Final+Instructional+Strategies

Note to Group A:
The strategies below include elements common to all of our proposals. Everyone did a really nice job contributing some very good ideas and it was difficult to boil it down to just three final strategies. I hope you are satisfied with my selections. Please feel free to contribute your advice/criticisms on the group project forum as needed.

-Trevor

=Final Instrucional Strategies=

The volunteer will be given a manual containing an overview of the objectives and lessons of the training. Expectations for desired outcomes of the training will be explicitly presented in order to save time and potential confusion. Training will be broken down into small modules each of which will focus on a specific skill desired of the volunteers i.e. names of artists, exhibits, and/or museum procedures. Each module will end with a short assessment and each new module will begin with a brief review of the module before it. At the end of the last module an assessment of all material covered in the training manual will be given in order to ascertain the competency of the trainees in the skills desired of them. Also, trainees will be free to take the manuals home between lessons in order to review the material by themselves and hopefully generate independent interest and motivation. In addition, trainees will be allowed to follow experience employees of the museum on tours at their leisure.

Rationale:
Breaking the expected learning down into separate modules within a single manual follows the principle of segmenting and allows learners time and space to focus on one piece of learning at a time. It also gives learners a very clear idea of what they are learning, what they will be expected to know, and where they are in the learning. Also, a manual can continue to serve as a resource long after training is over.

A special section of the training will be devoted to an online tutorial in Excel provided by Microsoft concluding with a test for comprehension and ability at the end of the module. This will then be incorporated into strategy 1 during the walkthrough training segment to allow trainees to demonstrate and test their abilities in the actual environment in which they will be working.

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Learning Excel in a short period of time would best be served by a supplantive learning strategy. The online tutorial format is ideal for teaching skills in software applications since it is direct, highly focused, and proven in the field to deliver results.. Furthermore, Microsoft is highly experienced in this field=====

Strategy 3:
Training will consist of a "walk-through" style presentation led by a qualified staff member or manager of the museum versed in the skills desired of the volunteers. Students will be given a checklist of skills and information which will be checked off as they go through the walk through. The course will consist of two halves. The first half will involve the mostly passive introduction of knowledge by the walk through leader to the learners. The leader will then ask each learner to perform the skill just taught to their satisfaction i.e. "Find Mr. Smith in the database and change his phone number" or "Give me a tour of the museum". The second half of the course will consist of the learners walking the leader through the desired skills and explaining/demonstrating them. This will allow the leader to both watch the volunteers at work and to witness firsthand any shortcomings in their abilities and to pose difficult scenarios to test their abilities.

At the end of the course the leader can share his/her impressions with the trainees and provide immediate feedback on what they are doing right or wrong.

Rationale:
This is a simple, low-tech, and direct way of transmitting the desired skills and performance expectations directly to the volunteers. It also serves the dual purpose of allowing the volunteers to learn and demonstrate knowledge and the leader of the walk through to assess them, twice. It therefore allows a tremendous amount of exposure between trainees and trainers while imparting the desired skills. It is also highly economical in terms of wages and man-hours.