CHAPTER 4

LEARNING: THEORIES AND PROGRAM DESIGN

To facilitate training effectively, it is critical to understand learning and how it occurs. In this chapter, learning is defined and specific learning outcomes, e.g., intellectual skills and motor skills, are described. Major theories of learning and motivation are presented and their applicability to and implications for training are discussed. Goal orientation, mastery orientation, and performance orientation are explained in the chapter. The basic learning strategies of rehearsal, organizing, and elaboration are discussed. Learning processes are described as well as the implications of these processes for instruction. Generational differences were explained in the chapter. Major implications of andragogy or adult learning are explained in the chapter. Finally, this chapter outlines considerations in designing effective training programs, in terms of facilities, seating arrangements, and program design. Key terms are listed at the end of the chapter, as are questions for discussion and application assignments.

Objectives

After reading and discussing this chapter, students should be able to

1. Discuss the five types of learner out comes.

2. Explain the implications of learning theory for instructional design.

3. Incorporate adult learning theory into the design of a training program.

4. Describe how learners receive, process, store, retrieve, and act upon information.

5. Discuss the internal conditions (within the learner) and external conditions (learning environment) necessary for the trainee to learn each type of capability.

6. Be able to choose and prepare a training site.

7. Explain the four components of program design: course parameters, objectives, lesson overview, and detailed lesson plan.

I. Introduction

A. The introduction provides an excellent example of training a Exelon Energy Delivery. Exelon’s programs highlight a few conditions necessary for learning to occur: (1) opportunities for trainees to practice, (2) meaningful content, (3) identifying any prerequisites that trainees need to successfully complete the program, and (4) allowing trainees to learn through observation and experience.

II. What is Learning? What is Learned?

A. Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change in human capabilities that is not a result of growth processes.

B. Specific learning outcomes include

1. Verbal information, or names, labels, facts and bodies of knowledge, including specialized knowledge employees need to know to perform their jobs.

2. Intellectual skills, which include concepts and rules critical to solving problems, serving customers and creating products.

3. Motor skills, involving coordination of physical movements.

4. Attitudes, include a cognitive component (i.e., beliefs), an affective component (i.e., feeling), and an intentional component (i.e., how a person intends to behave). Work related attitudes include job satisfaction, organizational commitment and job involvement.

5. Cognitive strategies, which regulate the learning process, determine what information the learner will attend to, how he/she will remember and how he/she will solve problems.

III. Learning Theories

A. The basic premise of Reinforcement Theory is that individuals are motivated to perform or avoid behaviors because of past outcomes of those behaviors. In other words, behavior is controlled by its consequences. Behavior modification is a training method that is primarily based on reinforcement theory.

1. Positive reinforcement involves positively rewarding desirable behaviors.

2. Negative reinforcement means removing an unpleasant outcome to promote desirable behaviors.

3. Extinction involves withdrawing positive or negative reinforcers to eliminate a behavior.

4. Punishment involves decreasing a behavior by presenting an unpleasant outcome after the behavior.

5. The training implications of Reinforcement Theory include the importance of the trainer knowing which outcomes a learner finds positive and which are negative.

6. Behavior modification is a training method that is based on reinforcement theory by reinforcing appropriate behaviors.

7. Different schedules of reinforcement (see Table 4-2, p. 128) include ratio schedules and interval schedules. Ratio schedules include: fixed-ratio, continuous reinforcement, and variable ratio. Interval schedules can be either fixed or variable.

B. Social Learning Theory suggests that people learn by observing other people (i.e., models) and attempting to emulate their behaviors.

1. Learning is also influenced by self-efficacy, which is an individual’s belief that he/she can successfully learn knowledge and skills and is an important factor in the readiness to learn. A person’s self-efficacy can be increased several ways:

a. Verbal persuasion means offering words of encouragement to convince others they are capable of learning.

b. Logical verification means creating a perceived relationship between a new task and a task already mastered.

c. Modeling is having employees who have mastered the learning outcomes demonstrate them for trainees.

d. Past accomplishment means letting employees build a history of successful accomplishments.

2. The theory suggests there are four processes involved in learning:

a. Attentional processes must occur, for individuals cannot learn by observation unless they are aware of the important aspects of the model’s performance. They are influenced by characteristics of the model and the learner.

b. Retentional processes are involved so that the learner can remember the behaviors or skills they observe and can recall them when appropriate.

c. Reproductional processes involve the learner trying to reproduce the behaviors or skills observed.

d. Learners are more likely to adopt the modeled behavior if it results in positive outcomes.

C. Goal Setting Theory suggests that behavior results from a person’s conscious goals and intentions.

  1. Goals influence behavior by directing energy and attention, sustaining effort over time and motivating the person to develop strategies for goal attainment.
  2. Specific, challenging, but not impossible, goals result in better performance than vague, non-challenging goals.
  3. Goals lead to high performance when one is committed to them.
  4. In training, goal setting theory suggests that learning can be effectively facilitated by setting specific, challenging goals and objectives with learners.
  5. Goal orientation refers to the goals held by a trainee in a learning situation. This is believed to affect the amount of effort a trainee will expend in learning (motivation to learn). Goal orientation can include:

a. Learning orientation,relates to trying to increase ability or competence in a task.

b. Performance orientation, refers to a focus of learners on task performance and how they compare to others.

