Blogs

4th in the Series from Tips for Trainers.

4 Stages Of Creating Learner Centred Content That Sticks (Part 4 of 4)

Stage 4 – Performance Check

Tip 168 Looked at Stage 3 of the Learning Cycle, Practice
(Click here if you missed Tip 168).

This tip moves us along to
Stage 4 – Performance Check - Observing learners doing what you said they'd be able to do.

During this stage, your purpose is very straight forward. It's to:

   §  Observe your learners applying their
   new knowledge.
   or

   §  Observe your learners performing   
   their new skills.

”Unless what is learned is applied, there is no learning” Dave Meier

So how do we do the above? Here are 3 ideas to get you started:

Technique 1 - Learners Evaluate Each Other's Performance

§  Ask learners to form pairs.

§  Let pairs know that the tallest person will demonstrate their new skill to the shorter person while the shorter person will ask questions and evaluate their performance.

§  Once the tallest person has completed the skill, the shorter person offers encouraging feedback eg what was good, where improvements could be made.

§  Roles are then reversed.

You can move between pairs observing and questioning.

Technique 2 - Learners Create a Dummies Guide to ...

§  Ask learners to form pairs.

§  Set the task for pairs to create a 'Dummies Guide to xxx' for members of their team who have not been part of this workshop where 'xxx' is the skill they have just learned.

§  Allow time for pairs to create the guide on paper.

§  Ask pairs to swap their Dummies Guide with each other.

§  Ask pairs to follow the instructions of the Dummies Guide to ensure it works and offer suggestions to the creators of the Dummies Guide of what was easy to follow and what needs clarifying.

§  Allow time for pairs to make any improvements to their own Dummies Guide.

Technique 3 - Dry Run
This technique is ideal when your training environment is next to your learners workplace (usually not a good idea, but here's how to exploit it when it happens).

§  Prior to the workshop starting, organise for learners to leave the training room and join their real teams and work with a person from that team. Their team members job will be to let them actually perform the new skill for real with them as their guide/mentor.

§  Let learners also know prior to the start of the module that they will be expected to perform the skill in their real working team. The person they work with will be evaluating their performance and giving them feedback. This will take part once the skill has been learned and during workshop time.

§  Once the skill has been practiced in the training room, ask learner to visit their own team and give them the nominated person in their team that will evaluate their performance.

§  Learners perform the skill in the real world and receive feedback.

§  Learners return to the training room.

§  Collect feedback and debrief the experience.

By performing this in a real situation, learners know that the skill will important to their role and proved to themselves that they can actually do it.