5 Principles and 5 Theories for Effective Training Design
I once asked the director of a company with more than 10,000 employees what he saw as the end goal of his organization’s corporate training. His first answer related to money. More of it, through higher efficiency and better sales. But when I asked him what he thought his employees should know or be able to do after the training in order to generate more money, he had to think. He was eventually able to come up with specific things his employees would know, and behaviors they’d adopt after the training, but it took some time.
![]() Where it all fell down is in knowledge carry-over between classroom and daily work.
It didn’t take me long to figure out why. When I looked into the organization’s corporate training programs, I saw that the learning focus was knowledge transfer, from trainer to learner. The trainers would share their knowledge; the employees would remember. In fact, the employees were really good at remembering phrases and concepts, and most scored high in tests. Where it all fell down is in knowledge carry-over between classroom and daily work. The training didn’t lead to new behaviors and the knowledge gain demonstrated in the written tests didn’t follow the learners back to their desks.
The principles of HRM are the foundations human resource management in any sector and these must be observed. There are basically 10cs in HRM which should be adhered to. These are comprehensiveness, credibility, communication, control, change cost-effectiveness, Competence, creativity, and coherence. Nov 23, 2015 - The goal of training programs is to create permanent changes in people's. These four principles engage participants, improve learning,.
The company’s corporate training team recognized the gap and asked me how to design training that would engage learners, lead to a higher knowledge transfer value, and result in employees using their new knowledge in their day-to-day job behavior.
5 Principles
To ensure a high learning outcome when I design training programs that lead to actual change, I’m guided by five principles that help ensure I’m taking the learners’ experience into consideration.
The five principles I use are as follows (Merrill, 2013):
1. Problem-centered. Learning is promoted when learners acquire skill in the context of real-world problems.
2. Activation. Learning is promoted when learners activate existing knowledge and skills as a foundation for new skill.
3. Demonstration. Learning is promoted when learners observe a demonstration of the skill they are working to acquire.
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4. Application. Learning is promoted when learners apply their newly acquired skill to solve problems.
5. Integration. Learning is promoted when learners reflect on and discuss their newly acquired skill.
These five principles integrate some of the most important learning theory and research from the time of Aristotle until now. They reflect the development in learning theory over time, adding new perspectives to previous theories rather than substituting the new theories and throwing out the old.
5 Learning Theories
In addition to the five principles, I also leverage the following five theories into my learning design:
1. Cognitivism
2. Constructivism
3. Social constructivism
4. Experiential learning, and
5. Transformative learning.
The Role of Instructor Passion
Passion for the topic being taught is a wonderful thing. However, it doesn’t actually play a role in effective learning outcomes. In fact, I’ve seen examples of trainers and instructors who are so passionate about the material that they forget all about learning design. Without proper knowledge of and consideration for how the human brain works, and how to design an effective learning experience, passion alone with not lead to high learning outcomes.
Integrating the 5 X 5
To illustrate how I integrate the five principles and theories when I design a training program, I’ll provide an example from an online training program I developed for a company selling physical products. The learning objective was to enhance the employees’ knowledge of the product so that they could use the knowledge to sell.
Getting their Attention
The first step in the training session design is to create an introduction that aims to grab the learner’s attention and let them know why their participation is important. This is where, in my physical product example, I make the learners aware of a problem: that consumers want to face a knowledgeable sales person. I introduce facts and numbers, share interview with consumers talking about the importance of speaking to a knowledgeable salesperson. I also let the learners know (Gagne, 1985):
Creating the Content
The second step in the training session design is to create the actual content. The content is divided into five parts, and I’ll show you how I applied each part to this particular training example:
Contemporary research in assessment indicates that continuous assessment leads to significantly better learning results
You’ll notice that I do not advocate integration of a large, final assessment in my training design. I believe in the value of continuous assessment instead. Contemporary research in assessment indicates that continuous assessment leads to significantly better learning results (Tuunila & Pulkkinen, 2015).
“When students learn through student-centric online technology, testing doesn’t have to be postponed until the end of an instructional module and then administered in a batch mode… Misunderstandings do not have to persist for weeks.” - Clayton Christensen (Christensen, 2016), Harvard Business School.
Resources:
Christensen, C. (2016). Localized at: https://www.knewton.com/resources/blog/adaptive-learning/final-exams-benefits-continuous-assessment/
Gagne, R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning, Fourth Edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Merrill, M. D. (2013). First principles of instruction: Identifying and designing effective, efficient and engaging instruction. Hoboken, NJ: Pfeiffer/John Wiley & Sons
Mondrup, H. J. (2016). The Evolution of Multiple Choice E-learning. Localized at:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/evolution-multiple-choice-e-learning-henrik-j-mondrup?trk=prof-post
Tuunila, R., & Pulkkinen, M. (2015). Effect of continuous assessment on learning outcomes on two chemical engineering courses: case study. European Journal of Engineering Education, 40(6), 671-682
10 Basic Employee Training Principles
Employee training isn’t a nice-to-have element of human resources management, it’s a must-have. From training on your company’s vision and mission, to compliance training, to life skills training such as time management, the knowledge of your staff is directly linked to the success of your business. Follow these ten basic employee training principles to make sure you’re doing it right.
#1 – Train Every Day
The most important of all employee training principles is to view training as an ongoing process, not a single event. When you train every day, in one form or another, it becomes part of your culture.
#2 – Create Learning Objectives
Learning objectives define what your employees will be able to do when they complete a training program. Objectives are multi-tiered. You should have objectives for your overall training plan, for broad training topics, for individual courses, and for sections within those courses.
#3 – Address Skills Gaps
Often, it’s easy to know where to apply your employee training principles. Compliance training, for example, is a given. In other instances, you need to conduct a thorough gap analysis to identify specific areas where employees lack the skills they need to be successful.
#4 – Deliver a Consistent Message
For training to transfer to the workplace, it’s important that all employees receive a consistent message. Consistency is one of the many benefits of online training. It’s also important to ensure that managers, trainers, and mentors are delivering a consistent message as well.
#5 – Blend Learning Methodologies
There is no one right way to train. People have different learning styles, and that’s why the list of basic employee training principles includes delivering training in different ways. When you blend learning methodologies, your training will be more effective overall.
#6 – Create Custom Learning Paths
Give your employees opportunities to choose their own training. While you’ll have many courses that are mandatory for all employees, such as sexual harassment training, employees should be able to build their own learning paths based on their specific career development goals.
#7 – Evaluate Comprehension
Testing only counts as one of the critical employee training principles if you have a solid plan in place to follow up on poor assessment results. Use testing as a way to determine which employees need further training and which are ready for more advanced content.
#8 – Streamline Administration
A learning management system allows you to assign and track training in real-time. By streamlining important training administration tasks, trainers and managers have more time for critical follow up interactions.
#9 – Engage Employees
Employees need to know what’s in in for them to complete training courses. When you engage your employees through training, they’ll be more likely to implement what they’ve learned. Give them a reason to pay attention and care.
#10 – Reward Successes
When you’ve applied all the employee training principles correctly, there’s still one thing left to do: Let your employees know you appreciate the time and effort they put in to learning. Look for opportunities to reward training successes, both big and small.
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