Train the Trainer

A refresher overview for SSD instructors [and

others]

Rationale/WIIFM

• Successful training requires proper design, development, and delivery and, you don’t want to be the instructor that the participants go to snoozeville on in class.

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Acknowledge that:

• You are a mix of classroom and distance learning cadres, and that

• Specifics are best addressed within each cadre as you design, redesign, develop, update, and plan delivery of courses

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Objectives – Upon completion, participants (you the instructors in this case) will be able to:

• Understand how learning retention rates and how adults learn should affect our design, develop, and delivery of training

• Recognize that we have a process and practical tips of the trade for developing and delivering instruction

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Objectives – Upon completion, participants (you the instructors in this case) will be able to:

• Recognize the components of structuring training for future course design, development, and delivery

• Understand the concept of blended learning and be ready to utilize it in future course design, development, and delivery

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Where we get our training info

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Learning issues

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Retention

It’s what the learner does in class, not what they see or hear

Approach is importantto retention

Abstract Conceptualization(concluding / learning from the

experience)

Reflective Observation

(reviewing / reflecting on the experience)

Conceptual Experience (planning / trying out what you

have learned)

Application(doing / having an experience)

Without any follow-up by student to review or use content

Learning Retention(no reveiw or use of content)

Time (days)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Av

g %

Le

arn

ing

Re

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ed

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Learning Retained

How Adults Learn

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Adults have a need to know why they should learn something

• Training should be based on valid needs of the intended audience.

• All information provided should include reasons for learning. The benefits of learning should be clearly shown.

• Activities should be based on real work experiences.

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Adults have a task-centered orientation to learning

• Do not do an information dump.

• Focus activities on “doing” something with information rather than simply “knowing” the information.

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Adults have a greater volume and different quality of experience than youth.

Design training activities that reflect the actual work the learners will perform. Provide

activities that permit learners to compare the theoretical aspects of the training with their

experiences.

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Motivation

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What you want to avoid doing. De-motivators are:

• No energy, no eye contact, speaking in a monotone, no personal contact

• “I did, I am, etc.” Too much personal experience

• Poor preparation

• Reading directly from manuals, slides, etc.

• Lack of time for topic and for questions and answers

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What you want to avoid doing. De-motivators are:• In the same gear all day (no, I don’t mean clothing.)

• Having no credibility

• Being quick to criticize

• Talking down to learners, making them feel stupid

• Not covering/sticking to objectives

• Too many “war stories”

• Disinterest in the subject and/or the learners– Monotone = disinterest?

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What you can do• Your students may ask, “What’s in it for me?” Show them

the value or use of your material.

• Use praise liberally. Call it positive reinforcement.

• Make course objectives clear when setting expectations, then challenge students to achieve them. For some, having a goal to attain is motivation to attain it.

• Be available, before, after, and during your presentation, during breaks, etc.

• Be excited about your topic.

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Motivation includes use of proper stimulus

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How we learn:75% through the sense of sight13% through the sense of hearing 6% through the sense of touch 3% through the sense of smell 3% through the sense of taste

“What I hear, I forget; what I see, I remember; but what I do, I understand.”

Logic and Sequencing

• Each learning point makes sense by itself– The Why is answered – Application to specific instances are used

• Logical sequence is followed– Whole to part, big picture to specific parts,

importance, time, etc.

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Participation

• Active participant involvement, not passive observation, ensures effective learning.

• Many training gurus believe though that:– Groups of 20 or more, participation is not practical.– Limit it to small groups within the class.– A spokesperson for the group presents their ideas. – Thus, each learner is involved in the learning just as

though he/she interacted directly with the presenter.

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Repetition• Repetition with a difference: Give the same information

but vary your approach. An example would be using a quiz followed by a puzzle followed by a game show.

• Refresher training: Cover the same material, but in less time and with less intensity, best applied over following weeks.

• Interval training: Learners will retain only about 10% of what they learned after 30 days. If you provide the material at six intervals and increase the amount of time from each interval to the next one, they will retain 90% after 30 days.

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Instructional development

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10-Step plan – planning process 1-8

1. Identify audience needs.

2. Identify the topic and the questions that will be asked.

3. Determine the level of knowledge needed and the sequence of your subtopics.

4. Write your objectives.

5. Prepare an outline to structure your content.

6. Add the details.

7. Choose the presentation method.

8. Rehearse.

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10-Step plan – delivery and evaluation 9-10

9. Delivery of the presentation

10.Evaluation – self evaluate– verbal and nonverbal communication – design of lesson, did it work, did you meet

objectives, too little or too much time

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Practical Tips

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Small groups

• Give them a task.• The task should result in a product.• Give a time limit.• Clarify task for a floundering group.• Be sure someone has been designated as leader and

someone else as recorder in each group. Could rotate these tasks during the course.

