Creating a Positive Learning Environment - Coursework Example

Creating a positive learning environment It is certain that the speaker-listener relationship has a significant, long-lasting and positive implication not only on the professional but also on the social development of managers. Therefore, for creating a positive learning environment in the training session, it was important to foster effective speaker-listener relationship. I observed during the training session that by only improving the interaction with the audience can be achieved a lot. However it was evaluated from the feedback of the audience given to me that the listeners who reflected supportive and positive attitude during the entire training session successfully attained high level of satisfaction; whereas the one with negative attitude during this whole training session did not gain sufficient effective knowledge. Many of the managers present in the training session were also able to successfully develop a personal connection with the me, and were also seen effectively communicating few times with me and as a result they are not only received guidance from me but they also received praise rather than criticism and in this brief session end up developing a trustful relationship between me and the audience that was the result of developing positive learning environment. Aims and objectives of the training session The objective of the training session was to be able to differentiate between listening and hearing and to implement it in the professional as well as personal life. The objective also included gaining knowledge about different listening techniques. For example it was important to make the participants understand that when they are multitasking during a lecture, they may not be able to gain enough knowledge from it as their attention may not be fully devoted towards the speaker. The aim of this training session is to understand the importance of listening. The aim of this training session for me as a trainer also included the development of effective communication and interaction with the audience to achieves the goal of the session i.e. helping the manger to learn and develop effective listening technique, learn about difference between listening and hearing, etc. (Cavanaugh, 2001). Choosing the training method for the session The chosen training method for the session was lecture, it is considered to be a transmittal training technique is a method that is widely being used all around the world for teaching adults. An effective lecture should be based on a 10-15 minute information session followed by a learning activity for energizing the participants. It is an effective tool for summarizing information collected through different sources and helping the learners to concentrate on significant ideas. Following is the theoretical framework for an effective lecture: This method of training was selected keeping in mind the ability of the audience and also their level of knowledge about the topic. While choosing the training method another thing that was kept in mind was the number of trainees present in that particular group. Other factors such as time available for me to conduct the session, the aids require for conducting it, the limitations of those aids, etc. were also given keen attention. The effectiveness of the training methods can be judged from the feedback of the audience. The learning outcome of the training session was quite effective as most of the students mentioned in their feedback that they were quite satisfied by the information shared by me. Another important thing was that I encouraged the participation of the audience during the session, which actually helped in capturing the interest of the students. The information delivered by me during the session was easy and most importantly it was organized in a way that it made it easy for the students to grasp the important points. The slides that were presented by me were also quite engaging, as reading the information alone helped the audience to interpret the information that I wanted to deliver. The session was effective and it is certain that it was able to meet the learning requirements of the audience. As for me, the session taught me to create an effective learning environment and creating a connection with audience, in order to foster learning. During the session I tried my level best to make the audience identify the fact that in order to avail an opportunity at professional level he or she needs to adopt the effective listening techniques. Participant’s Feedback on the training session The learning outcome of the training session was quite effective as most of the students mentioned in their feedback that they were quite satisfied by the information that I shared. The feedback that I collected from the mangers during the training session indicates that it was a success, which was the result of my hard work and the commitment shown by the managers during the entire session. In the ten minutes training session I tried to deliver all the essential information on the topic. I presented to the audience the importance of listening in professional life. My lecturer who attended the training session mentioned that I was successfully able to develop a connection with the audience by maintaining eye contact. The way I set up the introduction showed how confident I was. Voice clarity, colorful slides and interacting with the audience were my strengths during this training session. Reflective Feedback on the training session The outcome of the session was based on the fact that the managers must be able to learn the true meaning of listening and to identify different effective listening technique and apply them in life. I emphasized on the effectiveness of listening by making the managers realize that how many opportunities they lose as the result of their ineffective training techniques, this session focused helping the manager to avail those opportunities at any cost and developing further in their respective field. I taught the audience to identify the difference between hearing and speaking, as it was very crucial for the manager to know that when they are actually listening and when they are merely hearing the information being delivered. Listening may be a skill but it is something that is consciously chosen by the manager at work. For example suppose you are at a meeting, where the CEO of the company is delivering information about the upcoming project that is crucial in the success of the firm. You do not pay any attention to the presentation, as you think that as usual you will be working in teams and you don’t need to remember the information. However concerning the significance of the project the CEO of the firm distributes the tasks individually that are directly related to the project. You have been handed one task as well and now because you took the presentation for granted, you do not have important information about the project, as you just heard but not listened to the information communicated by the CEO (Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan, & Willingham, 2013). After the session an activity was also conducted, to evaluate the learning outcome of the managers. I asked every one of the managers about their hobbies. Managers, who were not aware of the fact that it was an activity, just heard the answers instead of listening, as they thought that it is some kind of fun question being asked by me. As for surprise, I called the managers in pair in front of the lecture and asked them to identify the hobby of the other person. I also brought some gifts along and the managers who were able to effectively identify the hobby of the other person were given gifts. This activity although seemed to be simple but it was quite effective in interpreting the effectiveness of the listeners and identify the outcome of the session. The managers who were not able to answer the question were the ones who did not listened attentively or were busy in some other tasks that diverted their attention and they failed in such a simple task. The result of this activity was satisfactory, as most of the learners were able to answer the question, which provided the evidence of participant’s feedback. However still there exists some scope of improvement, as there seems to be the need of using much technological aids. The only thing that was used by me during the training session was projector for showing the slides to the students. I would have asked the audience to bring the laptops along, so the managers may learn more effectively. In order to improve the presented slides, I would have to reduce the amount of the information in the slides to avoid confusion or fail to get the idea. Another thing that needed to bring into focus by me was separating the audience in groups as it fosters learning in participants. It has been evident that studying in group is another effective form of teach (McLaughlin, 2013). Bibliography Cavanaugh, C. S., 2001. The Effectiveness of Interactive Distance Education Technologies in K-12 Learning: A Meta-Analysis. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. Dunlosky, J. et al., 2013. Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology. [Online] Available at: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/journals/pspi/learning-techniques.html [Accessed 28 November 2014]. McLaughlin, J., 2013. Creating a Positive Classroom Environment. [Online] Available at: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/mclaughlin_portfolio/creating_a_positive_classroom_environment [Accessed 28 November 2014]. Read More