Individual and environmental factors Essay

1.1Explain the individual and environmental factors that impact positively or negatively on learning. The study of adult learning – ANDRAGOGY – originated in Europe in the 1950s and was then pioneered as a theory and model of adult learning from the 1970s by Malcolm knowles, an American practitioner and theorist of adult education. He defined androgogy as: „the art and science of helping adults learnâ€Å" Knowles identified six principles of adult learning, which are: 1.Adults are internally motivated and self-directed. 2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences. 3. Adults are goal oriented. 4. Adults are relevancy oriented. 5. Adults are practical. 6. Adults learners like to be respected. With individualised learning the trainer needs to consider and cater for the needs of individual participants. Some of the key factors to consider are: -Rates of learning and learning style -Attitude -Maturity -Interest which effect the level of learning -Motivation -Learners can work at their own pace at the time most convenient to them -Different learning styles can be accommodated -Etc. All this above mentioned factors can have positive or negative impact on learning. I have identified that people have different learning styles and it is very important to utilise this to gaing the most from each individual learner and to help make their learning as effective as possible. There is no one right combination of elements that will magically result in a positive climate for learning for every participant. There is also four kinds of learning styles: -Visual learning style has a preference for seen or observed things, including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films,  flip-chart, etc. These people will use phrases such as „show meâ€Å", „lets have a look at thatâ€Å" and will be bes table to perform a new task after reading the instrucitons or watching someone else do it first. These are people who will work from lists and written derections and instructions. -Auditory learning style has a preference for the transfer of information through listening: to spoken word, of self or others, of sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as „tell meâ€Å", lets talk it overâ€Å" and will be best able to perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. -Kinaesthetic learning styles has a preference for physical experience touching, feeling, holding, doing,, practical hands-on experience. These people will use phrases such as „let met tryâ€Å", how do you feel? And will be best table to perform a new task by going ahead and trying it out, learning as they go. These are the people who like to experiment, hands-on, and never look at the instructions first. -Auditory digital learning style has a preference for working outside of the senses. People will tend to: have a need to make sense of the word, to figure things out, to understand. Talk to themselves and carrz on conversations with you in their mind.Learn by working things out in their mind.Not to be spontaneous, as they like to think things through. Have logic play a key role in the decision process as do facts and figures. Memorize by steps, procedures, sequences. The learners have a wide range of learning needs and styles, and this diversity must be take into account by employing a variety of training methods. In additions, the size of the venue, the arrangement of the furniture, the functioning of equipment and other physical aspects of the training room all contribute to, or detract from, the learning evironment. When these factors can be manipulated to be positive influences, an environment more conductive to learning will be created. Organisational and process decisions: Venue, Facilities,Environment, Meals and refreshments, Accessibility, Cost and Physical layout. Environment – the environment around the training centre should be conductive to training taking place. There are various ways in which we can adapt the learning environment so that it caters for the physical needs of the participants: The temperature and environment within a training room should facilitate learning, it should be warm but not excessively hot or too cold because participants should be comfortable to pay enought attention to presentation. The layout of the room should be inviting suggesting the prospect of interesting activity and with adequate „break outâ€Å" areas. Make sure that you are comfortable with the layout of the room to deliver the best of your ability and the training will not be as effective as it otherwise could have been. A positive learning environment nurtures these feelings by allowing sudents to explore and expand their knowledge without undue risk or fear. Bring all types of learning could be positive for the individual as we are all different people and also confidentatiality is important too. Negative impact can be that participants do not switch off mobile phones what may lead to disturbing other participants and also trainer. Another negative factor could be lighting which should be appropriate for activities such as note taking, viewing of audio-visual aids and hands-on computer training otherwise it will have impact on individuals or group. Resource availability is based on available resources. The venue will have available a laptop, with internet access and an overhead projector. A flip chart will be available together with marker pens and pens and paper. Formative Assessment the goal of formative assessment is to gather feedback that can be used by the instructor and the students to guide improvements in the ongoing teaching and learning context. These are low stakes assessments for students and instructors. Examples: †¢Asking students to submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture †¢Have students submit an outline for a paper. †¢Early course evaluations Summative Assessment the goal of summative assessment is to measure the level of success or proficiency that has been obtained at the end of an instructional unit, by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. Examples: †¢Assigning a grade to a final exam †¢Critique of a Senior recital †¢University Faculty Course Evaluations The outcome of a summative assessment can be used formatively, however, when students or faculty take the results and use them to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses. ACTIVITY 2 Undertaken at the workshop. ACTIVITY 3 How you created a positive learning environment: To create a positive learning environment i made sure the temperature and enviromnent within a training room was fine, e.g. warm but not excessively hot or cold, clean, welcoming, bright and colorful.Lighting was appropriate for activities such as note taking, viewing of audio – visual aids that the layout of the room was inviting, suggesting the prospect of interesing acitivity and with adequate „break outâ€Å" arears and also that the participants had free access to water and toilets. The feedback on your activity from learner participants: To get the feedback on my presentation from learner participants i used a feedback questionnaire with the following questions. On a scale of 1 – 5 (1being the worst and 5 being the best) please circle the one that applies 1.Was the learning informative? 2.Was the information delivered in a concise and structured manner? 3.Did you find the learning topic interesting? 4.Do you feel you were supported through questioning and feedback? 