• Each group leader presents product to the whole group.

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Effective lecture delivery

• Projection (loudness)

• Pitch (flow and variety)

• Pace (rate)

• Pauses (emphasis)

• Pronunciation (enunciate clearly)

• Phillers (uh, ah, um, okay, ya know)

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Effective lecture delivery

• Start by stating rationale and objectives.• Use good posture.• Avoid excessive “quirks.” • Use different gestures, body movements.

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Effective lecture delivery

• Look at the audience; face them and not the screen.• Move around…following you with their head/eyes

helps keep them focused.• Vary the pitch of your voice, do not talk in a

monotone.• Do not read to the group.

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Effective lecture delivery

• What do they see?–Stance–Gestures–Facial expressions–Eye contact

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PowerPoints

• File size – follow current methods for minimizing affect of inserted objects on file size

• Slide backgrounds and design – your mantra should be dark slide, white text (I’ll have an example of what not to do in a following slide)

• KISS when using slide transitions and animations

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Questions – asking them to involve your learners• Plan them; know what you are going to ask and when

in your presentation you are going to do so.• Know the purpose of each question. Are you eliciting

information or an opinion?• Go from general questions to more specific ones.• Confine the questions to one topic area at a time.

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Questions – asking them• Do not move on until someone answers –

make someone answer– If they figure out that silence means you

will provide the answer, they will clam up and let you do that and your attempt at interactivity will bomb out

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Questions – asking them• Ask short, clear questions that are easy to

understand.• Ask the class first

– Ask a small group next, – Failing a volunteer, ask individuals by

name.• Do not interrupt a person who is responding

to a question. Let them finish before you comment on their answer.

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Questions - answering

• Don’t ask “Are there any questions?…”

• Ask

“What are your questions?”• Listen for intent and content• Acknowledge each – repeat or paraphrase to

questioner and the whole class to show that you understand

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Questions - answering

• Try to answer completely and accurately• Answer should go to whole class but verify

the questioners satisfaction• There are no stupid questions

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General practical tips• Humor is a tool but jokes are a no-no• Know your subject matter and rehearse• Never apologize for anything – makes the cadre

appear unprepared– They do not get a timed agenda so there is no

contract in regards to when anything starts or ends

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General practical tips• Do not rush at the end – the finish is important

– Have enough time within the agenda to cover your material and/or fit your material to the agenda

• Get them involved• Don’t personalize or date material (so it can be used

by another person and/or at another time without having to edit)

• Name ecopy files to reflect the agenda name for their easy reference

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Exam questions

• We provide guidelines and formats on the soils.usda web pages

• Bottom line – should address objectives• Review each year – if change material, may need to

change exam questions

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Structuring training

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Rationale

Objectives

Activities

Evaluation

OK? Corrective Feedback

Confirming Feedback

Yes

No

Structu

ring

training

Rationale

• Answer “What’s In It For Me”• Your “Hook” to reel them in to learn• An opportunity to use the “humor” tool

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Objectives

• Sound basis for the selection and design of content, material and methods

• A means of measuring whether or not a training goal has been met

• A means for learners to organize their efforts in learning

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Objectives

• Should be about the learner and what they will do with the learning

• It is not about what part of your knowledge you intend to share with them.

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All objectives could include up to 3 characteristics

• Performance• Conditions• Criteria

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Performance

• This is the “doing” part, requiring an action verb to state required performance– Actions are either “declarative” (knowledge based)

or “procedural” (skill based), each with their own set of action verbs

• As a minimum, all objectives have performance

At the end of this training, the learner will be able to construct a digital map.

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Condition

• Is there a tool to use, process to follow, or guideline to adhere to?

• It is added to address any conditional requirements

At the end of this training, the learner will be able to construct a digital map using ArcGIS 9.x.

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Criteria

• The performance, under certain conditions, might need to meet certain standards and/or goals

At the end of this training, the learner will be able to construct a digital map using ArcGIS 9.x and pass a quality control review by the assigned SDQS.

