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Greetings!
The next chapter meeting will be held Wednesday, October 20 from 5:30
pm to 7:15 pm at Washoe Professional Center, 75 Pringle Way Room 108.
This month's speaker is Cheryl Woehr, IBET Program
Coordinator
Intercultural Business Education & Training
Northern Nevada International Center University of Nevada, Reno
President's Message 
October 2004
Trainers Helping Trainers
When we trainers are asked why we love this profession, most reply that
we enjoy helping others learn, watching those light bulbs go off! Another
aspect that appeals to me is that I find this profession to be a sharing
one. Most trainers are readily available to advise and assist other
trainers. I belong, for example, to several email groups that freely share
ideas and techniques back and forth. Being a member of such groups gives
me the opportunity to learn, grow, and measure my training skills against
those of top trainers across the country.
I also feel that this sharing
is a large reason for the existence of our Chapter. The speakers that we
have, and perhaps more importantly, the networking we engage in enable us
to continually improve upon what we do. Although membership offers us
other benefits as well, that sense of belonging, sharing, and growth is,
to me, the biggest benefit of membership in ASTD.
I am pleased that we
have just been able to send one of our members to the ASTD Leaders’
Conference in Washington D.C. This conference takes place at the same time
and place every year, and it has become tradition to send the Chapter
President-Elect. I was fortunate to be able to take part in this learning
experience last year. This year’s President- Elect, Chris Champagne, found
out early on he wouldn’t be able to attend, so we agreed to send another
2004 – and 2005 – Board member, Cheryl Woehr. Unfortunately something came
up at the last minute, and Cheryl was unable to go, nor was any other
Board member at such late notice. Rather than cancel the whole trip, we
decided to offer the opportunity to someone from our general membership. I
am happy to say that Chapter member Donna Chase, the Training and Events
Coordinator at the Atlantis, was able to step up to the plate. She has
just returned and will be sharing some of her insights from the conference
with all of us in the November newsletter!
Although Cheryl was unable
to attend the conference, we are fortunate to have her as our speaker this
week, sharing her vast experience in the diversity and cultural competence
arena. She is going to assist us in examining how our own individual
cultural norms and biases may be unconsciously coming across in our
training sessions. This is a topic near and dear to my heart, as I have
been doing diversity and intercultural communication training for many
years. Through being involved in this type of training, what I keep on
learning is how much more there is to learn! All of us are aware that
cultural differences exist, but we are not always aware of how unconscious
and profound they can be. Research, as well as practical experience, has
shown that our styles of thinking, communicating, management,
decision-making, planning, organizing, motivating – and training! – are to
a large extent culturally based. And the best way to explore and learn
from our differences is through learning about each other by networking,
sharing information, and advising and assisting each other. I continue to
look forward to learning from all of you on a monthly basis.
Thank you and best regards,
Shelley
Shelley MacDonald
2004 ASTD Sierra Nevada Chapter President
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Cheryl Woehr, IBET Program Coordinator |
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Intercultural Business Education & Training
Northern Nevada International Center
University of Nevada,
Reno
How culturally aware are you? Have you ever considered how your
own cultural norms and biases may be coming across in your training?
Through interactive techniques, Cheryl Woehr, IBET Program
Coordinator we will help us explore some of our cultural values and
perceptions. The objective of this session is to increase cultural
awareness and develop skills necessary to impact your training
style.
Cheryl created the IBET Program in 2003 when she was hired by the
University Nevada, Reno to design a program to provide cultural
awareness and diversity training to local business and organizations
in the Northern Nevada area. Her training focuses on preparing
employers to work more effectively with clients, customers and
employees from diverse cultural backgrounds. Cheryl has over 20
years of extensive experience conducting training for educational
institutions, government agencies, non-profits, professional
associations and companies small and large. Prior to being at UNR
she was at Truckee Meadows Community College where she designed a
program for international students, implemented a diversity training
program for faculty and staff, and was a professional counselor. She
grew up in a military family and has traveled much of her life. She
has traveled to over 25 countries in 4 continents and lived overseas
for 9 years in Spain and Libya. She holds a Masters degree in
Psychology, Counseling and a B.A. in psychology from California
State University, Chico.
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Election of the 2005 Board at the October
Meeting |
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| In the recent past our chapter has held Board
elections at the October meeting and introduced the Board officially
at the November Wine & Cheese Event. Following this tradition,
the election of the Board for Sierra Nevada Chapter of ASTD will
take place at tonight’s meeting, Wednesday, October 20.
The Nominating Committee (Patricia Tuecke, Chris Champagne, and
Tom Goss) has put forth a nominated slate of officers for the coming
year. Each of these persons has been interviewed by the Nomination
Committee and has agreed to serve if elected. This year we will
continue to use paper ballots at this month’s meeting. There will
also be a place on the ballot for write-in votes.
