Chapter 7

Traditional Training Methods

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2010 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Presentation Methods
Methods in which trainees are passive
recipients of information, which may
include:
facts or information
processes
problem-solving methods

It includes lectures and audio-visual

techniques.
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Presentation Methods (cont.)

Lecture
Trainers communicate through spoken words
what they want the trainees to learn.
Least expensive and least time-consuming
ways to present a large amount of
information.
It is easily employed with large groups of
trainees.
Supports training methods such as behavior
modeling and technology-based techniques.
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Table 7.1 - Variations of the

Lecture Method

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Presentation Methods (cont.)

Advantages

Disadvantages

Team teaching

Brings more expertise and

alternative perspectives
to the training session.

Require more time on the

part of trainers.

Guest speakers

Motivate learning by bringing

to the trainees relevant
examples and applications.

Presentation does not

relate to the course
content.

Panels

Good for showing trainees

different viewpoints in a
debate.

Trainees who are relatively

naive about a topic may
have difficulty
understanding the
important points.

Student
presentations

Increase the materials

meaningfulness and trainees
attentiveness.

Can inhibit learning if the

trainees do not have
presentation skills.
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Presentation Methods (cont.)

Lecture

Lacks participant involvement, feedback, and

meaningful connection to the work
environment.
Appeals to few of the trainees senses
because trainees focus primarily on hearing
information.
It is difficult to judge quickly and efficiently
the learners level of understanding.
Is often supplemented with question-andanswer periods, discussion, video, games, or
case studies.
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Presentation Methods (cont.)

Audiovisual instruction - includes
overheads, slides, and video.
Video is a popular instructional method
used for improving communications skills,
interviewing skills, and customer-service
skills and for illustrating how procedures
should be followed.

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Hands-on Methods
Advantages
Video

Flexibility in customizing the

session depending on trainees
expertise.
Trainees can be exposed to
equipment, problems, and
events that cannot be easily
demonstrated.
Trainees are provided with
consistent instruction.
Provides immediate objective
feedback.
It requires minimal knowledge
of technology and equipment.

Disadvantages
Too much content for
the trainee to learn.
Poor dialogue
between the actors.
Overuse of humor or
music, and drama
that makes it
confusing for the
trainee to understand
the important
learning points
emphasized in the
video.
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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Training methods that require the trainee
to be actively involved in learning.
On-the-job training (OJT) - new or
inexperienced employees learning in the work
setting and during work by observing peers or
managers performing the job and trying to
imitate their behavior.
Can be useful for training newly hired employees,
upgrading experienced employees skills, crosstraining employees, and orienting transferred or
promoted employees to their new jobs.
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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

On-the-job
training (OJT)

Advantages

Disadvantages

Customized to the
experiences and abilities of
trainees.
Training is immediately
applicable to the job.
Save costs.
Can be offered at any
time, and trainers will be
available because they are
peers.

Managers and peers may

not use the same
process to complete a
task.
Overlooks that
demonstration, practice,
and feedback are
important conditions for
effective on-the-job
training.
Unstructured OJT can
result in poorly trained
employees.
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Table 7.2 - Principles of On-theJob Training

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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Advantages

Disadvantages

Allows trainees to learn at Trainees must be

Self directed
learning
their own pace and
motivated to learn on
receive feedback about
their own.
employees take
the learning performance. Higher development
responsibility for all
aspects of learning Requires fewer trainers,
costs.
including when it is
reduces costs associated Development time is
conducted and who
with travel and meeting
longer.
will be involved.
rooms, and makes
multiple-site training
more realistic.
Provides consistent
training content.
Makes it easier for shift
employees to gain access
to training materials.

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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Advantages
Apprenticeship Learners can earn pay while
they learn.
Involves effective learning
work-study
training method
about why and how.
with both on Results in full-time
the-job and
employment for trainees
classroom
when the program is
training.
completed.
Meets specific business
training needs and help
attract talented employees.

Disadvantages
High development
costs.
Increased time
commitment required
of management and
journey workers.
Limited access for
minorities and
women.
No guarantee of fulltime employment.
Training results in
narrow focus
expertise.
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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Simulation - training method that
represents a real-life situation, with
trainees decisions resulting in outcomes
that mirror what would happen if they
were on the job.
Is used to teach production, process skills,
management, and interpersonal skills.

