Jay Hollowell

Hi Kathleen! I too tend to sometimes speak to quickly. To your point, it is foundationally crucial for an instructor to speak clearly and at an approporiate tone and pace. I have often slowed my speech down a bit by adding in personal and relevant stories and examples, using a quick mini-activity that supplements the presentation, asking student volunteers to paraphrase a point or concept, having students write a quick summary in their learning journals, or even having a student, who I trust, send me a discrete sign if I am moving too fast. Thanks for you comments. Jay Hollowell… >>>

Hi Karen, thanks, you have addressed a bottom-line point - adult learners input, process and output information in different ways - tapping into their different learning styles therefore facilitates more effective comprehension and application opportunities. I might say too, though, that sometimes we have to take students outside of the comfort zone of their preferred styles. As we know, the workplace is not as forgiving as the classroom or lab - auditory learners may have to read policies, procedures and manuals; visual learners may have to hear a set of instructions from their supervisors; and kinesthetic learners may not have… >>>

Hi James! Thanks for your input! To your point, sometimes systematic search is at odds with the lifelong learning approach if the emphasis is totally on accomplishing a short-term outcome as opposed to a longer-term result. Systematic search, as a concept and a technique, can be invaluable as an aid to the input, processing, output flow as long as there is, at least, some focus on how concepts and applications can support longer-term goals, given that many of the skills we teach in career education are specific, immediate and sequential. Just curious, do you think that the input, processing output… >>>

Excellent point, James, it helps the student to see immediate relevance of the material and answer the age-old question, "WIIFM?" I am convinced as well that when students can see an immediate application of a technique or concept, learning is accelerated. I have often had students keep a journal - at the end of a class or lab period, I have them capture, in their own words, a brief essence or summary of the topic, write down any questions they may have, and then provide an example of how they can use the topic's application in the workplace (or for… >>>