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An interesting example that illustrates many of the features of good instruction that have just been explained can be found in the training programs of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), located in the rolling hills of the Hudson River Valley, a 90-minute drive from New York City. The CIA, the world's finest training facility for chefs, has approximately 2,000 lull-time students in its degree programs. CIA graduates are chefs in some of the best restaurants in the world and in prestigious private dining rooms (such as the White House), and they direct food service operations for large hotel chains such as the Marriott, Hyatt, Radisson, and Hilton. Besides offering degree programs, the CIA also hosts more than 6,000 trainees from a wide variety of companies that have food service operations.
Whether an instructor is teaching meat-cutting or sauteing techniques, the programs' learning environments are basically the same. A lecture is followed by demonstration and several hours of guided hands-on practice. The trainee then receives feedback from the instructor. The trainer moves from a show-and-tell approach to become a coach over the course of the training session. Videos are produced for every class that a student will take. They can be viewed from residence halls or can be seen at the video learning center where students can review the tapes at their own pace; the students control what they see.
CIA programs deal not only with cognitive learning but also with physical and emotional learning. In addition to cooking and baking courses, students are required to study psychology, Total Quality Management, languages, marketing, communications, restaurant management, and team supervision. Physical fitness and stress management are required parts of the curriculum. Why? Running a commercial kitchen involves long hours and high levels of stress—it is very physically demanding. Thanks to the learning environment created at CIA, the institute is recognized as the world leader in gastronomic training as it provides a foundation of basic knowledge for chefs from around the world.56
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INSTRUCTIONAL EMPHASIS FOR LEARNING OUTCOMES
The discussion of the implications of the learning process for instruction provide general principles regarding how to facilitate learning. However, you should understand the relationship between these general principles and the learning process. Different internal and external conditions are necessary for learning each outcome. Internal conditions refer to processes within the learner that must be present for learning to occur. These processes include how information is registered, stored in memory, and recalled. External conditions refer to processes in the learning environment that facilitate learning. These conditions include the physical learning environment as well as opportunities to practice and receive feedback and reinforcement. The external conditions should directly influence the design or form of instruction. Table 4.11 shows what is needed during instruction at each step of the learning process. For example, during the process of committing training content to memory, verbal cues, verbal links to a meaningful context, and diagrams and models are necessary. If training content is not coded (or is incorrectly coded), learning will be inhibited.
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Learning Outcome
Verbal Information
Labels, facts, and propositions
Internal Conditions
Previously learned knowledge and verbal information Strategies for coding information into memory
TABLE 4.11 Internal and External Conditions Necessary for Learning Outcomes
External Conditions
Intellectual Skills
Knowing how
Cognitive Strategies
Process of thinking and learning
Repeated practice Meaningful chunks Advance organizers Recall cues
Recall of prerequisites, similar tasks, and strategies
Link between new and previously learned knowledge
Verbal description of strategy
Strategy demonstration
Practice with feedback
Variety of tasks that provide opportunity
Mastery of prerequisites Identification with model Cognitive dissonance
to apply strategy
Attitudes
Choice of personal action
Motor Skills
Muscular actions
Recall of part skills Coordination program
Demonstration by a model Positive learning environment Strong message from credible source Reinforcement
Practice Demonstration
Gradual decrease of external feedback
Source: Based on R. M Gagne and K. L. Medsker, 7Vie Conditions of Learning (Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt-Brace College Publishers, 1996).
CONSIDERATIONS IN DESIGNING EFFECTIVE TRAINING PROGRAMS
This chapter has discussed implications of learning theory for instruction. The importance of objectives, meaningful material, properly coordinated and arranged training, and opportunities for practice and feedback has been emphasized. How do trainers ensure that these conditions are present in training programs? This last section of the chapter discusses the practical steps involved in designing effective training programs, courses, and lessons. This includes selecting and preparing the training site, selecting trainers, creating a positive learning environment and program design.
Selecting and Preparing the Training Site
The training site refers to the room where training will be conducted. A good training site offers the following features:57
1. It is comfortable and accessible.
2. It is quiet, private, and free from interruptions.
3.
3. It has sufficient space for trainees to move easily around in, offers enough room for trainees to have adequate work space, and has good visibility for trainees to see each other, the trainer, and any visual displays or examples that will be used in training (e.g., videos, product samples, charts, slides).
Details to Be Considered in the Training Room
Table 4.12 presents characteristics of the meeting room that a trainer, program designer, or manager should use to evaluate a training site. Keep in mind that many times trainers do not have the luxury of choosing the "perfect" training site. Rather, they use their evaluation of the training site to familiarize themselves with the site's strengths and weaknesses in order to adjust the training program and/or physical arrangements of the site (e.g., rearrange the trainer's position so it is closer to electrical outlets needed to run equipment).
