Saul Carliner - Training Design Basics

2015 ASTD DBA the Association for Talent Development (ATD)

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2015947321

ISBN-10: 1-56286-925-6

ISBN-13: 978-1-56286-925-0

e-ISBN: 978-1-60728-500-7

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ATDs Training Basics series recognizes and, in some ways, celebrates the fast-paced, ever-changing reality of organizations today. Jobs, roles, and expectations change quickly. One day you might be a network administrator or a process line manager, and the next day you might be asked to train 50 employees in basic computer skills or to instruct line workers in quality processes.

Where do you turn for help? The ATD Training Basics series is designed to be your one-stop solution. The series takes a minimalist approach to your learning curve dilemma and presents only the information you need to be successful. Each book in the series guides you through key aspects of training: giving presentations, making the transition to the role of trainer, designing and delivering training, and evaluating training. The books in the series also include some advanced skills, such as performance and basic business proficiencies.

The ATD Training Basics series is the perfect tool for training and performance professionals looking for easy-to-understand materials that will prepare nontrainers to take on a training role. In addition, this series is the consummate reference tool for any trainers bookshelf and a quick way to hone your existing skills.

Training Design Basics explains how to design and develop training programs, primarily those programs intended for the face-to-face or virtual classroom. It also provides guidance for designing and developing self-study training programs, such as online tutorials and workbooks.

Many training design books focus almost exclusively on the analysis and evaluation phases of creating training programs. This one gives as much attention to the design, development, and implementation phases, exploring issues such as how to structure a program (including the parts of every program that would not appear in an outline), choose an instructional strategy, determine which materials you need to develop (such as student and instructor guides for classroom courses), follow clear writing and visual design guidelines for these materials, and conduct a review to ensure that the draft program is likely to achieve its objectives.

This book also focuses on designing and developing these programs in the real world, in which trainers make do with limited time, funds, and other resources. Yes, trainers have to analyze needs and write objectives. After all, trainers need to know what they are training and what the resulting program should accomplish. But trainers often have limited time to get this information and some of the key sources of information are not always available. So this book suggests ways to adjust the effort of gathering and assessing information about a project, a process called analysis, to the realities in which trainers work.

Similarly, although tutorials and other forms of instruction receive much attention in the training press, the majority of training still takes place in the classroom. Therefore, this book focuses primarily on designing and developing classroom programs, while also addressing the design and development of technology-delivered programs.

Finally, after designing and developing training programs, many trainers are responsible for launching and running their programs. This book explores these tasks, too, especially as they relate to administering, marketing, and supporting training programs.

Training Design Basics guides people who have never designed a training program through their first project. It is intended for new course developers and instructors; subject matter experts (SMEs) thrust into training roles; and other nontrainers who find themselves responsible for designing and developing training programs.

The Basics of Designing Training Programs introduces issues to consider when designing training programs, such as the general concepts of learning (and its distinction from information sharing), human performance improvement, and adult learning

The Basics of Planning a Training Project provides an overview of the process for designing training programs and suggests ways to answer the question how much time is needed to design and develop a training program? before you start developing it. This chapter also describes the roles that people play in a training project and suggests ways to effectively work with sponsors.

The Basic Information Needed to Start a Project describes the first part of the analysis phase of instructional design: gathering information. This chapter identifies the information needed to design a training project and why you need that information, and offers suggestions on how to get that information when you have a tight schedule.

The Basic Instructional Objective describes the second part of the analysis phase of instructional design: defining requirements. This chapter explains how to concretely state the goals of a training program and how to assess whether learners have achieved those goals (a step you perform before beginning to design programs).

The Basics of Organizing Training Programs explains the general structure of a program, and how to divide content into units. This chapter delves into the most popular formats (live, self-study) and communication media (classroom, computer) for training programs.

The Basics of Choosing an Instructional Strategy explores a variety of ways to present instructional material so that it engages learners and they retain it.