Learning Scenario: Corporate Culture Walk

I have been designing and developing a micro-lesson for a fictional company that has experienced high employee turnover and they have determined that the underlying cause is their current workplace culture.  

Learning Outcome: By the end of this micro-lesson, participants will be able to identify the visual and behind the scene signs of culture in their workplace to empower change using a Culture Walk.

The Corporate Culture Walk learning scenario is a micro-lesson based on the Experiential Learning Approach. This scenario offers opportunities for participants in leadership roles to engage in real world activities that will support them while they actively analyze their workplace and eventually create a strategic plan that will empower change in the chemistry of their workplace culture. 

Paired with discussion board tasks, this scenario is designed as a Learner Centered Authentic Assessment, created to elicit participant reflection, draw realistic conclusions, make inferences about why and what they experienced, and facilitate collaboration among colleagues in leadership roles. 

There are two Learning Theories represented in the design of the Culture Walk scenario: 

1) Andragogy: Prior to the creation of the Culture Walk micro-lesson scenario, a Training analysis was conducted. Based on the data collected, the adult “leadership” participants chose to have this course designed to help them uncover the elements of culture in their workplace that could be the cause of employee attrition. Their “What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) along with their willingness or readiness to learn was established, as they understood that the knowledge they gain will have an immediate value. The task-oriented activities also align with their workplace realities, giving them the confidence to continue to utilize strategies long after the completion of the training. 

2) Social Constructivism: The Culture Walk micro-lesson scenario includes participants in leadership roles, working together cooperatively (team-based learning/cohort), after they have expanded their personal prior knowledge viewing aspects of their workplace culture. In the micro-lesson scenario, participants are guided through the 5E Model.[1]

In the Engage stage, participants learn what to identify as the visual and behind the scenes aspect of culture in their workplace.  

In the Explore stage, participants reference the “I Spy” three column content organizer in their participant guide, then they get out of their seats, out of their offices and explore their workplace setting. They do an  investigation of the interior design and observe employee interactions. After taking the 5 minute walk, participants jot down their observations, recording the data they gathered on the content organizer. 

For the Explain stage, participants communicate with their participant cohort on a discussion board. Answering the open-ended discussion board prompt, participants explain who and what they investigated, stating their inferences or conclusions that were drawn based on what they experienced. 

In the Extend stage, participants expand on their experience, as they respond to a colleague in their cohort, making comparisons, making conceptual connections between new and previous experiences and generalizing the aspects they each encountered. 

Finally, in the Evaluation stage, participants put together what they learned from the initial experience, and their discussions with colleagues to conduct a Culture Walk. During the Culture Walk participants use a checklist to support their desired level of understanding pertaining to what they should be looking for, and the topics of conversation they are to deliberately initiate. 

The purpose of the Culture Walk as an evaluation is to engineer an on-going diagnostic process enabling the participants in leadership roles to continue to assess whether the aspects they desire in their workplace culture are apparent, or if they need to revise their strategic plan and try another approach.   

[1] (n.d.). 5E Model of Instruction - SDCOE Science Resource Center - San .... Retrieved May 28, 2021, from https://ngss.sdcoe.net/Evidence-Based-Practices/5E-Model-of-Instruction 

Mindset To Learn © 2021 by Johanna Musser is licensed under CC BY 4.0