Instructional Design for Action Learning - by Geri McArdle (Paperback)

About the Book

As a professional development trainer, do you ever wonder if people are really listening--or if they'll remember what you said enough to see the impact of your lesson? Discover the training strategies that help learners deeply absorb material to achieve measurable results.

Book Synopsis

This book gives you all the guidance and exercises you need to incorporate action learning into every training you conduct.

A trainer's job is to ensure their lessons stick, which means relating lessons to their trainees' own on-the-job experiences. Author Geri McArdle teaches trainers how to do this by using the strategies of "action learning" in their lesson design and presentation to help learners better absorb the material.

Filled with examples of easy-to-implement action learning techniques, Instructional Design for Action Learning shows you how to:

• create fun and memorable activities that match participants' needs, learning styles, and levels of understanding;
• encourage learners to build on their own experiences;
• evaluate learner mastery during the entire learning event;
• strengthen learning transfer back on the job;
• and accurately measure post-training results.

By providing trainers with the tools they need to make real learning happen, this essential guide strengthens the value of your program--and the job performance of those you train.

From the Back Cover

Let's face it: most people's instinctive response to training tends to run something like, "Oh, no! I need to be getting work done! I don't have time to be away from my desk, participating in exercises that have nothing to do with my actual responsibilities!" And while some participants come in with a bright and cheery attitude, eager to be engaged in training that might help them some day, the fact is that there's a very good chance that by the time "that day" arrives, they'll have forgotten most of what they may have learned.

It's your job as a trainer to make sure that that doesn't happen. Widely recognized as being at the forefront of educational theory, the method known as Action Learning engages training participants immediately, immersing them in learning events by having them actively relate practical lessons to their own on-the-job experiences.

Filled with examples of action learning techniques you can easily implement in your training design and delivery, this book shows you how to:

- Create fun and memorable activities that match participants' needs, learning styles, and levels of understanding.

- Encourage learners to build on their own experiences.

- Evaluate learner mastery during the entire learning event.

- Strengthen learning transfer back on the job.

- Accurately measure post-training results.

The book walks you through the six fundamental steps necessary for superior instructional design, from defining the need for training, to planning, to delivery, to evaluation. Filled with numerous examples of active, thought-stimulating learning techniques, Instructional Design for Action Learning shows you how to engage participants and appeal to all learner styles and learning levels; identify and manage difficult learning situations (and people) when conducting training; and facilitate both small and large training groups easily and effectively.

It's a fact: Training participants learn and retain more by relating lessons directly to their own work. With organizations increasingly more insistent that facilitators provide lessons with measurable results that will immediately boost performance and the bottom line, it's crucial that learners walk away armed with the benefit of real tools. This book gives you all the guidance and exercises you need to incorporate action learning into every training you conduct.

GERI McARDLE, Ph.D., has been a practitioner in the human resource field for 20 years, and has published numerous books and articles on HR development and training. She has served as coordinator of a Ph.D. program in HR development at Barry University in Fort Myers, Florida, and is one of the ASTD seven master trainers recognized by T+D.

About the Author

GERI MCARDLE, PH.D. has been a practitioner in the human resource field for 20 years, and has published numerous articles on HR development and training. She has served as coordinator of a Ph.D. program in HR development at Barry University in Fort Myers, Florida, and is one of the ASTD seven master trainers recognized by T+D.