The Conversation
This week I find myself transcribing a conversation I overheard at a conference I’d recently attended.?Two gentlemen, both distinguished in their respective fields…
Mr. Heidelberg:?Dr. J! I didn’t realize you were going to be here.
Dr. Jaycel:?Bob…good to see you. Yes, I’m here presenting a recent study of mine; Transference Rates of Learning Foreign Languages while Scuba Diving.?And you?
Mr. Heidelberg:?I’m here to see if there’s anything that can help kick-start my employee-training program. Just seems like we’ve gotten stale.
Dr. Jaycel: Oh, I know just the thing…there’s a grad student facilitating a discussion on her work on the Role of Emotions Play in Progressive Testing…fascinating stuff…they did it all using computer simulations.
Mr. Heidelberg:?They used computers to predict emotions…?
Dr. Jaycel:?They had issues with their Institutional Review Board…they couldn’t get permission to use real people…but still…very interesting….
Mr. Heidelberg:?But…I…umm…never mind.?I’ve got a staff of 60 providing training to employees scattered around the world. Some of the stuff we need to bring folks to our facilities for hands-on training…other stuff we’ve been using more computer based…
Dr. Jaycel:?Hey…next session has got a presentation about the Impact of Graphic Download rates…they studied how long it takes a person to recognize a graphic as it downloads at various internet speeds.
Mr. Heidelberg:?Well…sounds interesting…but not quite what I’m looking for. I’ve got an instructor corps that needs some help on how to do something other than lecture to PowerPoint? slides…and I need to justify to my Vice President the value of my training department.?You know of any sessions on Return on Investment?
Dr. Jaycel:?I’d have to check the program…but I don’t think I saw anything about that.?Oh….here’s one…a Study of Emoticons used in Synchronous Training…an international survey was conducted of over 1,200 high school students regarding their perceptions of the meaning of the emojis used…
Mr. Heidelberg:?No…not what…
Dr. Jaycel:?But look…they have a partial listing here in the abstract…turn the program on it’s side…see…there’s a smiley face?:-)?and a winking face?; - )?and a…
Mr. Heidelberg:?Yes I see it…almost as interesting as the presentation I saw earlier…the Time Value Study of using “Magic 3-D” Images in Training…
Dr. Jaycel:?Oh! I love those pictures…they look like some pop art piece until you relax your eyes and see “through” the image…then “POOF” you see it…so cool…
Mr. Heidelberg:?Yeah, except they used the technique on every PowerPoint? slide in their presentation. Half the audience got migraines, and the other half never “saw” the slides.
Dr. Jaycel:?Oh…sorry I missed it.?But listen…I’ve got to get going…
Mr. Heidelberg:?Oh I’m sorry…do you need to get ready for your presentation?
Dr. Jaycel:?No, I don’t present until tomorrow.?It’s just that there’s some colleagues of mine presenting their findings that validate a new measurement instrument they’ve developed.
Mr. Heidelberg:?Oh…something looking at one of Kirkpatrick’s levels??Or…
Dr. Jaycel:?Oh, my no…this is much more cutting edge…they’ve created this tool that gauges the impact weather has on students’ perception of the equity of grading scales.
Mr. Heidelberg:?And it’s starting now?
Dr. Jaycel:?It doesn’t start for another fifteen minutes…but I want to get a good seat.?You see, in a humorous twist of irony, they conducted the study using only meteorological students. (Pause) Don’t you see??A study about how weather influence students studying weather…(Giggling)…I suspect many of us will be rolling in the aisles.
Mr. Heidelberg:?Well…I wouldn’t want to keep you.?I’ll see you later at the dinner.
Dr. Jaycel:?That sounds delightful.
And so the issue of academia versus practical applications continues to play out.?Have you overheard any similar conversations? Any thoughts of your own? Please feel free to discuss this in the comments.
President, Maverick Safety Training
4 天前If you're not laser focused on retention, improved business performance and ROI when talking about training, then you're just spinning your wheels and making the L&D profession increasingly irrelevant. I've been having great conversations about training with safety professionals through my new venture Maverick Safety Training. Safety pros are mission-driven and held accountable by state and federal authorities to deliver training that results in improved safety performance. They get it!