Resources and Links Related to Workshops
Workshops were created to transfer information or skills from one or several individuals to a large group of individuals in a short amount of time but with a high degree of retention and usually a high degree of application on the part of the participants. This transfer, however, can never happen. Skills and knowledge never get transferred. They get learned. The word transfer indicates that one person is passing something to another. But learning is something that happens inside the learner as a result of the interactions with others, with a challenge, and with one’s own beliefs. Workshops can support learning but they can never transfer anything.
In one type of workshop, a presenter provides information and accepts questions but the participants are each responsible for whatever they may take away. At the other extreme, the participants engage in a series of experiences. The learning happens through experience, dialog, and a small bit of presentation.
In workshops the facilitator must also be an expert. Even if the workshop is highly experiential, there is always a need for participants to observe skills or experience information. Though some of this can happen through media like video or workbooks, a human being is far more adaptable to the situation and able to interact more significantly with the participants. Some sources also claim that the workshop facilitator must also be a leader— someone who influences and is not neutral about the content. This is in contrast to the facilitator in the Coach Zone who is content neutral.
What follows are links to resources and additional information about Workshops.
Currently there are materials related to:
Designing Workshops
Designing Effective Training Workshops for TechDis By Professor Phil Race on behalf of TechDis. TechDis have commissioned this booklet from Phil Race, a Senior Academic Staff Development Officer at the University of Leeds. Phil is a trainer, staff-developer and writer. His areas of interest are teaching, learning, training and assessment.
Preparing and Designing Workshops: There is a certain contemporary mindset which bridles at the idea of careful preparation and thinking through. “Just do it!” is used as a motto by more people than the footwear company. In this case, it seems to say, “Just go ahead and workshop—why design, why prepare?” Suppose the builders of the Confederation Bridge between
Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick had said, “Just do it!” and went ahead putting in pylons and trestles as they came to mind. The ice floes and wind would have had a field day. It is true that there are occasions when you just have to go ahead with some project, regardless of preparation. But not the consensus workshop.
Designing Workshops by Nobuyuki Ueda, Tomoyuki Sowa, Tsugio Fujita, David A. Richardson. The purpose of this paper is to propose and discuss the needs of a model for workshop design. We developed a hypothesized model, applied, tested and evaluated it on workshops we designed and executed. Our purpose was to clarify if our model was workable. We were able to conclude the necessity of having a well-defined workshop model that is dynamic, interactive and reflective. We aim to examine our approach to workshop design in detail; using concrete data accumulated in the field and look into diverse possibilities of using our model in various learning environments.
Running workshops for motivation, team-building and improving performance
Workshops combine training, development, team-building, communications, motivation and planning. Participation and involvement of staff increases the sense of ownership and empowerment, and facilitates the development of organisations and individuals.
Project Briefing: Designing and Running Workshops - Improving provision for disabled students in higher education 2003 - 2005 (.doc file)
Workshops differ from conference presentations and seminars in that they involve delegate participation; those attending are not being lectured to, demonstrated to or invited to join in discussions but are actually being asked to undertake tasks for a specific purpose and will, by their contributions, ultimately influence the outcome of the session.
Experiential Learning
Experiential Learning & Experiential Education - Philosophy, theory, practice & resources
Experiential education is a philosophy of education that focuses on the transactive process between teacher and student involved in direct experience with the learning environment and content.The term is mistakenly used interchangeably with experiential learning. The Association for Experiential Education regards experiential education "as a philosophy and methodology in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills and clarify values."
Organizational Learning Strategies: Action Learning is a process for bringing together a group of people with varied levels of skills and experience to analyze an actual work problem and develop an action plan. The group continues to meet as actions are implemented, learning from the implementation and making mid-course corrections. Action Learning is a form of learning by doing.
Quantum Learning Network: QL Education serves the academic world with its highly successful Quantum Learning educational model through Staff Development Teacher Workshops, Leadership Workshops and Academic Achievement Programs for Students.
Project Based Learning
Project Based Learning: A project based learning method is a comprehensive approach to instruction. Your students participate in projects and practice an interdisciplinary array of skills from math, language arts, fine arts, geography, science, and technology.
Project Based Learning at a Glance: In project-based learning, students work in teams to explore real-world problems and create presentations to share what they have learned. Compared with learning solely from textbooks, this approach has many benefits for students, including: • Deeper knowledge of subject matter; • Increased self-direction and motivation; • Improved research and problem-solving skills.
Project Based Learning background, knowledge and theory
Team Building Activities, Initiative Games, & Problem Solving Exercises
Learning Theory
Multiple intelligences - Researchers have long been puzzled as to why human beings exhibit different aptitudes and why teaching techniques do not produce the same results in any given group of students. Seeking to explain this reality, Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University published his theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. This theory contends that there are eight different types of intelligence that can account for the different abilities seen in human beings. Although most people possess all eight types of intelligence to one degree or another, each person is usually stronger in one or more intelligences than the other intelligences. Understanding this theory can be quite beneficial for teachers in helping them instruct their students, and it can also assist people who want to know the best ways they can learn and retain information.
Multiple intelligences is an educational theory, first developed by psychologist Howard Gardner, that describes an array of different kinds of "intelligences" exhibited by human beings. Gardner suggests that each individual manifests varying levels of these different intelligences, and thus each person has a unique "cognitive profile." The theory was first laid out in Gardner's 1983 book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and has been further refined in subsequent years.
Information about learning styles and Multiple Intelligence (MI) is helpful for everyone especially for people with learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder. Knowing your learning style will help you develop coping strategies to compensate for your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths.
Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences makes people think about "IQ," about being "smart." The theory is changing the way some teachers teach.
Constructivism is a learning theory that argues humans construct meaning from current knowledge structures. These arguments about the nature of human learning that guide constructivist learning theories and teaching methods of education. Constructivism values developmentally appropriate facilitator-supported learning that is initiated and directed by the learner.
Behaviorism (also called learning perspective) is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things which organisms do — including acting, thinking and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors. The school of psychology maintains that behaviors as such can be described scientifically without recourse either to internal physiological events or to hypothetical constructs such as the mind. Behaviorism comprises the position that all theories should have observational correlates but that there are no philosophical differences between publicly observable processes (such as actions) and privately observable processes (such as thinking and feeling).
Action learning is an educational process whereby the participant studies their own actions and experience in order to improve performance. This is done in conjunction with others, in small groups called action learning sets. It is proposed as particularly suitable for adults, as it enables each person to reflect on and review the action they have taken and the learning points arising. This should then guide future action and improve performance.
How People Learn (and What Technology Might Have To Do with It). ERIC Digest. At an educational conference last spring, I attended a session focused on the potential of instructional technology to transform teaching and learning in schools.
Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database. Welcome to the Theory Into Practice (TIP) database! TIP is a tool intended to make learning and instructional theory more accessible to educators. The database contains brief summaries of 50 major theories of learning and instruction. These theories can also be accessed by learning domains and concepts.
