Category Archives: Instructional Methods

Why aren’t adult learners actively engaged in training?

Have you ever trained adult learners and noticed that after several minutes that they are looking at you with a blank stare? It is likely that such disengagement is due to overuse of lecturing. While I am not against the technique of lecturing, if used inappropriately, it can impact your audience’s interest, but to facilitate effective training, you need to

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Friendship: An Unexpected Benefit Of Training

We often think of training as solely a learning endeavor, but educational events can also serve as opportunities to build new relationships. Whether delivered online or in the classroom, learning experiences–when designed with an eye on socialization–bring people together in ways that typical networking or social events cannot. Learners and instructors have a shared frame of reference (the course content)

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Training Superglue: Design elements that make learning stick

Are the following statements about learning true or false? The best way to learn from a textbook is to read it over and over. Learning material is retained if it is easy. Practicing a skill over and over leads to successful performance. Creativity is more important than knowledge. Testing is an ineffective learning tool. You might be surprised when you check

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Now That You are a Trainer. . .

Now that you are a trainer, what must you do to ensure that your presentation is flawless? That is, how can you fully engage your audience with the content? They should not realize how much preparation went into ensuring flawless delivery. There are no perfect presentations, but well-prepared trainers do exercise due diligence in their approach to training others. This

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