ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE that teaching a subject is a good way to learn it. This is especially true for learning about learning. Fortunately, we both have had the opportunity to teach students in a university setting, to study the literature on teaching and learning, and to reflect on our own teaching. Classes and workshops have provided for us an informal laboratory to experiment with different ways of teaching and learning. First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge our students—not only those in our formal classes but also the participants in our workshops in the United States and around the world. We have been very fortunate to learn about learning by encouraging bright and eager students, observing how they respond, listening to their feedback, and reflecting on what occurred.

We also want to acknowledge the help provided by Berrett-Koehler in transforming a mere idea for a manuscript into a book. After we wrote Effective Training Strategies: A Comprehensive Guide to Maximizing Learning in Organizations, a book primarily for facilitators, we stumbled on the idea of writing a book for participants in learning. Steven Piersanti, Berrett-Koehler’s president, and the B-K staff grew excited about the idea and began to provide suggestions about how to define the audience and structure the book. Berrett-Koehler always provides a rigorous manuscript review process, but the reactions, insights, and suggestions of the readers for this manuscript were especially valuable. We want to acknowledge, therefore, the assistance of David Shapiro, Kendra Armer, Catherine Nowaski, Sara Jane Hope, and Katherine Weiser. The manuscript was revised extensively based on their suggestions. We also wish to acknowledge the work of Valerie Barth, senior editor, Elizabeth Swenson, production director, and Linda Jupiter of Jupiter Productions.

We appreciate the work of Mandy Anderson, graduate research assistant, for her excellent research about the Internet. We also want to thank Nancy Allen, Dean of Libraries at the University of Denver, and Deborah Grealy, Associate Professor and nontraditional programs librarian, for their generous consultation on libraries. Ray Ostlie, a graduate student and professional trainer, also provided insights as an informal reader of the manuscript. Sharon Irwin, Jim’s administrative assistant, saw this book through from initial proposal to final manuscript, as she did with Effective Training Strategies. We have no idea, Sharon, how you can be so patient with so many changes in the manuscript.

Our own grandparents and parents are long gone from this earth, but we still hear their voices. The older we get the more we understand those cultures that revere the spirits of ancestors.