I Hear and I Forget; I See and I Remember; I Do and I Understand
An Evaluation Of Learning Derived From Active Safety Training.
By Joseph P. McGuire, PhD
Depending on learning objectives and the resources available, instructors may choose to design their trainings to be more active or passive and use formats that prefer face-to-face or online platforms. Previous reviews of such training formats and preferences have been offered before (refer to citations).
The table below is reprinted as a refresher to orient readers to the advantages of active, face-to-face training in comparison to passive approaches. After discussing ways that workers retain information and the advantages of active, face-to-face training for workers employed in high-hazard environments including the aggregates mining industry, this article uses a case study to examine the question of “perceived” versus “actual” learning.
When conducting safety training, it can be beneficial for organizations to find out what their workers want to learn and not just quote rules, regulations, and statistics. According to Malcom Knowles, individuals may be more receptive and committed to the training content if they understand “why” it is important to the organization, their management, and their own health and safety. Knowles (10) provided a summary of the assumptions of adult learners that is summarized in the table below.
Challenging the Assumptions of How We Learn
Presenting information in a manner which accommodates different learning styles can make the content more interesting and allow participants to feel like they are part of the educational process. Researchers have provided examples of active training to include incorporating discussions, learning games, problem-solving activities, or case studies to help adults understand and retain the information presented in the training and how to apply it to their jobs. An evaluation of trainings that used these examples is presented in this article.