The Big Picture
Conceptual/Visual Learning
This is the category that fits me best. When I am in the role of a student, I'm that guy in the back of the room waving his hand and saying, “Why are we doing this?” “What will be the end results?” “Where are we in the process now?” Yep, I'm the guy you wish had skipped the class.
The conceptual learner needs to know the big picture, the end game, and where they are in the process. Sometimes a fifth type of learner – the visual learner – is identified as a separate category of adult learning. In this piece I have combined visual learning into the Conceptual Learning category because the two learning styles share so many common factors. The old cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words supports this idea. Very often, visual materials, including maps, screen shots with call-outs, and charts and graphs serve the purpose of conceptual learning.
It is important to appeal to conceptual learners early on in a training course or you risk losing them along the way. When working with a conceptual learner, you cannot begin a course by saying “Click on the File menu and...”. You must first show the learner the end result, what will happen when they click on those buttons. When preparing courseware with the conceptual learner in mind, try to ask questions such as “Why am I here?” “What will be the end result?” “What are the major milestones along the way?” “What does a good result look like?” “Will you show me a screen map pointing out the relevant features?”
I often joke that all training materials should include the age old “You are here” map seen at the shopping malls of the world. In all seriousness, using a graphic indicating progress in terms of major milestones is quite useful for the conceptual learner in all of us.
Tips for designing for the conceptual learner include:
1. Begin by informing students what the end results of their endeavors will be.
2. Outline the general path they will be following to get to the end result.
3. Identify major milestones along the way (“You are here.”)
4. Provide visual maps, screen shots, diagrams and other visual representations of the process.
5. Remember, you’re dealing with big picture thinking, so be stingy with the detail. Only dig down deep if it’s really important.