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Concepts of Learning Psychology

One selection approach is to study learning psychology and determine what various writers have to say about selecting the appropriate instructional strategy for a given objective. This information is presented by writers in several ways, but a common one is the cone of experiences. There are various renditions of this, depending upon the writer. The cone can represent a continuum from the simple to the complex from direct experience to wholly vicarious, or any other continuum the writer wishes to select. The difficulty with this approach is that it assumes that there is a continuum, and that concept is debatable. It also puts selection on a one-dimensional plane that excludes the variables of the material, the previous experience of the learner, and the style of the learner, and it usually completely ignores two other factors that will be discussed later in this section.

The cones have some worth, for they organize the instructional strategies into usable patterns. The problem is with the Designer who seeks answer from the cones or continuums as the variables are complex. A single instrument will not permit the luxury of a quick and easy selection.

Administrative Practices

Once we leave the area of learning psychology, the selection picture becomes even more confused. Perhaps that is why most Designers tend to consider only that aspect, for learning psychology provides some printed material and references that can be used. Little has been written about the factor of administrative practices in selecting instructional strategies.

Designer is working with a limited budget, the possibility of selection is curtailed, for many of the strategies require financial expenditure for materials. When requirements becomes consideration (for example, video-cassette recorders), a not insignificant budget may be required, it is not that the organizations will not make funds available, although in some situations that might be that case. More often the difficulty is one of timing. When budgets are being prepared, it is not always possible to forecast probable future expenditures for equipment related to a program that has not yet been designed. The HRD director will try to make provisions for some expenditure in that category when preparing the annual budget. The difficulty is that some HRD directors do not have control overtheir own budgets. Even when they do it is difficult to sell a budget item when the need is not apparent. This leads the HRD director to try stockpiling when economic conditions are favorable, but theitems that may have been stockpiled frequently do not meet the needs of the program being designed.

Selection reflects administrative practices of the organization in the area of the budget. The Designer should not take a negative stance, just because it has not been budgeted docs not mean that materials and equipment for instructional strategies cannot be obtained as every budget process provides for some flexibility. If the Designer can demonstrate the need strongly enough, funds might still be made available.

Another aspect of budget is timing. Every organization has a cash flow sequence. There are certain times of the year, a particular month or week, when cash is more or less available. The HRD director must remain sensitive to this when seeking funds for unbudgeted instructional strategy items.

Where the HRD director and the Designer are the same person, this sensitivity should be obvious. As HRD units become more active and grow in size, a gulf can develop between the HRD director and the Designer. In that situation, it is the responsibility of the Designer to keep the director informed. Unfortunately it may not be until this event in the CEM that the Designer can identify the budgetary requirements for a particular instructional strategy.

Much the same can be said about facilities. There are some instructional strategies that require special facilities. This can be as basic as a room that can be darkened if slides are to be used. It can be more sophisticated if technology is involved. such as closed-circuit TV. or group-oriented strategies requiring ap¬propriate space for small break-out groups. There is a growing tendency among large corporations to build or lease their own facilities. Generally they are not labeled as HRD facilities, the more common term being conference center. In some cases the company will actually build a center. The February 1981 issue of Merlins NCIK carried a, story that indicated that companies planned to spend $3 billion in 1981 to rent facilities, and that was in an uncertain economic climate.

In addition, there are more than 50 facilities, just in the northeast region of the United States that cater specifically to HRD activities. The Sunbelt can claim a growing number of such facilities that were built primarily to provide an ap¬propriate learning environment.

To these company-owned facilities and the specially built conference centers can be added most of the hotels and motels in the United States that are frequently used by companies for some of their HRD activities (3l. Some of the facilities have very sophisticated equipment, white others provide only chairs, tables, and bare walls.
The Designer must know what is available, or possible in the way of facilities, when selecting an instructional strategy. The HRD director must be involved if the budget and facilities are different from what had been provided previously. Though it may not be possible to obtain additional budget, or different facilities this year, the HRD director might want to anticipate needs that have budget and facility implications for next year.

Culture of the Organization

Culture is always a difficult dimension to determine- By its very nature, culture is "what everybody believes" but is not actually stated. If it has been written down in a manual, directive or similar document, it becomes legal or administrative practice. This does not mean that everybody follows it but at least everybody knows what it is supposed to be. Culture is not written but generally represents accepted behavior in the organization. As such, it is not always possible to tell when one has acted counter culturally until penalized by the people or the system. The most frequently repeated phrase, when one encounters cultural practice. is, "We have always done it that way.

