InVET Magazine No 3

DR DIANE VALENTI

Training vs.

School EDUCATION AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT

Corporate Training: What do You get for Your Money?

Trainers, Assessors or Talent Development Professionals?

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PAGE 6

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Enjoy the freedom and convenience of the

Statutory Education Licence The Statutory Education Licence offers an easy way for RTOs to ensure that they comply with the Copyright Act 1968 without having to obtain individual permissions or purchase expensive materials.

For more information, visit copyright.com.au or contact: Liesl Fitzpatrick Senior Manager, Education Licensing t 02 9394 7644 e lfitzpatrick@copyright.com.au

003 MARCH 2019

RTO CORE VALUES: NECESSITY OR LUXURY?

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was delivering a session about advanced assessment techniques last week, and while addressing different evidence collection methods, a participants asked me the question: “do we get extra points during a regulatory audit if we perform better than the minimum requirement? If not, why are you suggesting to go the extra mile, while other RTOs pass an audit doing the minimum?” I understood that the conversation quickly shifted from quality to compliance, and my responded was “how many quality RTOs were closed by ASQA during the last 2 years?” The answer was “... none”.

What distinguishes successful RTOs from the rest? Is it their market savvy, technological superiority, marketing, or their capable people?

These training organisations survive on their culture, essentially a manifestation of their corporate values. It is these core values that guided them to the right decisions for long-term growth and life.

Committing to sustainability is also a corporate value. Successful RTOs: l understand quality and industry relevant training l identified their core values early on l implemented them and audited them regularly l adhered to them through good times and bad l changed their strategies, but never their values.

Here’s the difference between successful RTOs and RTOs that will probably not make it through the registration period: A successful RTO’s values are set by its founders, passed down the ranks, and nurtured and sustained. Its unsuccessful counterparts make up a set of values that change with each new owners/managers, and ends up as a value statement on the company’s website that is not translated into practice within the organisation.

How Do You Sustain Corporate Values?

Managers at all levels must make the company’s core values a part of their everyday lives—not because they have to, but because they believe in them. As a result, they will be seen as role models who will encourage employees to internalize these values.

The core values must be passed down from management to trainers and other employees through internal communications.

Unfortunately, many RTOs contract very capable managers and trainers, but they don’t achieve quality outcomes because lack of CEOs leadership and guidance. Establishing, promoting and monitoring the use of core values can help you to succeed.

JAVIER AMARO (CEO INSOURCES)

DIANE VALENTI

Training vs.

School PAGE 14

Is Your RTO’s Business Model Compliant?

Trainers, Assessors or Talent Development Professionals?

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PAGE 6

Corporate Training: What do You get for Your Money?

Why provide feedback to students?

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PAGE 18-19

Improving Compliance Through Training PAGE 20-21

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ONE OF THE MAIN AREAS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO NON-COMPLIANCES WAS TH

Is Your RTO’s Business Model Compliant?

In 2018, ASQA cancels registrations or applies sanctions to 367 RTOs. It is important to find out the triggers for such a negative result.

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uring 2018 ASQA decided to either cancel registrations or apply sanctions to 367 RTOs, which represents the worse performance record for the VET sector, ever.

The number of RTOs that demonstrate compliance at the time of audit continues to be marginal, and has not reached 30% since ASQA was established in 2011. Add to this, the number of RTOs that successfully rectified non-compliances after the audit has been declining since 2014.

This situation suggests that the problem goes beyond any issues associated with implementing strategies, but instead the problem is in the design of the strategies and plans.

I am not sure that ASQA’s compliance report is a true reflection of the performance of RTOs; I suspect it is a reflection of other issues within the system, but that is a topic for another article.

The reality is that RTOs must live in the current compliance regime and, therefore, it is important to analyse

the triggers for such a negative result.

According to ASQA, the three main areas that contributed to non-compliances were: Amount of training Assessment practices, and Managing third parties.

In this article, I will focus on the amount of training, which is definitely an issue. Generally, the problem is lack of training; extremely short courses that do not provide time for students to assimilate the knowledge, and develop the skills to competently perform the required tasks under relevant workplace conditions.

I agree that competencies are the measure of success in vocational education and not the time required to get there. But learning is a journey that takes time, and time is an important factor to consider simply because individuals don’t learn by osmosis, individuals need to work through learning activities over time. The type of activities and the time required will vary depending on the previous skills, knowledge and experience of the

learner.

From a more strategic point of view, this means training providers need to plan these learning activities, including access to the resources required, and ensure they are relevant to the needs of students’ cohorts. This is all that is needed to be compliant!

