Preparing Learners for the Workforce

It is important to make connections between what a student is taught through formal education and what they will be asked to do once they get out into the workforce. Respond to the following and, if appropriate, include personal experience as part of your answers.

1. The health and medical field is a great example of when education and training overlap. Before on-the-job training, nurses and doctors must complete a strenuous educational framework. What skills are required to succeed in both the classroom and the work environment? What skills are unique to each one?
   • As an instructor, how can you prepare the learner for the skills needed for success at work?
   • As a trainer, how can you prepare the worker for the skills needed to succeed in the classroom?
     
     
2. Using the above example (or creating a new one based on your personal experience), explain the specific skills that would need to be emphasized in medical education and excluded in training, and vice versa. For example, technical precision with a needle is a motor skill that would be more effectively learned from training as opposed to sitting through a lecture in the classroom. Why is this the case? Why might some skills be better taught through training while others in the classroom?