Chapter 3
The Training Cycle
In This Chapter
Introducing The Training Cycle
Defining training jargon
Ensuring learning occurs in The Training Cycle
The most widely used method for developing new training programs is called Instructional Systems Design (ISD). ISD was originally developed by and for the military to effectively create training programs. There are about 100 different ISD models and as many names, but most are based on four to seven steps represented by the acronym ADDIE.
- Analysis
- Design
- Development
- Implementation
- Evaluation
These steps are logically sequenced and ensure a practical approach to designing a training program. Some ISD models are linear; some are circular. They all accomplish the same purpose: Designing a training program that gets results. The Training Cycle presented in the next section represents the ISD model that guides you through the rest of the book.
This chapter is dedicated to understanding The Training Cycle, its background, its moving parts, and how learning fits into it.
The Training Cycle: An Overview
Anytime you participate in a training program, whether it is in a virtual or a traditional classroom, whether it was off-the-shelf or developed from scratch, whether it was taught by someone inside your organization or an external vendor, whether it was a program teaching management development skills or word processing skills, chances are that the program was designed by following a specific process, or a representative ISD model. I refer to this process as The Training Cycle. The Training Cycle begins long before the training program is conducted and continues after the program has been completed. Figure 3-1 is an illustration of the five stages of The Training Cycle. In this chapter, you get a brief overview of each stage of the Cycle. Subsequent chapters provide the depth you need to begin to implement each stage yourself.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Figure 3-1: The Training Cycle.
It is critical for all trainers to be well rounded and understand the training process from start to finish. The Training Cycle provides you with a big picture of the process. You can fill in the details as you move through this book.
Assess and analyze needs
This stage of The Training Cycle is called analysis in the ADDIE acronym. Generally, you need to conduct an assessment and analyze the data, to identify specific needs. There are two main reasons for completing an assessment and analysis.
- First, you want to make sure there is a reason to conduct training. You may discover that after conducting the analysis the relevant issue can be addressed by something other than training. For example, you may be able to do on-the-job coaching, online content may exist that could be delivered either asynchronously or synchronously, or you may feel that an article in the company newsletter alerts employees to the information needed.
- Second, if you do determine that training is necessary, the analysis should tell you exactly what (content) should be taught and how (by what methodology) it should be taught in the training session. It will also help determine your training objectives.
There are many ways to conduct assessments. You can use a formal instrument that measures a person’s skill or knowledge, or one that simply measures a person’s preference. You can use written questionnaires or you can use personal interviews with employees or supervisors. If you use interviews, you can meet with individuals one-on-one, or you can conduct small focus groups. Another way to assess a need is to observe an employee working or to take a work sample. You can also use records or reports that already exist, such as performance assessments
Your goal in collecting this data is to determine the gap between a job requirement and an individual’s actual skill or knowledge. Bottom line is to determine what is preventing the desired performance. You use this information in the next stage of The Training Cycle.
Develop objectives
After you have determined that there is a legitimate training need, your next step is to state exactly what you want the training to accomplish. You do this by writing objectives. There are two kinds of objectives from two perspectives used in training:
- The learning/performance objective: This is a statement of the performance (knowledge or skill) that is desired after the training has been conducted. Whether you call them learning or performance objectives doesn’t matter, as long as you realize that the purpose is to demonstrate what your participants have learned and can perform. What behavior changes did they make? Learning objectives should be based on the information you discovered during the analysis step. For example, at the end of this training session, “Participants will be able to design participant-focused learning activities.”
- The training objective: This is a statement of what the instructor hopes to accomplish during the training session. This may be an outcome, or it may be a description of what the instructor plans to do in order to accomplish the learning objectives. For example, “This session will create a positive learning climate that encourages participants to get involved and to ask questions.”
Some trainers include both learning and training objectives in their design. Learning objectives are a required step in every good training design. Training objectives help the trainer to focus on designing and delivering a first-class training program by setting targets for the trainer to achieve.
Learners are told what the learning objectives are at the beginning of a training session. And preferably at the same time they are told about the training. But wait, I am getting ahead of myself. I have not yet begun the design process! That’s what the next stage of The Training Cycle is all about.
Design and develop the program
After you determine the objectives, you can begin the program design. This is the stage of The Training Cycle that I like best. You decide exactly what you’re going to do to accomplish the objectives you set. There are many things to consider in designing a training program.
If you haven’t already, you will decide the type of delivery that will be the focus to achieve the best results: onsite classroom, virtual classroom, self-paced e-learning, performance support tools, self-study, or a combination of these and others in a blended learning solution. What questions will help determine the location of the training?
- How many participants need new knowledge and/or skills?
- Where are participants located?
- How much time is required?
- How much consistency is needed?
- When is training required?
- How many participants will be in each class?
- What level of trainer expertise will be required?
