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Charting a Course: Responding to the
Industry-Related
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Organization |
Main Mission -- Why
do they exist? What services/products do they offer others? |
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Student understands the organization’s product or service.
Product,
Goods & Services
Each participant is asked in advance and encouraged to bring in an actual product (anything from pizza, doughnuts, electronic capacitors, books, etc.) or information about the products or services that the company they work for creates. Each person is asked to describe his/her company’s goods or services and explains how the product is made and to whom it is sold. Each participant is given 5-10 minutes and questions are strongly encouraged by the other class members.
Student understands the organization’s product or service.
PA
Factory Tours and Lesson Plans
Visit the Pennsylvania Cable Network (www.pcntv.com) and go to the Lesson Plans Section for PCN Factory Tours. The lessons guide viewers to identify specific aspects of the process or product of the featured company and provide excellent teaching and learning activities. PCN Tours are broadcast on your local PCN cable station or may be purchased from the PCN website.
Student understands the organization’s process or product.
How
About some R&R (Roles & Responsibilities)?
Ask participants to consider what their organization does—its main mission. Ask them to write down their main job duties (main Roles & Responsibilities). Ask them to try to make a link between what their organization does and what they do on a daily basis. Discuss also the most important aspects of their job and how they positively impact the organization.
Student understands one’s role in production process or service provision.
Training
Others on Process
Explain that you are going to pair participants in a trainee/trainer pair. The trainer is going to train the trainee how to build a design from Legos®. In advance, the instructor creates a simple Lego® design—but doesn’t show anyone until the pairs are formed. The instructor is going to see how quickly the pairs can build the structure. Challenge: the trainee is going to be blindfolded. After the trainee is blindfolded, present the lego structure to the trainers. See which team completes the structure the quickest and most accurate. Give small prizes for the winning team. Discuss the process they used to achieve this activity.
Student understands one’s role in production process or service provision.
The Foundation Skills Wheel included in this handbook, this sample lesson and the foundation skills student self-appraisal (also included) were developed by project staff at the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at Penn State University as a Work-Based Foundation Skills Project. Additional learning activities can be accessed at http://www.able.state.pa.us. Click on Resource Center and then on Lesson Activities.
More Sample Learning Activities
As important as it is to help learners understand that entry level jobs may be just that – entry level jobs - it is critical to make them aware of the education and training requirements that go hand-in-hand with most career advancement opportunities. Following is a healthcare careers wheel, courtesy of the East Texas Area Health Education Center. Not only can the wheel be used to explore a variety of employment and career options in the healthcare professions, the website offers a Career Decision Guide that can be used to generate interest and discussion among adult learners interested in exploring employment opportunities across a number of industry clusters. It is a vocabulary goldmine that lends itself to simplification for use with English language learners.
Texas Health Careers
D.
Texas Health Careers is a central source of information about educational opportunities and careers in health care. It highlights many skilled and professional career opportunities that contribute to the entire spectrum of health care. It includes info about educational and financial resources, a career decision guide, and internet-link access to community and other resources.The central core of the Career Wheel provides a complete listing of all the careers within the wheel, plus detailed descriptions of each specific career along with links to educational institutions, job outlooks, and potential salary ranges. Simply click on (http://www.texashealthcareers.org) to begin using the wheel.
Turning Experiences into Learning Opportunities
Oftentimes, ideas for learning activities are so obvious, we miss them. For example, in developing curricular responses to Rider 82 for the sales and service industry, El Paso Community College sent one of its staff members out to visit a number of retail establishments (she was going shopping anyway!). Within a few hours, she had gathered several stories to use in the classroom – stories that spoke volumes in terms of meaningful, real life application. Two of the stories follow. These can be used as opportunities to draw on learners’ own experiences and to introduce new material.
Yesterday, I stopped at a discount store on my way home. I needed some rubbing alcohol. I looked carefully in the medical/first aid supplies aisle of the store. I didn’t find rubbing alcohol, so I headed toward the door empty-handed. The young woman at the cash register noticed me and asked, “Did you have trouble finding something?” I explained that I had been looking for rubbing alcohol. She immediately asked a co-worker to help me find the alcohol (I think the cashier was a new employee). The second woman took me to the correct aisle, and we found the alcohol. On the way to the checkout counter, I picked up several more items to purchase. I was uncertain about the price of one item, so I asked the cashier to check the price before ringing the item up. She asked her co-worker for assistance with this task. Then, she thanked me for asking for a price check. She said, “I needed to learn how to do that!” She smiled pleasantly and finished ringing me up.
- What did the salesperson do correctly?
- What impression did it make on the customer?
- What was the immediate positive effect on the store’s sales?
