Let Them Choose: Cafeteria Learning Style for Adults

Let Them Choose: Cafeteria Learning Style for Adults

by Jillian Douglas, Shannon McKenzie
Released October 2016
Publisher(s): Association for Talent Development
ISBN: 9781562866402

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Book description

A model for social experiential learning focused on choice.

Lecturing on its own is ineffective. But what’s the alternative? Combine the best of brain science and learning theory with the power of choice. Deliver meaningful training programs that stimulate your learners, rather than bore them to sleep.

Let Them Choose shows you how to get participants out of their seats and into station-based activities catered to distinct learning preferences, interaction types, and technology options. Part experiential, part social, and part emotional, the Cafeteria Learning Style model encourages learners to explore and absorb content at their own speed and direction. It puts learners in the best position to succeed.

Supercharge the relevance of your content by encouraging learners to act, problem-solve, and construct their own knowledge. Apply content (the ingredients) to a variety of interchangeable activities (the recipes) that result in learning experiences (the meal) that acknowledge their diversity. Allow them to choose whether to engage with your content through collaboration, competition, movement, or reflection, on their own or with a partner or group.

Adult learning experts Shannon McKenzie and Jillian Douglas walk you through designing, facilitating, and measuring a learning experience that’s proven to delight your learners. Watch retention and engagement soar as you use this easily replicable model to give your training program participants the freedom to choose.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Preface: Where It All Began
  6. Introduction
  7. 1. How We Learn
    1. Experiential Learning
    2. Emotional Learning
    3. Social Learning
    4. Learning for Introverts and Extroverts
    5. Learning Through Play as Adults
    6. Lecturing on Its Own Is Ineffective
    7. Constructivist Learning
    8. The Missing Piece: Choice
    9. Summary
  8. 2. What Is Cafeteria Learning?
    1. A Cafeteria Learning Story
    2. Summary
  9. 3. Getting Buy-in for Cafeteria Learning
    1. Benefits to the Learner
    2. Benefits to the Organization
    3. Benefits to the Learning Professional
    4. Can Cafeteria Learning Really Work for Your Organization?
    5. “Stakeholders Would Never Buy Into This”
    6. “I Don’t Think It Will Work for Learners”
    7. Summary
  10. 4. Writing Cafeteria Learning Objectives
    1. Clarify Content
    2. Identify the Learning Outcome
    3. Identify the Learning Objectives
    4. Allow for Choice
    5. Summary
  11. 5. Designing Cafeteria Learning Activities
    1. Brainstorm Activities
    2. Check Activities Against Learning Experience Categories
    3. Select Final Activities
    4. Plan and Document Activity Details
    5. Prepare Workshop Materials
    6. Summary
  12. 6. The Framework
    1. Priming
    2. Foundational Content
    3. Debriefing
    4. Summary
  13. 7. Facilitating Cafeteria Learning
    1. Preparation Prior to the Workshop
    2. During the Workshop
    3. After the Workshop
    4. Summary
  14. 8. Measuring and Evaluating the Results
    1. Create a Measurement Plan
    2. Unintended Outcomes
    3. Implementing a Measurement Plan
    4. Using Baseline Metrics
    5. Summary
  15. 9. Case Studies
    1. ASTD Cascadia Chapter 2012 Conference: “The Brain Is Not a Bucket” Session
    2. The Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center
    3. Wellness at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
    4. Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA)
    5. PeaceHealth
  16. 10. Tried-and-True Cafeteria Learning Activities
  17. References
  18. About the Authors
  19. Index
  20. Back Cover

Product information

  • Title: Let Them Choose: Cafeteria Learning Style for Adults
  • Author(s): Jillian Douglas, Shannon McKenzie
  • Release date: October 2016
  • Publisher(s): Association for Talent Development
  • ISBN: 9781562866402