You may also decide whether to design the content at all. Given thousands of products available, you may decide instead to purchase pre-designed off-the-shelf content and customize it. Whether you design or customize, consider who your audience is; what the best training techniques are; how to provide opportunities to practice; what will be meaningful; how they will implement learning in the real world; how it will improve performance; how to add creativity to the program; in addition to ensuring that learning objectives are met. You also build in methods to ensure that the learning is applied back on the job, and a process to evaluate the program’s effectiveness.
If you design it, a big task ahead of you is developing the materials. What participant materials do the learners need? What audiovisual materials and equipment will you use? If it is an online course, what technical support will you require? Will your learners require job aids — either paper or online? While this stage can be exciting, it can also be exhausting.
Implement the design
This is The Training Cycle stage where you actually conduct the program. A trainer completes a huge amount of preparation before the program. Even after an excellent job of preparing, there is no guarantee that the program will go off without a hitch. That’s why some trainers pilot a program with a group of pseudo-learners who provide feedback before the session is ready for prime time.
You use both presentation and facilitation skills in both a traditional and virtual classroom. I discuss the variations in skills throughout the book. As a trainer, you’re a presenter and a facilitator:
- Presenters provide more information. If much of the information is new or technical, you may need to present. The preferred role, however, is as a facilitator.
- Facilitators play more of a catalyst role and ensure learners’ participation. A good trainer is often synonymous with the term “facilitator.”
Excellent delivery skills are required whether you are facilitating a virtual or traditional classroom. While you’re conducting the training, you want to constantly read your learners to see whether you’re meeting their needs. If you see that an approach isn’t working, stop and try another. Don’t be afraid to stray from the agenda if that seems to be the audience’s need. This is the stage where platform experience and good facilitation skills are required.
Evaluate performance
When it’s over, it’s not over. The evaluation stage is an important part of The Training Cycle for three reasons.
- First, the evaluation tells you whether or not the objectives were accomplished.
- Second, information from the evaluation stage should be fed into the assess-and-analyze stage. It is used to improve the training program should it be conducted again. This is why this model is circular.
- Finally, evaluation information serves as the basis for determining needs for future programs or other changes an organization may need to make.
Thus the cycle is complete and the process starts all over again. I examine each of the five stages in depth starting in Chapter 4.
If you want to achieve a goal, start with the end in mind. In this case it means that you start with the Evaluation stage. What do you want to accomplish? What does your stakeholder expect? How will what is learned enhance the organization’s goals? What will success look like? Your evaluation must be a part of the thought process as you begin the design at the Analysis stage.
Other options to ADDIE
ADDIE is certainly the traditional approach; however, many T&D developers use other agile approaches, such as the Successive Approximation Model (SAM — see the sidebar). Each methodology has strengths and weaknesses. ADDIE has many detailed steps that many people feel is burdensome. The more agile models are more iterative, conduct less analysis and produce a fasterdesign.
T&D Jargon
Is it soup yet? Alphabet, that is. If you associate with training types, I am sure you may at times think they are speaking in a foreign tongue.
Perhaps it is time to introduce a few of the acronyms and technical terms you hear in the training field:
- Active training: An approach that ensures participants are actively involved in the learning process.
- ADDIE: This is the classic model of a training design process. The acronym is formed by the steps in the process: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.
- Andragogy: A term developed in Europe to describe the art and science of adult learning. Malcolm Knowles is sometimes incorrectly credited with coining the word. He actually introduced and promoted it through his work and writing. Typically refers to adults’ capacity to direct and motivate their learning, utilize past experience and knowledge, and evaluate the relevance of training content to their personal needs.
- Assessment: Refers to a questionnaire, exam, test, or other evaluation process.
- Asynchronous training/learning: Typically a self-paced, online tutorial that doesn’t require the trainer and learner to participate at the same time; could also be a self-paced learning module using worksheets or books.
- Audiovisuals: Any medium used to deliver information that enhances the presentation through auditory and/or visual means, for example, PowerPoint presentations, video clips, flipcharts, recordings; frequently abbreviated as AV.
- Blended learning: The practice of using several mediums in one curriculum. Typically refers to a combination of classroom and self-paced computer training.
- Bloom’s Taxonomy: A hierarchical ordering of learning outcomes developed by Benjamin Bloom and a university committee. The three learning outcomes cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (attitude) are frequently referred to as the KSAs.
- Breakout groups: Private meetings where participants have discussions and collaborate on tasks. In an in-person classroom, it may occur in separate physical rooms or different places in the classroom. In a virtual classroom, the facilitator creates a breakout as a whiteboard or chat.
- CBT: Computer Based Training, a generic term for any learning delivered via a computer.
- Chunking: Separating learning information into small sections to improve learner comprehension and retention.
- Cognitive neuroscience: Also called brain research, the science of how we learn.
