 Introduction to
training!
During the last one hundred years in the
training development field, it has seen many rapidly changes and still
continues experiencing them in its head long rush to keep up with the
evolutionary process of adaptation to an ever changing world and its ever
changing technology. With this comes the never-ending process of developing
new learning process and methods to meet this changing technology.
The word "Training" is an
encompassing term, which is often used, in describing changes occurring in
our behaviors because of an experience we have encountered at
some point in our lives. We usually call it Training. Example, How many time
have your heard someone say, “well did that experience teach you
anything? ” or “What did you learn
from that experience?”
Webster dictionary defines
"training" as, the act, process, or method of one that trains, the
skill, knowledge, or experience acquired by one that trains, the state of
being trained. And defines the word experience as a direct observation of or
participation in events as a basis of knowledge, the fact or state of having
been affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or
participation, practical knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct
observation of or participation in events or in a particular activity, the
conscious events that make up an individual life and the events that make up
the conscious past of a community or nation or mankind generally something
personally encountered, undergone, or lived through the act or process of
directly perceiving events or reality
These encounter experiences we call often
call learning are really changes in or modification of our behavior because
of an encounter of some kind in our lives, it caused us to change, modify or
altar our behavior because of these encounters, as a results we formed an
image of these events storing them in our mind as an experience. The events
or experiences which we store in our minds are from us seeing, feeling or
hearing something or even thinking about something real or imaginary,
whatever the event was, we will retain this as an experience or as a memory
of that experience. This process of us experiencing and storing them as
experiences in our memory banks is in essences how we learn. These
experiences which we experience which are stored away as memories then (usually)
become instantly available for us to recall the next time we encounter a
similar event or experience. Some of these events or experiences can be
measured with a certain degree of accuracy, of course with emotional
experience it’s hard to measure. And because of all of this our behavior
has been changed and modified in some form, this is a constant never-ending
process we all experience from the moment of birth to the day we die.
This acquisition of knowledge we humans
receive from experiencing different events and encounters within our lives
are often referred to as "learning Behaviors" and have been the
focus of studies for centuries trying to understand how we humans learn and
acquire new knowledge about new things. And over those same centuries we
have also seen the development of many different learning theories, some
working and others have not. However, many of these fundamental learning
theories used within the last century, have been either redefined and
validated and categorized into different theories, such as, the
Behaviorists, Cognitive, Constructist, Motivation, and Elaboration theories,
and many or a combination of them are currently in use today.
Yes, there are more learning theories out there, but we're not going
to go into them in any great depth because its well beyond the scope of
things that we want to accomplish here today.
Well, so much for
all those theories, theories are just that, “theories.” You can
write the best training program ever designed but.
None of them will
work, unless the learners themselves are ready, able, and willing to
 learn
whatever it is they are to learn.
Adding to the old
adages “you can lead them to water but can’t make them drink.”
Many factors can
and often do affect an individual ability to learn, but usually before any learning can
really occur several things must be present. Maybe the foremost important
factor in learning is the learners themselves and how receptive are they to
learning. Yes. There is theory about that too, its called the “Conditions
of Learning.”
The “Condition
of Learning" theory stipulates there are several different types or
levels of learning. The significance of these classifications is important
to understand as a trainer, because each level of learning requires
different types of instruction.
This theory
identify five major categories of learning:
- Verbal
information
- Intellectual
skills
- Cognitive
strategies
- Motor
skills
- Attitudes
To plan and
develop a successful training program and teach it effectively, an
instructor needs to understand some of the basic in human learning behaviors to
know what skills their students brings with them to use to learn with. The
instructor who is knowledgeable about these learning behaviors can and often
does apply this knowledge during the design phase of a training program and
even during their interacting with learners during the actual training process itself.
Most instructional
designers are very knowledgeable when it comes to how we humans learn things
and design their training programs around this information. They will use
many different types of training models to develop training programs with
this objective in mind realizing that no two individuals will learn the same
way. A well-developed training program will the learners to use all or in
combination any one of those skill set to learn the subject been taught.
One of the more
generally used training model used in developing training programs which can
achieve these objectives of reaching broad range of learners is a training
model known as the “ADDIE" training system which consist of the
following five element making up the ADDIE model:
- Assess
- Design
- Develop
- Implement
- Evaluate
We can use these
five planning elements in the model when in the developmental and planning
stages of a new training program to develop a very effective training
program, and once all of the individual phases making up the model have
been implemented. The model then closes the loop in the training
developmental cycle by validating the effectives of the training program.
The evaluation and
validation of any training process is a very important key element not to be
overlooked or treated lightly in the development of any training development
process. Why? Because it
becomes the tool used to tell us if we reached our intended goals or
objectives. The evaluation and validation data (testing results) will show
us where and/or what is needs to be tweaked or changed in our training
program to improve it.
During
the course, we will discuss more on the training development models and
their history and usages and how they apply to you as the trainer.
Our next stop will be human behaviors go there now or go back to
the top! It's your choice! |