Because of technology's impact on the delivery of training programs, many training sites include instructor- and trainee-controlled equipment. For example, at Microsoft's customer briefing center in Chicago, Illinois, 16 different computer platforms, ranging from laptops to mainframe systems, are available to use for training. Two seminar rooms include videoconferencing technology, which allows training sessions to be transmitted from Microsoft's corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington, to Chicago. The Chicago site can link up to any of 25 Microsoft locations or a combination of 11 sites at once. Presenters have access to a VCR, CD player, cassette decks, and document camera. The seminar
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TABLE 4.12
Details to Consider When
Evaluating a Training Room
Source: Based on C. L. Finkel, "Meeting Facilities," in The ASTD Training and Development Handbook, 3d ed., ed. R. L. Craig (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996): 978-89.
Noise. Check for noise from heating and air conditioning systems, from adjacent rooms and corridors, and from outside the building.
Colors. Pastel hues such as oranges, greens, blues, and yellows are warm colors. Variations of white are cold and sterile. Blacks and brown shades will close the room in psychologically and become fatiguing.
Room structure. Use rooms that are somewhat square in shape. Long, narrow rooms make it difficult for trainees to see, hear, and identify with the discussion.
Lighting. Main source of lighting should be fluorescent lights. Incandescent lighting should be spread throughout the room and used with dimmers when projection is required.
Wall and floor covering. Carpeting should be placed in the meeting area. Solid colors are preferable because they are not distracting. Only meeting-related materials should be on the meeting room walls.
Meeting room chairs. Chairs should have wheels, swivels, and backs that provide support for the lower lumbar region.
Glare. Check and eliminate glare from metal surfaces, TV monitors, and mirrors. Ceiling. Ten-foot-high ceilings are preferable.
Electrical outlets. Outlets should be available every six feet around the room. A telephone jack should be next to the outlets. Outlets for the trainer should be available.
Acoustics. Check the bounce or absorption of sound from the walls, ceiling, floor, and furniture. Try voice checks with three or four different people, monitoring voice clarity and level.
rooms have touchscreen systems controlling both the audiovisual equipment and the room environment.
Although the use of technology in training is discussed in more detail in Chapter 8, it is important to note that laptop computers create a desktop training environment that is replacing trainers as the primary way to present training content. For example, at Ernst & Young, an accounting and consulting firm, laptops are used by employees in tax, finance, consulting, and auditing training courses to view visuals, work on case-study exercises, ask questions, and access other information stored on the company's intranet.59 The laptop connects employees to Web-based training designed to help them gain prerequisites for training sessions as well as provide follow-up information after they attend training. Instead of playing a major role as presenters of content, trainers devote their time to coaching, providing feedback, and monitoring the progress of trainees. Trainers can "see" how trainees are working and provide individualized feedback and coaching. Trainers can use the computer to ask questions about what trainees are finding difficult in a particular training session. These responses can be shared with other trainees or used to guide the trainer to hold special "help" sessions or provide supplemental learning modules. The desktop training environment can handle different sizes of training groups even if they are in assorted geographical areas.
Seating Arrangements Seating arrangements at the training site should be based on an understanding of the desired type of trainee interaction and trainee-trainer interaction.60 Figure 4.4 shows several types of seating arrangements.
Fan-type seating is conducive to allowing trainees to see from any point in the room. Trainees can easily switch from listening to a presentation to practicing in groups, and trainees can communicate easily with everyone in the room. Fan-type seating is effective for training that includes trainees working in groups and teams to analyze problems and synthesize information.
If the training primarily involves knowledge acquisition, with lecture and audiovisual presentation being the primary training method used, traditional classroom-type seating is appropriate. Traditional classroom instruction allows for trainee interaction with the trainer but makes it difficult for trainees to work in teams (particularly if the seats are not movable to other locations in the room).
If training emphasizes total-group discussion with limited presentation and no small-group interaction, a conference-type arrangement may be most effective. If the training requires both presentation and total-group instruction, the horseshoe arrangement is useful.
Choosing Trainers
Selecting professional trainers or consultants is one obvious possibility for companies. Trainers, whether from inside or outside the company, should have expertise in the topic and experience in training.61 Train-the-trainer programs are necessary for managers, employees, and "experts" Who may have content knowledge but need to improve presentation and communications skills, gain an understanding of the key components of the learning process (e.g., feedback, practice), or learn to develop lesson plans. This may involve having employees and managers earn a certificate that verifies they have the skills needed to be effective trainers. To increase their chances of success in their first courses, new trainers should be observed and should receive coaching and feedback from more experienced trainers. When companies use in-house experts for training, it is important to
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FIGURE 4.4
Examples of
Seating
Arrangements
Source: Based on P. H. Margolis and C. R. Bell, Managing the Learning Process (Minneapolis, MN: Lakewood Publications, 1984).
