Trainers—Before Learning

Validate and supplement the results of the performance needs assessment

Communicate with supervisors and, if possible, learners about the identified performance gaps and the desired goals and outcomes of training. Supervisors of learners attending your courses are some of your most important customers. To help ensure that your course will meet the needs identified by supervisors and learners you will want answers to the following questions:

• What is the performance gap that training is expected to correct?
• Are there other performance gaps that need to be addressed by non-training interventions?
• Why do supervisors and learners believe that training will improve job performance?
• What will the learners need to be able to do after the course to improve performance?
• Do the learners selected to attend the course have the necessary prerequisite skills?
• Have the supervisors and learners developed preliminary action plans? If the skill set is new to both supervisors and learners the preliminary action plan may be very general.
• Are there resources to support the learners during and after training?

With the answers to these questions in mind, share with supervisors and, if possible, learners the goals and expected outcomes of your course. You can hold brief orientation sessions with groups of supervisors to share highlights of the training content. This can also be an opportunity to pretest key aspects of the course as the supervisors update their own knowledge and skills in the content area. Feedback from supervisors can be used to link the course outcomes to the learners’ specific performance needs. Supervisors and learners need to understand how attending your course can improve performance at their facilities. In the event your course does not meet the needs of the learners, you may have to modify the course objectives and content or help supervisors and learners select a different course that will better meet their needs.

Encourage supervisors and learners to develop preliminary action plans that describe how learners will apply their new knowledge and skills after training. You will also play an important role in action planning during training as you help learners consider the best ways to apply their knowledge and skills.

Use instructional design and learning principles to develop or adapt the course

Whether you are adapting an existing course or developing a new one, a systematic process will help you prepare a course that will give learners the knowledge and skills they need to perform well in their work. Instructional design is a process that uses learning theory and principles to help you develop targeted learning experiences. Here is a summary of the process:

Goals and Objectives Should Be SMART Specific  Measurable  Attainable  Relevant  Time-bound Goal: On completion of the self-directed learning program, the nurse-midwife will counsel clients and couples to make reproductive health decisions. Objectives: After completing module 1, the midwife will be able to describe to a co-worker the benefits of counseling for RH clients. After meeting with her learning partners for skills practice sessions, the midwife will be able to demonstrate the counseling process and associated interpersonal communication skills. During the on-the-job, two-week practice period, the midwife will counsel at least five couples to help them make RH decisions. The midwife will perform all the critical skills on the checklist and score a minimum of 85% overall. Need help writing good goals and objectives? See Robert F. Mager’s classic, "Preparing Instructional Objectives." The latest edition was published in 1997.

• Start by reviewing the performance needs assessment to find out more about the requirements of the organization in which the learners work. When feasible, conduct additional assessments. Visit the work site and talk with the supervisor and several of the learners to develop a better under- standing of what they do and why they need the course you plan to offer. Find out as much as you can about the characteristics of the learners so you can target content and materials appropriately.
• Use what you have discovered about the learning needs to develop goals for your course. A goal can be broad and general, but it should define the direction of the course.
• From the goals, generate course objectives that clearly describe the desired performance in terms of behavior. Well-written objectives should be specific and measurable. Often they include the criteria, or standards, for measuring performance after learning.
• Establish prerequisites so that the learners who attend your course are ready to absorb new knowledge and develop new skills. Because new knowledge and skills build on existing knowledge and skills, making sure learners have the necessary qualifications will help them make a smooth transition to the new material.
• Develop or adapt the content of your course based on the defined objectives and the characteristics of the learners (e.g., primary language, reading level). Select instructional approaches, techniques, and media based on the learning need. Design materials and activities to maintain learner interest and attention. Build in opportunities to practice new skills and provide feedback on per- formance until learners develop proficiency.
• Design and administer a pretest to assess the existing knowledge and skills of learners. Plan to give learners a posttest at the end of the course to assess what they have learned.

Send the course syllabus, objectives and pre-course learning activities in advance

A syllabus should be part of the materials for each training course. Typically a course syllabus will contain the following information:

• name of the course
• course goals
• course objectives
• length of the course
• target audience
• course prerequisites
• course components (e.g., classroom instruction, clinical practice)
• evaluation methods.

Sending a copy of the syllabus to the supervisors and learners in advance will help to:

• ensure the course goals and objectives meet the needs of the learners
• guide supervisors and learners as they develop preliminary action plans
• ensure that learners are aware of what they will be learning and allow them to begin focusing on the upcoming course content.

Any pre-course activities (e.g., reading assignments, refresher modules, learner questionnaires, identification of work site problems and issues) should also be sent in advance. This contact provides a good opportunity to encourage learners and supervisors to begin a preliminary action plan. You may also want them to identify specific problems from their facilities that can be used in case study activities during the course.