DEVELOPING ACTIVITY-BASED TRAINING MATERIALS
BY STEVE MARINI
What is the purpose of a training class? As a taxpayer and a staff member of the National Fire Academy (NFA), I believe it`s to meet the training needs of the students; and I don`t want to waste tax money developing courses that fail to do so. Therefore, I`ve provided my course development team members with some specific guidance to help them achieve the desired result.
Most of the training at NFA is mastery-based; we strive to have each student demonstrate mastery of instructional concepts or objectives. These concepts are usually at a high level on Bloom`s Taxonomy of Learning, requiring application and problem solving. As such, our training calls for many student activities during a class. How, then, do we design the training to include activities that reflect the student`s mastery of the concepts?
After collaborating often with Ken Stewart of Stewart Training Associates in the area of instructional design and gaining a knowledge of NFA courses, I`ve articulated a three-step process for subject matter experts/course developers to use when writing content for NFA courses. Some developers already know how to do this, but many do not. I`ve recently worked with a group who had never done this before, and the process proved helpful. It ensures that each unit in the course will have a similar structure. By using a set process, developers are also more likely to be able to repeat success. It`s like cooking from a recipe. If you use the same ingredients and the same procedures each time, the dish will always be tasty (presuming it was the first time).
STEP ONE
Start with instructional competencies. These are the desired learning outcomes for a course unit or chapter. They are determined by answering the question, What do the learners need to know or be able to do when they are back on the job? There are various ways to go about answering this question. It`s part of what`s called “a front-end analysis” and may require other issues to be examined as well, such as the target audience learning styles, educational background, level of experience, and so forth. A separate team may perform this analysis and then turn over the results to the content developers. The important point is to know just what the student must be able to put into practice successfully once back on the job. As an example, in the course we`ve just developed on fire service financial management, one concept in a unit is that our students be able to demonstrate effective oral presentation skills.
STEP TWO
The second step in course development is to determine how the instructor will observe or measure the student`s success or mastery. This can be a test, a class project, a written paper, or an activity. At the NFA, it`s usually an activity.
The developer must write out a treatment of the measurement. This is a working document giving a scenario that describes the measurement and why it will work. It serves to guide the developer. Consider specific elements.
The measurement tool must address one or more of the instructional concepts in step one. Remember that you want to measure each competency. Think about this in conjunction with determining the pace of the unit. If you have six or seven concepts, you may not want to try to have all of them covered by just one activity at the end of the unit. This could make for a boring unit lasting a couple of hours before the students get to do anything. Participatory learning is best,
so keep the students involved throughout the unit. In our example, we decided that the students will demonstrate mastery if they can create and give a 10-minute budget-related presentation to the class.
STEP THREE
Now, carefully analyze the components of the activity. This will tell you what material to include in the course unit. It must prepare the student for the activity, so it should contain only those elements directly related to helping the student master the concept.
For our students learning to give a presentation, they will have to know many things. For starters: What are some elements of a successful presentation? What are your own strengths and weaknesses when speaking before a group? What is your audience like? What will be the content (subject and purpose)? What is the most suitable medium to use? How should one prepare? These points become the content for this unit.
DELIVERY
Once you`ve sketched the material out in this order, you now have to change the order a little when writing it in final form for classroom delivery. Steps two and three are reversed. Your outline should now look something like this:
1. Concept/Objective:
The student will demonstrate effec-
tive oral presentation skills.
2. Instructional Material:
Successful presentation elements.
Preparation:
Assess own strengths.
Know the audience.
Choose media.
Develop content.
Choose proper style clothing.
Rehearse.
3. Activity:
Create a 10-minute presentation on a budget-related topic and present it to the class for critiquing by classmates and instructor.
This process has enabled us to determine what the student needs to know or be able to do and has given us a way to observe and measure the learner`s success. Notice that we are not teaching anyone to fail. We are teaching for success. Our instructional material consists of exactly what the students need to be prepared for the activity. Having succeeded in the activity, we know they can succeed back on the job.
The National Fire Academy uses contract help as subject matter experts in developing its courses and is always seeking talent and expertise. If you are interested in being considered for future projects, please send your resume and a cover letter highlighting your area(s) of expertise to
National Fire Academy
Attn: Steve Marini
16825 South Seton Ave.
Emmitsburg, MD 21727
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STEVE MARINI is an instructional systems specialist at the National Fire Academy, where he is the project officer on course development projects, responsible for instructional design. He has an M.Ed. in educational technology, has developed multimedia training at the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency, and has worked in higher education as an educational media director and an instructor in continuing education courses at the community college level.
