Training Trends and Techniques

Presented by

Shelley Conroy

Michelle Ellsworth

e-Training Solution, Inc.

www.e-tsonline.com

AGENDA

I. Identify Your Group’s Needs And Adjust Your Material To Meet Them

II. Create Synergy With Music, Visuals, Movement & Room Setup

III. Build Credibility With Trainees And Management

IV. Boost Retention With Accelerated And Adult Learning Techniques

V. Generate Participation That Helps Everyone Learn

VI. Develop Feedback Skills That Measure And Reinforce Learning

VII. Effective Ways To Deal With “Difficult” Participants

LEARNING STYLE INVENTORY - TRAINER

Instructions:

In order to determine how you like to train, think of two previous training experiences that you regarded as positive and where you were the trainer. Next, read each statement below and decide if it applies to the first experience. If so, place a check mark next to the number in the first column. Leave the space blank if the statement does not apply. After responding to all 36 statements, go back and circle the check marks of the 10 most significant items. Now consider the second training experience and repeat this procedure. Place your check marks in the second column. Again, leave the space blank if the statement does not apply. Circle the check marks of the 10 most significant items.

1^st			2^nd
	1.	I employed frequent quizzes to keep the participants on course.
	2.	I presented most of the material on the course.
	3.	I had participants set their own goals.
	4.	I worked with participants.
	5.	I enjoyed having participants share their ideas with one another.
	6.	I designed all the learning experiences for the course.
	7.	I had learners critique one another.
	8.	I allowed participants to experiment with new ideas.
	9.	I encouraged participants to explore their curiosity and to work to satisfy
		themselves.
	10.	I suggested that participants use available resources for their own purposes.
	11.	I frequently encouraged participants to continue working together, exploring
		alternatives and moving toward goals.
	12.	I felt good about telling learners about the well-detailed plan and organization of
		the workshop.
	13.	I encouraged participants to create ways in which to accomplish their goals.
	14.	I like selecting all the materials we used.
	15.	I accepted the participants’ ideas and thoughts.
	16.	I developed participants so they could work on their own.
	17.	I encouraged participants to adapt the workshop to meet their needs.
	18.	I listened to what others had to say.
	19.	I encouraged the participants to evaluate their own progress.
	20.	I worked patiently with others.
	21.	I worked and talked with participants.
	22.	I encouraged the participants to explore ideas beyond the workshop.
	23.	The other participants and I challenged one another’s ideas.
	24.	The participants learned from my well-executed demonstration.
	25.	I appreciated the participants’ directing their own learning.
	26.	I enjoyed thoroughly coordinating workshop and post-workshop activities.
	27.	I told the participants exactly what to expect.
	28.	I controlled the participants’ discussions.
	29.	I assumed full responsibility for the learning activities.
	30.	I was warm and open to the people with whom I worked.
	31.	The participants relied on my expert knowledge of the material.
	32.	I alone decided on how the participants would be evaluated.
	33.	I encouraged the participants to design their own experience.
	34.	The participants co-designed part of the workshop.
	35.	I asked the participants to develop new approaches or ideas.
	36.	I liked having the opportunity to work with other participants.

Source: Friesen, Kaye and Associates

LEARNING STYLE INVENTORY – LEARNER

Instructions:

In order to determine how you like to learn, think of two previous training experiences that you regarded as positive and where you were the learner. Next, read each statement below and decide if it applies to the first experience. If so, place a check mark next to the number in the first column. Leave the space blank if the statement does not apply. After responding to all 36 statements, go back and circle the check marks of the 10 most significant items. Now consider the second training experience and repeat this procedure. Place your check marks in the second column. Again, leave the space blank if the statement does not apply. Circle the check marks of the 10 most significant items.