During the design stage of your course, you must identify how much time your students will need to absorb the knowledge and develop the skills included in the course. If you have different students’ cohorts, you will have different strategies with different durations. As the course is implemented, there may be some variations to your initial estimated duration, due to some students completing activities at a faster pace than others, but these variations can be easily documented.

You need to establish the most suitable delivery sequence, contemplate the appropriate delivery mode, media and resources. In other words, you are required to describe in detail the students’ learning journey (inclu-

HE AMOUNT OF TRAINING ding the duration of this journey), and explain why that journey is appropriate to your students’ cohort.

The above must be reflected in the Training and Assessment Strategy (TAS), not as a report for ASQA’s auditor, but as an action plan for the provider.

The TAS is the action plan for the delivery of the course, a documented guide to deliver and assess your course. The TAS will be used by: Financial controllers to ensure the financial viability of the course (according to the business plan) Management to purchase required resources (learning, assessment, equipment, facilities) HR to contract the required trainers and assessors Marketing staff to identify the features of the training product and relevant marketing strategies Academic staff to guide their delivery and assessment activities (session plans, assessment plans, tools); and ASQA’s auditors to assess the suitability of your planned amount of training, considering the complexity of your course and the previous skills, knowledge and experience of your students’ cohort.

Finally, from the evaluation and quality control point of view, the provider must monitor the implementation of the TAS, (records of students’ attendance to learning activities, resources used, completed tasks, etc.) must demonstrate an effective implementation of the TAS. Such evaluations will provide data for future improvements and potential changes to the original TAS.

What ASQA is finding in its regulatory work is: Lack of information in the TAS (i.e. the TAS states that students will spend 450 hours online, but no information provided about what are the online learning activities to be performed, or not defining the students’ cohort). Therefore, the provider failed to demonstrate due consideration to the students’ learning journey (including the amount of training) Information presented in the providers’ TAS is not consistent with the course requirements and students’

needs (i.e. not clear how an individual with no previous skills, knowledge, or experience as a trainer can obtain a TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment within two months), and Evidence of implementation inconsistent with TAS (i.e. TAS states a duration of six months but students’ records demonstrate that most students complete the course within six weeks).

Some cases are clearly a recipe for being non-compliant, and ASQA is targeting these “high risk” scenarios.

For example, a typical Diploma of Business course that is delivered to international students during one year (40 tuition weeks, 800 hours) had an average cost of $5,000 (source: myskills). Agents charged students an average commission of 25% (some are charging 30%), which means the provider receives $3,750 per student.

STATISTICS FROM ASQAS AUDIT WORK

STATISTICS FROM ASQAS DECISIONS

Let’s do some calculations The average salary of a business trainer is $45 per hour. If the provider opens a class of 25 students, it will collect $93,750, of which $36,000 (800 hours times $45) will be paid to the trainer (not considering superannuation and other entitlements).

The average cost of a venue in Sydney is $1,000 per square metre.

To accommodate 25 students and a trainer the room should have at least 45 square metres. That represents a cost of $45,000 per year. The provider may use the classroom for three different shifts and, therefore, we can split this cost by three classes.

From the $36,000 we have left (after paying the trainer), we need now to pay another $15,000 for the classroom, which means the provider will have $21,000 left to pay for all other overheads during one year (electricity, internet, paper, software, quality control, admin staff, cleaning, etc.) and to purchase or develop quality learning and assessment resources for 25 students.

Is the above example viable?

This is only one example from the CRICOS sector, but the lack of consideration to resources required to support the students’ journey (amount

of training), affects providers for local students as well.

I agree that regulating the amount of training is a reactive measure against poor training and assessment.

But it is an attempt to neutralise and eradicate the culture of excessively short courses from our system. A culture that has contributed to devaluing VET, to the point that some employers and students perceive VET courses as a quick update of information about a task or a job, and are not prepared to dedicate enough time to a VET course.

Start with your business plan and ask yourself: is my training product viable considering the current market conditions? If so, make sure you have duly considered the learning journey (including the amount of training), has a suitable strategy been developed for the learning journey, is this sufficiently documented in your TAS, and are you continuously receiving and analysing data after implementing your strategy to confirm compliance with you own TAS. If the training product is not viable, sooner or later ASQA will find your RTO non-compliant.

Does your Training and Assessment Strategy lack information?

Providers are failing to demonstrate the students’ learning journey (including the amount of training)

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THE OBJECTIVE IN VET IS TO PRODUCE JOB READY GRADUATES

Trainers, Assessors or Talent Development Professionals?

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ow did we get here? And how are we preparing ourselves to deal with current and future challenges?