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Guidance for objectives

• Provided on the website– Instructions– Worksheet– Action verbs

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NEDC

Activities for interactive learning

• There are various sets of lists, all with their own twist– Posted on our website, from Effective Instruction

NEDC course materials– Telling Ain’t Training by Robert Pike, pg 115-134– Training for Dummies, Elaine Biech, pg 77-82– An internet search will find others

• All provide alternatives to lecturing and death by PowerPoint

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Activities that have been used

• Brainstorming• Buzz group• Case study• Coaching• Correspondence• CBT (computer

based training)

• Demo• Discussion• Game• Job aids• Neighbor discussion• Peer Assisted

learning• Practice exercise

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Activities that have been used

• Quiz• Question and

Answer• Reading• Reflection• Role Play• Seminar

• Simulation• Board game

adaption• Game show

adaption• Polling• Chat

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Other potential activities as alternatives to lecture and use in review of material/results• Exam Cram• Hit or Myth• In-Basket• Interview• Guided note-taking

• Video, DVD• Poster/Chart• Crossword puzzles

(from free internet puzzle builder)

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Evaluations

• Evaluate performance, learning• Evaluate in terms of the objectives and performance

level expected for the learners• Some of the activities provided will provide results

– Quiz, project completed, exams

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Feedback

• Essential that learners receive feedback• Pat them on the back (confirming) to inform them

they have met the objective• Correct if gone astray (corrective) by explaining how

they can achieve the objective

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Rationale

Objectives

Activities

Evaluation

OK? Corrective Feedback

Confirming Feedback

Yes

No

Explain why they should learn and how it applies to their work

Tell them what they will be able to do

Give them things to do. Make these interesting and don’t bore them.

Check to see if they learned

Tell them if they’ve got it right. Check

learning

Correct them when they’ve gone astray.

Structu

ring

Review

Cadre functions in design and development

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Outlines

• Used by design team to help structure training• Captures, at minimum, lesson:

– Rationale– Objectives– Activities

• Opportunity to capture transitions from lesson to lesson, equipment needs, bad weather plans, training aid needs

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Lesson Plans

• Used by development team and/or assigned cadre member– Helps you plan and script your delivery– Saves plan of delivery for your use the next time– Can pass on plan of delivery to temporary or

permanent replacement– Provides consistency when more than one person

is delivering the lesson (Digital Soil Survey Data Editing course for example) and consistency from year to year

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Blended learning

• A mix of learning environments– Learning that is facilitated by the effective

combination of different modes of delivery, models of teaching and styles of learning, and is based on transparent communication amongst all parties involved with a course

• Blending involves the mixing of synchronous and asynchronous delivery

• Our challenge for the future!

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Synchronous • Face to face, “in sync”• DL instructor led, “in

sync”• Mentoring or tutoring is

immediate face to face or through teleconferencing and screen sharing

Asynchronous• Self paced• Involves computer access• E-mentoring or e-tutoring

on call via teleconferencing and screen sharing

• Could include forums, blackboards, SharePoint for posting discussion

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Delivery methods

• Class room, face to face• Field and lab (including computer as well as soils), face to face• Small discussion groups, face to face, with or w/o instructor• Small discussion groups, internet, with or w/o instructor• Self paced, posting discussion via media (Sharepoint, other)• Self paced, Aglearn, NSSC FTP, CD/DVD, YouTube, or other

source/host of materials provide access on demand

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Example: Digital Soil Survey Data Editing

• Has been done successfully in both face to face and distance learning classroom delivery – currently includes….

• Precourse self paced with job aid and mentor on call• Straight forward approach in class

– Tell them (lecture) and/or– Show them (demo)– Have them do it (application)

• Practical exercise post course

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Example: Management of Soil Survey by MLRA

• This course has issues and is a challenge!• We have to-date addressed all objectives as knowledge based

ignoring skill development because of time constraints and the need to get everyone on the same page as quickly as possible as far as MLRA Office functions

• Some but not enough interaction with participants, mostly we have performed an information dump

• Question is, What do we do to make this course work for the participants, staying within the distance learning environment?

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Management of Soil Survey by MLRA

• What can we do?– Delivery methods– Activities that work for those methods

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Blended learning and interactive learning activities

• when you have the next opportunity to design, develop, or update a course, what can you do to blend learning and incorporate learning activities in the environment provided

• A challenge to each of you to adopt this to your training assignments

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Summary

• Training versus providing our knowledge via lecture/ppt– Death to “death by PowerPoint” – ppts provide info, not

training– As much as possible, treat ppt as job aid, use an activity to

provide training• Strive to use interactivity to provide training• We’ll address each course separately as each has its own

culture

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Summary

• We don’t know at this point where agency budget will lead us in regards to training. – We may need to be ready to take more courses from the

face to face classroom to distance learning.– We might need to cut down on the number of days in travel

to attend face to face training in which case we will want to blend our delivery to the max

• Regardless, utilize “blended learning” to the max to make training a good experience

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Objectives – Upon completion, participants (you the instructors in this case) will be able to:

• Understand how learning retention rates and how adults learn should affect our design, develop, and delivery of training

• Recognize that we have a process and practical tips of the trade for developing and delivering instruction

• Recognize the components of structuring training for future course design, development, and delivery

• Understand the concept of blended learning and be ready to utilize it in future course design, development, and delivery

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