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Encompassing Knowledge Mediation Aarhus, May 10-12, 2012 Ib Ravn, Ph.D., Associate Professor Aarhus University, Denmark

Mediating Professional Knowledge, Facilitating Personal Learning: Theory and Evidence from Intervention Research on Conferences and Meetings. Encompassing Knowledge Mediation Aarhus, May 10-12, 2012 Ib Ravn, Ph.D., Associate Professor Aarhus University, Denmark, www.edu.au.dk/fv.

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Encompassing Knowledge Mediation Aarhus, May 10-12, 2012 Ib Ravn, Ph.D., Associate Professor Aarhus University, Denmark

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  1. Mediating Professional Knowledge, Facilitating Personal Learning: Theory and Evidence from Intervention Research on Conferences and Meetings Encompassing Knowledge MediationAarhus, May 10-12, 2012 Ib Ravn, Ph.D., Associate Professor Aarhus University, Denmark, www.edu.au.dk/fv

  2. 1. My main points today • See the conference as a venue for knowledge mediation • It is dominated by the obsolete transmission theory that renders receivers passive • This results in conference fatigue • Alternative: Conferences that take participants’ needs seriously • In intervention research, we tested processes that do this • Results were encouraging: small changes, big impact

  3. 2. The conference: A forum for knowledgemediation • Definition: A conference is an event where two or more knowledge-based presentations are made to an audience • An important forum for knowledge workers to get inspiration and new professional knowledge … • … and for societal agents to communicate their agendas • A major industry: $6 billion in US in 2005 (venues, food, lodging, transportation)(MPI, 2008) • Where you get invited to speak about your research (and mediate your knowledge)

  4. 3. Two kinds of conference • (Scholarly conferences: Many papers, by paying participants) • Professional conferences: Few papers, by paid experts and communicators • Today, the latter

  5. 4. The problem: Conferencesrender participants passive As it isDrawbacks Message Indifference, resistance One-way People: two-way Passivity Use it or lose it Q and A Silence, or ”I’m smart, too” Debates Many tangents. Success is random Workshops Just so many mini-conferences Panels Congestion on one-way street Networking Many people too timid; suckle their iPhones instead

  6. 5. R&D project: “The Learning Conference” • Four Danish venues (Radisson SAS, Hotel Legoland, +) and five meeting organizers (Danske Bank, IBC, +) • 1½ years. Financing from Ministry of Economics and Business • 30 professional conferences. 70-300 participants each. 1-day • With meeting planners, we made program more participative: less one-way, more interaction. We coached the moderators • Data: (a) Survey of participants. (b) Logs by moderators and coaches. (c) Interviews with meeting planners. (d) Observation.

  7. 6. Publications from the project • Elsborg, Steen, & Ravn, Ib (2007). Learning meetings and conferences in practice. Copenhagen, People’sPress. • Ravn, Ib (2007). The learning conference. Journal of European Industrial Training, 33: 212-222. • Ravn, Ib, & Elsborg, Steen (2011). Facilitating learning at conferences. International Journal of Learning and Change, 5(1): 84-98. • Ravn, Ib (2005). Transformative theory in social research: The case of the learning conference. Presented to the Danish Sociology Congress, Roskilde University, August 18-20. • Ravn, Ib (2012). Møder der kommer os i møde. Fra passiv lytning til faciliteret involvering.Kursulex.

  8. 7. The transmission model • Knowledge mediation is the transmission of a message from sender to receiver • Participants as empty containers

  9. 8. Conferences as if people mattered • People have needs for autonomy, competence and relationships (”Self-Determination Theory,” Deci & Ryan, 2004) • In the conference: • Autonomy = agency. Participants must be acknowledged and be active. • Competence: Participants need to contribute their experience and skills, and they want to • Relationships: Meet other people. Networking. Exchange knowledge and resources.

  10. 9. Five design principles for learning conferences Blah Blah 1. Concise presentations ●●● 2. Activeinterpretation 3. Self-formulation 4. Networking and knowledge sharing 5. Competent facilitation

  11. 10. The design principles (for your own reading) • Concise presentations. Fewer, shorter, more provocative. • Active interpretation. There must be processes that help participants actively relate what they hear to their own experience. Time to digest, think and talk. • Self-formulation. There must be opportunities in pairs and small groups for everyone to talk about the personal interests and projects that brought them to the conference in the first place. • Networking and knowledge sharing. Facilitated activities that help the participants discover each other as resources. • Competent facilitation. The facilitator must create a safe and trusting space where people will join in the new learning processes.

  12. 11. Question • What seemed useful or interesting to you in my presentation so far? • Share this with someone in the next row (5 minutes) • We’ll hear from some of you afterwards

  13. 12. Fourteen processes tested • Concise presentation: Divide it in two. Presentation as interview. • Active interpretation: Buzz dyads. The constructive spin. Silent reflection. Question cards. Speaker is cornered. • Self-formulation: Participants direct the speaker. You have won to consultants, free of charge. Use input for your own projects. • Networking and knowledge sharing: Meet people. Tables with six people. Find a new neighbor. Networking lunch with gaffer tape.

  14. 13. Results • The small and simple processes were most successful • They made a big impact (3 x 10: “Gee, today was different!”) • 60-70% of participants were happy • 5-10% were not. “The professional cinema” (learning questionable) • Meeting planners and moderators were very satisfied • Buzz dyad was popular, and robust • Progression and variation of processes • Courage to break old routines

  15. 14. Processes today • My (concise?) presentationwas divided in two • The constructive spin: “What did you find useful?” • Pair up with stranger. Induces people to make an effort. Network. • Buzz dyads: Verbalize important points & learn from neighbor • Cherry-picking: What did you then find useful? • Silent reflection maybe, in a minute, before regular Q and A • Please corner me in the break with further comments!

  16. 15. Today’sbasicideas • To facilitate knowledge mediation at conferences, wall-to-wall PowerPoint presentationsmust be cut back • Five design principles for participant engagement • Interactive learning processes that allow participants to digest the input by reflecting and talking to each other

  17. Thankyou!

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