Making Training Games and Activities More Effective

CPLP Work Product Designing Learning ASTD Member Number: 10686333 Work Product-Facilitator Guide Page 26 of 67

Making Training

Games and Activities More

Effective

Facilitator Guide


MAKING TRAINING GAMES AND ACTIVITIES MORE EFFECTIVE

For Instructional Design Special Interest Group Meeting April 2007

Snapshot

Estimated Time for Module: 1 Hours and 30 Minutes Lesson # Topic Title Time

1 Games Equal Interactive Learning Events 0:10 2 Interactive Lecture ILEs 0:10 3 Frame Games 0:05 4 Creative Activities 0:40 5 Debriefing 0:15 6 Question and Answer Session 0:10

Module Materials Facilitator Materials

• Facilitator Guide • Handout • Flipchart or Whiteboard and Markers • Supplies for chosen ILEs, such as

envelopes, 3x5 cards, and hat/bowl. • Timer

Participant Materials • Handout • Supplies for chosen ILEs, such as

envelopes, 3x5 cards, and pens/pencils


Topic 1: Games = Interactive Learning Event

Method Content Time

Estimate

FYI

Objectives for Topic: • Discuss the barriers to using term “game” in workplace training. • Identify participant’s expectations for course.

N/A

Say

Introduce Self and Course:

Explain: • Introduce self. • Value of interaction for retention of learning • Common mistakes in design—lecture, questioning only, and just

brainstorming as “interaction”, no debriefing to recognize the learning of an activity.

• What we’ll focus on today: interactive lecture, jazz up brainstorming, and debriefing techniques.

2 min

Handout

Handout Explain: • The handout has information on 5 topics: Games in general,

Interactive Lectures, Framegames, Creative Activities: Alternatives to Brainstorming, and Debriefing.

• We will not cover all the activities here, but will sample a few. • The handout is more for use after the presentation as a resource.

1 min

Flipchart

Flipchart – Participant Expectations Record answers on flipchart or whiteboard to: What are your expectations for today? What do you hope to get out of this topic?

2 min

FYI

The information from the flipchart may be used for some of the ILEs later in course. Keep it posted for referral later.

N/A


Method Content Time Estimate

Discussion

Games = Interactive Learning Event (ILE) Lead discussion on What gives “games” a bad rep in training? Key points: • Perception that games aren’t serious or “real” training. • Association of games with children and non-productive pursuits.

2 min

Say

Discussion Conclusion: Explain: • Dale’s Cone of Learning demonstrates that the more actively

involved a learner is the greater retention they’ll have. • So our goal in training games is NOT fun, but creating an

interactive learning event. • Fun will help make it more memorable. • So will allowing reflection of “learning” associated with the

activity.

2 min

Transition

Transition to Next Topic Link past with next… Our focus on interactivity includes adding interaction to lecture, a delivery technique often considered the most incapable to involve interaction. We’ll look at that next…

1 min


Topic 2: Interactive Lecture

Method Content Time

Estimate

FYI

Objectives for Topic: • Execute an Interactive Lecture ILE on first section.

N/A

Say

Interactive Lectures

Explain: • Dr. Thiagi has a number of suggestions for adding interactivity to a

lecture format. • Primarily they fall into three types: review, create your own, and

word games. • Reviews: Doing review-type activities at breaks through lecture,

such as summarizing key points, or writing pertinent questions. • Create Your Own: Creating a statement, image, or idea and

communicating it to others. The created image is then pulled into the lecture or explored as an example of the concept.

• Word Games: Applying learning to word-game structure at breaks.

• The handout has five examples.

1 min

Activity

Activity – Key Point Summary Note: Facilitator may use an alternative interactive lecture ILE. Explain: • The purpose of this activity is to identifying key points for materials

just covered. It will also illustrate doing interactive lecture technique.

• The activity is similar to “Best Summary” though we will only be doing the initial stage.

1 min


Activity – continued

Direct participants to: • Working alone, write a key point or two about what we’ve just

discussed—using games as interactive learning events. • Key points can be a short summary or your personal “Aha” from the

information covered.

2 min

Debrief

Debrief Activity If class is small enough, have each person share one of their key points. If class is large, break groups into teams and have them compare key points and provide 2 for each group.

4 min

Ask

What questions do you have about using interactive lecture techniques? Respond appropriately.

1 min

Transition

Transition to Next Topic Link past with next… Another way to add interactivity following a period of discussion, lecture, or reading is using a frame game to review the information. Our next topic is a quick look at frame games.

1 min


Topic 3: Frame Games

Method Content Time

Estimate

FYI

Objectives for Topic: • Identify examples of frame games.

N/A

Say

Frame Games

Explain: • Frame games provide an easy framework (rules and formats) that

you can easily substitute different content or questions into. • Many game shows are frame games, such as Jeopardy and Who

Wants to Be a Millionaire.

1 min

Ask

What other common frame games can you think of? Possible answers: • Tic-Tac-Doe • Hollywood Squares • Weakest Link • Are You Smarter than a 5th

Grader

2 min

Handout

Handout – Information Basketball Explain: • There are lots of frame games available including internet resources

for PowerPoint or e-Learning shells for the games. • I’ve included an example that I created called Information

Basketball.

1 min

Transition

Transition to Next Topic Link past with next… Frame games are a very useful training format. Another one is team strategies, such as brainstorming or some alternatives to brainstorming.

1 min


Topic 4: Creative Activities

Method Content Time

Estimate

FYI

Objectives for Topic: • Execute at least one ILE using an alternative approach to

brainstorming.

N/A

Say

Creative Activities

Explain: • I’ve included a number of these creative activities to provide variety

in ways to expand your repertoire for brainstorm like situations. • Let’s explore a couple of these.

