Global Enterprise Technology - Curriculum Workshop School of Information Studies Syracuse University D. Christopher Kayes, PhD Associate Professor of Management School of Business George Washington University

What was your best learning experience? What was good about it? What was your worst learning experience? What made it that way? In your opinion, what conditions promote learning?

US businesses spend US$ Billion on employee learning annually Average was 2.72 % of payroll or US$1,616 per employee Best US companies spent 43 hours per employee/UK 61 hours average per employee per year Why do we need learning?

Pressure to achieve continually higher goals? Increased need to achieve success? Drive to short term performance as well as long term performance? Need to adapt and change? Reliance on teams? Unpredictable environment? Competition for scarce resources?

In novel, complex, and dynamic organizations many traditional learning practices lead to disaster!

Source of data: Boyatzis (2006)

1. In class ‘experiential’ exercises 2. Beyond the classroom experiences (e.g., internships, service learning, co-ops, work experiences, on-line learning) 3. A particular theory or approach to how people learn (e.g., “Learning describes how leaders gather, process, update, and act upon knowledge (Kayes & Kayes, 2011; Kolb, 1984)

Process of solving problems, making decisions, and innovating Process of change Transformation of knowledge Person and environment interaction Any age/lifelong Not always in the classroom Critical for leadership development

Academic Well defined Formulated by others Necessary information provided One correct answer One or limited number of methods to obtain answer Disconnected from every day experience Practical Ill defined Unformulated Additional information required Multiple ‘correct’ answers Multiple methods to obtain answer Embedded in everyday experience Sternberg, 1995, p. 822

Evaluative Content Developmental Process Experiential Learning Emerging Institutional Values Outcome Form

Level III Practice based and Developmental Level II Interpretive learning Level I Performance Orientation Based on Borredon, Deffayet, Baker, & Kolb, 2011

Learning stageLearning typeModes of learning Type of learning AssessmentLearning tools Objectives I II III Based on Borredon, Deffayet, Baker, & Kolb, 2011 Material deleted from original

Study of military leaders found that skills emerge in a systematic fashion Stage 1: skills and principles Stage 2: application to creative problem solving, creativity

1. Do you read your new phone’s manual from cover to cover? 2. Read the quick start guide and work the rest out later? 3. Base your understanding on your last phone 4. Observe other people using your phone 5. Ask your teenager for help 6. Use your landline

The Creator The Do-er The Planner The Decision Maker

Find experiences with people of different learning styles Improve fit between learning style and situation you face Practice skills in new areas that both challenge and compliment your natural abilities Don’t forget the mind body connection Activate different learning centers in the brain Feel “incompetent” at least once a month Plan for your learning and its transfer

Time Complex and novel problem solving high low The Learning Advantage

“Learn. It is the only time you cannot fail!” Merlin the Magician

Most work environments are characterized by complex, dynamic, and novel problems. Learning is the core competency of success. Experiential learning involves gathering, processing, and acting on information and updating perspectives based on new information. Experiential learning helps students/employees to better leverage strategies to succeed in a complex, novel, and changing world

NSF This workshop was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DUE Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.