Trainers have used the concept of competency-based vocational education since the 1800s. “As man invented tools, weapons, clothing, shelter and language, the need for training became an essential ingredient in the march for civilisation.” (Cloyd S. Steinmetz, Training and Development Handbook: A Guide to Human Resource Development, 2nd Edition, ASTD, 1976) Competency-based vocational education was introduced as a component of the tertiary education system, in the second half of the 20th century. The purpose of university education differs from vocational education, while university education seeks to disseminate and further develop human knowledge, vocational education seeks to transfer competencies required to successfully perform a job.

Steinmetz provided a relevant definition for our profession as vocational trainers “... a man had the ability to pass on to others the knowledge and skill gained in mastering circumstances”.

That vocational axiom hasn’t changed with the adoption of competency-based education in an institutional setting. We still need vocational trainers to transfer the skills and knowledge they developed while performing their occupation (the occupation there are teaching).

The objective of RTOs and trainers in VET is to produce job-ready graduates.

And we do that using vocational training programs developed on performance objectives, based on tasks currently performed by workers in the relevant occupation.

The need to incorporate foundation skills, values and attitudes, to the set of cognitive and non-cognitive skills required to perform a job, has been a continuous issue for VET, considering the diversity of learners’ backgrounds and their levels of ability.

But the world of work is today’s biggest challenge for the VET system, and consequently for trainers. The increase in human knowledge and rapid pace of changes in the world of work puts the VET system and content validity under pressure.

Changes in competency benchmarks requires continuously adding and subtracting skills and knowledge to training programs and, therefore, intensive involvement of trainers in professional development activities used to maintain industry currency.

The time required to develop Training Packages, conducting tasks or occupational analysis to develop the performance objectives, used by RTOs to design their training curriculum, put the system at risk of not being responsive enough to industry needs.

The concept of accountability inherited with the definition of competency-based education, is now conceived beyond the Training Package description and requires its interpretation for a specific use. Trainers need to master the skills of interpreting/ unpacking training packages to create relevant training for students that will use the skills and knowledge learnt in the workplace context.

Where is our profession going?

The explosion of technology, including computer-based training and online learning, put new tools in the hands of trainers. Yet, how we concep-

tualise vocational training has also evolved. VET is no longer merely focused on acquiring skills through training, now consideration must be given to partnering with businesses to deliver impact.

The success of VET education lies in trainers accepting the concept and understanding how to implement it.

Research indicates that trainers tend to teach the way they have been taught, this suggests that prospective trainers should be trained in a competency-based setting if they are expected to implement this type of education.

Trainers’ credentials must provide a solid base on instructional design, adult learning principles and competency-based education systems. Relevant trainers’ forums are required to share, moderate, and further develop perspectives and skills.

We are in the profession of talent development; our profession demands continuous professional development to respond to the dynamic forces that transform the world of work.

The value of trainers is not defined by compliance, yet the activities performed by trainers must meet quality expectations described by compliance, but we can’t be trapped in the Standards’ box.

Our job is to develop human capital and support the industry to perform better, but trainers also “... serve the needs of minorities, including older persons and the handicapped, and to provide for equal opportunity and non-discriminatory treatment. Such social growth factors are among our greatest assets and are needed in the release of human greatness.” (Cloyd S. Steinmetz, The History of Training, ASTD, 1977) 7

STOP DELIVERING TRAINING EVENTS

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he reality is that training “events” don’t work. As vocational education and learning professionals, it’s time we stopped delivering training events and started delivering performance improvement processes that have learning as a key component. You don’t go to a class and next week, everything changes.

Companies invest in training and development to enhance capability and improve performance. However, to improve performance, employees have to do things differently and better when they return to work. If they don’t change their behaviors back on the job, then performance won’t change, no matter how much they learned.

As Einstein supposedly quipped: “One definition of insanity is to continue doing the same thing and expect a different result.”

People don’t change their behavior just because they learned something new.

People need to apply what they learned once they return to work if training is to produce business value. Whether or not they do so depend on how they answer two questions: “Can I?” and “Will I?” Unless they answer “yes” to both, they will slide back into old habits and the training will go to waste. Getting value from

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training requires both great learning and great learning transfer. That is why we must think beyond events.

The answer to the “Can I?” question is strongly influenced by the training itself. To say, “Yes, I can,” employees need to feel confident that they can competently perform the skills they were taught. The instructional design needs to include the right amount of content, and especially, adequate practice with feedback. However, the post-training environment also affects trainees’ belief that they can; their manager must give them the opportunity, and they need job aids and other forms of performance support to boost their confidence.

Even if employees can perform in a new and better way, they need to be motivated to make the effort; they must also say, “Yes, I will.” Many factors affect participants’ willingness to apply what they have learned; almost all of these factors occur in the post-training “transfer climate.” Support from the participant’s manager is key.

If you want your training efforts to earn greater respect and produce even greater impact, think “process” not “event.”

