Transcript Writing Good Training Material Objectives

Writing Good Training
Material Objectives
By
Sylvia A. Miller
Senior Consultant
Spherion
and
Mindy Hoffbauer
Training, Testing & Technical Documentation
Northrop Grumman Litton TASC
Session Objectives
Given your full attention and participation, at the end of
this session, you will be able to do the following with at
least 70% accuracy:
 Describe the differences and similarities between writing
user documentation and training materials.
 Write objectives with specific performances, conditions,
and criteria.
 Describe how well-written objectives are a win-win for
instructors and students.
This session does not cover all the basics of good instructional design
(couldn’t cover in the time given). So today we’re focusing on the
most important component of ID: well-written objectives.
Exercise #1
Read the article, “The 25 Faces
of Pamela Gien”
You may take as many notes as
you wish
You have exactly four minutes
Please turn in your articles
Quiz for Exercise #1
 Name the headers and footers for this
article.
 To whom is the photo credited?
 Name the drop cap used.
 What were the seven elements of the
article written in a sans serif font?
– This is a serif font. This is a sans serif font.
 If one was used, what was the end-of-
article signifier (symbol)?
Answers for Exercise #1
 Name the headers and footers for this
article.
Headers: O (magazine’s name), “gems”
(magazine section name)
Footers: 117 (pg. #), 2001 May (issue date)
 To whom is the photo credited?
Michael Lamont
 Name the drop cap used.
W
Answers for Exercise #1
 What were the seven elements of the
article written in a sans serif font?
Article’s title, author’s name, drop cap, pull
quote, photo caption, photo credit, issue
date
 If one was used, what was the end-of-
article signifier (symbol)?
Solid circle ()
Problems?
Without objectives, students don’t know
– What to write in their notes
– What to pay attention to
– What will be included on the test
– What they’re supposed to be learning
Ever been in this situation?
Objectives for Exercise #1
After reading this article, students will be
able to:
– Identify
– Identify
– Identify
– Identify
– Identify
(name)
(name)
(name)
(name)
(name)
headers and footers
photo credits
drop caps
sans serif text
the end-of-article signifier
Wouldn’t your notes have been different
if we’d told you this before the quiz?
Objectives for Exercise #2
After reading this article, students will be
able to:
– Identify (name) trademarked (™) names
– Identify (name) copyrighted (©) information
– Identify (name) URLs (web site addresses)
• Ex: www.__________.com or .net or .org
– Identify (name) corporate logos
– Identify (name) toll-free telephone numbers
Exercise #2
Study the advertisement for Vaniqa
You may take as many notes as you
wish
You can look at the list of objectives
while you study the advertisement
You have exactly four minutes
Objectives for Exercise #2
After reading this article, students will be
able to:
– Identify (name) trademarked (™) names
– Identify (name) copyrighted (©) information
– Identify (name) URLs (web site addresses)
• Ex: www.__________.com or .net or .org
– Identify (name) corporate logos
– Identify (name) toll-free telephone numbers
Please turn in your advertisement
Quiz for Exercise #2
 What was the trademarked name mentioned
in the advertisement?
 Which two companies hold the copyright for
this advertisement?
 What is the URL for obtaining more
information about this product?
 Do the two companies noted in this
advertisement have company logos?
 What is the toll-free number for obtaining
more information about this product?
Answers for Exercise #2
 What was the trademarked name mentioned
in the advertisement?
Vaniqa
 Which two companies hold the copyright for
this advertisement?
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company &
The Gillette Company
Answers for Exercise #2
 What is the URL for obtaining more
information about this product?
www.vaniqa.com
 Do the two companies noted in this
advertisement have company logos?
Yes (Bristol-Myers Squibb has “sunburst,”
Gillette has stylized “G”)
 What is the toll-free number for obtaining
more information about this product?
1-877-FACENEWS
Success!
