U-Blog 4: The Student, The Tourist, and The Prisoner

The Student, The Tourist, and The Prisoner. This sounds like the start to a bad joke, but these three categories are actually the groups that Jeff Davis describes in an article he wrote for the Tech Republic website, titled “Recognizing the Three Types of Technical Learners”.

I came across the article this week while researching something for work, and since it is something that can be applied to our own technical training project for this class, I bookmarked it. The article is from 2002, but I think it contains valuable information regardless of its age.

The article is written as a reference for help desk analysts, who are taking a more active role in technical training as companies tighten spending. Jeff compares training a group of end users in a classroom setting to supporting users by telephone; with an emphasis on the different approach a trainer must take with a large group versus one-on-one support. He says, “On the phone, you're working in a one-on-one situation, and you must tailor your explanations and instructions to fit the personality of the person on the other end of the line. In the classroom, you must adapt to a dozen or more personalities at once.” If the analyst can understand how to deal with the personalities as a group, they will have a more successful training session.

So what are the three major trainee personality types according to Jeff Davis? They are the student, the tourist, and the prisoner. Here’s a breakdown of what he has to say about each:

The Student:
The student is the trainee who wants to learn. They are the type that show up early for the session, sits in the front row, and eagerly completes assigned work. According to Jeff, “If all the people in the class were like The Student, technical training would be easy”.

The Tourist:
Like the student, the tourist wants to learn. However, they are not nearly as motivated. They come in on time and tend to spend time getting coffee and refreshments while chatting with other students before the session. They sit in the back of the classroom, and may or may not complete assigned work. Jeff notes that the tourist often views training as an “opportunity to enjoy a break from the normal office routine”. The good news is that a good instructor can often turn a “tourist” into a “student.”

The Prisoner:
The prisoner is the type that is there just to occupy space. They usually don’t want to be in training, and sometimes may make it clear that they don’t want to be there. Jeff says that oftentimes they will be counting the seconds until you say “Class dismissed.” His biggest tip for dealing with the prisoner is to try and convert them into a “student,” but don’t spend so much time on this task that you ignore the other two groups.

There you have it: The Student, The Tourist, and the Prisoner walk into a training session… who learns the most? Well, that all depends on how well you recognize the three groups, and how you tailor your delivery to the different types.

To those who may be reading this, what type of technical learner would you be?