Plan for and influence the whole process by which training becomes performance.

We provide an independent forensic report of your current compliance status, plus a realistic, achievable, and easy to follow action plan

Determine audit objectives and scope.

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Pre-audit planning

During a teleconference or online meeting with key personnel from the RTO, our auditors will identify the primary objectives of the audit, based on the specific needs of the RTO.

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For example, an objective might be to determine readiness for a re-registration audit with the regulator; or to add a new training program to the RTO’s scope; checking the implementation of new systems, confirming the rectification of previous non-compliances.

Pre-audit evidence Students’ feedback collected through online surveys provides primary pre-audit evide.nce, and evidence sent by the RTO including: RTOs policies, procedures, marketing materials, training and assessment resources. (As per pre-audit evidence checklist agreed during the planning meeting.)

Audit findings report The RTO is provided with a detailed report including findings against the Standards, and list of recommendations including recovery actions (if required). The report is organised in two parts: audit findings and action plan.

Based on the audit objectives, our auditors conduct a risk assessment, which is critical in setting the final audit plan.

During the initialteleconference and further communications (if required) our consultant will interview the auditee to ask about activities or areas of concern that should be included in the scope of the audit (i.e. funding contracts, or previous audit results).

A final audit plan with full details of audit activities (including pre-audit evidence required) is presented andtdiscussed with the RTO prior to commencing the audit work.

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On-site audit

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The auditor will interview key personnel from the RTO, collect further documentation, observe the RTO’s operation and review internal records. An exit meeting is conducted to provide feedback to the auditee and highlight preliminary findings.

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Get a free quote today

During the audit, our auditor will conduct an entry meeting confirming audit objectives, scope, Standards and methods to be used to collect evidence during the site audit. Site audits for RTOs are conducted over one or two days (depending on scope).

Post audit follow-up A post audit follow-up teleconference is organised to discuss and evaluate the completion of the action plan, including rectifications (if required).

Email: info@insources.com.au Phone: 1300 208 774 ABN 74 625 075 041

RTO 30122

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GOOD TRAINING COURSES ARE VALUED AS HIGHLY AS ACTUAL JOB BENEFITS P

Continual training will help all of your employees to stay abreast of all of the latest business developments as and when they occur.

Corporate Training: WHAT DO YOU GET FOR YOUR MONEY?

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n today’s highly competitive business environments, it is vital that companies have well-trained staff. Any business, regardless of its size is only as strong as its weakest link. It is, therefore important that all members of staff have similar levels of ability and experience.

To achieve these high-level skill sets, many companies invest in dedicated training courses to offer continual development to all of their key personnel. In fact, for many employees, good training courses are valued as highly as actual job benefits packages. For Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) maintaining relevance of its staff’s skill sets, specially trainers and assessors, gets to the next level as currency incorporates a new dimension to

continual development.

RTOs need to achieve and maintain consistency within its staff’s skill set in areas such as: Australian’s vocational education compliance requirements, training design and delivery techniques, and assessment practices. In-house training, or public workshops are great alternatives to achieve this goal.

At the same time, due to the leadership role that RTOs are called to take in our society, maintaining currency means having knowledge of the latest techniques and processes used in the industry, possessing a high level of product knowledge produced in the industry, understand current customer needs, understanding current industry legislative requirements. Workshops, seminars, conferences, professional

associations, research activities, are some alternatives for industry specific continual professional development. To get a clearer idea of what your money gets, you need to have a concise understanding of some of the key benefits that Insources, an experienced training course provider can offer both you and your staff.

1. Addressing Employee Weaknesses All employees will have certain weaknesses in their general workplace skills. A good training course will help to identify these weaknesses and target that area for development.

The upshot being, if you identify and improve underperforming areas of your workforce’s skill sets, you will have a more balanced and dynamic working unit. For most employers this is an area that is most definitely worth investing in.

2. Improving Performance As well as targeting weakness in employee’s skill sets, a good corporate training course can significantly improve overall performance levels.

A better understanding of ever changing business procedures, and practises in the workplace helps to improve efficiency and output levels. Remember, continual training will help all of your employees to stay abreast of all of the latest business developments as and when they occur.

3. Keeping Your Employees The ability for a business to retain its key employees is vital for its future development and success.

Studies show that a higher amount 10

PACKAGES

of employees will stay with a company, if the company invests its time and money into them. Having experienced, well-trained loyal staff should be one of the main priorities for every business. Training and development courses have proven to be a deciding factor when it comes to employee retention and loyalty.