With objectives identified, you
were probably able to:
– better anticipate the types of
questions that would be on the quiz
– take better (more specific) notes
– learn more of what the instructor
wanted you to learn
– score much higher on the quiz
About the Presenters
 Trainer/Educator to Tech Writer
– Sylvia A. Miller
• B.S.Ed., M.A. in English
• Several years of teaching children & adults
• Experience in WBT, CBT, and other training and
documentation deliverables
 Tech Writer to Trainer
– Mindy Hoffbauer
• A.A., B.A., M.A. in English Language & Literature
with technical writing certification
• No formal education in training
• Have been developing & delivering training globally
About our Primary Source
Mager, Robert F. Preparing
Instructional Objectives:
A Critical Tool in the
Development of Effective
Instruction. 3rd ed.
Atlanta: Center for
Effective Performance,
1997.
About our Primary Source
Preparing Instructional
Objectives is from a
collection of books on
instructional design,
called The New Mager
Six-Pack.
Brainstorming Activity: User
Manuals & Training Materials
What are some of the
similarities between
effective user manuals
and effective training
materials?
What are some of the
differences?
Basics of Good Objectives
How to determine objectives
Importance of good objectives
Terms to use
Terms to avoid
What not to include
What to include
How to Determine Objectives
Task listing. Compile a collection of tasks
involved in carrying out the specific work
or play action.
Task analysis. List the components of the
task; what a competent person does
when performing the task; steps followed;
decisions made; how to tell when the task
is complete.
How to Determine Objectives
 Skill derivation. Ask what would anyone
have to know or be able to do before
being ready to practice this entire task. For
example, interviewing a person??
 Objectives drafting. Draft the objectives
describing the limits--the amount of skill
that anyone would need to perform the
various tasks.
Importance of Good Objectives
Purpose: to describe how a learner will
demonstrate knowledge, comprehension,
and ability to perform a specific task.
Need: if well-designed, ensures that a
training solution teaches.
Function: communicates an intended
instructional result to students. Conveys
picture of what a successful learner will be
able to do.
Importance of Good Objectives
They lay foundation by providing primary
criteria for evaluating
– learner achievement
– success of instruction
– overall quality of the training solution
Importance of Good Objectives
Help point to specific issues or content to
be covered in instruction
This is a win for the instructor, writer,
and/or instructional designer because…
It’s also a win for the student because…
Win-win--a benefit to all involved.
Terms to Use & Terms to Avoid
Remember the phrase “Communicates an
intended instructional result to students”?
– How do you best communicate the intended
instructional result?
– Mager says, “The best statement is one that
excludes the greatest number of possible
meanings other than your intent.”
– He advises us to avoid words that are
“slippery,” too broad, or “fuzzies.”
The “No-No Words” for Objectives
Terms open to many interpretations:
– to know
– to understand, or to really understand
– to appreciate, or to fully appreciate
– to grasp the significance of
– to enjoy
– to believe, conceptualize
– to internalize
Preferred Words for Objectives
Terms open to fewer interpretations:
– to write, to recite, to identify
– to sort, to solve
– to construct, to build
– to compare, to contrast
– to smile
In short, make objectives specific,
observable, measurable.
What Not to Include in an Objective
Instructional procedures. (Serves no
purpose; could be limiting.) Mention only
outcomes when writing objectives.
Target audience. For example, “Secretaries
will be able to bold words when directed
by their boss to stress something in a
memo.” Wouldn’t other people also need
to know how to use the bold feature?
Waste of time to write different objective
for each audience.
What to Include in an Objective
Mager says good objectives contain three
parts:
Performance: What should the learner be
able to do?
Condition(s): Under what conditions
should the learner be able to do this?
Criterion: How well must it be done?
Performance
A good objective clearly
states what the student is
expected to be able to do
or to produce to be
considered competent
– This shows both the
instructor and the student
that the training has been
successful.
Visible & Invisible Performance
Performance that is visible or audible is
OVERT
– running, cooking, yodeling
Performance that is not observable is
COVERT
– identifying, solving, distinguishing
Key Ingredient of Objectives
An objective that does not include an
observable performance is not yet an
objective.