1^st			2^nd
	1.	The trainer’s frequent monitoring encouraged me to keep up with the workshop.
	2.	I appreciated the trainer’s presenting most of the material on the course.
	3.	I achieved the goals I set.
	4.	I cooperated with other participants on the work.
	5.	I shared my ideas with other participants.
	6.	I appreciated the trainer’s having designed all the learning experiences for me.
	7.	I criticized others’ ideas and pointed out areas they may not have discovered.
	8.	Being able to try out new ideas was important to me.
	9.	New ideas stimulated my curiosity, and I worked to satisfy myself.
	10.	I used available resources for my own purposes.
	11.	I frequently encouraged other participants to continue working, looking for
		alternatives and moving toward goals.
	12.	I felt good about the trainer’s well-detailed plan and organization of the workshop.
	13.	I created ways to accomplish my goals.
	14.	I liked having the trainer assign all the materials we used.
	15.	I offered ideas and thoughts that were accepted.
	16.	I worked on my own.
	17.	I developed the work I had to do.
	18.	I listened to what others had to say.
	19.	I evaluated my own learning.
	20.	I worked patiently with others.
	21.	I worked and talked with other participants.
	22.	I went beyond workshop expectations to satisfy my own curiosity.
	23.	The other participants and I challenged one another’s ideas.
	24.	I learned from the trainer’s well-executed demonstration.
	25.	I appreciated the opportunity to direct my own learning.
	26.	I liked the trainer’s thorough coordination of the workshop and out-of-class
		activities.
	27.	I did exactly what was expected of me.
	28.	I am glad the trainer directed our discussions.
	29.	I like the trainer’s assuming full responsibility for assignments and learning
		tasks.
	30.	I was warm and open to the people with whom I worked.
	31.	I relied on the trainer’s expert knowledge of the material.
	32.	I am glad that the trainer alone decided on how our work was to be evaluated.
	33.	I designed my own learning experience.
	34.	Workshop participants co-designed part of the workshop.
	35.	I created a new approach or idea.
	36.	I liked having time to work with other participants.

LEARNING STYLE INVENTORY SCORING SHEET – TRAINER

1. ________

2. ________

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TOTALS:

D________

3. ________

8. ________

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25. ________

33. ________

35. ________

I________

4. ________

5. ________

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11. ________

15. ________

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20. ________

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30. ________

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C________

Training Style Profile: _________ _________ _________

LEARNING STYLE INVENTORY SCORING SHEET – LEARNER

1. ________

2. ________

6. ________

12. ________

14. ________

24. ________

26. ________

27. ________

28. ________

29. ________

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TOTALS:

D________

3. ________

8. ________

9. ________

10. ________

13. ________

16. ________

17. ________

19. ________

22. ________

25. ________

33. ________

35. ________

I________

4. ________

5. ________

7. ________

11. ________

15. ________

18. ________

20. ________

21. ________

23. ________

30. ________

34. ________

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C________

Training Style Profile: _________ _________ _________

Source: Friesen, Kaye and Associates

I. Identify Your Group’s Needs And Adjust Your Material To Meet Them

Learner Characteristics:

· Dependent Style

· Independent Style

· Collaborative Style

Trainer Characteristics:

· Dependent Style (lecturer)

· Independent Style (teacher)

· Collaborative Style (facilitator)

List 5 things a trainer can do to become more dependent in style.

1. lecture

2. video

3. self-study guides

4. hand-outs

5. instructor stories / instructor modeling

List 5 things a trainer can do to become more independent in style.

1. testing 6. independent practices

2. research

3. problem-solving: scenarios or case studies

4. discovery activity

5. brainteasers

List 5 things a trainer can do to become more collaborative in style.

1. breakout groups 6. debate

2.brainstorming 7. case studies or scenarios

3. small / whole group discussion

4. role-play w/coach

5. group teach

Manage the Learning Environment

· involve learners in establishing an appropriate level of learner comfort

· adapt delivery to account for learner characteristics

· adapt verbal and nonverbal messages to learners’ needs

· use frames of reference familiar to the learners

Different audiences require different teaching approaches – the instructor should adapt and modify his or her style accordingly.

Vacationer “Yipee! No work for me today!”