1 min

Activity

Activity – Reverse Storm Note: Facilitator may use an alternative creative activity ILE. Explain: • The purpose of this activity is to determine what makes training

effective or less effective • We are also seeing how a simple reversal technique can impact the

enthusiasm for an activity. • You’ll be working in teams (3-5 people preferably). • Our goal is to make training effective. • Our next step is to reverse the challenge

1 min

Activity – continued

Use the handout to conduct Reverse Storm through the stages with the following points: • “How do I ensure training is ineffective?” or “In what way can I

guarantee to undermine training’s impact?” • Only rank top 3 training-saboteurs. • Select amid teams top 3 choices so that each team has a different

item to reverse back for positive strategies.

12 min


Debrief

Debrief Activity Have each class share their top three negative ways to impact training’s effectiveness. Have each team share their reversed question (based on high-ranking negatives) and the list generated to address those negatives. Lead discussion on good and bad of this activity. You may use the following questions. How did you feel about brainstorming negative suggestions? What happened when you selected the highest ranking negative? What impact did selecting the greatest training-saboteur for the next part of the activity? How do you feel about your final list of strategies for making training effective? How could you use this exercise in the workplace? Summarize key points. Such as: • People can become really energized at finding the negative, so

reverse storm starts by building that energy and riding it to the end. • This technique also helps identify where the bang for the buck is by

ranking what is the worse negative. • Creating strategies to address the worse negative means actually

targeting the overall.

7 min

Say

Creative Activities Explain: • There are a lot of ILE choices. • Many are from Cracking Creativity and can be used for problem-

solving or team-building outside of training class. • Let’s do one to address some of the problems we’ve encountered as

Instructional Designers and Trainers.

1 min


Activity

Activity – TBD Note: Select an ILE from handout that best fits class expectations/needs. For example, do envelopes and base the problem statements on each envelope from the expectations listed at beginning of class—especially those that material is not likely to cover. Explain: • The purpose of this activity is … Use the handout to guide participants through each stage of the activity.

12 min

Debrief

Debrief Activity Publish any answers. Lead discussion on activity. You may use the following questions: What did you think of this activity? Do you feel you achieved the purpose of the activity? How would you use this activity for your workplace? What would you change about the activity?

5 min

Transition

Transition to Next Topic Link past with next… We’ve practiced a few different ILEs. For many of them, we did a debrief discussion. Our next topic will look at debriefs.

1 min


Topic 5: Debriefing

Method Content Time

Estimate

FYI

Objectives for Topic: • Discuss the value of debriefing ILEs. • Identify Thiagi’s 6 recommended questions. • Execute Concentric Circles to show how to actively involve every

participant in debriefing.

N/A

Say

Value of Debriefing

Explain: • Debriefing means to help process or reflect on the activity. • It can be as simple as checking the correct answers to long

discussions about what happened and what impacts it can have. • Some students will never recognize the actual learning without

constructive reflection on the task. • We facilitate debriefings for the Interactive Learning Events

especially to help ensure we target the right learning from the event.

1 min

Say

Thiagi’s Debriefing Guide Explain: • Dr. Thiagi emphasized the need to debrief games and activities for

success in the learning. • He suggested 6 basic questions that can then be expanded on—these

are in the handout. • How do you feel? • What happened? • What did you learn? • How does it relate? • What if? • What next?

1 min


Say

Interactive Debriefs Explain: • You can even use ILEs to do the debriefing itself. • One of the problems with debriefs is that the larger the class the

fewer people participate in actual debriefing discussion. Not all voices are heard.

• Robert Greenaway offers some suggestions for varying up debriefing to ensure greater interactivity.

• Let’s try one of them.

1 min

Activity

Activity – Concentric Circles Explain: • The purpose of this activity is to involve everyone in the debriefing

process and give each of you a voice. Direct participants to: • Stand up and come to this clear area. • Find a partner (if necessary, facilitator may need to even out the

pairings). • Stand in a circle of pairs with partners facing each other (so one set

of the pair is on the outside and one on the inside). • As the facilitator provides a question, discuss it in your pairs. After about 1 minute, call a stop to the discussion and direct participants to: • Inside circle should now shift one person to the right. • As the facilitator provides next question, discuss it in your new

pairing. Repeat the stop, rotate, and discuss in new pair for all remaining questions. Use a version of Thiagi’s 6 questions from handout.

7 min


Debrief

Debrief Activity Publish any answers. Lead discussion on activity. You may use the following questions: What did you think of this debrief activity? Any big “Aha’s” you would like to share with everyone?

4 min

Transition

Transition to Next Topic Link past with next… Next we close, but first a recap of what we’ve done today…

1 min


Topic 6: Question & Answer

Method Content Time

Estimate

FYI

Objectives for Topic: • None.

N/A

Summary

Today we’ve looked at using Interactive Learning Events to make your training more effective. We saw how to add them to lecture and debriefing activities. We practiced some alternatives to straight brainstorming. Last we discussed the importance of involving people in facilitated debriefings. These were my expectations, but more importantly, did it meet yours.

1 min

Flipchart

Expectations, reviewed Check with class on:

• Did we meet your expectations? • Are there any we still need to address?

3 min

Discussion

What questions do you have about the topic? Respond appropriately. PULL IN PEER OPINIONS

5 min

Transition

Transition to Work Connect learning to use in workplace. Express thanks. I hope you find the handout and the many ILEs useful in your job. They are great for training opportunities, team building activities, and group problem-solving. There are a lot of opportunities ahead. Thanks so much for participating!

1 min

Documents

Making Training Games and Activities More Effective