Admittedly my preference in designing, developing and implementing learning solution(s) to solve business problems are in the sphere of cognitivism. Working in corporate training in the financial services sector for over two decades, I have seen a shift and have been in the forefront of moving basic and simple content at a recall level of learning, outside of the classroom to virtual, self-directed spaces. With the use of our intranet a learner can conduct simple searches to find product definitions, to regulatory policies and business processes. By empowering learners to learn some of the rudimentary information to get started, the baseline knowledge prescribed already helped to facilitate more robust and student-centered learning in our live face to face, virtual classroom and other virtual training by jumping right in to understanding, applying and analyzing more of the complex content and activities.
To share an example in my current organization we have a sales and service program for several roles in the organization. The program consists of several learning events, which fall under the 70-20-10 principle with total hours of formal learning nearing 40 hours.
At the core the program is a 5-step process that has very specific service level agreement we must deliver in each interaction to our members (clients / customers). This image is on our walls, on our intranet and part of our on-boarding e-Learning with a ‘test your knowledge’ at the end. As suggested in the behaviorist theory, ‘no attempt is made to determine the structure of a student’s knowledge nor to assess which mental processes it is necessary for them to use’ (Winn, 1990 as cited by Ertmer and Newby, 2013 p.48). We are simply exposing them to the 5-step model that must be able to be memorized and recalled for use as a sales person. This is a way to prescribe a very desired response and outcome to a reactive (passive learner) before they attend the next learning event on the road map, which was necessary for the complexities of what’s to come with new knowledge.
The following learning events that followed, included Member Matter Most, Advisory Sales and Service Essentials, Advisory Sales and Service Advanced, Positive Networking, and Negotiation Skills all required this baseline knowledge to be recalled moving up to understanding, applying and analyzing. What’s exciting about the cognitivist theory is that learners are engaged, active, interacting and participating in the learning process. The instructional design of these courses promotes the learner to have their wheels turning in their brains and stretch their existing predisposition.