Learner “I really want to be here. I’m excited about learning.”

Prisoner “I can’t believe my boss made me come to this class. “

Graduate “I know it all.”

GROUP PROFILE

YOUR APPROACH

Relaxed

· friendly and warm

· positive attitude about you and program

· lively; anxious to participate

· mirror their warmth and friendliness

· use humor and anecdotes

· be animated – use gestures and mvmt

· smile, lots of eye contact

Serious

· reserved, rigid

· may or may not want to be there

· matter-of-fact; no nonsense

· be organized and matter of fact

· stick to the agenda; start/stop on time

· avoid “cutesy”

· use facts, figures, research studies

Indifferent

· may or may not want to be there

· short attention span

· little involvement or initiative

· be entertaining, dynamic

· lots of eye contact, mvmt. And gestures

· present in concise, easy-to-follow format

· use highly interactive approach

Hostile

· doesn’t want to be there

· resent you and/or the topic

· looking for opportunities to embarrass you

· challenging or trying to take control

· remain calm and controlled

· use objective material to support your points

· control your animation

· gradually express your friendliness

II. Create Synergy With Music, Visuals, Movement & Room Setup

Why? Instant interest, generate participation

When? Openings, closings, transitions

When not to? Independent activity such as testing or writing

Room Set-Up

Classroom set-up is a key component of design and is affected by the methods you choose. The way you set up the classroom will change the atmosphere and the degree of communication you wish to occur. The use of AV will also affect the set-up.

III. Build Credibility With Trainees And Management

· Demonstrate acceptable personal conduct

· Demonstrate acceptable social practices

· Demonstrate content expertise

· Provide a model for professional and interpersonal behavior

· Demonstrate flexibility in response to learner needs and interests

· Judge the degree to which credibility is an issue or distraction at any time during the instruction

*International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction

Additional Way to Build Credibility

With management

1. include in course development as Subject Matter Experts’s

2. review content before presenting program

3. suggestions on how to improve current programs

With trainees

1. survey trainees as to what topics they need or want

2. field test a new program

3. suggestions on how to improve current programs

IV. Boost Retention With Accelerated And Adult Learning Techniques

Average Retention Rates

5%

L

10%

Audio-Visual

20%

90%

75%

50%

30%

Demonstration

Discussion Group

Practice by Doing

Teach Others / Immediate Use of Learning

Adult Learning Principles

Adults Must Want To Learn

Adults Will Only Learn What They Feel They Need To Know

Adults Learn By Doing

Adult Learning Centers On Realistic Problems

Experience Affects Adult Learning

Adults Learn Best In An Informal Environment

Adults Respond To A Variety Of Teaching Methods

Adults Want Guidance, Not Grades

Six Myths About Adult Learning

1. Some portion of our anatomy must be in contact with a chair at all times in order to learn.

FACT: Our ability to learn diminishes in direct proportion to the amount of time we spend sitting.

Learning is not all merely "head" learning (conscious, rational, left-brained, and verbal) but involves the whole body and mind with all its emotions, senses, and receptors.

2. The person who does the most listening does the most learning.

FACT: The person who does the most talking (or moving, writing, etc.) does the most learning.

Learners are not consumers of someone else's ideas and knowledge as much as they are creators of their own. Course designs, then, don't have to prescribe everything for the learners, but can concentrate on creating a total learning enviornment where learners can create meaning, understanding, skill, and lasting value for themselves.

3. The best way to teach is to be the “sage on the stage” and give information in a well-planned lecture.

FACT: We remember on 10-20% of what we hear. If we want someone to hear something, we lecture. If we want someone to learn it, be the “guide on the side” and involve students.

Here's a rule to live by - Never do for your learner what the learner can do for themselves.

4. If we would only listen, we’d remember more.

FACT: We remember more when we talk about it to others and practice it several times.

All good learning has a social base. We often learn more by interacting with peers than we learn by any other means. Competition between learners slows learning. Cooperation among learners speeds it. A genuine learning community is always better for learning than a collection of isolated individuals.

