Problem:

A major duty of a new instructor training institution is to develop instructional programs (both short and long term) to meet the needs of its customers or clients. Of course, in the design of such programs, the customer or client should be highly involved. But what can the training institution do if the customer is not ready to be actively involved in the program design process? Is a "do nothing" or "wait and see" approach best? Should a program be designed anyway, with a high probability of either major revisions or even starting over later? Or, can the training institution commence meaningful development work while the customer "gets ready," safe in the knowledge that the work will, in some shape or form, end up in the final program design?

Purpose:

The purpose of this paper is to address the approach to instructional and program design used at TITI: The Skill Card and Skill File process.

A "brick" approach:

TITI has chosen to use a bottom-up approach to program design. Such an approach begins with the identification of skills important to an instructor. The skills represent the "bricks" that will then later be used to "build" both courses and instructional programs. High quality instructional materials are then developed for each skill. Training staff are trained in both the development and use of these instructional materials.

Top Down or Bottom Up Program Design?

The design of any program, course or instructional element can be approached from either a top-down or a bottom-up direction. At times, the use of a combination of approaches can result in a good design. In this section of the paper, the components of a program are examined and then an argument is given for the use of the bottom-up approach given the circumstances of TITI.

Programs-Courses-Skills:

Any long-term instructional program can broken down into sub-components. For most programs, the next lower level of component is called a course or module. An instructional program may consist of numerous courses--some required and others elective or optional. These courses may also be broken down into another component level. This level consists of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be taught in the course. In other words, related skills make up courses or modules, and numerous courses make up a program.

In the case of instructor training, there exist the world over, literally hundreds of "programs." These programs vary in length from a few days to years (in the case of education degrees.) The courses in these programs also vary in duration, content, methodology and quality. There is little agreement as to what is the best program design for new instructors.

At the same time, the occupation of instructor has been analyzed dozens of times. The knowledge, skills, and attitudes required of a good instructor are well documented and do not vary greatly from study to study. Likewise, these skills have not changed greatly with the passage of time. A good instructor of 30 years ago would probably be a good instructor today!

The consistency of the knowledge base for instructors is one primary factor in choosing to use a "brick" approach to program design. Each skill becomes a brick that will ultimately, be an important part of a course and of the total instructional program.

The next section discusses the relationship between the typical parts of a program and how those parts are affected by two variables: customer involvement and potential for change.

Customer Involvement:

High customer readiness: If a program is being designed for a client or customer that knows exactly what it wants and is ready to assume a leadership role in the program design then a top-down approach to the program would be the most practical. Program outcomes would be quickly specified, philosophical issues addressed, certification requirements would be known, and the target population for the program would be clearly delineated. With such information and customer readiness, an instructional program can take shape quickly.

Low customer readiness: When, for whatever reasons, the customer or client is not ready to address the issues mentioned above, a bottom-up approach to program design can save time and provide meaningful results while the customer is "getting ready." A bottom-up approach starts with the skills (bricks) that will most probably be in any program, and invests time in the development of the instructional support required for each skill.

Potential for Change:

High potential: Programs have a very high potential for change. One can almost guarantee that any program, over a relatively short time will undergo some change. The change could be in the duration of the program. The change could be in the course structure or course content. The graduation requirements could be changed. Indeed, it is unusual to find programs that have remained the same for a five year period.

Low potential: The skills that make up an instructor training program show remarkably little change over decades. Skill analyses of instructors that were conducted 30 years ago can be compared to recent analyses and little differences are seen.

Involvement + Change: An argument for a bottom-up approach:

When customer involvement and potential for change are linked, the decision for using either a top-down approach or a bottom-up approach to program design becomes easier. If the customer or client is not ready to supply answers or to be actively involved in the program design, time spent using a top down approach could end up totally wasted. To save this time, and to give the customer time to "get ready, the training institution should utilize a bottom-up approach. This approach takes advantage of the low potential for change of the skills (bricks) to make the most effective use of time and resources. The training institution can proceed immediately, without much involvement from the customer, safe in the knowledge that the skills and support materials being developed will eventually, be a part of a long term instructional program. As the customer becomes more ready, decisions about how to put the bricks together can be made. Courses can be agreed upon and the final shape of the program determined. One nice thing about bricks, is that almost any shape or size structure can be built from them.

