In October, the Book Banter SIG continued its discussion of Sizzle & Substance, Presenting with the brain in mind by Eric Jensen. Two chapters dominated our discussion:
Moderate, controllable stress seems to be good for learning. The right amount of motivation, when combined with the right amount of stress, leads to the greatest amount of learning. The tough question is "what are the right amounts of motivation and stress?"
One option for the presenter is to assess the performance of learners through the use of questions. Skilled presenters can determine when learning has or has not occurred. Additionally, they will best determine from the questions that learners ask what concepts to clarify, examples to provide, and additional questions to ask.
Changing the emotional states of learners is another very effective strategy for promoting learner attention and for opening learners to the content.. Such states as curiosity, anticipation, affirmation and confidence signal learner receptivity - a time for optimal learning. Skilled presenters attend to states by watching learners' body language and actively changing learner states as needed. They know that changing states can be as simple as moving to a different location in the room, increasing the volume of one's voice, using learners' names, or playing music.
Our
Book Banter discussion ended on the important note to recognize our own states,
as presenters and learners, and actively changing as needed. We agreed that
acting to change states is an important strategy for all involved in any learning
experience - instructional developers, presenters, and learners.