Bespoke & Balanced: Linking to Adult

LearningTHE IMPORTANCE OF A CUSTOMIZED,

FLEXIBLE APPROACH TO ADULT LEARNING CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED... WHICH IS WHY

THIS IDEA IS THE CORNERSTONE OF ID9®

© 2018, TPC - The Performance Company Pty Limited. All rights reserved

A customized and balanced approach to learningNot everyone learns the same things in the same way. Not all participants

in an adult learning environment need to learn the same materials in the

same way, even when they are in the same training room or e-learning

program. Given this, the suggestion to vary training activities would

seem obvious, but too often even the best trainers can fall into habitual

ways of training certain topics that don’t work at an optimum level for

all participants.

The reliance on just a few training approaches may be a combination

of trainer ‘comfort’ and organizational expectations and norms.

Often training has come to represent a specific method that is

reminiscent of bygone school-days, for example mini-lectures and

hands-on activities. When trainers challenge those notions and

vary the structure of the learning environment and the methods they

use to train, participants and organizations sometimes feel lost or

become defensive of these ‘new ways’. It’s important for participants

and organizations to stretch their idea of what it means to learn.

Some participants who enter corporate training programs are concerned

about the formality of the learning environment, nervous that they may be

‘tested’, worried about other participants in their group, or have concerns

about their own academic skills and abilities. By providing learning in many

different formats building on what they already know will help participants

see that their learning skills are already in place and will help them face the

challenges of the new skills and knowledge with confidence.

“It’s important for participants and organizations to stretch their idea of

what it means to learn.”

Adult Learners: Individual Learning Preferences

© 2018, TPC - The Performance Company Pty Limited. All rights reserved

“It is the participant’s responsibility to learn and the trainer’s responsibility to create an environment in

which learning can take place.”

Who’s responsible?At the heart of our learning philosophy is the question “who

is responsible for learning, the trainer, the organization or the

participant?” It has become widely accepted that for adult learning

the responsibility should lie firmly with the participant and yet the

behavior of the trainer in the classroom and managers before,

during and after the course often mitigates against this. Trainers often

spend more than half of their training time ‘informing’ participants (via

mini-lectures) to the detriment of the participant’s active involvement

and effective learning.

Trainers without a formal training background or understanding of adult

learning styles often believe that by contributing more themselves they are

helping their participants to learn. However, participants retain more after

the course and apply skills more effectively in the workplace if they have

been actively, rather than passively, involved in the learning process.

Clearly, regardless of the subject matter, it is a balanced approach to

trainer/participant participation that will reap the greatest benefits.

It is the participant’s responsibility to learn and the trainer’s

responsibility to create an environment in which learning can take

take place. Then it is the manager’s responsibility to support the

participant to create an environment where participants are able to

apply what they have learned to their job.

Long before the training program begins it’s the responsibility of

the instructional designer to create a balanced training program

that caters for the various adult learning styles to set participants

up for learning success: that is, to have the motivation and

ability to change their behavior.

© 2018, TPC - The Performance Company Pty Limited. All rights reserved

ID9® incorporates 10 Checkpoints of Adult Learning

Within the ID9® process there are many adult learning principles taught

throughout the ID9® Silver, Gold and Platinum levels of certification.

Each activity designed using ID9® up to Level 3 (Platinum - the pinnacle

of ID9® certification) includes consideration of the following Adult

Learning Principles: Modalities (Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic),

Global vs. Specific, Hemispheric Preference and Multiple Intelligences,

which will assist the instructional designer to write the training course

so that regardless of their adult learning style the course will cater

for all participants. The instructional designer should incorporate a

mix of all elements of these introductory principles for each training

topic or training session.

Creating Balanced Learning

The instructional designer’s goal is to write a balanced program

that incorporates a good blend of training methods catering for all

adult learners. If this balance is achieved, on the day of the training

the trainer can deliver the program with the assurance that the

theoretical balance is in place. This allows the trainer to concentrate

on individual participant development and classroom management.

If the course is out of balance (e.g. all lecture - catering well to auditory

learners but not the easiest learning approach for everyone else),

the trainer may be forced to repeat sections, explain things in different

ways, invent options ‘on the fly’ or manage struggling participants. All of

these issues slow down the pace of the course and in the extreme may

disengage participants or reduce their motivation to learn.

“The instructional designer should incorporate a mix of all elements of these introductory principles for each training topic

or training session.”

ID9® delivers effective, balanced training for every participantBy using ID9® to design robust and

effective training, you will add to

your knowledge about how adults

learn and how you can refine your

instructional design and or training

methods to best meet participant’s

needs. Regardless of the complexity

and difficulty of the training content,

when a sound balance of all

adult learning principles is struck

participants may remark “I feel the

course was written for me” , “the

course was well presented and the

content easy to learn”, or “the trainer

made a complex process simple”.

This is ‘participant language’ where

they feel the program was trained

to their preferred personal learning

style, not necessarily realizing that all

participants feel the same!