Other Advantages of the Process:

Institutional Agreement On Training Content:

The Skill File process requires the entire training staff to provide input and agree to every phase of the materials and training design. Such a process, while involved and time consuming, results in a higher quality product, results in the side-benefit of providing training to all on all skills, and results in the overall ownership of the instructional materials by all trainers.

Fixed content - variable trainers:

All training institutions are plagued by turnover in training staff. New trainers arrive and typically, the first thing they do is to try to "redesign" all the lessons or courses. This results in the program and course content being a variable over time. In many instances, this is the only choice left to the new trainer because the file cabinets are empty of any instructional materials! The Skill File process results in the establishment of a fixed content for all training sessions. That content is fixed down to the level of:

• The skill
• The terminal performance objective
• Enabling objectives
• Handouts (The Skill Card)
• Performance guides (on the Skill Card)
• Objective test items
• Transparencies
• Suggestions for methodology

The new trainer, given a lesson assignment, can pick up the Skill File, review the materials, and in a short time, provide instruction that will lead the learners to master the standard content of the Skill Card.

Visual Media Incorporated:

Each Skill File contains computer generated visual media (transparencies) used to supplement the instruction. Research is clear about the increase in learning when the visual channel is used. Each visual has been approved by the entire training staff and field tested for effectiveness.

English Language:

All Skill File materials are English Language. The reason for this decision was one of quality control. It was felt that both the trainings and the materials would be conducted and developed in English first and then later, as the training and materials were revised and finalized, translated into other languages.

The Skill Cards -- The Key to the System:

Instructional materials play a vital role in the teaching-learning process. High quality materials can be used:

• as the instruction (in lieu of lectures);
• as a supplement to instruction;
• as a reference, long after the instruction has taken place.

They are even more important in areas where textbooks are scarce. This Skill Card provides a guide to the development of other Skill Cards that can form the foundation of any training program.

Purpose:

Skill Cards:

Concept:

For every skill in the training program, there will be one Skill Card.

Uses:

Skill Cards can be used during a training in three ways:

Traditional mode: Here, the major activity is the presentation. Some discussion or application could follow. The Skill Card would be used as a "reinforce."

Preview mode: Here, the Skill Card is given out, typically, the day before the presentation and is then used as a foundation for a small review type presentation. This "mini-presentation" is then followed by discussion/application activities.

Facilitative mode: Here, the Skill Card IS the presentation and all of the class time is reserved for discussion and application activities.

A Most Flexible Approach:

When complete, there will probably be over 500 Skill Files available for the technical instructor program. More will be available for the technical school manager program. Others will be available for the community development trainer and industrial trainer programs. Such a complement of Skill Files represents a unique and flexible and prescriptive approach to course design. When a customer approaches TITI, the Skill Files can be used to rapidly put together a course or module designed to meet the exact needs of the target population. Again, the courses or programs may change but the majority of Skill Files will be useful 30 years from now.

A Built In Training Component:

The current trainers at TITI come from widely different occupational and academic backgrounds. Many have never conducted a training before. The Skill File process, which involves every trainer providing input and making decisions about each skill has given our trainers at least an overview of each skill in our repertoire--thus increasing their knowledge base about the science and art of training.

Conclusion:

The Skill Card - Skill File process has provided both TITI and its customers with numerous opportunities. TITI, has been able to proceed towards its goals with full speed. Trainers are busily engaged in the development of the instructional materials. Trainers are being hired. Trainers are being trained. Trainers are conducting training. Trainers and trainings are being evaluated and revised. TITI is comfortable that the efforts will be of long term value.