Page 112 - Making Instruction Work

chap 9 3/4/97 3:35 PM Page 98

98 making instruction work

• They will have 5-20 years of experience with the company.

• All are facile with English, and all are used to writing
reports.

• All can read quite well.

• All are familiar with order-writing; they know company
procedures and policies. They just don’t know how to
enter orders onto a computer terminal.

• The younger engineering grads will be familiar with com-
puters; the older reps will not.

Anticipated Attitudes

• Many of the older reps are apprehensive that they will
show up poorly against the younger people who use com-
puters better than they do. They worry that they are old
dogs who won’t be able to learn the new tricks.

• The older reps will be somewhat resentful about being
away from their territory for the duration of the course.
They feel they could be making money instead of sitting
in a classroom. Some feel that the computer will make
order-writing take longer than it does now.

Interests

• Many students play golf with business colleagues—
especially the older males.

• The majority are married, have families, and spend signif-
icant time socializing within the family network.

• They have a lot in common and tend to socialize within