In many organizations it is generally assumed (cultural behavior) that executives and managers/should be sent to external programs rather than to those provided internally. There could be programs conducted by other organizations or at the very least, conducted off the regular work site. There may not be an issued policy or a written statement (that takes it out of cultural behavior), but 1 have encountered many organizations in which this was one of the first inputs I received when designing a program for that level of personnel.
History, within an organization, creates cultural norms. One such organization was a large oil company in which the managers were brought together twice a year from all over the United Stated for training purposes. Frequently managers working overseas were also scheduled to attend, and the training was coupled with home office consultation. What I had not been told about were the various rituals that accompanied this activity. In later discussion, the in-house HRD person remarked that he did not see the need for telling me about the precession activities, as he would take care. It was later explained that fighting one's way into the group was one indication of being able to survive.

Other organizations have equally unusual cultural behaviors that are expected at training sessions. It is hoped that not too many require the cultural behaviors just described. Many of the cultural behaviors relate more to dress, times of day that are used or must be avoided, and even times of the year that are more or less desirable. There may be a "requirement" that each session start with) predetermined ritual or event. The list of cultural behaviors can be quite lengthy but is crucial in determining how a session can be organized and which the appropriate instructional strategies are.

Instructor

References have been made to the instructor, and once again that person becomes crucial to the Designer. If the program is intended to be entirely machine-mediated with no live person in attendance, the emphasis is on the technology, no more people. The Designer need only consider who will deliver the learning program in physical terms, such as set up arrangements, and so on. This will be discussed further in the event "Conduct Training."

Even when a learning experience is essentially machine or technology oriented, there may still be a live person in attendance. Though the term instructor can still be used, the person will function more as a coach. As a result, much different behavior is required than when that person serves as the instructor.

The more prevalent mode in most learning situations is the use of a live instructor, using some of the various strategies that are set forth in the following. The learning experience is under the "control" of the instruction even though self-directed or learner-directed strategies are being used.

It is essential that the Designer have at least an image of who that instructor might be. (Although phrased in the singular, "instructor," there is also the obvious consideration that most learning programs require more than one instructor.) Even more to the point, the perfect condition would be when the Designer knows the instructor and the competencies that instructor will bring to the learning situation. One limitation in selecting appropriate learning strategies is the competency and inclination of the instructor.

If the instructor to be used is a professional, the range of possible instructional strategies available is much broader than when a nonprofessional is being used. This should not be read as being disparaging to the nonprofessional. as such instructors are extremely significant when a knowledge of the subject matter is important. The nonprofessional can also be more effective when an objective calls for a leading company figure, such as the Chief Executive Officer or a vice-president. These nonprofessionals may feel uncomfortable with some of the technology available (including something as comparatively simple as slides), but the presence of that high-level nonprofessional may be essential to meeting the objectives of the learning. The culture of the organization demands it.

Another nonprofessional is the line person who’s a peer. I have used supervisors to train other supervisors. Having the sessions conducted by one of their own can have a stronger learning impact than when the session is conducted by a professional who is comfortable with the instructional strategies but has never walked in the shoes of the learner.
Some professionals feel more competent with one instructional strategy as compared to another, and they show that. A professional instructor might have no problem with using projected materials (for example, films, slides, overheads) but balks when required to use the video-cassette recorder. It b even possible to conduct training programs for the professionals in the use of a new technology or an old method (for example, role-playing), but if the instructor does not feel comfortable with that particular strategy. may be necessary for the Designer to make modifications.

If the Designer has selected a particular instructional strategy, but thinks that there may be some resistance or discomfort on the part of the instructor (professional or nonprofessional) there is another alternative. The next step of the CEM, "Obtain Instructional Resources." contains provisions for meeting this possible need. It includes "training of instructors" as one component.

Learner

As has been stated so often, a crucial element in the learning situation is the learner. If the learner rejects or fights a particular instructional strategy, the Designer may consider selecting an alternate one. It is not suggested that the instructional strategies be limited only to those that are familiar and/or comfortable for the learner. There are times when discomfort is a part of learning. Discomfort can even create a need to learn, but if the discomfort level is too high, the learner is apt to block, fight, withdraw, and call upon a variety of other psychological mechanisms, rather than learn.

The Designer can consider "bridges." These are learning experiences that are used to prepare the learner for the next learning experience. If the learner has never engaged in role-playing, the Designer can build into the lesson plans some warm-up experiences that will allow the learner to experience a low-risk example of role-playing before using this strategy with the content of the particular session.

The Designer should not underestimate the learners. Though to the best of the Designer's knowledge they may never have experienced a particular strategy, the learner may have had that experience outside of the work situation. Many community organizations (churches and so on) use some of the more sophisticated instructional strategies that formerly were almost the sole property of profit-making organizations. The impact of technology, particularly on some of the younger people in the work force, has provided them with some experience that is beyond the ken of the Designer. The use of computers for learning is a prime example.

Reference was made previously to learning styles, and once again that aspect becomes important in selecting an instructional strategy. To date, we still have much to learn, so it is not possible to provide exact listings that indicate the instructional strategy. Also, when learning is done in group settings the instructional strategies must reflect the group rather than a single individual. As work on learning styles moves ahead, this paragraph will have to modified, but that may be a long time in the future.