4. Tech Training In today’s fast paced technologically progressive world, and increasing regulatory complexity, employees need to embrace new tech and update compliance knowledge on almost an annual basis. This, of course, means greater efficiency for a company if their staff can learn to harness this ever-changing technical knowhow and understanding. In this area, a good training course can keep all of your employees completely up-to-date with any new changes or major technical breakthroughs that have recently been unveiled. For your business to stay competitive, your employees need to have a thorough understanding of

all of the latest technical advances and current regulatory framework.

5. Maintaining and Understanding Good Corporate Culture Regular training courses can help to establish a positive corporate culture within you business.

Courses focus on the importance of transparency communication and creativity. A healthy corporate culture within a company is conducive to efficiency, loyalty and a strong sense of value. If your employees believe in the company, they will be more productive and have a more positive outlook towards their jobs.

6. Management Training Properly trained managers understand how to do their jobs well. A major part of the job boils down to good communication skills and how well they can deal with certain situations. In the trenches on the office floor, the classroom, or on-the-jobtraining scenario, a well-trained manager will be respected, which in

turn leads to better overall performance levels. Good managers can play a pivotal role in maintaining morale and discipline. It’s well worth investing in training, to keep your mid and lower management personnel at their optimum performance levels.

If your employees believe in the company, they will be more productive and have a more positive outlook towards their jobs

7. Boosting Confidence Regular training courses can help to significantly boost the confidence of your employees. This, of course, leads to better decision making, as well as improving their ability to develop within the company. A confident workforce will be one that is not afraid to take on new challenges or make difficult decisions. This point alone is for many businesses well worth the expense of a few monthly corporate training programs.

As with most things in life, the more you put in, the more your will get out. Having well trained staff will result in higher efficiency, compliant, more creativity and above all else, greater loyalty to the company.

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WHAT ARE THE STEPS YOU SHOULD FOLLOW TO STRUCTURE YOUR SESSIONS?

Developing Session Plans Model If learners do things that lead directly to meeting the objectives, there’s a better chance that they will attain those objectives.

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n essential part of the training design is the session plan. Planning a training session includes considering the training content to be delivered, the target audience needs, and the resources available to put the training program a live.

During my experience delivering training and managing training programs I learned the importance of having a model to systematically approach the task of creating session plans. I would like to share my model in this article; you will probably incorporate other elements into

the model presented below from your own experiences and observations.

The simple five steps I follow to structure my sessions are: Rationale Objectives Activities Evaluation Feedback

Rationale Provide a rationale. Explain why learners should learn whatever you

are presenting to them. Early on in any learning session, the learners require an explanation of why they should attend the session, whether live, elearning, video-based, or in print. If the learner knows why she or he should learn something and values it, there is higher probability of learning it. This is directly tied to the principle of readiness, the trainer informs the learners about what is in it for them as well as for other stakeholders. The rationale either can provide an explanation or can lead the learners to discover on their own why they should learn this. In

? objectives. If learners do things that lead directly to meeting the objectives, there’s a better chance that they will attain those objectives. This means that the trainer creates or selects only those activities that lead the learner directly to meeting each objective. Here is one of the key benefits of this model: it is lean and focused. The rationale provides benefits for the learner. The performance objectives state the contract between the training and the learners (what they will be able to do and how well). Now, the activities cut out the extraneous and frequently disruptive noise. They focus sharply on objective attainment, noting more or less. The activities are designed to encourage (even require) learner participation. The activities should also stimulate the learners to contribute to the program with their own experiences, imagination, and judgment.

Evaluation

the rationale, you provide a form of overview of where you are heading in the session. You also build a desire to learn by underscoring how useful, interesting, and exciting this session will be to the learners.

Objective State the performance objective to the learners. Tell them clearly what they will be able to do by the end of the session. If the learners know what they are supposed to learn, there is a better chance that they will learn it. The trainer, the instructional material states the objectives meaningfully in terms of the learner and not in terms of the trainer or training system.

The trainer and/or instructional material also states the objective in concretely verifiable terms.

Activities Create learning activities that lead to attaining the performance

Evaluate learner performance.

Check to see whether they have learned. If the learners are assessed on what they are supposed to learn, there is a better chance of their learning it. It is important, however, to evaluate in terms of the performance objective and not the person.

Embedded in our competency-based system we use assessments to verify the degree to which each learner has met each objective for the desired level of performance, and we compare that level against our benchmark (in VET we use endorsed competency standards) to determine competency.

Feedback Provide feedback in terms of the performance objectives. Let learners know if they’ve got it right. If they have achieve the level of performance expected. Correct them when they go astray.

If learners receive information on how well they are learning, they tend to learn better. For this reason, it is essential that learners obtain feedback throughout the training sessions. Always give feedback in terms of the performance objectives and not the person.