- CPLP: (Certified Professional in Learning and Performance): The professional credential offered by the ATD Certification Institute.
- Criterion referenced instruction: A system of training developed by Bob Mager where the results are measured by the learner’s ability to meet specified performance objectives (criterion) upon completion.
- Delivery method: The way training is provided to learners — for example, virtual classroom, videoconference, CD-ROM, audio tape, classroom.
- Design: The formulation of a plan or outline for training.
- Development: The stage of creating a training program in which the materials are created and training methods are finalized.
- E-Learning: Inclusive set of electronic computer delivery methods of every kind.
- Evaluation: The final step in The Training Cycle used to measure results.
- Experiential learning: Occurs when learners participate in activities, identify useful knowledge/skills, and transfer learning to the workplace.
- Facilitate: Interchangeable with training, maximizing guidance and support of the learner.
- Flipped classroom. A form of blended learning when new content is learned independently first and is followed by interaction with a trainer.
- Gamification: Applying the essence of games to real-world scenarios.
- Icebreaker: An activity conducted at the beginning of a training program that introduces participants to each other, may introduce content, and in general helps participants ease into the program.
- ILT: An acronym that trainers toss about in every discussion. It stands for Instructor-Led Training.
- Informal learning: Gaining knowledge or skills outside a structured program, such as reading, peer feedback, discussion, and on-the-job observation.
- ISD: Instructional Systems Design, a process used to analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate training. Hey, isn’t that the ADDIE model? It is also The Training Cycle, discussed in this chapter.
- Job aid: A tool to provide on-the-job direction for a specific task; may be in paper, tablet, laptop, or mobile device format.
- KSA: Knowledge, skills, attitude — the three learning categories based on Bloom’s Taxonomy.
- Learning objective: A clear, measurable statement of behavior that a learner demonstrates when the training is considered a success.
- SME: Subject Matter Expert, the most knowledgeable person regarding specific content for a training program; pronounced “smee.”
- Social learning: Occurs by interacting with others. It’s usually informal and unconscious, but can be designed into a training event.
- Soft skills: Term used to describe a type of nontechnical training, for example, communication, leadership, listening, stress management.
- Task analysis: The process of identifying the specific steps to correctly perform a task.
- Virtual classroom: An online learning space where learners and trainers interact.
- WIIFM: Acronym for What’s In It For Me? — to remind trainers to always ensure participants know how the learning benefits them.
Perhaps this short trip through my trainer’s dictionary answers questions you may have had up to this point and prepares you for the rest of the book.
Learning and The Training Cycle
The Training Cycle is so orderly and straightforward, it seems like it would be impossible to miss anything important. That’s true, but keep in mind that training is really about the learner.
Adults learn differently. In Chapter 2, I briefly mention several bright minds that have all arrived at various models for learning preferences. Although they do not agree on any one measure or model, they do agree that learners have different preferences for recognizing and processing information. If the experts can’t arrive at one model for how people learn, how can you be expected to train people with vastly different learning preferences in the same group? You can!
Variety and flexibility
You can successfully get in touch with all learning preferences in your group if you remember two things:
-
Add variety. Lots! Research suggests that varying your delivery methods and using different training methods enhances learning for everyone. In fact, most recent research goes even further to say that training that affects more than one preference actually has a greater impact than focusing on the one preference for each specific learner (as if you could do that, anyway!) Lots of variety has a greater payoff. Therefore, you should also vary the delivery itself, changing pace, control, complexity, and timing. - Be flexible. Just as your learners have a preference for learning, you also have a preference for training. You may prefer small group activities or informal discussion or even lectures. You may tend to be more people focused or content focused. You may prefer to be entertaining or professorial, coaching, or directing. Whatever your preference, be flexible. Move outside your comfort zone at times to improve learner comprehension and retention.
Conditions of learning
Before leaving this discussion about incorporating learning into The Training Cycle, I must mention Robert Gagne and his Conditions of Learning. He identified nine instructional events. Applying these events to your training helps to ensure learning occurs. Here are Gagne’s Instructional Events:
- Gain the learners’ attention.
- Share the objectives of the session.
- Ask learners to recall prior learning.
- Deliver the content.
- Use methods to enhance understanding — for example, case studies, examples, graphs.
- Provide an opportunity to practice.
- Provide feedback.
- Assess performance.
- Provide job aids or references to ensure transfer to the job.
If you’ve been around the training field for a while, you know that these events are commonplace and are assumed to be a part of any effective training program.
As a trainer, you’re responsible for doing everything you can to ensure that learning takes place: Use a theory-based design model like The Training Cycle presented in this chapter, adapt to learners’ preferences, and incorporate conditions of learning. Yet remember these words from Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), an Italian astronomer and physicist: “You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him discover it within himself.”