Classroom Activities
Bridging the Need
INL Predeployment Program, managing Projects Module (2014)
Challenge: This module takes place on the afternoon of day 6 of an 8-day in-person training program (it’s a Saturday). The participants are experts in their fields who have most likely managed domestic projects. Additionally, some may have experience managing projects while on an international assignment while others may have no experience managing projects all together. Some basic project management content was required by the client, but we had ample room to be creative.
Strategy: I wanted to build this module to flex depending on the experience and expertise present in the room. I also wanted it to ignite meaningful discussion surrounding likely problems an advisor may encounter while on assignment. Lastly, I wanted participants to be able to be active, lead their learning, and have some fun.
Solution: To avoid talking at them or below their incoming level, I framed the basic content as a common foundation for discussion. I then designed most of the session to be an experiential activity with debrief. Of course, no advisors would be building a literal bridge during their assignments, but the scenario gave us some good opportunities to build analogies for discussion.
Treat a Casualty
INL Predeployment Program, Person Health & Safety module (2014)
Challenge: This module takes place on day 7 of an 8-day in-person training session (it’s a Sunday). Some of the participants are former law enforcement and well-versed in this topic area. Other participants are lawyers or administrative personnel and may have no training/experience in this area.
Strategy: Since resources were limited for this module and we were confined to a classroom setting, I wanted to design a solution that would allow the participants to have some physical movement and practice. More so than just reacting to an injury, we needed advisors to quickly access the situation and consider their own safety before getting involved.
Solution: I created role-play scenarios to get participants thinking about situations they may encounter and also scenarios that allowed the facilitator to highlight key reactions, such as using a makeshift tourniquet.
Person Profiles
Office of Justice Programs Training, GMS Dashboard Features module (2011)
Challenge: A new dashboard feature for the grants management software system was being rolled out. However, it had a steep learning curve to use. We were not able to avoid a classroom session for training or able to influence the design of the dashboard to be easier to use.
Strategy: Since we had access to a computer lab and test environment for the training, I designed the training to focus on authentic practice opportunities and troubleshooting.
Solution: After a brief overview of the system’s benefits, features, and new jargon, we had participants first complete some guided practice of setting a dashboard up for a colleague in the test environment. Then, we had them set up their own dashboard in the live environment.