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TRAINING VS. SCHOOL

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he very essence of who we are as learners, as well as how and why we are learning, is fundamentally different. So different, in fact, that it should dramatically change how you design instruction. Yet, way too often it doesn’t. Many instructional designers continue to design courses that resemble classes they attended in school.

But the Vocational Education and Training (VET) isn’t school, and the goal of training isn’t to graduate with honors or even to just slide by with a passing grade. The goal of training is to equip learners with new knowledge and skills that enable them to improve their performance at work, in our VET jargon: to be Competent.

Here are four ways that training is different than school, as well as what this means to you as an instructional designer.

Experience Counts Children are seen as blank slates to be filled in school. In contrast, adults come to training with a wealth of relevant experience and related knowledge and skills.

Here’s what this means to you. First, you need to “bake” in an explanation of how the new information fits in with what learners already know. For example, when I learned Spanish, my teacher explained that reflexive verbs in Spanish work just like they do in French. This explanation was a short cut in my learning.

Another example of “baking” is to create graphics that compare old processes with new processes or old roles with new roles. Finally, you can develop analogies to illustrate how something new is similar to something familiar.

Second, whenever possible, design activities that allow learners to learn from each other, not just the trainer. By teaching someone else, learners cement their own knowledge and skills. In addition, hearing multiple perspectives and explanations can help learners more quickly grasp difficult concepts or complicated processes.

Knowing Is Not Enough The measure of success in school is the ability to pass the final exam. But in the workplace, we get paid and are held accountable for what we do, not just for what we know.

Here’s what this means to you.

First, you must be crystal clear about what learners are supposed to be able to do, in specific, observable,

BY DIANE VALENTI 14

measurable terms, at the completion of the training.

Second, you must design a course that drives to this goal. Specifically, this means the course: Is organized around the specific steps to do whatever the goal is rather than organized thematically around the content.

Includes only information that is essential or important to achieving the goal. Nice-to-know information, such as background or theory, has been stripped away.

Includes plenty of relevant skill building practice activities.

Immediate Application Rules In school, the only application expected is for students to complete and turn in homework on time. In the workplace, the stakes are much higher. Learners are expected to demonstrate improved job performance as a result of attending training.

Here’s what this means to you. First, you need to make sure the content is actionable. This means that you’ve broken it down explicitly enough and provided sufficient tools and templates that learners have the ability to apply what they’ve learned when they get back to work. Second, you’ve worked with management to ensure the training is offered just in time so that learners have the opportunity to immediately apply what they’ve learned back on the job.

Relevancy Is Essential In school, relevancy meant it would be on the test.

In the workplace, it means the information is relevant to enabling learners to achieve the goal of the training.

Here’s what this means to you. First, you absolutely must perform a gap analysis to determine what learners already know. If you design a course that starts off covering information learners already know, many learners will mentally check out. Unfortunately, they will not check back in when the course starts to cover new information. The result, of course, is that learners don’t learn what they are supposed to learn.

Second, you need to scour the course content for “nice-to-know” information and then get rid of it. I think of each piece of content as a stepping-stone in a path towards the goal of the course. That path should be as straight and short as possible.

And each stepping stone should be absolutely essential.

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ROI Institute Australia www.roiinstitute.edu.au Phone: 02 9053 1737 ABN 47 092 449 780 | RTO 30122

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EMPLOYEES SPENDING LESS TIME AWAY FROM THEIR JOBS

From blended to flipped learning An effective flip requires careful preparation—the same as every other learning solution

16 InVETMAGAZINE

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ocational education and training professionals are all familiar with the common demand from employers and learners: achieve higher levels of learning and performance with fewer resources—and with employees spending less time away from their jobs.

Flipped learning is one model training organisations around the

world are embracing to meet bottom-line demands, maximize value, and increase quality productivity.

Already popular in higher education, the flipped learning model is gaining momentum in vocational training.

Training organisations in Australia have been using “blended” delivery modes to maximise

effectiveness of training resources for more than two decades, but flipped learning may provide a different focus to this blended approach. Although there seems to be no single model for the flipped classroom, the term is widely used to describe almost any class structure that provides pre-recorded lectures, reading materials, and self-directed exercises followed by

a classroom, workshop-based learning experience. In this way, class becomes the place to work through problems, advance concepts, and engage in collaborative learning.

The good news is that the flipped model can provide learners with a new way to integrate the best of classroom learning with self-directed, learner-generated activities.

The downside Flipped learning is easy to get wrong. Sure, the concept seems straightforward, but an effective flip requires careful preparation—the same as every other learning solution. Recording lectures and preparing pre-course materials still requires significant effort and time, and out-of-class and in-class elements must be carefully integrated for learners to understand the model and be motivated to prepare for class.

