How do we learn?

Learning Styles Differentiate between different learning styles Activist Reflectors Theorists Pragmatists Honey & mumford 1982 and kolb’s 1979

Theories of learning Behaviourist or stimulus response: Negative/positive response - affects future action – conditioning- Pavlov dogs/skinners rats Social learning Cognitive or information- process: interpretation – from behaviour results received, System of thought processes, evaluate experience - learn to learn. Social :Imitation of role models, Social identity by reflection modelling – selecting successful traits of behaviour BEHAVIOURIST – or otherwise known stimulus response, a learning theory whereby you gain experience by conditioning - the response received from an action whether it be a positive or negative result and this will form behaviour in future. CONGNITIVE or information processing learning theory suggests that the mind can process the feedback of our behaviour or experience and form a conclusion on to whether or not to persist with that behaviour or experience. As opposed to the behaviourist theory that we learn from new habits. SOCIAL learning by copying behaviour from our role models this first begins when we are a child by copying parents moving and changing as we grow up to peers in teens and then experts or mentors in adulthood. Our social identity is defined and reinforced by reflection and responses received. We select the successful traits and imitate them.

Impact of these theories in learning Motivation: Purpose of learning in relation to goal or motive or organisation, organisation support is essential Goals/objectives: set to form meaning and so they can be measured Structured and paced: provide progression, each section should be challenging Tasks broken down – stages, build up stimulus response, habit or memory. Or whole learning taught at once Stimulus response and memory – are best taught in small sessions, repetitive with short rest pauses. Motivation- Learner should be motivated to learn, purpose and benefit should be made clear, whether it be in relation to individuals motives or goals. For the learning to be successful learn must have support from their organisation. Goals/objectives – clear goals or objectives must be set from the beginning and be measurable. So the trainee can measure depth of understanding and so can the learner Structured and paced – learning must be structure and paced to ensure the learning process takes place and so not to over load the learner.. Each section should have a activity or challenge to keep motivation. Tasks can be broken down to stimulate learning responses or alternatively can be taught in whole learning. Stimulus response – are associated with mental process of memory this is best taught in bit size sessions and with breaks and recaps of what has been learnt to reinforce learning.

Impact of these theories in learning Learning materials: interactive input, problem solving, case studies – stimulates the cognitive process - social learning Feed back: Performance, continuously not just at the end. Reinforcement: Sensitivity, encourage good, discourage bad. Active Participation: Enhances concentration Learning interaction enriches the cognitive process, this can be achieved by activities such as case studies, problem solving and team learning activities. Mentoring, Coaching and team learning form social learning. Feed back on performance and learning should be continual not just as the end as this ensures the learner is establishing understanding of the learning and gives time for learner adjust if not on right learning path. Reinforcement should be carried out sensitively to promote good learning thought process and discourage incorrect. Active participation, of the learning event as opposed to reading and lectures, reinforces the learning as it enhances concentration and gives the learner something physical link learning to.

Stages of Learning Unconscious incompetence : unaware of what you need to learn Conscious incompetence : aware of what you need to learn Conscious competence : learnt what you need to know but have to practise it. Unconscious competence : no longer need to practise - what you have learnt has become second nature. Stages of learning: are stages at what point you have become aware of the need for learning, you have started learning, have learnt and have totally become able to perform the task learnt. Unconscious incompetence : you are unaware of what you need to learn. For instance if you wanted to drive a car and had no experience at all of driving you would have an unconscious incompetence, because you are totally unaware of how to drive the car, you know you need to learn but you don’t know how to do it yet. Conscious incompetence : you are aware of what you need to learn. You have now started the learning process and you have now seen what you need to do. For instance you have seen the controls in the car, met the instructor and had a few lessons, but you still can’t drive. Conscious competence : you have learnt what you need to know but have to practise it. You are competent at the task, but need to practise to get better. For instance you have now passed your test and are competent to drive, but need to learn to get better, this is normally done through practise and repetition. Unconscious competence : you know longer need to practise what you have learnt has become second nature. You no longer have to thing about what you have learnt when performing the task. For instance you have now been driving long enough that you drive the car without intentionally having to thing about individual manoeuvres i.e. changing gear, when to indicate or what to do at a junction. 6

The Learning Curve Degrees of learning % Days spent learning The learning curve is a graphical approach to showing how a person learns and when they become competent at what they have learnt. You may have heard the phrase “on a steep learning curve” this is usually said by people who have had to assimilate large amounts of information over a short period of time. How the line curves can depend on various things; the subject being taught, how it is being taught and the learners ability to absorb what has been taught to them. A standard curve starts steeply as new information is learnt, but as the trainee gets more proficient at the subject the curve begins to level off. But as seen in the graph if the transference of learning is not positive then what is learnt can be lost and then the line deteriorates. A stepped curve shows learning that is given in bite-sized chunks; different parts of a whole subject, so as a trainee becomes proficient in one section a new section is started thus moving the trainee up in steps to achieve overall competence in the subject. Different methods can be used during training to find out how well a trainee has assimilated the information and to ascertain what their learning curve is i.e. practical exercises and tests. This also helps provide better training for slower learners and makes the training more effective. Days spent learning 7

Transfer of learning into the workplace Positive Transfer :successful movement of what was learnt and used in the work place. Negative Transfer : Skills learnt can’t be successfully moved to an operation in the work place. As spoken about in the previous slide it the transference of training is not positive i.e. learning able to be used directly in the work place. Then what has been learnt can be forgotten, thus making the training unnecessary and costly. This negative transfer comes about when training is not organised properly or is inappropriate, when superiors are unsupportive on return to work and when colleagues are resentful of new methods. So training must be appropriate to the job or organisational rank of the trainee. It must be easily transferable from training course to the work place. The best form of transferable training is in-house training, where the training is specific to a task, this is usually done by sitting next to someone who is competent at the task and then shows the trainee how it is done, then the trainee takes over the task when they become competent. This type of training has been called several things like the “buddy system” or “sitting with Nellie” ,and is the easiest, most useful and cost effective form of training. 8

Types of Transfer Specific Transfer : movement of a specific task from a training course to the work place i.e. machine operation. Principle Transfer : general learning not specific to a task, required for the education of the trainee i.e. induction course. Specific transfer is the most positive form of transfer, as long as the training is appropriate and superiors and colleagues are responsive. Specific transferable learning is normally function based learning. The operation of equipment be it industrial or administrative is the most specifically transferable type of learning. Principle transfer is non specific it is taking knowledge learnt from a larger subject and using parts of the subject when needed. For instance taking a business HND course you will have only principle transfer on return to work, because of the vast size of the subject, for a more specific transfer you would have to specialise in an individual area of the subject. 9

We hope you have gained an insight into the learning process and that you have enjoyed this presentation and learnt from it?

Presentation Needs to cover different learning styles as well. Visual and handouts Not too long or short Interesting but informative Geared to audience - (little knowledge of subject).