D. A need is a deficiency that a person is experiencing at a given point in time. Need Theories suggest that needs motivate people to behave certain ways to satisfy the need or deficiency.

1. Maslow and Alderfer’s need theories focused on physiological or basic and safety needs, relatedness needs, and self-growth needs. Both believed that individuals are at first motivated to satisfy lower-level (i.e., physiological) needs, then progress up to higher-level needs.

2. McClelland’s Need Theory focuses primarily on the needs for achievement, affiliation and power, all of which can be learned.

3. Need theories suggest that trainers should attempt to understand learners’ needs and explain how the training will help them meet their needs.

E. Expectancy Theory suggests that behavior is based on three factors:

1. Expectancy, similar to self-efficacy, is the link between trying to perform and actually performing.

2. Instrumentality is the belief that engaging in a behavior (e.g., attending training) will result in the desired outcome (e.g., mastering the behavior or skill).

3. Valence is the value that one places on that outcome.

4. In a training context, expectancy theory says that learning is best facilitated when trainees believe they can master the knowledge or skill, when learning is linked to outcomes such as improved job performance or a pay raise, and when the trainees value the outcomes they perceive.

F. Adult Learning Theory also called Andragogy, as opposed to pedagogy or the theory of educating children, is the model of how adults learn.

  1. The theory, most often linked to Malcolm Knowles, is based on the following assumptions:
  1. Adults have the need to know why they are learning something.
  2. Adults have a need to be self-directed in their learning.
  3. Adults bring more work-related experiences into the learning situation.
  4. Adults enter into a learning experience with a problem-centered approach to learning.
  5. Adults are motivated to learn by both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators.
  1. This theory is particularly applicable to training because learning in the workplace involves adult learners (see Table 4-3, p. 134).

G. Information Processing Theory (see Figure 4-3, p. 134) proposes that information taken in by the learner undergoes several transformations in the brain: A message is received by the senses; registered; stored in short-term memory; transformed to be stored in long-term memory; and a response to the information is organized. This model highlights how external events, such as the following, influence learning:

1. Changes in the intensity or frequency of the stimulus that affect attention.

2. Informing the learner of the objectives establishes an expectation.

3. Enhancing perceptual features of the material (stimulus) draws the attention of the learner to certain features.

4. Verbal instructions, pictures, diagrams, and maps suggest ways to code the training content so that it can be stored in memory.

5. A meaningful learning context (e.g., examples, and problems) creates cues that facilitate coding.

6. Demonstration or verbal instructions help organize the learners’ response as well as facilitate the selection of the correct response.

IV. The Learning Processes are depicted in Figure 4-4, p. 136.

A. The processes include:

1. Expectancy refers to the mental state, including motivation to learn, basic skills and an understanding of the purpose of the instruction, that learners bring to the instructional process.

2. Perception is the ability to organize messages from the environment to be processed and acted upon.

3. In working storage, rehearsal and repetition of information occur so that material can be coded for memory.

4. Semantic encoding is the actual coding process of incoming messages in preparation for storage in long-term memory.

B. Different learning strategies influence how training content is coded. Learning strategies include rehearsal, organizing, and elaboration. Rehearsal is the simplest learning strategy focusing on learning through repetition (memorization). Organizing requires the learner to find similarities and themes in training materials. Elaboration requires the trainee to relate the training material to other more familiar knowledge, skills, or behaviors. Trainees use a combination of these strategies to learn. The “best” strategy depends on the learning outcome. For knowledge outcomes, rehearsal and organization are most appropriate. For skill application, elaboration is necessary.

1. Retrieval refers to the identification of learned material in long-term memory to influence performance.

2. Generalizing is the ability to adapt what is learned to use in similar but not identical situations.

3. Gratifying refers to the feedback the learner receives as a result of using what is learned.

C. Kolb’s Learning Styles include: diverger, assimilator, converger, and accommodator. The diverger uses concrete experience and reflective observation. A diverger tends to be interested in people, culture, and the arts. An assimilator uses abstract conceptualization and also reflective observation. An assimilator is good at inductive reasoning, creating theoretical models, and combining disparate observations into an integrated explanation. A converger uses abstract conceptualization and active experimentation, and prefers dealing with technical tasks rather than interpersonal issues. An accommodator uses concrete experience and active experimentation, and is good at implementing decisions, carrying out plans, and getting involved in new experiences.

D. Age Influences on Learning – each generation may be characterized by certain characteristics that can influence learning. These groups are: the Millenium or Nexters (born 1980 - present), Gen Xers (born 1961 - 1980), Baby Boomers (born 1945 - 1960), and the Traditionalists (born 1920 – 1943).

E. Implications of the Learning Process for Instruction (i.e., the characteristics of the environment in which the learning is to occur).