In particular, designers need to keep in mind four key aspects of the flipped classroom model: n Demonstration and application:

networking and discussion boards? n Experiential engagement: What sort of hands-on activities maximize in-class time? How can we leverage games, simulations, labs, and other experiments? n Concept exploration: What other media-rich tools, such as video and audio lectures, will reinforce learning, and when should we use them?

Are our trainers prepared for flipped learning?

Clearly, introducing a flip can mean additional work and may require new skills for the trainer. It is important that training organisations upskill trainers’ capabilities to ensure they can design and deliver effective training solutions using a blended delivery mode, before considering flipped learning

Provide learners with a new way to integrate the best of classroom learning with self-directed, learner-generated activities

How can we develop materials that support learner-generated personalised projects and presentations? n Meaning making: What sort of pre-class activities help learning stick? Should we use blogs, podcasts and videos, and social

InVETMAGAZINE 17

THE POWER OF FEEDBACK

WHY PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO STUDENTS?

Research shows that when people don’t know what to do, feedback can be demotivating.

18

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any trainers find the topic of providing feedback confusing, and some colleagues only look at regulatory implications of the trainers’/assessors’ feedback, so I thought it might be a good topic for review.

To better understand feedback, let’s define what it is and what it

should do. The kind of feedback I’m talking about is written or verbal responses to answers or performance on questions or activities.

The main purpose of feedback is to reduce gaps between current competencies (skills, knowledge and performance) and desired competencies (skills, knowledge and performance).

Feedback has been shown to help learners most when it specifically addresses forgotten information or strategies, difficult aspects of performance, or a faulty interpretation (misunderstanding), explains Hattie and Timperley in their article on Review of Educational Research, “The Power of Feedback.”

Feedback doesn’t help nearly as

much when it addresses a lack of understanding, as this implies that the training didn’t meet its goals or has one or more of the following problems: n Training didn’t consider the prior knowledge levels of participants (for example, we assumed they knew more than they did) n The delivery of training is problematic (for example, participants were unable to find or review parts they sought to review) n Content, practice, or assessment elements are problematic (for example, there is inadequate practice to help remember or apply training on the job).

Trying to fix a lack of understanding in training is generally beyond the scope of feedback. Even well-written feedback, given in the right circumstances, cannot always help because participants don’t always understand or use it.

Feedback Types and Conditions Hattie and Timperley reviewed training feedback meta-analyses (a statistical approach to combine results from multiple studies), to show what types of feedback are likely to help the most and the least. The most powerful outcomes came from feedback about tasks and how to do them more effectively. Goaloriented feedback and cues (hints) could also be effective. The least powerful outcomes came from prai-

se, rewards and punishment (extrinsic rewards).

They also looked at how to make effective types of feedback work well. Remember at the beginning of this article I said the main purpose of feedback is reducing gaps between current competencies and desired competencies. Hattie and Timperley explain that to reduce this gap, feedback must answer three questions: n What are the goals? n What progress am I making towards these goals? n What do I need to do to make better progress?

Clear goals along with knowing where you are and how to progress, target the right places to focus effort to reduce gaps between current knowledge and actual performance and desired knowledge and performance. Some feedback strategies work opposite to this and include non-specific or fuzzy goals, accepting poor performance, and not offering enough information. Research shows that when people don’t know what to do, feedback can be demotivating.

Goals must supply actions and outcomes for a specific task or performance. They must also include

success criteria that allow for consistent performance when facing common obstacles. In other words, goals are defined in the units of competence. Feedback cannot lead to a reduction in the “gap” if the goal and the criterion aren’t clear.

Otherwise, people may rely on any method that works (for them), and their methods may have undesirable consequences.

Telling people how they are doing shouldn’t wait for summative assessment. People need specific feedback against specific goals (with success criteria) while learning so they can learn to self-correct.

Feedback is required also in formative assessment activities, even if those activities are not used to make a competency judgement.

I hope you can see that feedback is complex, and we shouldn’t write it only as an add-on response to assessments, or to meet compliance requirements. We need to better integrate feedback into the design of instruction to support learning.

The main purpose of feedback is to reduce gaps between current competencies (skills, knowledge and performance) and desired com-petencies (skills, knowledge and performance).

Reference: Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback.

Review of Educational Research.

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TIPS FOR DESIGNING AND FACILITATING TRAINING WITH COMPLIANCE IN MIND

Improving Compliance Through Training

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hen navigating a heavily regulated industry, such as our VET industry, you can find yourself in a sea of external and internal standards that require personnel compliance with processes, procedures and documentation. Designing and facilitating high-quality training is one approach to improve employee compliance we have been using at Insources for more than 10 years.

Here are four tips for designing and facilitating training with compliance in mind.