This year’s nominated slate:
Chris Champagne-
President
Kurt Frohlich – President Elect
Julie Lamoureaux-
Treasurer
Carol Lopez - Membership (Recruitment)
Cathy
Mastrantuono - Membership (Retention)*
Jeannie Underwood-
Administration
Cheryl Woehr- Education
Ted Zimmerman-
Webmaster/Newsletter
Traci Levasseur -Director at Large*
Kurt
Frohlich -Director at Large**
Shelly MacDonald - Past
President
**Kurt will be doubling as President Elect and Director
at Large.
Elections and election processes are a current topic of
conversation these days. Not surprisingly, conversation has already
begun among Board members about reviewing our chapter election
process. Hopefully by this time next year the Board will have put in
place a method of voting so that every member can vote, not just
those who attend the October evening meeting.
Patricia Tuecke, Past President and Chair of the Nominating
Committee
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Useful Instructional Methods
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Peter C. Honebein, Ph.D.
The selection of instructional methods is a favorite activity of
trainers. It is the part of training design where you fully exhibit
your creativity. After all, figuring out the most effective,
efficient, and appealing way to teach learners new skills is fun!
Learners love it when you make the right choices and it makes you
feel great. However, make the wrong choices and you may suffer the
loathing of your audience. In this article I discuss how you can
enhance your success.
Instructional methods broadly categorize a variety of
instructional strategies and tactics. A method can describe how
instruction is sequenced (presentation, practice, feedback), how it
is presented (expository or discovery), or how it is delivered
(instructor led or self-paced e-learning). The focus of this
article, however, is on tactics, such as lectures, role plays, and
drill and practice.
Charles Reigeluth, my colleague at Indiana University’s
Instructional Systems Technology department, suggests that the
selection of instructional methods is dependent on two factors –
conditions and outcomes. Conditions include everything from the
learning domain associated with the content to the number of
students in a class. Outcomes, on the other hand, involve efficiency
(delivering the greatest number of skills for the lowest cost),
effectiveness (learners acquiring desired skills), and appeal
(learners having fun in the course).
I recently conducted a pilot study that asked ten training
professionals who are enrolled in a Masters-level instructional
strategies course their opinions about the most useful instructional
methods. The group evaluated 31 instructional methods in relation to
learning domains, number of students, and desired outcomes. Each
interaction was rated on a five-point scale, where 1 equals not
useful and 5 equals very useful. We collected a total of 837
individual measures, which we then aggregated so that each
instructional method was represented by a single score. The results
show the top 16 most useful instructional methods as being:
|
Instructional Method Mean
Score |
(5-point scale) |
| Game |
4.01 |
| Role Play |
3.91 |
| Problem Solving/Lab |
3.83 |
| Simulation |
3.82 |
| Project |
3.78 |
| Guided Laboratory |
3.73 |
| Field Trip |
3.70 |
| Team Project |
3.69 |
| Laboratory |
3.67 |
| Discovery, Group |
3.65 |
| Cooperative Group Learning |
3.58 |
| Think Tank/Brainstorm |
3.57 |
| Apprenticeship |
3.51 |
| Seminar |
3.46 |
| Demonstration |
3.46 |
| Case Study |
3.45 |
The group found the results consistent with their beliefs and
practice. A high score means that the instructional method is
perceived as being more useful under more conditions than one with a
low score. As we examined and discussed the results further, we
agreed on two key things. First, the methods that floated to the top
of the list represent what we would prefer to use if the conditions
are right. Other conditions that we did not investigate, such as
budget, development time, and so on, would further shape (and
possibly limit) our ultimate choice. Second, the key condition that
trainers consider first is the learning domain of the content. This
involves classifying content as being cognitive, affective,
psychomotor, or interpersonal, and then deriving the best
instructional strategy based on that content.
Do you agree? Examine the data for yourself. Below are links to
the summary statistics from the pilot study. Take a look and see
whether or not you agree with the results. Compare our results with
your own opinions and practice. I’ve also provided links to
additional resources that should help expand your understanding of
instructional conditions and methods.
• Summary statistics in
.xls format (be sure to click the tabs at the bottom .xls
document)
• Bloom’s taxonomy (learning domains)
•
Descriptions of some key instructional methods
Next month I’ll discuss the least useful methods that emerged
from the study. Additionally, I’ll introduce some new paradigms in
training that help explain why some methods are being pushed to the
top of the list, and some to the bottom.
Dr. Peter C. Honebein is principal of Honebein Associates, Inc.,
a Reno-based consulting firm established in 1987 that provides
services for human performance improvement, instructional design,
and marketing. He is the author of two books, numerous articles, and
presents at national training and marketing conferences. He also
holds academic appointments as adjunct professor at the University
of Nevada, Reno School of Business, and the Indiana University
School of Education.
Article © 2004 Honebein Associates, Inc.
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