J. farrington consulting Instructor Training/Skills Dr. Jeanne Farrington, CPT ICT Immersive Training Workshop January 27, 2010

j. farrington consulting


Instructor Training/Skills

Dr. Jeanne Farrington, CPT

ICT Immersive Training Workshop

January 27, 2010


Copyright 2010 J. Farrington Consulting

Competing Pressures

Faster Better

Mission


Assuming good & relevant design…

Mission

Critical Tasks

Instruction

Instructional Design



What difference can instructors make?

Making Classes Better Making Classes Worse



Topics for Today

• Training instructors—the basics

• Tailoring instructional lessons

• Adapting lessons based on content types

• Adapting for virtual classes & social media

• Training instructors for specific courses

Enable better contributions to mission sooner



Training Instructors—the Basics

Training instructors—the basics

Tailoring instructional lessons

Adapting lessons based on content types

Adapting for virtual classes & social media

Training instructors for specific courses



Elements of Instructor Readiness

Preexisting Trainer Attributes

General Instructor Training

Trainer Selection & Availability

Instructor Skills MotivationAptitude & Experience

Instructor Feedback & Evaluation

Curriculum/Course Design and TSPsSpecific Instructor Training

Subject-Matter Expertise



Three Instructor Levels

I. Presentation Skills• Get content across (while

keeping people awake)• Demonstrate effectively• Answer questions• Avoid quaking in boots

II. Facilitation Skills• Use presentation skills• Encourage dialogue• Set up and manage activities

& practice sessions

III. Training Skills• Use presentation &

facilitation skills• Adapt the events of

instruction to each lesson• Use different strategies for

different learning outcomes (content types)

• Ensure that the students master the objectives

• Assist the students to transfer what they’ve learned



Quick Review #1

• I give a lecture & you stay awakeWhat level of instruction is that?

• I break a class into groups and get them to do an activityWhat level of instruction is that?

• I make sure that the students can master the objectivesWhat level of instruction is that?



Tailoring Instructional Lessons







Training Elements (Bare Bones)

Practice

Feedback

Objectives




Anatomy of a Lesson

Getting Started

Practice, Practice, Practice

Closing



Anatomy of a Lesson I

Getting Started• Instant audience analysis• Make the objectives clear• Provide a strong rationale for the lesson• Connect to prior knowledge



Anatomy of a Lesson II

Practice, Practice, Practice• Present content they need to know• Have students practice what they need to do• Give helpful feedback



Anatomy of a Lesson III

Closing• Maximize learning transfer• Test student performance



Anatomy of a Lesson

Getting Started• Instant audience analysis• Make the objectives clear• Provide a strong rationale for the lesson• Connect to prior knowledgePractice, Practice, Practice• Present content they need to know• Have students practice what they need to do• Give helpful feedbackClosing• Maximize learning transfer• Assess performance



Quick Review #2

• Three most important elements of training?

• What’s one of the things that it’s important to do at the beginning of a lesson?

• We should provide more lectures & less practice to save time in training.True or false?



What about “NextGen” Learners?

Characteristics? Preferences?

How should we respond?



But I’m so amazingly distracted!



Two Books Worth Having



Adapting Lessons Based on Content Types







Content Types

• Declarative knowledge (things you can remember, name, describe)

• Concepts (sorting between this and that)• Procedures & psychomotor (physical) skills

(step-by-step how to)• Problem solving (define the problem, decide

what to do, do it, see if you solved the problem)• Cognitive strategies (learning to learn)• Attitudes (choosing to do something)



Quick Review #3

• Learning the term “rescue” is learning…A concept or how to solve a problem?

• Learning to give CPR is learning…A concept or a procedure?

• Learning to rescue civilians from hostile forces is learning…A concept or how to solve a problem?


Concepts

• Sets of – Objects– Ideas– Events

• With characteristics in common and• That share a common name

– Grenade, weapon– March, deployment– Friendly, enemy


Concept Lessons

• Define the concept• Give examples of the concept• Contrast with things that are NOT the concept

(especially things that are similar)• Provide practice telling the difference between

examples and “nonexamples”– Give them some examples & nonexamples– Have the students think of some on their own

• Give them feedback on how they are doing



For Every Content Type

• There are different prescriptions for how to design instruction

• AND, there are different ways that instructors can assist students to learn better

• Trainers should learn…– What the content types are– How to tell what kind of content something is– How, specifically, to teach each content type– What to look for as successful learning of each

content type



Quick Review #4

• Why do we care about content types?

A. There are different ways to design for each oneB. There are different ways to teach for each oneC. Both A & BD. Neither A nor b

• If I’ve learned a concept, what can I do?A. Pick out examples of the conceptB. Tell when something isn’t an example of the conceptC. Both A & BD. Neither A nor b



Adapting for Virtual Classes & Social Media








Virtual Classes

Challenges Benefits



Virtual Classes

• Instructor is at a distance from students, but electronically connected (audio, video, text, chatrooms, built-in tools)

• Instructor (& the design) guides the instruction (not “learner control”)– Sequencing– Learning strategies

• Clear learning goals• Competent modeling• Cognitive load• Learner engagement• Deadlines & persistence• Sense of connectedness• “I can do this!”• Not too hard or too easy• Positive mood• Pre- & post questions



Social Media

• Learning where & when you need it• Facilitated by Web 2.0 technologies• Content is often generated by and for a given

audience• Facilitators add guidance and structure



Training Instructors for Specific Courses







Training Elements (Bare Bones)

Practice

Feedback

Objectives



Helping People Learn

Provide Practice on Individual Tasks

Demonstrate Provide MaterialsExplain

Give Feedback

Provide Practice on a Series or Cluster of Tasks

Relate to Prior Knowledge

Provide Rationale & Objectives

Evaluate Performance




In an ideal world, trainers would…

Learn to teach a class by…

1.Attending the class as a student first

2.Receiving a briefing about special lessons

3.Observing the class, perhaps teaching part of it

4.Teaching all or most of the class, with backup– Experienced instructor or– Subject-matter expert

5.Teaching the class on his or her own

Have time to prepare between different classes



Maybe That Seems Impossible

What could you do instead?


Evaluating Instructor Training

• At the beginning….– Define your goals– Determine what you will accept as evidence of success

• Capture current state as baseline data, for example:– Current time to “get up to speed”– Description of what “up to speed”

means today

• Success measures, for example:– Time to defined levels of

presentation–facilitation–training– Performance tests– Transfer into the field




Summary








Instructors with Better Skills

• Improve NCO’s knowledge & skills

• Save time and other resources (money, human resources, facilities)

• Improve overall performance, retention, and transfer

Documents

J. farrington consulting Instructor Training/Skills Dr. Jeanne Farrington, CPT ICT Immersive Training Workshop January 27, 2010