By Mark Rose, University of Oklahoma Outreach Executive Program - Team Quest

I'm often asked what I do in my job. It usually goes something like, "What do you do for the University of Oklahoma?"."I help equip teams with skills and tools to become more effective," I reply. "My main focus is using experiential learning for team development." This answer typically results in glassy eyes, a nod of the head and a quick change of the subject.

To be fair, most people don't know the amount of work it takes to be a trainer, much less care. But, to be a good trainer, there has to be some structure to it. The good news is that there is a model for the design of effective training. Most trainers have learned that no matter what they are teaching, they have to use different ways to meet the variety of learning styles of their participants. Some trainers might intuitively use different ways to cover their content but not know why it works - they just know that it does. Good trainers know how and why using a variety of delivery components can create the most effective training.

The premise for creating the most effective training is built on the foundation of Malcolm Knowles' work (originally in 1973) who was critical in developing the idea of Andragogy or Adult Learning Theory. Andragogy is based on several assumptions:

Adults need to know why they should learn something.
Adults need to direct their own learning.
Adults have a variety of experiences that can be used as resources for other adult learners, and they prefer experiential techniques.
Adults are ready to learn when they have a need for a knowledge or skill that can be applied to their life.
Adults have a life-centered orientation to learning.
Most adults are motivated to continue growing and developing.

Using these assumptions of Adult Learning Theory, we modified a common model for instructional design that uses three different components for effective training. The model shows that a relatively equal distribution of these three components provides the most effective training for adult learners.


Content-This is the subject matter as illustrated by notes in the Participant's Handbook, lecture, notes created by the learners, etc. It relates to the competencies presented in the training.

Experience-This is the active learning that participants experience which encourages their discovery of a learning point or their practice of a new skill. It can be a game or physical activity, but it can also be a written exercise or group discussion. A session should offer a variety of auditory, visual and kinesthetic experiences, neither all games nor all discussions.

Feedback-This is the participants' reflection upon a competency's relevance, their personal application of the session's content or the significance of their own experience. It is frequently facilitated by the trainer, but may also be facilitated by the group.

For example, you might be providing training on stages of group development with a newly formed work team. The Content component could include a paper copy of Tuckman's Stages of Group Development (1965). You would explain the model and the characteristics of each stage. This would be a brief overview so that the team members could have a common language about the model. Some trainers call this 'frontloading' which is a way to introduce a topic to your group before an experience. The Experience component could be any type of activity where the group is engaged in learning about group development. Examples of this component could be watching a video of another group interacting.

Finally, the Feedback component would include some type of reflection about the activity they experienced. After watching the video of another group interacting, the facilitator might ask group members questions about what they saw and where that fits into the stages of group development.

This is just one example of how a trainer might use this three component model for designing effective training. An important thing to remember is for the most effective training to take place, the delivery of each major topic should include approximately equal proportions of all three components - Content, Experience and Feedback. Throughout each training, the order of the components should be varied so that each is modeled introducing, exploring and summarizing a topic.

Visit this link to receive more information on the training titles, Trainer Games in Action: Volumes 1 and 2, developed by Team Quest.

Mark Rose is the program manager of Executive Training ~ Team Quest at The University of Oklahoma OUTREACH who uses experiential learning as a tool to help teams perform better. He enjoys golf and spending time with his wife and three-year-old daughter. He can be contacted at mrose@ou.edu.

References:
Knowles, M. S. (1973) The Adult Learner. A neglected species. Houston: Gulf Publishing.
Tuckman, B. (1965). Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin. Vol. 63. No.6. pp. 384-399.