© 2018, TPC - The Performance Company Pty Limited. All rights reserved

© 2018, TPC - The Performance Company Pty Limited. All rights reserved

Theoretical basis of ID9®ID9® ‘automatically’ incorporates many different adult learning principles. All you have to do is follow the process, check for balance and... hey-presto!

Overarching Influence for ID9®

ID9® is a constructivist approach to learning

design that encourages collaborative

experiential learning. The ID9® framework

and process was developed by Catherine

Mattiske in 1997.

ID9® is a process that builds on learning

through the use of learning activities and

confirms new knowledge through structured

review activities.

Various learning and psychological

theories have influenced the design and

development of instructional systems design

which create the foundations of ID9®.

The following list of authors demonstrates

the ‘learning theory pathway’ which has

informed our knowledge on the application

of learning and specifically, the importance

of aligning learning interventions to

individual and corporate objectives.

Major Influential ID9® Theorists:

The ID9® framework and process (Mattiske

1997) was influenced by Benjamin Bloom

(1913 – 1999), John Dewey (1859 – 1952),

Jerome Seymore Bruner (Born 1915), Robert

Mills Gagne (1916 – 2002), Howard Earl

Gardner (Born 1943), Hermann Ebbinghaus

(1850 – 1909) and Marton and Saljo

(Published 1976). The theories and models

presented by these authors are major

influences that form the foundations of the

ID9® framework and process.

• Benjamin Bloom: Bloom’s Taxonomy

– the use of verbs to describe learning

objectives, content and outcomes

• John Dewey: Experiential learning

• Jerome Seymore Bruner:

Constructivism and the role of structure

in learning

• Robert Mills Gagne: The building block

for ID9®’s step 5 ‘Topic Rotation’

• Howard Earl Gardner: The use of

Multiple Intelligences in course design

• Hermann Ebbinghaus: Primacy and

Recency - overarching influence over

ID9® process

• Marton and Saljo: Deep Learning

principles for ID9®

Supportive ID9® Theorists:

Further theories and models which are

supportive influences to the ID9® framework

and process are John Biggs (Born 1934),

David Kolb (Born 1939), Jean Piaget

(1896 – 1980), Burrhus Frederic Skinner

(1904 – 1990), David A. (Anthony) Sousa,

Roger Sperry (1913 – 1994), and Edward

Thorndike (1874 – 1949).

• John Biggs: Constructive alignment of

learning, surface and deep learning and

the SOLO Taxonomy

• David Kolb: Experiential learning

• Jean Piaget: Constructivism,

progressively building and constructing

upon learning and the importance of

learning activities

• Burrhus Frederic Skinner: Learning

feedback, learning reinforcement and

self-paced learning

• David A. (Anthony) Sousa: Importance

of emotions, feedback, past experiences

and meaning in adult learning.

• Roger Sperry: Left-Right brain and

adult learning engagement methods

and styles

• Edward Thorndike: Adult learning theory

Other ID9® Theoretical Influences:

The work of the following authors have also

influenced or link to the ID9® framework

and process (listed in order of approximate

birth date): Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,

Thomas Hobbs, Rene Descartes, John

Locke, George Berkley, Thomas Reid,

David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau,

Immanuel Kant, Franz-Joseph Gall, James

Mill (father of John Stuart Mill), John Stuart

Mill, Charles Robert Darwin, William James,

Ivan Petrivich Pavlov, Mary Calkins, Edward

Bradford Titchener, James Rowland Angell,

Montessori, Carl Jung, John Broadus

Watson, Kurt Lewin, Lev Vygotsky, Carl

Rogers, Malcolm Shepherd Knowles,

Donald Kirkpatrick, David Ausubel, George

Miller, Albert Bandura, Allen Paivio, Eric

Kandel, Edward de Bono, John Favell,

Bernice McCarthy, Jay Cross, Robin Fogarty,

Atkinson-Shiffrin Memory Model, Black &

Wiliam, Honey & Mumford and Jean Lave.

Further Information

For further information on the theoretical research basis for ID9® please refer to Training Activities That Work, by Mattiske et al. Appendix A: Theoretical Research Reference.

ID9® CURRICULUM MAPPED

TO ID9® FRAMEWORK

REALIZE YOUR POTENTIALJoin the ID9® Pathway

Become a Certified ID9® Professional.

Explore ID9® Custom DesignContact us for a FREE business consultation on

your latest training project.

Try out an ID9® blended learning experience

ID9® FOCUS Courses and bite-sized Learning Short-takes - fast, effective professional development training all

powered by ID9®.

LEVEL 1 SILVER

LEVEL 2 GOLD

LEVEL 3 PLATINUM

INTERNAL PERFORMANCE

CONSULTING

(Level 1 Needs Analysis)

ID9® FACILITATION

SKILLS

ID9® FOR ELEARNING

ID9® FOR VIRTUAL

LEARNING

BYINVITATIONONLY

Powered by

R

Powered by

R

INTERNAL PERFORMANCE

CONSULTING

(Level 2 Integration & Measurement)

ID9® ASSOCIATE PROGRAM

© 2018, TPC - The Performance Company Pty Limited. All rights reserved