Moving from training to teaching

ABSTRACT

Training at Drew University has been done mostly in an intense and concentrated format. With only an hour to train customers, we have to pack as much content in as possible. The problem with this method manifests once our customers return to their offices. Unable to immediately put into use all of what they learned, it may be days or weeks before they attempt a particular task they learned in a training session, and they have forgotten how.

In an attempt to provide extra learning opportunities and to explore another method of training employees, the Staff Technology Development Seminar was created. This seminar provides instruction on software packages and their uses. Instead of a training methodology, a teaching methodology was used. The students attended class for two days a week, received homework and reading assignments. They were instructed in the logic of how the software was designed to be used, and taught how to use that logic to accomplish a series of tasks, both individually and in a group.

The Staff Technology Development Seminar is entering its second year, and this paper is intended to cover the creation of the resources needed for the seminar.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.m Miscellaneous

General Terms:
Experimentation, Human Factors, Performance

Keywords:
advanced training topics, staff development, training