Flipping the Classroom and Other Strategies to Creating Effective Trainings
This blog post provides information about the breakout session on Saturday, July 2, 2016 at NASN2016.
Have you ever wondered why staff so quickly forgets what they have been trained to do? How can you create songs, dances, poems, and dramas about how to respond to a blood exposure incident only for staff to ignore the entire procedure when exposed to blood?
I have spent months throughout my career trying to create trainings that will lead to positive change and ensure healthy, safe learning/working environments for our students and staff. Everyone needs universal precaution training. Teachers need to know how to handle common health concerns in the classroom. Bus drivers need to know how to handle health concerns on the bus. Lunchroom monitors need to know about protecting students with allergies and how to handle choking emergencies. Non-nurse personnel need to know how to administer medication and handle health concerns in your absence. The list goes on and on. How do we make these trainings count?
Adult learners don’t always learn quite like their miniature counterparts. Malcolm Knowles’s Adult Learning Theory makes five assumptions about adult learners:
1. They are more self-directed. They may learn more from figuring it out themselves.
2. They have experience from which to draw. Use that to your benefit and allow the group to learn from each member’s experience.
3. They are most ready to learn when the subject relates to their role. Make sure course content directly relates to their role in the school. It may be hard for teachers to learn how to respond to body spills from a video about how custodians should clean up body spills.
4. They want problem-centered information that they can apply now. While not all information we share with staff can be used immediately, they can be left with some action steps to take now (such as locating where gloves are in the building and ensuring a set is with them at all times).
5. They have an internal motivation to learn. Even those most squeamish about learning to administer rectal diazepam are internally motivated by protecting a student from a lengthy, potentially life-threatening seizure.
Many of the assumptions about adult learners can be applied when developing trainings that extend beyond a classroom setting into the digital world. Offering a “flipped” class is one way to use the most of your time with staff to get the important information to staff consistently AND when and where they can best learn. Learn more about Flipped Classrooms and other tools that can take your staff trainings to the next level at my NASN conference breakout session on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 9:15 a.m.