Staff Training

In the course of job-related training programs, instructors are confronted with a variety of adult learning preferences. There are three main types of adult learners; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visuals learn by observing, auditories by listening, and kinesthetics by doing. While this is simplistic, it is helpful to remember as we consider how to deliver training to a mixed group of adult learners.

In most formal training situations, the standard practice is to use a PowerPoint presentation to guide a lecture/discussion. This use of visuals is helpful for visual learners, but may not be the most effective way to instruct auditory or kinesthetic learners. The addition of voiceover can address the needs of auditory learners. But what can be done to engage the kinesthetic learner?

First, let’s look in more detail at the kinesthetic learner. This person learns through doing, touching, and movement. Activities help them perceive and learn. In a classroom setting they become fidgety, especially when sitting for long periods of time. They need to move around and take frequent breaks. Kinesthetic learners can be easily identified by a few obvious traits:

• They speak with their hands and with gestures.
• They remember what was done, but not always what was said or seen.
• They find reasons to tinker or move around when bored.
• They are uncomfortable in classrooms.
• They communicate by touching.
• They can become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.
• They rely on what they can directly experience.

As children, they may have been model builders, active in sports, and enjoyed field trips, role playing, and science lab.¹ As adults, they work standing up, walk while on the phone, and touch and manipulate new items. Physical movement provides focus and stimulation for learning.²

The best learning method for this type of learner is hands-on training and discovery.With this method, the learner is taken to the information rather than “imparting” information to the learner. This method requires that equipment and human meet and physically touch. These tactile learners can remember complicated directions once they’ve acted them out.³

What types of activities are useful? Obviously, actual manipulation is ideal, but there are other activities that can also satisfy the tactile or active involvement. Group discussions, role playing, and writing and drawing are all ways to engage the learner in the activity of learning.⁴

Think “show me.” Demonstrate, diagram, point out, manipulate; encourage the learners to touch, trace, point out, rearrange, build, model, or map a process.