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Section Page
Training Needs Analysis.............................................................................3-4
Session Plan................................................................................................4-5
Training Session......................................................................................... 5-7
Review & Evaluation................................................................................. 8-9
Improvements and Modifications.................................................................9
Appendices..................................................................................................10
Training Needs Analysis
The Training Needs Analysis (TNA) was carried out before the course commenced thus, I the Trainer, was better equipped to design the training programme. It gave Trainees the power to predetermine what they wanted to learn. This was done by asking four pertinent questions which would establish the following:
1. Who are the Trainees?
The seven Trainees’ profiles are members of the general public who are interested in attending the training course “Fire Safety in the Home.” Some of the Trainees were understandably nervous as they had not attended an educational training course since attending school. There was no pre-requisite for attending this course. It will be a challenge to work effectively with a range of learner groups. Consideration was given to the fact that a number of the Trainees divulged the fact that they had a past negative experience to courses which were not training led but delivered in a lecture/presentation style. I also attached a Honey and Mumford style learning quiz and I told them to return it to me via mail or email. I received them all fully completed and they displayed a wide variety of preferred learning styles. I would have to take these into account when designing and developing the course.
2. Why do they need training?
Overall, the Trainees expressed their desire to make their homes safer and less likely to be a fire hazard. They wanted to be informed and more confident around fire detection equipment and the types and quality available on the market. They stated that they wanted to become confident on what to do if there is a fire in their home. They also wanted to know what kinds of fire extinguishers are available and their effectiveness’s on different sources of fires. They also wanted demonstrations on how to use the fire extinguishers.
3. How much do they know?
Most of the Trainees said they have a basic knowledge, some said that they did fire extinguisher training when they were in secondary school which was now long forgotten. One of the Trainees has a very high academic achievement but it is not related to fire safety so everyone is at a basic/foundation level of fire safety knowledge.
4. What do they need to know or be able to do?
The structure of the course will be based on the information received by the trainees. They want to know the following:
Ø To be able to list the different types of fire detection tools most suitable for household use; they will in turn be able to determine what best suits their needs;
Ø To be able to list the five steps of raising the alarm;
Ø To be able to identify the four types of fire extinguishers;
Ø To be able to demonstrate how to use a fire extinguisher;
Session Plan
Training Objective: At the end of this course trainees will be able to identify the four main types of fire extinguishers. This objective was both observable and measurable with the aid of the quiz.
The total time allowed for this particular training session was ten minutes. To meet the set objective I needed to have a clear plan which allowed me to cover all the relevant and most important details in such a short time frame.
Structure and content of the training course: Time allowed (minutes)
Welcoming back and review of last session 1
Introduce topic and training objectives 2
Explain the colour coding of each extinguisher 1
Explain each individual extinguisher 4
Summary and question and answer session 1
Hand out quiz and training evaluation sheet 1
Total time taken: 10
Training Session
I prepared materials for different levels and interests:
I welcomed them to the class; I posed a number of questions to the trainees this made the review task orientated. I did this by posed a number of questions to them, these questions allowed them to realise the foundational work they covered last week and that they were building on this knowledge. I hoped it would make them more comfortable interacting with me and the group as whole would be more cohesive.
I told them:
I told them the sequence of events and what they would be learning to do. I told them that this weeks’ session was about the four main extinguishers. I invited them to ask questions; “As always please ask questions if you are unsure of anything. There is no such thing as a silly question”. I drew the Trainee’s attention to the fact that they course notes were in front of them and I also made them aware that they were free to make their own notes. (These notes were the power point presentation printed three slides per page the printing options also allowed space to make notes). I handed one of the Trainees a Dry Powder Fire Extinguisher. I told them that their full attention should be focused on the label which was a blue colour. I drew attention to the fact that I would explain strengths and limitations of this extinguisher later in the course. This, I felt, was a good way to physically introduce a fire extinguisher and get comfortable holding it which would be important for the next session. I set out the training objective: “At the end of this training session Trainees will be able to identify the most appropriate fire extinguisher for a fire”. I explained the information contained within the power point presentation and I used my hands to emphasise the important additional information.
I told them what I said I would tell them:
I went through the power point and I also added some ultra important information such as the following:
Water: the cheapest and most widely used fire extinguisher. I set the following question to the trainees who were unable to answer: “Why can we never use a water fire extinguisher on an oil or electrical fire”? I told them that it did not matter that no one knew the answer, “that we were all here to learn”. I think this helped the trainees feel that they were in a safe environment where learning and participating are encouraged.
Foam: more expensive than water but more versatile.
