Page 157 - Making Instruction Work

chap 13 3/11/97 5:06 PM Page 143

content derivation 143

because there are some safety precautions to learn or common
errors they should be able to avoid, or because they don’t yet
know how to recognize what the desired performance looks
and feels like (you don’t want them to practice until they can
monitor their own performance).
Sometimes, they aren’t ready to practice now because they
don’t believe that what they’re supposed to learn is valid; they
don’t believe it will work. For example, those who don’t believe
that self-managed work teams work aren’t ready to practice
working in such an environment. Something needs to be done
before initiating practice exercises to convince them that such
work teams do indeed work. (Perhaps a demonstration or a
game would be appropriate.)

The Hard Part

The procedure for deriving content is relatively simple. The
hard part is getting used to the idea that the current lesson
probably contains quite a bit more content and activities than
needed to accomplish the objective. (Not long ago my col-
leagues and I found that a group of manager trainees would
become better performers if a well-tabbed three-ring binder of
information were used to replace the entire 18-week course
they were required to attend. This is not to suggest that any or
all of your courses should or could be replaced by a job aid; it
is only to remind you that efficient instruction often requires
that at least some content in an existing course be dropped. Or
saved for another course.)
You know how it goes. We all have our favorite topics, war
stories, anecdotes, and demonstrations. We like the subject we
are teaching, and we are all wrapped up in it. That being the
case, discovering that some or all of what we do in the class-
room can be better done without can be something of a blow
to the ego. But if we are serious about making our instruction