Learning styles are simply different approaches or ways of learning. They can be described according to the senses of vision, hearing, and touch: Visual Learner, Auditory Learner, and Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner.

Another way to describe learning styles is in terms of the learner's approach to learning: Practical, Analytic, Imaginative, and Inventive.

Still another approach is to connect learning styles to the Myers-Briggs personality framework: Extravert/Introvert, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, Judgment/Perception.

Click on the links to see training strategies appropriate for the different learning styles.

Go on to Opening an Effective Learning Session

DESIRED LEARNING OUTCOMES – What information, insights, and feelings do I want people to walk away with?

LOGISTICS

• How much time do I have?
• Can I arrange my time to match the following general breakdown?
• Opening: 10-15%
• Leading: 70-80%
• Closing: 10-15%
• How many people will be there?
• What is the facility like?
• What supplies will I need?

AUDIENCE PROFILE

• Who are the participants and what is their self-interest in attending this event?
• What are the age groups, education level, and experience of the participants?
• What are their preferred learning styles?
• Do people know each other? If so, how well?
• What is the "organizational culture" of the group?

For a Planning a Training Worksheet, click here.

Go on to Additional Resources

Use these opening steps to set the stage for an effective learning session:

Set the Context
What is the context, or environment, in which this session is taking place? What's the topic and how does it fit into participants' work? This is a time for the facilitator to bring everyone at the training to the "same page."

Introduce Your Role
Who are you? Why are you here? What role will you be playing? Why are you qualified to facilitate this session? What are you going to be doing and what do you expect from the group members during the session?

Introduce Group Members/ Icebreaker
Adults should hear their own voices in the first five minutes of your session. Have group members introduce themselves if the group is a manageable size. Have the group members "check-in." Consider doing this by asking the participants to share one word about why they are here or how they feel about being here. This will help you gauge the group and give you a general idea of who is in the group. Have an active icebreaker to get people talking and engaged.

Review the Objectives, Agenda, and Time Frame for the Session
What is the purpose of this training? What will be covered? Who will be responsible for each part of the agenda? How long will this session be? How long will be spent on each item? Will everyone be here for the entire meeting?

Explain the Process
What process and tools will you use to lead the group? How will decisions be made? How will ideas be generated?

Generate Expectations and Agreements
What does the group expect to accomplish by the end of the session? What agreements would the group members like to make in order to reach the expectations? Use the expectations and agreements to guide your time together.

Explain Logistics
Where are the bathrooms, water fountain, food, phones, etc.?

Seek Understanding and Agreement
Does everyone understand and agree to what has been proposed? Are there any questions or comments before beginning?

Go on to Facilitating Learning

Learning happens when a person experiences information, an activity, or a situation and walks away with new insights and new knowledge. An effective facilitator will:

• Remain content neutral
• Listen actively
• Ask the right questions
• Stay on track
• Be flexible
• Engage participants in experiential learning opportunities

The Experiential Learning Cycle takes learners through five stages to process their experiences and learn from them. The five stages are:

1. Learners are involved in an experience that leads to a sense of discovery; for instance a structured activity, ropes course, or exploration of a conflict.
2. Learners describe and share their experience by reporting their own observations and reactions, answering questions such as:
   • What happened?
   • What was your experience like?
   • How did you feel?
3. Learners interpret and try to make sense of their experiences, through questions such as:
   • Why did that happen?
   • How was that significant?
   • What does it mean to you?
4. Learners generalize their experience, connecting it to other experiences or events in their lives, by responding to such prompts as:
   • Where have you seen this before?
   • What does this remind you of?
   • What does that suggest to you?
5. Learners apply their insights and consider how they can use what they have learned, by responding to questions such as:
   • What do you want to use from this experience?
   • What would you do differently?
   • How could you apply that?

Additional resources on facilitation are available in the Leadership section of Member Training

Go on to Asking the Right Questions

A learning outcome is a statement of the expected result of the training. It answers the question:

"What will I walk out of here with?"

Establishing effective learning outcomes first will guide every decision you make regarding the content, activities, and tools you use to achieve those outcomes.