Don’t Just Answer “Why” An important element of adult learning programs is defining “why” learners are present. But sometimes the answer might be the boring reality that training is simply a mandatory requirement for a regulatory authority, such as the required PD for trainers. In other cases, training may be a result of a recent incident, a very common scenario for safety training. While these reasons are 20

valid, it’s also important to answer “why” with a response that stimulates engagement. If one of the training goals is to change attitudes or behaviours, which may lead to greater compliance, then trainers need to explain why training is essential to the learner’s daily function, role in the organisation, or career development.

Often when I’m personally delivering compliance training, I engage learners immediately by using the storytelling technique, which is one way to address this issue. An effective story will not only captivate your audience’s attention, but it can also help you establish credibility. Storytelling can help trainers quickly build a frame of reference for learning and explain why learners should remain attentive throughout the course. More importantly, it demonstrates a personal understanding of the learners’ struggles with compulsory training.

Simplify Technical Content When Possible Resources for compliance

D.

training are usually full of legal jargon. If feasible, summarise and simplify regulatory or technical information. Translate technical language into specific, clear and actionable items.

Complex background information does need to be presented, but trainers should be concise and hone in on the take-away items learners need to know and perform on the job.

Easy-to-use support materials or job aids, such as checklists and flowcharts, can help break down and simplify the behaviours and actions required to achieve compliance.

Consider All Perspectives In many cases, compliance training focuses on delivering case studies and reports that document incidents, and cases that stem from “what not to do”.

Although it is important to learn from these types of case studies, trainers should seek out and highlight case studies that document successful behaviours.

Be sure to give equal time to

strategies, best practices and examples of the positive results that occur because of adhering to quality standards. It is particularly important to use case studies and examples that demonstrate the value of meeting compliance requirements.

Lead with Attitude Don’t limit your leadership to the confines of formal training.

When you engage attendees with pre- and post-training communication it demonstrates effective leadership, clear communication and genuine interest outside of scheduled training hours. Your actions may encourage learners to adopt similar attitudes.

No doubt, captivating storytelling, easy-to-understand summaries, relevant and diverse case studies and positive leadership can lead to increased compliance with policies and procedures. But keep in mind that training is only one method to change behaviours and improve compliance—and it may not be the solution for every performance problem.

21

AUSTRALIAN VET ENVIRONMENT

Compliance starts with communication

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hen you look at the statistics published by ASQA, and the results from its regulatory work, they show the darkest face of VET. Since AQTF 2001 was implement, I wonder if we have been stuck in a continuous cycle of simply raising awareness and checking the compliance box.

Most of the work around compliance has been about the regulation: “The VET Quality Framework”, and not about what we are regulating: “Competency-based training and assessment practices”. But the true behaviour change we need, requires activities to help VET practitioners to visualise and build skills required to implement a complex competency-based training and assessment system, not legal practitioners working to comply with legal instruments.

We failed to create formal or informal opportunities to build and apply principles of instructional design that supports competency-based vocational education relevant to the Australian VET environment.

Consultations and other consultative approaches have not successfully exposed potential pressure points within our system, neither explored competing perspectives of different VET players that occur in real life. Instead, policy makers, regulators, training providers and industry continue to work in isolation.

How we communicate the core message Compliance is a difficult issue to tackle because it is about performance and, therefore, it depends heavily on communication and practice.

Internal communication within RTOs Managers need to play a key role in the effective communication of these performance objectives.

Simplifying current regulatory statements, providing clear and relevant points about abstract policies and showing

how those policies apply in real-life situations, are other ways to promote better understanding.

Individuals working in the sector need to build the skills required to interpret regulatory compliance and implement complex technical processes. Such training must be contextualised into the RTO’s environment this can be done by using relevant and real examples, instead of using “ideal world” examples which pose the risk of disbelief.

The discussions about compliance must value the diversity of perspectives and experiences within the sector, incorporating them will provide a frame of respect and sensitivity around vocational training and education issues; it can also promote greater efficiencies within the system. The notion of “this is how we do it” from one side, or “this is how it’s always been done” from the other side, can be a blocking mechanism to effective change and growth as a sector.

It’s no secret—countless research studies have demonstrated that behaviour change unfolds in phases and takes time, consistency and relevant interactions.

Changing the behaviours described in ASQA’s report will not be the exception.

By providing open communication channels and relevant training, RTO managers can help staff (including trainers) understand the effect of their decisions and the difference they can make to achieve quality outcomes and compliance.

The above rationale can be extrapolated to other players within the system, including the regulators. Issues with inconsistencies and poor performance of ASQA’s auditors, training package writers and policy makers, can be improved by adopting open communication channels and relevant training.

In competency-based vocational education not only students are accountable for their own learning, all stakeholders are accountable for their own performance.

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