Skills-Training Versus Dynamic Learning Activities: Which is Best?
This series of questions about dynamic learning activities comes from my nuclear Human Performance friends in Romania. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to respond! I do want to include a quick disclaimer, especially since I am very opinionated when it comes to training and adult education: As a reminder for all of the content on this site, the following responses are solely my views and do not necessarily reflect my previous employers or current client relationships.
Before I share the questions, I have to lead with a break down of what Skills-Training and Dynamic Learning Activity Training are supposed to be accomplishing.
Employee Skills Training
When I think of "Skills-Training" I revert to Human Resources ways of thinking about training: Skills-Knowledge-Attitudes (SKAs) derived from the three ways humans learn, Hands, Head, and Heart, also known as Learning Domains. The traditional employee on-boarding SKAs developed for each position in organizations are where adult educators develop the training needs analysis results from for any organizational position. All training after that is either pro-active, or necessary because of identified gaps.
(Super long side note: Attitudes should NEVER be considered Abilities, and if you think so, you are wrong: Abilities are Skills - Click here for just one of the many uses that really frustrates me. Some HR specialists believe that Abilities are the capacity in how to use a skill, such as "Stamina" - and that's an interesting way to look at it. However, it is still not a substitute for Attitudes. Let us see how you measure capacity fairly and show me where it is in any learning realm, and I'll start listening.)
Dynamic Learning Activity
The purpose of a Dynamic Learning Activity (DLA) is to provide an opportunity for workers to use their skills, knowledge, and attitudes while performing tasks/activities in a somewhat simulated work environment. In addition a DLA can be used to detect latent organizational weaknesses and improve work processes and procedures. Because they can be designed to target certain gaps in an organization or learning, DLAs can be used as a corrective action to serious issues, but aren't as often thought of when developing specific skills-training. Perhaps DLAs are a way to exploit learner "Abilities" to see how well they use their proper SKAa.
Components of a Dynamic Learning Activity
A Dynamic Learning Activity has four parts:
- Facilitator introduction
- Pre-activity briefing with the participants
- Activity
- Post-activity critique
During the post-activity critique, the strengths and areas for improvement are discussed. The emphasis is on critical self-evaluation in a non-threatening environment. The learning comes from two sources:
- The interaction and collaboration during the activity.
- While discussing strengths and areas to improve in the conclusion.
DLAs are all the same in that you can get out of it, what you decide to put into it. One of the things that makes them "dynamic" is that from class to class, different outcomes may be possible and students may have deeper experiences than others based on their engagement level. You will typically be graded by participation, not by test scores. DLAs are also used to create an engaging environment where it is okay for the learners to fail, and to fail safely.
The Questions
- Are DLA courses usually recorded on personal Job-Related Training Requirements data base?
A training database's primary function is to prove students were present during a course and whether or not they passed the evaluation for the course if there was one. The Learning Management System that drives this database also has uses for audits, corrective actions, scheduling, and formal learner qualifications to provide proof they are currently qualified to work on certain equipment at the facility. If proof that the employee participated in the experience is necessary, I would certainly include the training in the database.
Where DLAs can be very different is that they can be stand-alone, or in addition to training courses that already exist.
- Usually for these DLA courses, the participants get "Credit" or the have to be evaluated by the instructor based on a check-list, and get a percent to pass the course?
The evaluation methodology is always up to the designer and the mission of the training and can certainly vary in application. If a student is actively participating and trying to learn or practice, that should be enough in most cases to consider them passing.
- Do DLA courses need refresh sessions, or they should be re-activated when needed?
I would make sure considerations are made for new employees or contractors whom may have missed the original training course, but sometimes it is no longer relevant to the issues they were created for in the first place. I would suggest once a certain targeted population is reached, run it again, but only if it is still applicable.
- Should DLA courses be developed based on real plant configuration or should be something totally different (like a child game), but treated as a real work?
What professional organizations are most afraid of is that the training will be thought of as a joke if all you do is play games. There should be a compelling reason for why that activity was created or applied to the concept - there has to be a solid link. Without that link, learners, observers, and management could have a poor view of activities in the classroom. Some trainers do it well, and some just play games.
The closer you can make the activity to real-life work, the easier it will be for participants to adopt lessons learned into their work. The key is to make the learning easy enough to apply to real work, otherwise, it's probably not worth the effort.
The pictures in this post were all taken from our classrooms in the past 4 weeks. Notice how involved, happy, and mindful to the subject the learners appear. Activities certainly have their time and place, and IMHO training designers should be focusing on game design as well as training design.
Recently, we have been adapting our company's model to also assist organizations in creating appropriate learning activities for given organizational gaps. If you're interested in learning more about that, please feel free to contact us.
I sure hope I did the questions some justice and created some food for thought. I really appreciate thoughtful inquiry. Any other questions or maybe you'd be okay sharing your responses to the questions?