Fan-Type Seating
o o
O O
o
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o o
o o
o o o o o o
Classroom-Type Seating
n
1 1
P t t f c t t
1 1
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Horseshoe ArrangementO O
O O
0
cN—/o o
Conference-Type Seating
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emphasize that these experts convey training content in as concrete a manner as possible (e.g., use examples), especially if the audience is unfamilar with the content. Experts may have a tendency to use more abstract and advanced concepts that may confuse trainees.62
Using managers and employees as trainers may help increase the perceived meaning-fulness of the training content. Because they understand the company's business, employee and manager trainers tend to make the training content more directly applicable to the trainees' work. Also, use of managers and employees can help increase their support for learning and reduce the company's dependency on expensive outside consultants. Serving as trainers can be rewarding for employees and managers if they are recognized by the company or if the training experience is linked to their personal development plans.
For example, when MasterCard became a public corporation it staged the largest training event in the history of the company.63 The training event included a series of four and one-half hour seminars in 36 cities involving most of the employees within a three-week time period. The seminars involved using learning maps to help employees understand the competitive marketplace that the company was entering, how MasterCard makes money, and MasterCard's business strategy and the competencies and actions needed to support the strategy. To ensure that all employees would be involved in the training sessions, the seminars were planned so that no more than 10 employees were seated at each table with a learning
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O
; -;ss, employee licable to the r support for ants. Serving piized by the : plans, rgest training four and
TABLE 4.13
Matching Training Rooms with Learning Requirements
Source: Based on "Workplace Issues: One in a Series. Learning Environments for the Information Age," available from the Steelcase Web site, www.steelcase . com (March 1,2006).
map. Each table required a facilitator who understood the training content and the instructor's guide and was skilled at facilitating group processes such as dealing with talkative trainees. This instructional strategy required more than 200 trainers. The trainers (HR professionals) participated in a simulated seminar that showed them how the training would work and how to perform their required duties. The trainers needed to be comfortable with facilitation and handling groups. They also learned how to teach the table coach's role to local managers in the same way it was taught to them: by reviewing the actual training experience. Follow-up online sessions and Web sites were also developed for the trainers to review and prepare for the seminars. The Web sites included planning checklists, sign-up sheets, people to call for help, and sneak previews of the video presentations to be given by the CEO.
At Alltell, a wireless communications company, new trainers take a series of classes to learn what they need to know and do.64 They can also work toward a higher level senior trainer certification. In the senior trainer program, participants attend training either at the company or through a vendor and their performance is evaluated. For example, at the end of call center training, the trainer is evaluated in two ways. First, a training manager observes the course and evaluates the new trainer's instructional skills. Second, the new trainer is evaluated based on the number of trainees who pass the test, certifying they have the skills needed to work in a call center.
How Trainers Can Make the Training Site and Instruction Conducive to Learning
As a trainer, you can take several steps to make the room and instruction conducive to learning.65
Creating a Learning Setting
For Learning that Requires:
High Collaboration, Low Self-Direction
High Collaboration, High Self-Direction
Before choosing a training room, consider how the trainees are expected to learn. That is, determine the extent to which trainees decide when, where, and how they will learn (self-direction) and whether learning will occur by interactions with others (collaboration).66 Table 4.13 describes the types of training rooms that are appropriate for the amount of self-direction and collaboration necessary for learning. For example, a classroom with easy-to-move furniture supports high collaboration but low self-direction; this classroom can be used for lectures, presentations, discussions, and small groups. A distance learning room
Suggested Training Rooms
Classroom with breakout rooms
Lecture hall with breakout rooms
Breakout rooms
Project room
Low Collaboration, Low Self-Direction
Conference room
Classroom
Computer classroom Lecture hall
Low Collaboration, High Self-Direction
Distance learning room Media lab Computer lab
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that includes computers, cameras, and data equipment supports learning that requires low collaboration but high self-direction. Self-directed learning that requires little collaboration is best suited for labs equipped with computers and software that supports online learning, computer-based training, or software instruction. Of course, a dedicated training space may not be necessary for these learning requirements because trainees can work from their own personal computer at home or at work. The advantages and disadvantages of online learning are discussed in Chapter 8, but be aware that employees may not like the lack of face-to-face collaboration that occurs in online learning programs.