There are two kinds of learning outcomes:

Learning outcomes should

• Complete the sentence "Participants will…"
• Be precise and to the point
• Include action words
• Be measurable
• Be limited (only one or two for a one-hour session)

Some examples of learning outcomes include:
Participants will…

• Develop a case statement template to be used at their service site (product)
• Create a draft press release to create a buzz about their programs (product)
• Describe the major cultural groups living in Alaska (knowledge)
• Know their rights and responsibilities as a AmeriCorps*VISTA member (knowledge)

Go on to Understanding Learning Styles

Plan for a powerful closure that allows for integration of learning experiences, reflection on experiences and insights, and evaluation of the training session.

Consider these tools for:

Reflection and Integration

• Sharing Key Learnings – What are the "ah-ha's" from this discussion or meeting? Have your group share learnings verbally. It sometimes helps to have them share first in pairs.
• Journal Writing – Have members silently reflect on the day.
• Call to Action – Ask participants to commit verbally or in writing to how they will use or be changed by their new skills.
• Return to the Expectations – Make sure participants receive what was expected. Ask for examples of how you have addressed each expectation.
• Partners Test Each Other – Have participants test each other's knowledge and skill retention.
• Group Reflection – Ask the group to reflect as a whole. Ask participants to say a word or create a picture to describe what the experience was like for each of them.

Evaluation

• Individual Written Evaluations – Conduct a formal written evaluation with questions that include space to comment on each part of the meeting.
• Group Verbal Evaluation – Conduct a large group feedback session by asking the group members to identify verbally with parts of the meeting that worked and parts that needed improved. (Also known as Plus/Deltas and Pluses and Wishes.)
• Thumbs-Up/Thumbs-Down Evaluation – Ask the group to evaluate the meeting by casually rating it with their thumbs. This can also be done numerically with fingers.
• Anonymous Suggestion Box – Place a box in the room and invite feedback.

Go on to Planning the Learning Session

Knowing how and when to ask great probing questions is a key facilitation skill. Questions invite participation and get people thinking about issues from a different perspective. Questions are essential to stimulating a good conversation and for getting feedback from participants.

There are two basic types of questions: open-ended and closed-ended.

For a tip-sheet on asking the right question, click here.

Go on to Closing the Learning Session

Further Reading

Doyle, M. & Straus, D. (1982.) How to make meetings work. New York, NY: Jove Books.

Gorde, P. B. (2000.) Workshop essentials: Planning and presenting dynamic workshops. Lake Forest, IL: New Horizons.

Hirsh, S. K. (1991.) Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in organizations (2nd Ed.) Mountain View, CA: Consulting Psychologies Press, Inc.

Hunter, D., Bailey, A., & Taylor, B. (1995.) The art of facilitation. Tucson, AZ: Fisher Books.

Kolb, D. A. (1984.) Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Kroeger, O., & Thuesen, J. (1988.) Type talk. New York, NY: Dell Publishing.

Resources

Ageless Learner Resource Forum

Associations

American Association for Adult & Continuing Education (AAACE)
1200 19th Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036-2401
Website: www.aace.org

Theories associated with Adult Learning

• Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
• Gagne's Theory
• Knowles Theory
• Learning theories in general

Go back to Designing Effective Training

Use these two worksheets to plan your next session

This resource was pulled from the training session "Beyond Icebreakers and Power Points - Incorporating Principles of Adult Learning into your Training Program" presented by Nancy Henry, Judith Gold, and Nicole Trimble at the National Conference on Service and Volunteerism (June 20, 2006).

Use this resource to:

• Think through the critical elements of an effective training.
• Develop a detailed "facilitator's agenda" to guide your training.

Effective questioning is critical in facilitating learning

Asking the Right Question describes six different types of questions and how they are used to promote learning.

This resource was pulled from the training session "Beyond Icebreakers and Power Points - Incorporating Principles of Adult Learning into your Training Program" presented by Nancy Henry, Judith Gold, and Nicole Trimble at the National Conference on Service and Volunteerism (June 20, 2006).

Use this resource to:

• develop powerful questions for your training sessions.

