Designing and Developing Training Programs: Pfeiffer Essential Guides to Training Basics

by Janis Fisher Chan

Overview

Designing and Developing Training Programs is filled with practical information, best practices, and proven strategies. This book will help both new and experienced trainers design and develop training programs that achieve results for both individuals and their organizations while meeting the challenges of today's fast-paced, rapidly changing learning environment. Created to be easy-to-use, Designing and Developing Training Programs covers a wide range of topics, including how to:

• Ensure that training is needed, relevant, and cost-effective
• Analyze the needs and characteristics of the audience

• Write behavioral learning

• Select the right content and design activities that help people learn

• Develop effective learning materials

• Create a program evaluation

• Design virtual and remote training programs

Praise for Designing and Developing Training Programs

"Janis Fisher Chan is truly a master designer, having an uncanny ability to help people to truly think. Her book is of real service to anyone in the field of training."
—Manfred Kets de Vries, Raoul de Vitry d'Avaucourt Chaired Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and director, INSEAD Global Leadership Centre

"What makes Janis Chan's book so exceptional is the variety of challenging, content-related exercises that bring the concepts 'up close and personal' into the reader's life and work."
—Sharon Bowman, Author, Training from the BACK of the Room!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470404690
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	12/30/2009
Series:	Essential Knowledge Resource (Paperback)
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Janis Fisher Chan, a highly experienced writer, instructional designer, trainer, and developmental editor, is the cofounder of a successful training company and author of several books and training programs, including E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide and The Academic Manager's Guide to Meetings from Jossey-Bass.

Read an Excerpt

Click to read or download

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

1. The Training Plan 1

1. Why You Need a Plan 4

2. Planning Instructional Programs 5

3. What to Consider When Using ADDIE 9

What’s Next? 14

2. Analyzing the Situation 17

1. What’s a Needs Assessment? 19

2. Gathering Information 25

3. Analyzing the Information 36

4. Consider the Stakeholders 42

5. Consider the Learners 44

6. Identifying Constraints and Other Factors That Impact the Training Program Design 49

7. Determine Who Should Be Involved in Designing the Training Program 51

8. Design It or Buy It? 52

What’s Next? 60

3. Writing Learning Objectives 69

1. Why Learning Objectives Matter 71

2. What a Learning Objective Should Be 73

3. What Makes a Learning Objective Useful? 79

4. How to Develop Learning Objectives 83

5. Enabling Objectives 87

What’s Next? 91

4. Choosing the Delivery Method 101

1. Overview of Training Delivery Methods 103

2. Characteristics of Common Delivery Methods 106

3. How to Choose a Delivery Method 114

What’s Next? 120

5. Identifying Content 127

1. A Learner-Centered Approach to Content 129

2. Nice-to-Know vs. Must-Know Content 131

3. How to Identify Content 132

What’s Next? 143

6. Planning the Learning Activities 149

1. What to Consider About Activities 152

2. Components of an Experiential Learning Activity 159

3. Types of Activities 164

What’s Next? 178

7. Structuring a Training Program 183

1. What’s Involved in Structuring a Training Program 185

2. Determining the Sequence 186

3. Planning the Opening and the Closing 189

4. Checking the Timing 191

5. Identifying Visuals, Media, and Training Aids 195

6. Preparing a Preliminary Agenda 200

What’s Next? 204

8. Developing Materials and Validating the Program 209

1. Using a Training Materials Work Plan 211

2. Developing Participant Materials 213

3. Developing Trainer Materials 216

4. Developing the Slides 223

5. Identifying Materials for Activities 225

6. Validating the Training Program 225

What’s Next? 230

9. Evaluating the Results 237

1. The Function of Evaluation 239

2. Questions an Evaluation Needs to Answer 240

3. How to Conduct an Evaluation 241

What’s Next? 253

10. Designing Distance Learning Programs 261

1. Overview of Distance Learning Programs 263

2. Deciding When and How to Use Distance Learning 266

3. Design Principles for Virtual and Remote Training Programs 269

Resources 277

About the Author 281

Index 283