Learning to learn
Accelerated learning in a dynamic environment can enhance delegates’ ability to retain information and excel at a subject. Jeff Monk makes training fun and describes the benefits
We used to toss a coin for who would be unlucky enough run the ’graveyard session’ after lunch on day one of the five-day lead auditor course. If the day was going to plan we would be up to the ‘big one’ - clause seven of ISO 9001. A multitude of PowerPoint slides later, we would have covered the standard but gained sore throats and a comatose audience.
Then about a year ago we received a directive from IRCA stating that we must change our approach to accelerated learning (AL). A Google search revealed a lot of information on AL, mainly from websites in the US. There were articles on multiple intelligences, left brain, right brain and whole body learning, but through the fog we discovered that AL is based on five principles: total learner involvement enhances learning; learning is not the passive storage of information, but the active creation of knowledge; collaboration among learners greatly enhances learning; activity-centred learning events are often superior to presentation-centred ones.
I had been training on IRCA and before that, RBA lead auditor courses for over 20 years and I had become accustomed to using conventional ‘chalk and talk’ methods. But I was encouraged to start looking at how we could introduce AL into the course, thus reducing the formal presentations and increasing the involvement of the students.
As I drove back from an IRCA workshop on AL, one message kept coming back to me: ‘I tell you, you forget; I show you, you (may) remember; you do it, you understand’. Years ago we had introduced ‘doing’ into the auditing part of our course. What we had never done was tackle the problem of how to teach the ISO 9000 part by anything other than presentation.
Whole body learning
Learning with AL involves the whole body, mind, senses and receptors working together. Instead of the usual round-the-table introductions, we now kick off with an icebreaker. Each delegate is given a light-hearted questionnaire which involves finding out about their fellow delegates and tutors. As they do this, all the social sensors and receptors are working and we continue in a similar mode of exploration throughout the course.
All of us learn much more from interacting with our peers than we do by any other means. Social interaction and cooperation speeds knowledge retention. We get diverse prior knowledge and experience among the delegates on our courses, particularly regarding standards and quality management, and with careful group selection and interaction we use this positively. In effect we are encouraging the development of a learning community.
The best learning comes from doing the work and getting constructive feedback and, with AL, you learn how to audit by auditing. But there must also be time built in for total immersion in the subject with feedback and reflection. We used to provide tutor-led feedback after the sessions. The students diligently listened to us and accepted our comments. With AL we stand back and let the students analyse their performances and decide collectively what they will do better next time. But we make sure there is a next time. Re-immersion is essential to learning.
Below: Accelerated learning in action
Learning is inhibited when the experience is stressful or painful and it’s well known that people learn best in a relaxed environment. But traditionally, course leaders have been encouraged to be tough on timekeeping and strictly adhere to the IRCA rules, particularly the 40 hour minimum duration of the course. With AL this creates a paradox. Negative experience inhibits learning, positive experience speeds it. How do you merge the two? The solution came from the students.
With traditional teaching methods the students get brain-saturation and bored easily. At coffee breaks they’re on mobile phones catching up on what’s happening back at the office. With the more relaxed and interesting atmosphere of AL, they often skip the coffee break and carry on working.
The learning environment
The environment in which people learn is as important as the learning itself. The emphasis in the west on individualism has created learning environments which disconnect people from each other. Delegates sitting at the traditional U-shaped table get very little opportunity to interact with anyone other than the tutor at the front and the person each side of them. With AL the tables are not so much arranged as scattered around the room, with no more than four people at a table. Cooperation between the learners and the groups accelerates the learning process, so we encourage the groups to wander around, look at each other’s work and discuss it.
The IRCA/IATCA course has an exam with a high pass mark. By day three, on a traditional course, some students get nervous about the exam and openly admit it. This depression can be infectious and runs counter to the learning process.
AL can’t completely eliminate exam nerves, but because of the interaction between delegates and the atmosphere of self-help, the degree of apprehension is greatly reduced. IRCA advises course leaders to include exercises that develop exam skills, introduce these early on day one and continue them throughout the course.
Accelerated learning doesn’t just mean taking a traditional course and scrapping the slides. The traditional course has to be designed around the underlying concept of AL. But according to delegates’ feedback, AL-based courses have been positively received. If quality can be defined as customers who come back, and products which don’t, then AL has the same effect.
About the author
Jeff Monk has been training lead auditors since auditor registration in the UK commenced in the early 80s. In that time he has trained people from a wide range of industries and in many countries, specializing in Chinese. He has worked with the Pharmaceutical Quality Group of the IQA to develop lead auditor training specifically for this industry and is very active in this area. He is the MD of J E M O Ltd.
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