Five stages of learning necessary to process experiences

This experiential learning cycle was adapted from the Northwest Leader Corps training curriculum written and compiled by Nicole Trimble. The DIGA model takes a learner through the five stages of:

Stage 1: The experience forms the basis for the rest of the cycle. The activity should produce information or understanding.

Stage 2: Describe—Participants describe or share their experience to the group by reporting their observations and reactions. It is a time to find out what events occurred. Questions include:

• What happened?
• What were your impressions of that experience?
• How did you feel?
• What surprised you?

Stage 3: Interpret—Participants share their ideas and reactions. It is important to help individuals see and evaluate any trends or dynamics that may be emerging in the group. The trainer's role is to help participants not only notice what happened, but to ask "Why?" Questions include:

• Why did that happen?
• What kinds of patterns are you seeing here?
• How was that significant?
• How might it have been different?

Stage 4: Generalize—The group determines if the experience was unique or if it happens in other situations. Participants are asked to focus on linking the experience to the real world. Questions include:

• Where have you seen this before?
• What does this remind you of?
• What does this make you think of?
• What does that suggest to you about _____ in general?

Stage 5: Apply—Participants plan ways to use what they have learned. Giving participants the opportunity to not only reflect on the lessons they have learned, but to share with and teach others further enhances learning retention. Questions include:

• What do you want to remember from this experience?
• How could you apply that?

Use this resource to:

• incorporate experiential learning within your trainings.

Relating learning styles to Myers-Briggs personality framework

Learning Styles Handout #3 relates the learning needs of individuals to their personality type according to the Myers-Briggs framework.

• Introversion vs. Extroversion
• Sensing vs. Intuition
• Thinking vs. Feeling
• Judgment vs. Perception

This resource was pulled from the training session "Beyond Icebreakers and Power Points - Incorporating Principles of Adult Learning into your Training Program" presented by Nancy Henry, Judith Gold, and Nicole Trimble at the National Conference on Service and Volunteerism (June 20, 2006).

Use this resource to:

• better understand and address the needs of learners
• incorporate training strategies appropriate for different learners.

Four ways learners may approach learning

Learning Styles Handout #2 describes learners according to how they approach learning:

• Practical learners who learn through direct experience
• Analytic learners who learn through exploration of ideas
• Imaginative learners who learn through the "6th sense"
• Inventive Learners who learn through experimentation

This resource was pulled from the training session "Beyond Icebreakers and Power Points - Incorporating Principles of Adult Learning into your Training Program" presented by Nancy Henry, Judith Gold, and Nicole Trimble at the National Conference on Service and Volunteerism (June 20, 2006).

Use this resource to:

• better understand and identify the four types of learners
• incorporate training strategies appropriate for each type of learner

How visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners differ

Learning Styles #1 describes learners according to whether they are:

• Visual learners who learn through seeing
• Auditory learners who learn through hearing
• Kinesthetic learners who learn through touch and movement

This resource was pulled from the training session "Beyond Icebreakers and Power Points - Incorporating Principles of Adult Learning into your Training Program" presented by Nancy Henry, Judith Gold, and Nicole Trimble at the National Conference on Service and Volunteerism (June 20, 2006).

Use this resource to:

• better understand and identify the three types of learners
• incorporate training strategies appropriate for each type of learner.

Understand the stages of cognitive learning to effectively facilitate learning

Bloom's taxonomy is a classification of the stages of cognitive learning developed by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950s. The six stages represent levels or depths of learning with each stage requiring more cognitive skills than the previous one.

This resource was adapted from two sources:

• Learning Skills Program at University of Victoria (BC, Canada)
• Günter Krumme, Professor Emeritus, University Of Washington, Seattle

Use this resource to:

• develop targeted learning objectives for your training sessions

A one-page handout describing the principles of adult learning, as articulated by CNCS.

This resource was pulled from the training session "Beyond Icebreakers and Power Points - Incorporating Principles of Adult Learning into your Training Program" presented by Nancy Henry, Judith Gold, and Nicole Trimble at the National Conference on Service and Volunteerism (June 20, 2006).

Use this resource:

• as a checklist to guide your planning and facilitation of training events.