Question 1
According to Noe (2017), a need is a deficiency that people experience and, in so doing, it motivates people to behave in ways that meet such needs. Further, he discusses the motivational theories of Abraham Maslow; Clayton Alderfer and David McClelland. While the former focus on needs such as: physiological; relatedness and growth, the latter investigates achievement, power and affiliation needs. Of interest here is McClelland’s need theory due to its resonance with my own experience both in school and at work.
McClelland suggests that achievement, affiliation, and power needs can be learnt. Here, the need for achievement addresses concerns over reaching and keeping self-set excellence standards. Next, affiliation needs relate to the concern for building and maintaining relationships with others and for being accepted by them (Noe, 2017). Power, here, entails concerns over obtaining influence, responsibility, and reputation. Growing up, most of my physiological and relatedness needs were met sufficiently but my parents did impart on me the importance of formal education. Therefore, my experience in all levels of schooling can be explained using McClelland’s theoretical framework. Basically, this theory enables me to identify a pattern that is repeated even into my career.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The need for achievement inspires the most powerful resonance because I have a preoccupation with meeting and setting my own standards of excellence. However, the influence of the environment in that time, be it school or career, also bears significance on my need for achievement. Specifically, am motivated to learn and use the skills needed to attain satisfactory performance of tasks and duties. In addition to the social nature of learning and work, I also have social needs and obligations to meet. Here, there is a need to develop friendships and working relationships with either colleagues, superiors, or subordinates. Somehow, my need for power stems from my need for achievement because I attach to this need is the need for recognition, influence, and reputation.
Question 2
Conceptually, learning styles imply that people learn better when instructions are tailored to one’s preferred means of learning. This revelation has fundamental application in the development of training programs. Learning styles describe how people acquire knowledge and the overlaps therein (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 2017). Basically, learners are either viewers, listeners, or physically active participants. Notably, there is similarity between learning styles and Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligences which also describes human intelligence as a combination of modalities.
According to my learning style assessment, I value reasoning and analysis along with thinking conceptually. This means that I learn concepts first before delving into details and learn mostly via investigations, mysteries, and logic games (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 2017). My second learning style dimension is linguistic because of my preference for thinking in words, reading, and writing. Further, this means that I learn best via: lectures; audio and video materials; books; computers and games.
The final dimension of my learning style entails me understanding my own interests and goals and facilitates my independent reading and introspection. Here, books, privacy, and time alone with the content material is essential for effective learning. Therefore, my ability to convert information from any training course depends on my motivation and the learning approach used in the training (Wlodkowski & Ginsberg, 2017). Specifically, if I understand why am taking the course and the sessions have videos, audios, reading, exercises, and social forums I should be able to acquire new knowledge better. Notably, the import of the concept of learning styles is in its description of the different ways people acquire knowledge and their implications on adult learning approaches.
References
Noe, R., A. (2017). Employee training and development (7 th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Wlodkowski, R. J., & Ginsberg, M. B. (2017). Enhancing adult motivation to learn: A comprehensive guide for teaching all adults . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
