A4.B.5 Learning Theory

EBT is a learning programme

The three lists below are practical heuristics for the instructor who is trying to maximise learning in the simulator and the briefing room. They are not derived from a particular learning-theory tradition; they are the operational distillation an EBT instructor uses to diagnose why a session is or is not landing.

Why do people want to learn?

The motivational drivers a trainee may bring into the room. The instructor's job is not to manufacture motivation but to recognise which drivers are present and to align the session with them where possible.

To progress their careers and make more money
To feel better and healthier
To join in with their friends and make new ones
To protect themselves and be safe
To stay young and stimulate brain
To make tasks easier
To have more opportunities and options
To gain respect and impress others
To be prepared for future training
To be able to help others
To develop confidence and to be independent
To be able to have fun
To meet requirements

What helps people to learn?

The conditions the instructor sets up to enable learning. Each is a specific lever the instructor pulls in the simulator session, the briefing, or the debrief.

To be given the opportunity to practice and be able to consolidate
To be given the essential information and have clear rules
To be patient and allowed to make mistakes
To understand why the training is being done, the method and the relevance
To be given honest feedback, see progress, achievement and reward
To be encouraged, motivated and enjoy it
To have a goal and measure, and to see the end product
To be given examples and stories
To maintain their confidence and be given support
To use a variety of training aids
To learn from others' experience and work with others
To learn one step at a time
To have a clear structure, understand the process and be set deadlines
To have a good environment, tools and equipment
To have an element of competition

What doesn't help them?

The conditions that obstruct learning. Each is a failure mode the instructor monitors for and corrects.

To be put under pressure
To be given too much information or too complicated
To be given too many things at once
To be given poor equipment
To be given too much of a challenge or too high a level
To be confused or bored
To be humiliated
To be interrupted or frustrated
To be tired and to have unmet physical needs
To be distracted or observed
To be concerned with the cost
To be away from family
To be given little guidance
To be given out of date material
To be undisciplined
To be concerned with job security
To not understand the language or terminology

The recurrent obstructions in simulator training

Several of the obstructions above are systemic to recurrent simulator training and require active management:

"To be put under pressure" is in tension with the evaluation-phase need to surface real performance under realistic load. The resolution: pressure that comes from the scenario is fine; pressure that comes from the instructor's manner is not.
"To be tired" is structural in night and back-to-back sessions; the organisational schedule is the lever, not the in-session intervention.
"To be observed" is unavoidable in a simulator session; the assertive-instructor register (see A4.B.4 Behaviour) is what makes the observation tolerable rather than crippling.
"To be concerned with job security" is the failure mode that turns the evaluation phase into a check session by another name; the just-culture floor is what addresses it, not in-session reassurance.

Reading the three lists together

Connections

A4.B.4 Behaviour. The behavioural register that determines whether the "what helps" conditions can be set up and the "what doesn't help" conditions avoided.
A4.B.6 Listening. The instructor-side discipline that surfaces which motivational driver is active in any given trainee.
2.1 Introduction. The deeper treatment of the learning process, behaviour, motivation, needs, perception, and information processing this section is the EBT-specific summary of.
2.4 Motivation. The treatment of motivation theory the "why do people want to learn" list is the operational version of.
EBT. The methodology this learning-programme posture serves.
Just culture. The organisational floor that makes the "what doesn't help" conditions tractable.
7.3 General Debrief Techniques. The debrief discipline that operationalises the "honest feedback" and "see progress" conditions.

A4.B.5 Learning Theory

#EBT is a learning programme

#Why do people want to learn?

#What helps people to learn?

#What doesn't help them?

#Reading the three lists together

#Connections