Dry powder: often termed the multi-purpose fire extinguisher. I told them what I said I was going to tell them earlier in the class when I handed out this particular fire extinguisher. I also sold the benefits of knowing the different colours of the fire extinguishers and the perils of using an inappropriate fire extinguisher on a fire for example using a water fire extinguisher on an oil based fire....”the fire will spread faster and they will only have exacerbated the problem!!”. This tied in with the point I had made the previous week about the importance of assessing the fire and not playing the hero if they are any way unsure of the fire extinguishers use or the source of the fire itself
I told them again:
Repetition is so important from a training point of view because it gets the trainees familiar with the information and more importantly only the most relevant information gets told. From a psychological point of view it means that the trainees are not overloaded with information in their short term memory, repetition allows it to be stored in the long term memory, stored and “filed” away in their mind where hopefully when it is needed it will come to the fore.
I did a quick recap of the course again, this time I held up colour cards to emphasise the importance of colour in relation to labelling. It also feed into the visual aid of some of the trainees as this may be some of their visual learning style and helps to retain the name of the fire extinguishers and they colour coding associated with them. I also allowed time for a question and answer session.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the course and the training objectives I handed out a quiz. I explained to the trainees that I wanted them to fill it and I also told them that there was an explanation on it and they simply had to mark if true/false and make it using T/F. The quiz allowed me the Trainer to insure that the trainees knew how to identify the correct label to the colour or contents. It was observable and measurable.
The second form of evaluation was in the form of a feedback form. Only the most important questions in direct connection with the course were asked. It had six questions which required a direct answer by ticking the appropriate level between Strongly Agree – Strongly Disagree. I allowed space at the end of the page for Trainees to make their own comments and views known. They may spot an area for improvement that I overlooked. Again this allowed me to focus on what the trainees hoped to get out of the course, hopefully I would have covered what they wanted by carrying out the TNA before the design stage but if there was an oversight it would allow me to rectify it and as a result improve the effectiveness of my training.
While the trainees were completing the feedback sheet I told them that we would be continuing on with the fire safety course next week by looking at and examine the mechanisms of a fire extinguisher and how to physically put out a fire. I thanked them for their attention and cooperation and that I looked forward to seeing them all next week.
Review and Evaluation
I had no prior experience of giving a training session. My aim for attending the Train the Trainer course was to learn how to deliver a training session that would be interactive and allow for trainee participation. I feel that at the end of the course I could do this. The Fire Safety course delivered by me really highlighted that I could achieve what I set out to do. The TNA allowed me to set the pace of the entire training course. For this particular module it was clear that the trainees needed to know the very basics. It allowed me to respond to their aspirations and goals as a group. It also allowed me to apply my learning from Train the Trainer to this session delivery. They needed to be clear on the colour coding of the four extinguishers. Consequently, I was prepared to rephrase a misunderstood question or clarify on any of the detail contained with the presentation or the extra information I told them in relation to each extinguisher.
There was a good atmosphere because of the physical layout of the room which allowed me to easily interact with the trainees and they could interact with each other if we needed to start a debate or discussion. I was able to observe everything that was happening and gauge that the trainee’s interest in the topic was high if it was a case where their interest had dropped I would try and strengthen it by splitting them into groups and getting them to do a task, luckily I did not have use this tactic . I changed around their seating from last week by placing their name cards in a different order so that the trainees to get to know other people in the group. The rules and code of conduct were already established from the first lesson and I put this sheet up on the wall, this also helped me to control challenging behaviour and it made the trainees feel safe and secure in the knowledge that any information they shared would remain confidential. This in turn created a supportive overall learning environment. It is important that I give the trainees constructive feedback on the quiz at the next session they completed for this lesson. This will allow them to learn from their mistake which in reality could cost them their life, for example, mixing up the colour coding and then accidentally using it on the supposedly correct source of the fire. Their evaluation will help me to adopt my delivery style and assessment methods accordingly. If the trainees are not doing well it is because my training sessions are failing them. As it is my duty to give them the knowledge and skills to be able to correctly identify the correct fire extinguisher for the different sources of fire. I had a flip chart prepared as a contingency plan; I thought this was a good idea because it is very easy for technical equipment involved with a power point presentation to fail a flip chart is not something which is good planning and foresight for a short course.
Improvements and Modifications
Upon reflection, if I had more time available I would have prepared a physical exercise to take into account Honey and Mumford’s different styles of learning by handing out five pictures of different sources of fires. I would have given them a red, cream, blue and black sticker. I would have added the additional difficult picture to examine if the trainees fully understood the training session. By getting them to participate it would drive home the importance of being able to identify the fire extinguisher under time pressure constraints of two minutes this would make them realise that if there is a fire in their home they will be in shock and they will need to remain calm and in control of the situation. It would stimulate their minds and help them store it in the long term memory hopefully this will aid them in a crisis. The physical element of learning will be utilised in next weeks’ training session as I will be demonstrating how to use a fire extinguisher correctly and then the trainees will each have to do it in their turn.
APPENDICES
1. Copy of power point presentation and handouts for the delegates
(These handouts were the same as the power point presentation I just printed off three slides per page which automatically added space for note taking);
2. Course feedback form;
3. Copy of quiz which measured the success of the learning objectives.
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