Courses and resources

I'm beginning to warm to Nick Shackleton-Jones's Affective Context Theory, not the title particularly - it's accurate but rather off-putting - but the idea. Essentially what Nick is saying (assuming of course I've got it right) is that we remember much more when we are emotionally engaged in some way - we are under pressure to solve a problem, we are shocked or surprised, we are excited by a new idea, we perceive a threat or an opportunity, we really care about something.

I don't feel qualified to provide a detailed review of affective context theory - better to read Nick's posting for that. But I'm sure that many l&d professionals will be able to identify with the basic idea - after all, we've all struggled at times to get through to audiences who just don't care enough about what we have to say to give the subject their full attention. Without engagement, not just intellectually but emotionally, most of the message will go no further than working memory.

There are important implications. When we push a learning intervention at someone, usually in the form of a course, we cannot guarantee that there is an appropriate affective context for learning. So, if we want our intervention to be effective and not just tick boxes, we have to take deliberate steps to emotionally engage our audience, something we referred to in the 60-minute masters as "hook learners in emotionally". That's hard work, but an essential prerequisite for effective learning.

When a person decides for themselves that they need to know something, because that knowledge (or skill) is necessary for them to achieve some objective, then they already have an ideal affective context for learning. Rather than having a learning intervention pushed at them, they 'pull' what they need, typically by finding an appropriate resource. There's no need for the resource to attempt to stimulate emotional engagement, because the job's done. That means the resource can be simple and to the point, the more so the better.

When I mention 'affective context theory' to people, which I have been doing recently, then I typically get back that look that says,"I'm bracing myself for some complex, indigestible psycho nonsense". When I talk about 'courses and resources', on the other hand, light bulbs start flashing.

Nick's approach is to provide resources wherever possible, to shift the emphasis from push to pull. Where the organisation does find it necessary to push an idea home, then he uses the course as a vehicle for stimulating emotional engagement, not for passing over knowledge. Courses are for stories, scenarios, simulations and discussions; resources are where you go to find the information you need to follow up on your interest. Courses and resources - it even rhymes.