5.Did you find the activity clear and simple to follow And i aslo left space for any other comments or development needs. Comments and development needs recommended by participants: my topis was Junk food vs Healthy food would be good to explain more healthy options, could do meal plans – suggest exercise reqires the slides were sometimes unclear – blue words – blue background. Enjoyed though. No – good presentation Good reminder of what we know and why i tis important to eat healthily. I will try to eat less sugar!! No, very clear and enthusiastidly given. No. Was a very good presentation, good use of powerpoint slides. Observation record from assessor Les Curzon: OBSERVATION RECORD: F211A Candidate name:LUKAS DEMJANJUNK FOOD/HEALTHY FOOD Demjan898@gmail.com Unit 3DLA Delivering Learning and Development Activities Observation Criteria Assessor feedback – to be completed by the assessor with notes to support the decision Creates an environment that is positive & conducive to learning – e.g. – health & safety – room layout – welcome – accommodates needs – puts participant at ease – builds rapport H&S not covered Ice breaker, write favourite food. The audience was some distance away and some had their back to you to start with. Structures & sequences effectively for learning e.g. – introduction – main body – conclusion Good introduction and you got the attention of the learners. Main body informative Provides clear aims / learning outcomes No clear aims and objectives. Manages learning activity effectively – uses a range of appropriate training skills Tended to be mostly lecture style with a few questions. – uses learning resources appropriately and effectively Good use of PowerPoints with appropriate images and addresses VAK. – supports learners via questioning and feedback Asked lots of questions but tended to be closed â€Å"does anybody† – uses appropriate formative & summative assessment methods Formative through Q&A, summative Q&A – could have had a quiz. Could have designed a meal. – summarises and concludes the learning and development activity Summarised throughout and reinforced – assists learners to reflect on their learning and identify further needs Via Evaluation form – collects feedback from participants Evaluation form General Comments / Feedback Lukas, An informative session on healthy food. The identified need being to improve the health of employees? The audience were physically distant and you could have brought them closer to you. This could have been achieved after your ice breaker I am aware that you did the presentation in your second language. You tended to read which slowed the pace and it lacked energy. You need to plan and prepare in good time. You have the basics of a good session and need to develop it by having SMART objectives and lots of activities. A good effort and you need to consider the Systematic Training Cycle when you reflect in your TMA. Well done. Smart objectives should be: Specific means making a clear statement about the knowledge or skill that the trainee should be able to do and actually demostrate at the end of the course. This includes the level of operation, such as „after the training, te trainee should be able to use the machine safely and efficiently to produce the product at the specified qualityâ€Å". Measurable means that the standard of the trainees performance after the training can be measured in terms of, for example, quality and number of tiems in a specified period of time. Achievable means that it should be possible for the trainee to achieve the objectives in the light of the situation, the practicability, and the intelligence and motivation of the trainee. Realistic means that the objectives should be obviously useful and clearly related to the type of work that the trainee carries out. Time – related means that the trainee should be able to develop understanding, attain concepts and demonstrate skills withing a pre – specified period of time. For example, uou mighy be able to type a leeter perfectly if you took an hour to do it, but not if you only had five minutes.A skilled typist would be able to achive the objective in the shorter time. EVALUTATION AGAINST SYSTEMATIC LEARNING CYCLE 1. Identify training needs There are several ways in which training needs may be identified but unfortunately i did not have a choice to find out the training needs as i met the participants for the very first time. 2. Set training objectives In general, the objective of training is to develop in people the knowledge and understanding, skills and competence that they need to meet required performance standards. I did not concentrate that much on the Smart objectives but for the futher development needs i will need to plan and prepare in good time. 3. Plan the training Bearing in mind the nature of the subject matter in which employee needs to be trained, decisions have to be made about how and where it is to be carried out. There are several choices. Most training, however, falls into one of two categories: On-the-job trainin, which as the term implies, takes place while the trainee is actually working or it could be Of-job-training, which may be external training, when, for example, an individual or a small group is sent to a local college or training centre or to a higher education institution to undertake a professional qualification.I could not decide where was i doing presentation. 4. implement the training There is six training methods such as Lecture, Seminar, Case study, Role-play, Syndicate work, Exercises i decided for seminar which is ideal to discuss a topic or concept. I think it was effective because i introduced the subject and run a group discussion where trainess presented their views on which i could comment. I also used training media PowerPoint and visual aids such as overhead projector and flipchart which i used for the answers to my questions and for laying main points of a talk. It was effective way of learning because people pay enought attention to the powerpoint presentation.Preperation involved working on the detail of the training session and also draft my notes of what i was going to say. I went through each element of the course carefully, drafted a separate set of notes for each element but did not place them in a file which was making me confused and lost. I did not cover Ice breaker but aafter i had a good introduction and attention of the learners. Main sect ions were informative. No clear aims and objectives And tended to read which slowed the pace and it lacked energy. 5. Evaluate the course It is a socially interactive process after which the participants should feel  confident that htey have all learned from the experience. Additionally, it should also be effecitve i terms of achieving the trianing objectives which i need to develop by having Smart objectives and a lot of activities. 6. Analysis and review It is rare for a training session that is being run for the first time to achieve every single aspect of every objective. Analysis and review is the final stage of the systematic trianing cycle which helped me to reveal areas that need to be improved and showed me what do i need to work on. 2 RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE MY FUTURE PERFORMANCE: 1. IceBreaker It is very important to get the participants talking to each other and to relax because people can be quite intimidated at courses, especially in front of a big group so more i get them to relax and enjoy it, the more easily they will learn. 2. Running a trainning session In advance of actually running a session, i will need to go through my notes and learn them so well that i will not need to refer to them because it lack energy