Page 206 - Making Instruction Work

chap 16 3/11/97 5:10 PM Page 192

192 making instruction work

Technical Review
It is always helpful to have a colleague or two look through
the material to make sure there are no technical errors. If you
really need help with the technical accuracy, you might con-
sider a colleague review before the module tryout. If you are
the technical expert and just want to make sure you haven’t
made any big boo-boos, then do it after the tryout. The proce-
dure is the same as that described above for the self-paced
course, except that you would not need to watch the review.
You would hand, or send, the materials to the colleague along
with appropriate instructions and request for assistance. And
you would be certain to follow Step 8 in the previous instruc-
tions (i.e., thank profusely and record the person’s name, cor-
rectly spelled).

Caution #1: Though asked for comments on technical
accuracy, your colleague may feel compelled to make com-
ments on your instructional approach: “That’s not the way I
teach”; “It’s never been done that way”; “You’ve left out some
of the theory.” Your response should be to smile, thank the
individual for the assistance, and then feel free to ignore all but
those comments that relate to technical accuracy.

Course Tryout
When each of the modules has been tried out at least once
and revised on the basis of the information collected, and you
have sequenced the individual lessons into a course, you will
be ready for a full-course tryout. Here’s how.
1. Collect all the things you will need to conduct the
course. Refer to the modules; they should each begin
with a list of the items required for the instruction. If
you don’t have everything you need and that you think is
reasonable to expect, or that you were counting on, use