic instructor
course we cover the rest of this topic and the ones listed below.
LEARNING CONCEPTS AND GENERALIZATIONS
LAWS OF LEARNING
PSYCHOLOGIES RULES OF LEARNING
Under testing
Next we are heading to objectives go there now or back to the top! It's your choice! |