Think about the physical requirements of the training room. Do the trainees need to be able to concentrate and write? Do they need to be able to see detailed visuals? Choose a room large enough to meet your purpose, not just to accommodate a certain number of trainees. Avoid putting 25 people in a room that can seat 250. A small number of trainees in a large room makes it impersonal and leaves people feeling insignificant. Consider the room design well in advance of the session and work with the training site coordinator to design a setting that meets your learning needs.
Preparation
You need to know your content very well. Use mental and physical rehearsals to help build confidence and to evaluate the pace and timing of material. Observe master trainers to get new ideas. Design the training from the audience's perspective—ask "So what?" about everything you plan to do. If you are using computers, CD-ROMs, the Internet, distance learning, or other technologies, make sure you know how to work the equipment and have backup materials in case the technology fails. Make sure your visuals are available in at least two formats (e.g., PowerPoint slides and overheads). Arrive at the training room at least 15 minutes early to make sure the room is set up correctly, materials are available, and technology is functioning. Greet the trainees as they enter the room.
Classroom Management
Monitor the room for extra chairs, overflowing trash cans, and piles of materials left over from previous training sessions. A messy, disorganized, uninviting training room creates learning distractions. Give trainees frequent breaks so they can leave the room and return ready to learn.
Interacting with Trainees
You as a trainer carry the responsibility for the trainees' learning experience. You need to communicate the topics that will be covered, the learning approach that will be used, and the expectations for trainees. You need to be dramatic to draw attention to important points. Research suggests that trainees have the best recall of training content when the trainer is enthusiastic and avoids vocal distractions (e.g., use of "er" and "um").67 Also, you should use a relaxed style and make learners comfortable.68 As a trainer, you should recognize that your expectations for trainees' learning and your stereotypes can result in learners confirming those expectations (i.e., a self-fulfilling prophecy).69 Negative expectations held by instructors can lead to learners' negative evaluation of the training and the trainer.70
How you should engage trainees is based on both the size of the room and the number of trainees. The larger the room, the more your gestures and movements must be exaggerated to get the audience's attention. To create intimacy with the training group, you must move close to them. Standing in the front of the room is a way to establish authority. One
.
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TABLE 4.14
Examples of How to Get Trainees Involved
Source: Based on J. Curtis, "Engage Me, Please!" T+ D (November 2008): 68-73.
of the best ways to gain trainees' attention is to facilitate discussion from different places in the room. Strive to lead the instruction but focus on the trainees. Help trainees develop their own answers, apply tools and techniques, and use reference materials to reach solutions that are effective in training and on the job. Use questions that lead trainees to answers or points you want to make. Continually strive for interaction with trainees— trainees may have more real-life experiences, exposure to, or applications related to training.topics than you do. Create a training environment where trainees can learn from each other. Listen to trainees, summarize learning points, and provide feedback. Table 4.14 provides examples of how to get trainees involved in a training session.
Dealing with Disruptive Trainees
How can you deal with employees who don't want to be trained despite being informed in advance of the course and how it relates to the business?71 First, take charge of the session immediately, communicate your credentials, and in a friendly but assertive way tell employees why the training is important and how it will help them. Then let them vent their frustrations. Useful methods for this activity are to have trainees describe what they would be doing if they were not in the program, have trainees draw pictures of how the person next to them feels about attending the training, or have trainees break into groups and then ask some groups to make a list of the top 10 reasons not to be in the class and the other groups to list 10 reasons to be in the class. Reassemble the class and discuss first the reasons not to be in the class, and then end with the reasons why the trainees should be in the class. For trainees who disrupt, sleep through, or constantly interrupt the training sessions, consider using activities that get trainees moving, engaged, and energized.
Managing Group Dynamics
To ensure an even distribution of knowledge or expertise in groups, ask trainees to indicate whether they consider themselves novices, experienced, or experts on a topic. Arrange the groups so that they contain a mix of novice, experienced, and expert trainees. Group dynamics can be changed by changing learners' positions in the room. Pay attention to group dynamics by wandering through the room and noticing which groups are frustrated or stalled, who is withdrawn, and who is dominating the group. Your role is to make sure that everyone in a group has an opportunity to contribute. Seating arrangements such as rectangular tables often give trainees authority based on where they are seated. For example, the end of a rectangular table is the position of authority. Putting a quiet person in the "power seat" creates an opportunity for that person to assume a leadership role within the group.
· Prepare and distribute content-related, open-ended questions to be discussed in breakout groups.
· Use creative activities or games that relate to the training content.
· Use assessment or measures that allow the trainees to learn about themselves and each other.
· Incorporate role-playing.
· Conclude the training session by asking trainees either individually or in teams from the same company or work group to consider the following question: "As a result of this session, what do you plan to start, stop, or continue doing? On what topic would you like to have more information?"
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