Recap Exercise: Visualise What You Learned Today

Purpose

Research has long shown that visualisation can lead to better recall and learning. As a trainer, you can exploit visualisation to your advantage. One area where visualisation is useful is when recapping on content already covered or at the end of a course. This exercise helps you to take advantage of the power of visualisation.

The visualisation produced in this exercise can also act as a reminder for the delegates and will help to reinforce associations and memory.

Objective

Create a visual representation of all the important lessons learned in the course.

What You Need

• Various art supplies. You can provide whatever that is feasible. Examples are:
  • Colour pens
  • Large sheets
  • A random selection of printed photos. Alternatively you can provide computers with internet access so delegates can search for specific images and print them.
  • Glue
  • Scissors

Setup

• Explain to delegates that the purpose of this exercise is to create a visual representation of what they have learned in the course. The final work must capture the most important lessons. They should use visual symbols and helpful associations to make the artwork meaningful and pleasant. They can then place the artwork in their personal environment so they are constantly reminded of the lessons learned in the course.
• Provide the art supplies to everyone.
• Allocate 15 minutes for them to create their works. This can be illustration, collage or anything else with the materials provided.
• Encourage delegates to share their ideas with each other or discuss which selection of lessons to include in their works.
• After the allocated time, bring back everyone together. Get each person to present his wok and receive feedback. This further helps reinforce the lessons for everyone as the visual representations can be very memorable.
• Continue until everyone has presented.
• Follow with a discussion.

Timing

Explaining the Exercise: 2 minutes

Activity: 15 min making artwork + 15 min review session = 30 minutes

Group Feedback: 5 minutes

Discussion

Which work was inspiring to you? Which lessons were selected by most delegates and how did they visually represent them in their works?