Approach
Having a consistent and systematic methodology can create an amazing impact on the learners engagement in a course and on into their performance within their organisation. CC Clarity find that the TAP Learning System best suits IT systems training.
Using this approach lends itself to the four steps to learning and the four steps to teaching which are detailed below.
The Four Steps
The Four Steps to Learning
This is where you are unaware of a certain skill and you don’t know how to carry out that skill. For example you may be unaware that you can perform calculations in Microsoft Excel and you don’t know how to do it.
Step 2. CI – Conscious Incompetence
This is when you become aware of as skill but you still can’t do it. For example you are now aware that Excel can perform calculations but you still don’t know how.
Step 3. CC Conscious Competence
This is when you know what the skill is and you have decided to learn it. So you start to use the skill and you start to become competent but you still have to “consciously” think about what you are doing. For example you can create calculations in Excel but you have to concentrate and think about what you are doing.
Step 4. Unconscious Competence
This is when you practise a skill for long enough you will reach this fourth step and forma a habit. At this point the skill has become unconscious. For example you can now create calculations in Excel without really thinking about it.
The Four Steps to Teaching
Step 1. The Big Picture
This is where you tell the learners what you are about to teach them. This makes them conscious of the skill. When you explain the skill it’s a good idea to get the learners to think about how they will use this new skill. This creates the ‘what’s in it for me’ (WIIFM) and creates the desire to learn the new skill.
Step 2. Demonstration
This is where you show the learners how to do something. Demonstrations need to be clear, shown at an appropriate pace and be a manageable amount so as not to overwhelm the learner.
Step 3. Hands-On
The hands-on will allow the learner to have a go at the new skill themselves so they are now becoming consciously competent (CC) Throughout this step the trainer will need to continue to coach and guide the learners through any challenges that may occur. The trainer must be aware not to tell them how to do it again.
Step 4. Consolidation
The last step tackles Unconscious Competence (UC) when the learner practises the new skill over and over again it will become second nature.
In this step the learners will be asked to recap in their minds eye what they have just seen and practised. Once they have had a few moments to think about it (this uses the pose, pause, person questioning technique) the learner will talk though the stages they took to complete the task taught to them by the trainer.
Accelerated Learning
To enhance the learning experience trainers may find the introduction of accelerated learning techniques beneficial. For example: playing appropriate music during step 3 the hands-on section of the training.
There are nine accelerated learning preferences:
- Musical
- Interpersonal
- Naturalist
- Intrapersonal
- Bodily Kinesthetic
- Emotional
- Linguistic
- Logical
- Visual