1. The objectives refer to the purpose and targeted outcomes of the training activities. Individuals learn best when they understand the training objective(s). Learning objectives need to be measurable.

2. A Learning Objective has three major components:

a. A statement of what the employee is expected to do or know (i.e., performance).

b. A statement of the quality or level of acceptable performance (i.e., criterion).

c. A statement of the conditions under which the learner is expected to perform the desired outcome (i.e., conditions).

3. Employees are more likely to learn when the training is linked to current job experiences and tasks, for that has meaning for them.Also, the training context should mirror the work environment. The training context refers to the physical, intellectual, and emotional environment in which training occurs.

4. Employees need to have opportunities to practice for learning to “stick.”

a. Practice is the opportunity for the learner to demonstrate the learned skill or behavior under the specified conditions and to the performance standard determined. It must be related to the learning objectives.

Pre-practice conditions can be used by trainers to enhance learners motivation to learn and facilitate retention of training content. The trainer can provide information about the process or strategy, encourage trainees to develop a strategy (metacognition) to direct their attention to their own learning process, and also provide advance organizers i.e., outlines, texts, diagrams, and graphs that help trainees organize the information that will be presented and practiced.Trainers should also help trainees set challenging mastery or learning goals; create realistic expectations for the trainees by communicating what will occur in training, and while training employees in teams, communicate performance expectations and clarify roles and responsibilities of team members.

b. Overlearning involves continuing to practice the new skill or behavior beyond the point at which the learner has demonstrated proficiency more than once. This maximizes the likelihood that what is learned will transfer back to the job.Research suggests that from a training perspective, errors can be useful. Error management training refers to giving trainees the opportunities to make errors during training.

c. Massed practice conditions are those in which individuals practice a task continuously without rest. In spaced practice conditions, individuals are given rest intervals within the practice session. Effectiveness of massed versus spaced practice varies by the characteristics of the task. Task characteristics include overall task complexity, mental requirements, and physical requirements (see Table 4-6, p.143). After practice, trainees need specific feedback to enhance learning.

d. One option with performing training is, all tasks or objectives should be practiced at the same time (whole practice). Another option is that an objective or task should be practiced individually as soon as each is introduced in the training program (part practice). It is probably best to employ both whole and part practice in a training session.

e. Practice conditionsmust involve the actions emphasized in the training objectives, be completed under the conditions specified in the training objectives,help trainees perform to meet the criteria or standard that was set, provide some means to evaluate the extent to which trainees’ performance meets the standards, and allow trainees to correct their mistakes.

5. Employees need to commit training content to memory. Ways in which trainers can help employees store knowledge, skills, behavior, and other training in long-term memory.

a. Make trainees aware of how they are creating, processing, and accessing memory.

b. To create long-term memory, training programs must be explicit on content and elaborate on details.

c. Once trainees correctly demonstrate a behavior or skill or correctly recall knowledge, it is often assumedthat they have learned it, but this is not always true.

d. Making trainees review and practice over multiple days (overlearning) can help them retain information in long-term memory. Overlearning also helps toautomize a task. Automatization refers to making performance of a task, recall of knowledge, ordemonstration of a skill so automatic that it requires little thought or attention.

6. Employees need feedback, or information about how well they are meeting the predetermined objectives. The feedback should be specific and should follow the behavior as closely as possible.

7. Employees learn by observing and interacting with others (see Table 4-7, p. 146).

a. Communities of practice are groups or teams of employees who work together, learn from each other and have a common sense about how to get work accomplished.

8. Employees need the training program to be properly coordinated and arranged.

a. Training administration is the coordination of activities before, during and after the training program.

b. Training administration involves activities such as enrolling employees in courses and programs, preparing instruction materials, arranging for the training facility, and evaluating the program and learner outcomes.

V. Instructional Emphasis for Learning Outcomes

A. Internal conditions are processes within the learner that are necessary for learning to occur (see Table 4-8, p. 149).

B. External conditions are processes in the learning environment, such as appropriate physical equipment as well as opportunities for practice, feedback and reinforcement, that are necessary for learning to occur.

VI. Considerations in Designing Effective Training Programs

A. The training site is the physical space in which the training will be conducted. An effective training site

1. Is comfortable and accessible.

2. Is quiet, private, and free from interruptions.

3. Has adequate space for learners to move comfortably in; offers adequate work space; allows learners to see each other, the facilitator and the visuals and materials well;

B. Details to be considered in the training room:

1. Seating arrangements of the training site should be based on the desired type of trainee and trainee-trainer interaction (See Figure 4-5, p. 152).

  1. Fan-type seating enables trainees to see the facilitator and each other from each point, they can switch to group activities easily, and they can communicate easily with each other.
  2. A conference-type arrangement, on the other hand, is effective for total group discussion with no small-group activities and limited presentation.
  3. The horseshoe arrangement is appropriate when the training requires both presentation and total-group instruction and interaction.

VII. How Trainers Can Make the Training Site and Instruction Conducive to Learning