Product Training for the Technical Expert

22 The Foundation of Hands‐On Learning: An Executive Summary

An Overview

Proficiency is the ability to consistently do something well. That is the goal of product proficiency training. It is doing, not knowing, that makes your employees valuable. Knowledge is only powerful as it increases our ability to do something with it. The same is true of students learning about your products. Increasing their knowledge will only help them if they are able to convert that knowledge into action.

In order to help others convert knowledge into action, trainers need to appreciate and understand how adults learn. Adults learn best when they can learn while doing. It is common, in instruction, to spend a significant amount of time learning by hearing and seeing before ever being able to touch the product. Whenever possible, instructors should let students get their hands on the equipment as early as possible. This change of approach is more than just an engagement technique. It improves learning. The goal is not for students to hear a lot about your product; the goal is for them to be able to do something differently with your product 6 weeks, 3 months, and a year after the training session.

This book further develops the way instructors turn that knowledge into action in Chapter 2. They do it by building on the experiences and backgrounds that all students bring to the classroom. Adults learn by constructing knowledge for themselves. Learners do that by taking previous knowledge and similar ...