Covert Performance
When performance is covert, add an
indicator behavior so the performance
can be observed
An indicator behavior is simple, direct,
and something students can already do
– say, name, point to, circle, underline, sort
Performance Examples
 Overt
– Be able to type
 Covert
– Be able to discriminate between daisies and
roses
 Covert with Indicator Behavior
– Be able to discriminate between daisies and
roses
• by sorting
• by pointing
• by circling
Intent vs Indicator
Make sure your objective contains your
intent and not just an indicator behavior
– Be able to circle processes on a flow chart
Is intention of training really to teach
students how to circle?
– Be able to recognize (circle) processes on a
flow chart
Conditions
Makes the objective even more specific.
Eliminates the need for guesswork by the
student.
Detailed enough to describe each of the
conditions needed to allow the
performance to happen.
Makes accurate measurement of learner
performance even easier, and makes
development of material easier.
Questions to Ask Yourself
What will the learner be expected to use
when performing (tools, forms, etc.)?
What will the learner not be allowed to
use when performing (checklists, job aids,
cheat sheets)?
What will be the real-world conditions
under which the performance will be
expected to occur (in front of an
audience, in a cockpit, under water)?
Can You Identify the Condition?
Given a list of factors leading to
significant historical events, be able to
identify (underline) at least five factors
contributing to the crash of 1929.
Given a list of chemical elements, be able
to recall (write) the valences of each.
While blindfolded, and presented with
wine samples, be able to recognize (say)
which samples were aged in oak casks.
Criteria
A good objective describes
how well a student would
have to perform to be
considered competent
Adding a criterion to an
objective will provide a way to
measure a student’s
competence of a particular
task.
Criteria
A criterion added to an objective will
provide:
– a testing standard
– a success measurement for students
– a success measurement for the instructor
A criterion should name appropriate or
desired ability, not a minimum level
Some criteria may be: speed, quantity,
quality, accuracy
Criteria
Be careful when adding criteria not to
turn the objective into a test question
– Be able to write four proposals in five days
• Sounds more like a test than an objective
• May confuse objectives rather than clarify
May want to point to reference when
setting criterion if it states criteria well
– Be able to write a design document that
meets guidelines in J-STD-016
Performance, Condition or Criteria?
Given a Request for Proposal (RFP),
condition
be able to write a proposal
performance
in 24 hours
criteria
with 2% or less error rate.
criteria
Summary Thus Far...
1. An instructional objective describes an
intended outcome of instruction, rather
than the procedures for accomplishing
those outcomes.
2. An objective always states a
performance describing what the learner
will be DOING when demonstrating
mastery of the objective.
Summary Thus Far...
3. When the main intent of an objective is
covert, an indicator behavior is added.
4. Indicator behaviors are always the
simplest, most direct behaviors possible;
always something that every trainee
already knows how to do well.
Summary Thus Far...
5. To prepare an objective:
– Communicate the main intent or
performance expected of the student.
– If the performance is covert, add an
indicator behavior through which the main
intent can be detected.
– Describe relevant or important conditions
under which the performance is expected to
occur. Add as much description as is needed
to communicate the intent.
The Good, the Bad and the Fixable
Ready for another exercise?
Reach for “Objectives
Needing a Facelift.”
– Work with the people at your
table to analyze three weak
objectives and rewrite five
badly written objectives so
they’re effective.
Sending Junior to College
Here’s another exercise:
– Junior and friends are off to college soon
– Develop training materials to teach them a
useful skill before leaving home
Group A
Write objectives for
teaching them how
to make pizza from
scratch
Group B
Write objectives for
teaching them how
to do laundry
Here’s What You Now Know
about Objectives
They ensure that the training solution
teaches/succeeds by laying the foundation
for the evaluation of the student and
training solution
Are a win-win for both student and
instructor
Here’s What You Now Know
about Objectives
They describe what the student will
demonstrate (performance); are
observable, measurable
Include conditions and criteria
Use terms that are open to little
interpretation
Do not include instructional procedures
or target audience
So Go Forth…
…and write much better training
materials!
Questions?
Sylvia Miller: [email protected]
Mindy Hoffbauer: [email protected]
Slideshow: www.swostc.org/01confA.ppt