Tip #175: Identifying Skill-Building Key Content

In the lesson design process, we identify the key content to determine what must be taught so that all of the training goals will be accomplished.

Up until last month, I have always referred to this process as conducting a task analysis. However, this has occasionally led to confusion, with some folks believing that they should get down to base line specifics and procedural steps. In fact, all we want to accomplish at this point in the lesson design process is to create a high level profile of the knowledge or skill necessary to accomplish the training goals.

So, with great thanks to the folks in my most recent Increasing Training Effectiveness workshop (Shelly, DeeAnna, Nancy, Jim, Scott, Amy, and Linda), I've revised the language. Rather than conducting a task analysis, we will simply identify the key content.

After all of the years of working through a relatively cumbersome task analysis process, I've realized that it can be reduced to two simple templates. The first template identifies the key content for skill building training and the second template identifies the key content for training that focuses on changing attitudes.

Identifying the key content is the first step in developing behavioral learning objectives.

This week, we will look at examples of the first template. The first two examples deal with simple skill building. The third example deals with a more complex skill building training that requires either the comprehension or application of necessary supplemental skills that are prerequisites to successful achievement of the training goals.

Example #1: Identifying Key Content for Skill Building
Directions:	(1) State the training title and goals; (2) Follow the template; (3) Keep in mind that the target level of learning is Application.
Title:	Grilling with Joe
Training Goals:	The participants will learn how to safely grill a hamburger [what] in order to delight their family's palates [why].

Skill Building Template:	Learning Level:
1. What it is (definitions of terminology or standards): What grilling is What safe grilling is What a hamburger is	Comprehension
2. Why it is important (benefits of the training from the learners' perspective): Benefits of safely grilling a hamburger [Note: there is no need to delineate these benefits at this point]	Comprehension
3. What is needed to do it (necessary tools or materials): Grilling tools and prepared hamburger patties	Comprehension
4. How to do it (procedure): How to safely grill hamburger patties	Comprehension
5. Do it (hands on practice): Grill a hamburger	Application

Example #2: Identifying Key Content for Skill Building
Title:	Conducting a Performance Evaluation
Training Goals:	The participants will learn how to conduct a performance evaluation [what] in order to help their employees be successful in their jobs [why].

Skill Building Template:	Learning Level:
1. What it is (definitions of terminology or standards): What a performance evaluation is	Comprehension
2. Why it is important (benefits of the training from the learners' perspective): Benefits of performance evaluations	Comprehension
3. What is needed to do it (necessary tools or materials): Necessary documentation and forms	Comprehension
4. How to do it (procedure): Steps in conducting an evaluation	Comprehension
5. Do it (hands on practice): Conduct a simulated evaluation	Application

Example #3: Identifying Key Content for Skill Building
Title:	Coaching for Success
Training Goals:	The participants will learn how to use the DO COACH! Model to coach employees [what] in order to ensure their success on the job [why].

Skill Building Template:	Learning Level:
1. What it is (definitions of terminology or standards): What coaching is	Comprehension
2. Why it is important (benefits of the training from the learners' perspective): Benefits of coaching	Comprehension
3. What is needed to do it (necessary tools or materials or supplemental skills):
Self awareness	Comprehension
Techniques to handle employee defensiveness	Comprehension
Active listening skills	Application
4. How to do it (procedure): How to prepare, script, and conduct a coaching session	Comprehension
5. Do it (hands on practice): Prepare, script, and conduct a coaching session	Application

Tip #174: Involving the Senses: Model #4

The fourth model incorporates and systematizes all three previous models. This is the UCLA Mastery Teaching Model developed by Dr. Madeline Hunter at the University of California- Los Angeles in 1967.

According to Dr. Hunter, there are eight elements that should be considered in the design of an effective lesson. These elements constitute building blocks that, if placed in the appropriate sequence for the content to be taught, can ensure that the learners have the basic knowledge they need so that they can be successful.

The elements can be combined: for example, checking for comprehension and guided/monitored practice. They can be placed in a different order: for example, letting the learners identify what the objective is later in the lesson rather than telling them right away. They can also be eliminated if they are not relevant to the learning process.

1. Objective: identify the learning objectives so that the learners know what to expect in the training module.

2. Anticipatory Set: ask a question or use a brief activity that requires the learners to focus on the learning objective.

3. Input: present the content to be learned, or draw it from the learners, possibly through their response to the anticipatory set.

4. Model: provide an example of the content, possibly through an analogy to explain the essence of what is to be taught.

5. Check for Comprehension: ask or respond to questions.

6. Guided/Monitored Practice: walk the learners through another example so that they can participate in applying the content.

7. Independent Practice: have the learners participate in an exercise that requires them to apply the content in another example without the instructor's assistance.

8. Closure: end the lesson to close down thinking.

The purpose of Elements #1 (Objective) and #2 (Anticipatory Set) is to prime the learners for learning by drawing on their memory of related content and thereby engaging the Limbic System.

Elements #3 (Input) and #4 (Model) relate to Bloom's Knowledge level. Note that Input can be attained through active learner participation and Model builds on memory in the Limbic System.

Element #5 (Check for Comprehension) relates to Bloom's Comprehension level and requires the learners to say something, increasing retention to 70%.

Elements #6 (Guided/Monitored Practice) and #7 (Independent Practice) relate to Bloom's Application level, or beyond to the levels of Analysis, Synthesis, and/or Evaluation. They also require the learners to do something with what they have learned, which increases the probability of retention to 90%.

All four models reinforce the importance of engaging as many senses as possible by actively involving learners in the learning process to create memory. This effectively increases the probability of learning, retention, and application.

Tip #173: Involving the Senses: Model #3

The third model is the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, which Benjamin Bloom proposed in 1956. Bloom headed a group of cognitive psychologists at the University of Chicago that identified six progressive and inter-dependent levels, or building blocks, of learning.

Knowledge is the first level, which is the foundation for all higher thinking. Without Knowledge, there cannot be a second level (Comprehension). The only way we can determine whether Comprehension has been achieved is if the learner has an opportunity to restate new learning in his or her own words. As Edgar Dale has shown, saying increases the likelihood of retention to 70%.

Without the first and second levels, there cannot be the third level (Application). Application is the "doing"level, which increases the likelihood of retention to 90%. In other words, a learner needs to have information (Knowledge) and understand what it means (Comprehension) before s/he can use it to do something (Application). Application is the launching pad for all higher level thinking: Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.

The ultimate goal of skill-building training is for the learners to use the information or techniques they have been taught. As a result, the training must include training methods that provide Knowledge, check learner Comprehension, and give the learners the opportunity to practice the Application of the information or techniques. All of these training methods require the active participation of the learners.

Tip #172: Involving the Senses: Model #2

Last week, we discussed the first model, Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience and Learning, which demonstrates why it is so important to actively involve participants in learning activities that require them to verbally interact and to physically apply their new learning.

The second model is the Triune Brain Model, which Dr. Paul MacLean developed in 1952. He discovered that there were three major layers or "brains," which were established successively in response to evolutionary need: the Reptilian System, the Limbic System, and the Neocortex. Each layer is geared toward more or less separate functions, but all three layers interact substantially.

For our purposes, one of the most important layers is the second layer, or the Limbic System. The Limbic System monitors emotion and plays a significant role in remembering new information. It acts as a switchboard, reading the sensations from the body and deciding which to send to the third layer, the Neocortex, for expanded awareness and action.

This model proves that memory is emotional and is lodged in the Limbic System. The more senses and sensations engaged, the more likely a memory will be created and retained. This is a cornerstone concept of Accelerated Learning.