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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Case studies - description about how
employees or an organization dealt with a
difficult situation.
Trainees are required to analyze and critique
the actions taken, indicating the appropriate
actions and suggesting what might have been
done differently.
Assumes that employees are most likely to
recall and use knowledge and skills if they
learn through a process of discovery.
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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Appropriate for developing higher order
intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis,
and evaluation.
Help trainees develop the willingness to take
risks given uncertain outcomes, based on
their analysis of the situation.
The case may not actually relate to the work
situation or problem that the trainee will
encounter.
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Table 7.5 - Process for Case

Development

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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Business games - require trainees to
gather information, analyze it, and make
decisions.
Is primarily used for management skill
development.
Stimulates learning because participants are
actively involved and games mimic the
competitive nature of business.

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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Involves a contest among trainees or against
an established criterion such as time or
quantity.
Designed to demonstrate an understanding of
or application of a knowledge, skill, or
behavior.
Provides several alternative courses of action
and helps estimate the consequences of each
alternative with some uncertainty.
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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Rules limit participant behavior.
Should be simple enough and should be
debriefed by a trainer to ensure learning and
transfer of training.

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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Role plays - have trainees act out
characters assigned to them.
For role plays to be effective, trainers need to
engage in several activities before, during,
and after the role play.
Role plays differ from simulations on the basis
of response choices available to the trainees,
the level of detail of the situation given to
trainees, and the outcomes of the trainees
response.
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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Behavior modeling
Demonstrates key behaviors to replicate and
provides trainees with the opportunity to
practice the key behaviors.
Is based on the principles of social learning
theory.
Is more appropriate for teaching skills and
behaviors than for teaching factual
information.
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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Developing behavior modeling training
programs requires determining:
the tasks that are not being adequately
performed due to lack of skill or behavior
the key behaviors that are required to
perform the task.
Key behavior - set of behaviors that are necessary
to complete a task.

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Table 7.7 - Activities in a Behavior

Modeling Training Program

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Hands-on Methods (cont.)

Behavior modeling
Modeling display - key behaviors that the
trainees will practice to develop the same set
of behaviors.
The display presents models engaging in both
positive use of key behaviors and negative use.

Application planning - prepares trainees to

use the key behaviors on the job.
It involves having all participants prepare a written
document identifying specific situations in which
they should use the key behaviors.
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Group Building Methods

Training methods designed to improve
team or group effectiveness.
Involve experiential learning. Four
stages of this are:
gain conceptual knowledge and theory.
take part in a behavioral simulation.
analyze the activity.
connect the theory and activity with on-thejob or real-life situations.
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Group Building Methods (cont.)

Adventure learning - focuses on the
development of teamwork and leadership
skills through structured activities.
Includes wilderness training, outdoor training,
drum circles, and even cooking classes.
Best suited for developing skills related to
group effectiveness such as self-awareness,
problem solving, conflict management, risk
taking.
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Group Building Methods (cont.)

Adventure learning
To be successful:
Exercises should be related to the types of skills
that participants are expected to develop.
After the exercises, a skilled facilitator should lead a
discussion about:
what happened in the exercise.
what was learned.
how events in the exercise relate to job situation.
how to apply what was learned on the job.
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Group Building Methods (cont.)

Team training coordinates the
performance of individuals who work
together to achieve a common goal.
Teams that are effectively trained, develop
procedures to identify and resolve errors,
coordinate information gathering, and
reinforce each other.
The three components of team performance:
knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.
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Figure 7.3 - Main Elements of the

Structure of Team Training

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Group Building Methods (cont.)

Action learning
Gives teams or work groups an actual
problem, has them solve it and commit to an
action plan, and holds them accountable for
carrying out the plan.
Addresses how to change the business, better
utilize technology, remove barriers between
the customer and company, and develop
global leaders.
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Table 7.9 - Steps in Action

Learning

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Choosing a Training Method

Identify the type of learning outcome
that you want training to influence.
Consider the extent to which the
learning method facilitates learning and
transfer of training.
Evaluate the costs related to
development and use of the method.
Consider the effectiveness of the training
method.
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