5. The more serious the learning, the more we remember.

FACT: We learn and remember best when we are having fun in the process.

6. Fun is marginal to learning.

FACT:Not only do we learn and remember more when we are having gun, we also are more willing to seek out other challenging learning experiences.

Accelerated Learning Techniques

Learning by Doing

Experiential

“If your body isn’t movin’, your brain isn’t groovin’”

Accelerated learning is teaching a number of different principles, theories or concepts in one experiential activity.

Learning involves the whole mind and body
Learning is creation, not consumption
Collaboration aids learning
Learning takes place on many levels (verbal, visual, physical, musical, logical, introspective, and interpersonal)
Learning comes from doing the work itself
Positive emotions greatly improve learning
The image brain absorbs information immediately

I have info on these that I copied from a book

Panels - views from partica-

Fishbowl – discussion format – 5 chari circle – switch places with outside chairs -

Games, Simulations, Role-Playing -

Active Sports Theme: Golf - Executive Marbles - Balloon Fooseball

Giant Floor Models - Maintenance - electrical troubleshooting

Sorting Cards - steps, processes, priorities

Create a Comic Strip - most important points of safety course or Learner Involvement - let them teach the class - let them create their own customer service creed - leasing mission statement - or coaching tips

Learners create a Time Capsule - job aid, list of tips, greetins - testimonials, overview, advice

Spontaneous Role Play

Scripted Role Play

Murder Mystery "Who Killed the Customer"? - summons to appear at an inquisition into the murder of a customer. The summons tells the particpants that they are suspects, and gives everyone a humourous alias. Ex: Miss Informed, Rusty Skills, R.Q. Mentative, Miss DeLease.

In the class, chairs are arranged in a horeshoe shape around the chalk outline. Each chair has the alias with a list of mistakes that contriburte to poor customer service.

Games

Ghost Busting - Learners write obstacles indentified on large Casper-type ghosts that are then placed on the wall. Learners in pairs or small teams are then assigned specific ghosts to bust.
Dragon Slaying - Obstacles identified are placed on large cardboard dragons. Dragons are then stood up on the floor as barriers in front of a poster representing the desired goals of the session. Then small groups slay the dragons - If the group agrees that the ideas will work, a member of the team gets to shoot the dragon down with toy bow and suction cup arrows.
Barrier Removal - Obstacles are placed on large cutouts resembling stones which are then assembled on a classroom wall, perhaps covering a stated goal or need. Could use boxes to build actual barrier wall. Small teams brainstorm on ideas for removing their assigned barrier from the wall.
Nightmares and Dreams - Using a theme of dark and light, the trainers decorated each side of the classroom accordingly. Learners spent the first half of the program in the dark side identifying their fears about difficult calls and the last half in the light as they learned to build confidence in handling these calls.
Collaborative Review Techniques
Snowball Fight

Simulations

The Accelerated Learning Lesson Plan Test

1. Do participants move so their brains will groove?

2. Do they create or do you just download information?

3. Do they work together?

4. Will the learner be able to use some or most of the 7 intelligences in exercises?

5. Are there exercises to accommodate the four learning styles?

6. Is it fast-paced enough for the Twitch Speed learners?

V. Generate Participation That Helps Everyone Learn

What You Can Do

Set participation as the norm

Use a collaborative approach

Make it easy to participate

How To Teach Information And Skills Actively

Full class learning –

Trainer lead instruction that stimulates the entire gourp

Stimulating discussion- dialog and debate of key issues

Team Learning- task that are done in small groups of participants

Activities

1. Initial Case Problem

Present a problem around which the lecture is structured

2. Whips

Ask each participant a short response to a key question. Use whips when you want to obtain something quickly from each participant. Use sentence stems, “One thing that makes a manager effective is____”

3. Spot Challenges

Interrupt or stop your delivery periodically and challenge participants to give examples of the concepts presented thus far.

