LESSON 5: THE SCIENCE OF ADULT LEARNING

Learn names (or have nametags with big letters on them so you can call on people individually); ensure all introductions are done properly; and, move out from behind the podium to allow maximal interactions and participations. And, don’t be afraid to say you don’t know the answer to a particular question, emphasize that the whole group is learning, including you! 

Facilitators who are not actively presenting should sit with the participants and be engaged, not sitting at the back of the room on their computers. Because if the facilitators show that they are not interested in their colleagues’ presentations, why should the participants pay attention? 

    Sit with participants during coffee/tea breaks and lunches. (There are way too many workshops where the facilitators hunker down together during the breaks and don’t “mix” with the participants – this creates a damaging we-them mindset). 

 Adults learn very well from each other, often more so than they learn from their teachers. By putting participants into groups for the problem-solving work, you are markedly enhancing the amount of learning that will take place.
Encourage group work as much as possible. Yes, we know you are the expert, and you have prepared so much material that you have to get through, so you want to do most of the talking. FORGET IT! Try to be a facilitator of learning rather than a teaching teacher.
A wise person once told me, “Don’t be a sage on the stage, instead be a guide on the side”. So, rather than standing at the front and spewing your pearls of wisdom, be a guide for the group learning and let it happen from within.

 Guided group learning, using scenarios or some other activity, is especially helpful in delivering training where there is a language barrier. 

In these cases, the groups have a chance to banter back and forth about many issues in a relaxed and comfortable manner.   

Also, there are not many more boring things than delivering, or listening to, a presentation that has to be translated. So if you do group work, you avoid the problem of having to rely on translation for EVERYTHING. You can skip over many points you wanted to deliver because the groups are coming to the same realizations, in their own language!

     VERY IMPORTANT!!!! Short term memory is finite and can only hold 7 plus or minus 2 chunks of information, which is usually received in a 10-12 minute period. If it is not then incorporated into long-term memory, it is quickly forgotten. Long-term memory has an infinite capacity, so the information is stored forever. In order to move short-term memory into long-term memory, it requires rehearsing the material very briefly and allowing 1-2 minutes for “filing.” 

Oh, you say, really? Because when you were in veterinary school, lectures were all 50’ and that is how you learned. Well, guess what, studies have been on how much students retain immediately after a 50’ lecture, and it is only 5%! That’s why you had to study every night. But when you go to deliver training in some new place, there will be no studying every night, so everything that is learned is right there in the classroom. Make the most of it! 

   Throw away the jump drive with all your powerpoints. WHAT????, you say? YES!!!!, I say. In a cross-cultural situation, there are already lots of barriers you have to overcome, using PowerPoint creates just one more barrier. I know, we’re all used to using PowerPoints, but instead, try flipcharts or a whiteboard. If you MUST use PowerPoints, be sure they are loaded with quiz slides, or other activities to break it up and get participation.     

Don’t count on being able to deliver a PowerPoint, because there may be no electricity! So, be prepared to deliver your materials and information using flip charts.

Also, when you use flip charts, it automatically takes you away from the podium, which is GOOD! Standing behind the podium creates one more barrier between you and the learners. It’s a relic from the Middle Ages. Uncomfortable at first? Yes! But after a while, it will feel natural and you will be so much more effective!!!!!

Use multiple learning channels – We all learn best through different modalities, which are: VERBAL, AUDITORY, GRAPHIC, KINESTHETIC.  

We all have a combination of these, with one channel predominating. If you deliver everything over one channel, you will miss many of the participants. So try to ensure that the information utilizes all the channels. In general, we use the predominant channel that is our own when we construct presentations. 

For instance, a graphic learner might use all pictures, but that presenter would lose the people who learn predominantly by reading or listening. Similarly, a verbal learner might create page after page of words and sentences, but that leaves the graphic learner struggling and probably daydreaming instead.

Engaging the emotional part of the brain promotes learning. Telling stories, engaging people in the audience, revealing part of your own personality – all of these involve  “warm” language and will facilitate attention and retention. 

 In every class there are some people who volunteer many answers and others who don’t say peep. As you see this happening, rather than asking for volunteers to answer a question, tell the class that “the      person with the most children” or “anyone wearing blue socks” or “the youngest person” at each table will provide the answer. 

This personalizes and includes many more. Also, a no-no is asking “Do you understand”? Because the few who really don’t get it are probably the last ones to stand up and say yes. Instead, frame the issue as, “I would like each table to provide a one sentence synopsis of this concept” or something like that. 

Ask for a “teach back” – participants must take the concept just delivered and      “teach back” to the group, in an effective and engaging manner. This measures not only the learning, but also the abilities to disseminate learning downstream.