Learning Wheels
by
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PREFACE Have you ever done something that turned out so well that you realized that it had to be shared? Having been part of a Learning History Team in 1998, three years later in 2001 I was requested to investigate application of the Learning History Methodology as a medium to facilitate targeted Organizational Learning in a technical school. The database tool used for compiling that earlier Learning History was still available, so adapting it for use in the classroom was an obvious approach to use. A presentation on the concepts and theory of the Learning History was created to introduce the class to the approach, and the application of Learning History as pedagogy was tried for the first time. The first class to use the approach consisted of all college level engineers, many with advanced degrees, so the fit was perfect and the method was simple. At the end of each day, they were required to spend approximately 20 minutes collaboratively working on a continuing “Jointly Told Tale” of the learning that they had experienced. Critical analysis and candor was encouraged. Results greatly exceeded expectation! Conversations were energetic! Those who had easily understood what had been covered during a particular day enjoyed the opportunity to help the others get it, and we immediately started seeing positive results beyond the academic goals. For example, relationship building and critical analysis skills were enhanced. Instructors found through reviewing the developing story that the lessons learned on particular days were totally different from what had been intended, and in some cases they discovered that they had unknowingly covered duplicate material from sessions delivered by other instructors. At the end of the training, final testing and interviews demonstrated a significant improvement over earlier classes in the average level of learning achieved. The experiment was an overwhelming success. The lessons learned and captured through this approach had a much broader spread than we had imagined possible. As a result of the success of that initial experiment, the Learning History exercise was adopted and permanently added to the training design for that curriculum. After several classes had used the Learning History, the school used the insights gained to reduce the total training time required for that particular curriculum by more than 15%, representing a significant cost saving, not to mention a faster time to competency. Use of the Learning History in that school has continued since 2001. Each new class is allowed to read the cumulative Learning History to date and to add to it as their experience dictates. Now, 12 years later, it is reported that students are still benefiting from the Learning History exercise, and the students themselves recommend that the practice not be abandoned. The current director of the school recently told me: "If we do not do the Learning History at the end of a day, the students complain. They really like the Learning History!” The obvious question is: “Can this approach be applied to other learning situations?” The answer is: “Yes, and it must!”
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About the Book
The principles portrayed in "Learning Wheels" are not new. The ideas and concepts are not breakthrough thinking, as most of us have seen these practices applied at some level throughout our experience. Reading this book serves only to create a clearer vision of an approach and create a new attitude regarding diversity of experience, education and opinion. The next logical step is to foster these attitudes within your organization as a new behavioral norm. This can be achieved through specific seminars and change management initiatives designed to introduce and sell "Learning Wheels" concepts to any learning organization. If your meetings are not gaining effective agreement. If your team is having problems defining the correct problem before solutions. If the diversity in your group is acting as a barrier to progress rather than functioning as an asset; then consider using "Learning Wheels" as a tool to refocus your team.
About the Author
David Connor Mims Sr. (Retired 2007) Born in Sumter, South Carolina (1943) Owner: Adaptive Solutions & Associates, LLC AAS/EET Midlands-Technical College, Columbia South, Carolina (Honors 1970) Music Education Major (Percussion) at The University of South Carolina and still performs. Amateur Radio – active Extra Class (KY4B) Mims has more than 51 years of experience in manufacturing as a technician, supervisor, instructor, engineer and manager. Company affiliations include Sumter Machinery Co., Union Switch & Signal (WABCO), Monroe THE Calculator Company (Litton Industries), Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel, Square D Company and Michelin North America, Inc. A large part of his experience was devoted to training and development through many roles as manager and instructor. He was in the initial technical teams for the original start-up projects for Monroe THE Calculator Company, Square D Company, and managed technical schools for two major plant start-up projects for Michelin North America, Inc., in Alabama and South Carolina. He has held positions in maintenance management, process engineering management and Capital Projects planning and Fixed Assets management for Michelin. In the last years of his career, Mims was responsible for training content and delivery, some internationally, in the areas of Quality Systems, Project Management, Problem Solving, Leadership Development, Knowledge Management, Best Practice Management and Value Creation. He also has extensive experience in developing training courses and developing facilitators in all of the previously mentioned areas along with serving as an internal and external consultant. Since retiring in 2007 Mims continues to work part-time as a consultant and trainer and is Founder and Owner of Adaptive Solutions & Associates, LLC.