4. Response Cards

Pass out index cards and request anonymous answers to your questions. Use response cards to save time or to provide anonymity.

5. Synergetic Learning (Group Teach) –

6. Illuminating Exercises Throughout the presentation, intersperse brief activities that illuminate points you are making.

7. Group Processing

Divide participants into groups. Let them become the teachers by having them brainstorm for possible answers/solutions to questions or scenarios you assign. After the allotted time is up, they present the information to the class.

8. Post-lesson Case Problem

Give students a case study to review as a summary or closing to your class. This may be an independent or collaborative activity. It can be graded.

9. Pass the Problems Please

break into groupg of 6-8. ask each participant to think about a current work problem )that has to do with what you are teaching). Have them write the problem down on a piece of paper or large index card. Then everyone passes their problem to the person to the right of them, allowing a few minutes for each to write a solution. Pass the problems again until teach person get’s their problem back.
VI. Develop Feedback Skills That Measure And Reinforce Learning

The art of questioning is the cornerstone of eliciting and providing effective feedback.

1. Direct questions appropriately

2. Repeat, rephrase or restructure questions

3. Probe and prompt for responses

4. Provide ample time for learners to state questions, comments and concerns and respond immediately

Question Types: open, closed, overhead (posed to all), direct (posed to an individual)

Handling Questions: defer (direct it to someone else), reverse (ask it back to person), relay, answer it

All of the feedback actions below can be used alone or in conjunctions with others to help stimulate feedback and reinforce learning with your trainees. You may find that, as participants become more and more relaxed about contributing ideas and opinions, you may shift from being a “teacher” to a “facilitator”. As this shift occurs, the participants make the learning process their own.

1. Paraphrase what someone has said so that the participant knows she has been understood and the other participants can hear a concise summary:

“so what your’re saying is that you have to be very careful during an interview…”

2. Check your understanding against the words of a participant or ask a participant to clarify what he/she is saying

Compliment participants on interesting or insightful comments. “That’s a really good point. Thanks for bringing it up.”
Elaborate on a participant’s contribution to the discussion with examples or suggest a new way to view the problem. “Your comments make an interesting point from a different perspective. We could also consider…”
Change the group process by altering the method of participation or prompting the group to evaluate issues that have been previously raised. “Let’s break into small groups and see if you can come up with some typical customer objections during the tour.”
Summarize the major views of the group. “I have noted that there seem to be 4 customer objections you all seem to get when demonstrating the apartment; 1 -…”

Make Your Feedback SIC!

Specific

Immediate

Constructive

7. VII. Effective Ways To Deal With “Difficult” Participants

Sometimes, participants exhibit behaviors that are difficult to deal with. Careful attention and reaction is an essential part of training mastery. Here are some ways to deal with those situations:

u proximity u eye contact

u raise voice u lower voice

u suspend u call on the participant, using name

Handling Problem Situations In the Classroom

1. Monopolizing

¨ Summarize the participant’s point of view, then move on

¨ Ask others for their input

¨ Ask participant to hold off until a break

¨ Say, “let’s hear from someone else.”

2. Private conversations

¨ Use nonverbal methods to regain the participants’ attention

¨ Ask one of them a question – making sure to use their name first

¨ Ask them to refrain from talking

¨ Review the “Rules of the Road”

3. Distractions

¨ Use nonverbal means to get the participant’s attention

¨ Ignore the behavior

¨ Privately ask the participant to stop

4. Doing their own work

¨ Ignore the behavior if it is not affecting others

¨ If an activity is under way, ask all participants to participate

5. Nonparticipation

¨ Use nonverbal means to draw the person into the discussion

¨ Ask direct but non-threatening questions

¨ Connect with the participant during the break

¨ Ask the participant to be the leader in a small group activity

Remember that it may not be necessary to intervene every time a participant exhibits a problem behavior. Often, other participants will make it known that they find the behavior unnecessary. A good guideline is to only intervene when the behavior is repetitive or affects the entire training program.