WHAT IS LEARNING?

 Learning: is a relatively permanent change in

human capabilities that is not a result of
growth processes.
 Verbal information includes names or labels,
facts, and bodies of knowledge.
 Verbal information includes specialized
knowledge that employees need in their jobs.
 For example, a manager must know the
names of different types of equipment.
 Intellectual skills include concepts and rules.
These concepts and rules are critical to
solve problems, serve customers, and create
products.
 For example, a manager must know the steps in
the performance appraisal process (e.g., gather
data, summarize data, prepare for appraisal
interview with employee) in order to conduct an
employee appraisal.
 Motor skills include coordination of physical
movements. For example, a telephone
repair person must have the coordination
necessary to climb ladders and
telephone poles.
 Attitudes: are a combination of beliefs and feelings
that predispose a person to behave
a certain way.
 Attitudes include a cognitive component (beliefs), an
affective component (feeling), and an intentional
component (the way a person intends to behave in
regard to the subject of the attitude).
 Important work-related attitudes include job
satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and job
involvement
 Suppose you say that an employee has a
“positive attitude” toward her work.
 This means the person likes her job (the affective
component). She may like her job because it is
challenging and provides an opportunity to meet
people (the cognitive component).
 Because she likes her job, she intends to stay with
the company and do her best at work (the
intentional component).
 Cognitive strategies control the processes of
learning. They relate to the learner’s decision
regarding what information to attend to (i.e., pay
attention to), how to remember, and how
to solve problems.
 For example, a physicist recalls the colors of the
light spectrum through remembering the name
“Roy G. Biv” (red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo, violet).
LEARNING THEORIES

 Reinforcement theory (B. F. Skinner emphasizes

that people are motivated to perform or avoid
certain behaviors because of past outcomes that
have resulted from those behaviors.
 There are several processes in reinforcement
theory. Positive reinforcement is a pleasurable
outcome resulting from a behavior. Negative
reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant
outcome.
 For example,
if a manager yells at employees when they are late,
they may avoid the yelling by being on time.
 From a training perspective, reinforcement theory
suggests that for learners to acquire
knowledge, change behavior, or modify skills, the
trainer needs to identify what outcomes
the learner finds most positive (and negative).
 Social learning theory (Albert Bandura
1977) ) emphasizes that people learn by
observing other persons (models) whom they
believe are credible and knowledgeable.
 Social learning theory also recognizes that
behavior that is reinforced or rewarded tends
to be repeated.
 Goal setting theory (Locke and Latham)
assumes that behavior results from a person’s
conscious goals and
intentions.
 Goals influence a person’s behavior by
directing energy and attention, sustaining
effort over time, and motivating the person
to develop strategies for goal attainment
 Need Theories (David McClelland)
Need theories help to explain the value that a
person places on certain outcomes. A need
is a deficiency that a person is experiencing at
any point in time. A need motivates a person
to behave in a manner to satisfy the
deficiency.
Adult Learning Theory

 Pedagogy: the art and science of teaching

children, has dominated educational theory.
 Pedagogy gives the instructor major
responsibility for making decisions about learning
content, method, and evaluation.
Students are generally seen as:
(1) being passive recipients of directions and
content and
(2) bringing few experiences that may serve as
resources to the learning environment
 Andragogy:
the theory of adult learning.
1. Adults have the need to know why they are learning
something.
2. Adults have a need to be self-directed.
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.
DESIGNING EFFECTIVE TRAINING
PROGRAMS
 Selecting and Preparing the Training Site
The training site refers to the room where
training will be conducted. A good training
site offers the following features:57
1. It is comfortable and accessible.
2. It is quiet, private, and free from
interruptions.
 3. It has sufficient space for trainees to move
easily around in, offers enough room for
trainees to have adequate work space, and
has good visibility for trainees to see each
other,
Details to Be Considered in the Training
Room
 Noise. Check for noise from heating and air
conditioning systems, from adjacent rooms
and corridors, and from outside the building.

Colors. such as oranges, greens, blues, and yellows are
warm colors.
Variations of white are cold and sterile. Blacks and
brown shades will close the room in
psychologically and become fatiguing.
 Room structure. Use rooms that are
somewhat square in shape. Long, narrow
rooms make it difficult for trainees to see,
hear, and identify with the discussion.

Lighting. Main source of lighting should be
bright lights. radiant lighting should be
spread throughout the room.
 Electrical outlets. Outlets should be available
every six feet around the room. A telephone
jack should be next to the outlets. Outlets for
the trainer should be available
Seating Arrangements
 Fan-type seating is favorable to allowing trainees to see
from any point in the room.

Trainees can easily switch from listening to a presentation to
practicing in groups, and
trainees can communicate easily with everyone in the room.

 Fan-type seating is effective for training that includes

trainees working in groups and teams to analyze problems
and synthesize information.
traditional classroom-type seating

 If the training primarily involves knowledge acquisition,

with lecture and audiovisual
presentation being the primary training method used,
traditional classroom-type seating is
appropriate.

 Traditional classroom instruction allows for trainee

interaction with the trainer but makes it difficult for
trainees to work in teams (particularly if the seats are
not movable to other locations in the room).
conference-type and hosreshoes
arrangement
 If training emphasizes total-group discussion
with limited presentation and no small-group
interaction, a conference-type arrangement
may be most effective.

 If the training requires both presentation and

total-group instruction, the horseshoe
arrangement is useful.