Personal Responsibility - I read with interest some posts on a e-mail list to which I subscribe, complaining about being responsible for things outside ones control. The specific context of the remarks were trainers being responsible for student ratings on course material that they [the trainers] did not write.
In my humble opinion, the trainer makes or breaks the class.
With the best of materials or the worst of materials - it is the trainer who makes or breaks the class.
With the best of labs or the worst of labs - it is the trainer who makes or breaks the class.
With the best of catering or the worst of catering - it is the trainer who makes or breaks the class.
I think you get the idea.
The way you frame each and every issue that arises in the delivery of your class, determines [in advance] the outcomes for each student and the recollection [and evaluation] they will make from your class.
I've seen great materials torn to shreds in the mind of students with the off-hand comment of an inept trainer, and similarly I have seen lousy material, delivered in a lousy facility, with lousy catering - and the students determined that it was the best training experience they ever had.
We all need to take responsibility for every perception and conclusion drawn by our students. If we don't - we will never deliver an outstanding result.
One of the things I teach my trainers is that the evaluation is in your hands. Entirely in your hands. For example - one trainer scored lowest on the question "The labs provided the details needed while also challenging me to remember the concepts previously covered." [3.92 to be precise - on an instructor average rating of 4.49]
My suggestion for him to raise this result is to pre-frame the transition into the lab with the phrase "This next lab is wonderful. It will give you an opportunity to practise what we've been learning about so that you can remember the concepts we've previously covered." And then to conclude that segment with a phrase like "Wasn't that great - now you'll really remember the concepts we've covered"
As simple as this sounds - it will dramatically boost your scores, and more importantly the students perception of what they've learned.
If you'll indulge me one more example, another trainer [who is outstanding] scored consistently low in our previous evaluations where students were asked to rate "Were the course objectives clearly stated?" and "Overall did the course meet these objectives" She did. She was just not using the word "objectives" when she went through the objectives...
So this little rave is over - we all are personally responsible for the outcomes we give and we get in our classes.
6:14:16 AM 
|
|