- What is the long-term effect in terms of customer loyalty?
On my way home last week, I noticed that a new grocery store had opened up. I pulled into the parking lot. I wanted to look around and check the prices and selection. I didn’t take a basket on the way in. There was a man standing at the entrance holding a clipboard. He nodded to me and said hello as I entered. The layout of the store was similar to other supermarkets, and the prices were comparable to those at my regular market. The store, however, also had a coffee shop and deli. I decided to grab a cup of coffee and donut. But first I went into the bathroom. The condition of the bathroom was deplorable. Apparently, there were plumbing problems. A sign instructed shoppers not to put toilet paper in the toilet but in the wastepaper basket next to the sink. The trash can was full. The stench was overwhelming. I was amazed, since this was a brand-new store. My appetite was gone, and I left the store immediately. The man at the front door was still standing there with his clipboard. He said nothing to me as I left.
- How can conditions in and near the retail space affect customer behavior—even if the conditions have no direct relationship to the merchandise on sale?
- What impression did the bathroom give the customer?
- What do you think the man with the clipboard was doing?
- Was his presence positive or negative?
- Is the customer likely to return?
We can take these activities to another level by asking students to write letters to store managers—either to complain about something or to pay a compliment. You can use explicit instruction in business letter format and the writing process to help students compose simple letters. It’s a good idea for instructors to model before asking students to write. For instance:
March 23, 2007
Store Manager
L-Mart
772 West Elm St.
El Paso, TX 79999To Whom It May Concern:
I visited your store yesterday afternoon to purchase some towels and wash cloths. They were on sale. I found the towels I needed, but not the wash cloths. The salesperson who came to help didn’t know very much about the merchandise. He didn’t even know about the sale. He kept trying to sell me other wash cloths that were not on sale and were a different color. After a long time, he asked, “Well if you want me to, I guess I could go check and see if there are any more in the back, but I doubt it.” I could tell he really didn’t want to check. It was very frustrating.
I left your store without buying anything. This is very poor customer service. I will not return to your store.
Sincerely,
Graciela Tovar
Help learners develop questions about this letter and discuss the possible answers.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Source: Sales and Service modules developed in response to Rider 82 requiring Adult Basic Education in Texas to respond to the industry-related instructional needs of adult learners. Publication upon completion of pilot initiatives in summer and fall 2007.
| Charlene
Brown Kentucky ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Project: Subjects: Critical thinking, General education development (GED), Job skills, Life skills, Literacy, Reading instruction, Vocabulary development, Work environment Learner Level: This activity was developed for participants who read from a 3.0 to a 9.0 grade level. Participants reading at higher levels could use similar strategies with company manuals or other texts. Time Frame: 1 hour Learner Grouping: Individual, Small group, Whole class Setting: This lesson was taught in a small manufacturing plant with fewer than 100 employees. The company had a consistent problem with employees not understanding the memos posted on bulletin boards. Email: Not available Program: Jefferson County Public Schools Adult Education Type of Program: Workplace education Student Population Served: Basic skills (grade levels 5-8.9) |
Interpreting workplace memos and notices The participants will read company memos and write summary sentences while working as part of a group. Learning Objective: Primary Skill: Secondary Skills: Learner Needs & Goals: Learning Activity Description: 2. Show the video, PBS LiteracyLink Workplace Essential Skills Series--Reading for a Purpose. If you don’t have the video, be sure to discuss the importance of knowing the purposes, structures, features and strategies for workplace reading. 3. Explain that one of the most important ways a company communicates with its employees is through the use of memos and notices. Ask the participants to name the ways that the company distributes these important communications. The participants may mention the following: placing them in envelopes with paychecks; posting them in a prominent place such as the breakroom or near the time clock; having the supervisors hand them to each employee; or by mailing them to employees at home. Have participants relate the possible importance of a memo to the manner in which it was delivered. 4. Break the class into teams of three and distribute one copy of a memo to each team. Instruct the teams to summarize, in no more than three sentences, what their memo says. They will have 10 minutes. Each team must appoint a recorder, a reporter, a timekeeper, and a facilitator. Ask the participants to list any words that might be confusing to a new employee. These words might include industry specific vocabulary, jargon, or acronyms. 5. The teams report to the large group by reading the memo and reporting the teams’ comments. As the teams note the unclear vocabulary, the instructor writes it on the board. Have the teams develop a plan for defining these terms and providing examples for the participants. Ask the teams to present their definitions and examples. Materials and Resources:
Attachments: Assessment:
Reflection: |
Source: http://slincs.coe.utk.edu/gtelab/. The Workforce Education Lab collects and distributes high quality learning activities that focus on the basic skills and knowledge adults need to be effective in the 21st century workplace.
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