Kristina Sitarski, Menlo Innovations
Learning is a process you do, not a process that is done to you. Before the heated discussion on what automated functional testing tool to lobby for or the fun game of ‘who can cause the exception first,’ we must learn how to communicate with one another. In my experience working in a paired quality assurance environment for three years, I have been partnered with several different people. Although my partners have been problem-solving software destructors like myself, they all have had very distinct learning styles. This brings me to a truth sometimes overlooked: to teach is to learn. To help teach not only my partner, but also customers and our Agile shop tour attendees, I look to Neil Fleming’s model of different learning styles. Using this as a guideline, as well as some important items ranging from jellybeans to yarn, I find it has improved the communication on concepts such as functional test writing, object modeling, and estimation.
Understanding Mr. Fleming’s model is important, but it is imperative to constantly be self aware of the audience you are communicating with and not afraid to create your own teaching style.To deliver quality communication, sometimes on quality itself, we must learn how to effectively teach and learn from one another.
Kristina Sitarski, 2011 Technical Paper, Abstract, Paper
