Conducting training for adults is very different from training school kids in a classroom. The way adults learn and respond is very complex. As a trainer, you always want to deliver the best knowledge and prove valuable to your students. As important as your teaching content is, you must also acknowledge the fact that it is not just the content that matters; the way you teach also plays a big part.
That is why some trainers become the best in their field and some never make it up the ladder. When you’re dealing with adults especially, you have to devise ways to make your training more engaging and fertile. In this article, we’ll talk about how you can create the best training content for your adult students and what training methods prove to be the most successful in what situations.
Key Elements of Good Training
Look at it from a trainee’s point of view. Let’s say you took management lessons from two management gurus. You can easily tell which trainer was better. But why? There are certain qualities that a student seeks in training. If you want to become a great trainer, you must ensure that you follow the basic elements of good training.
Purpose of Training – What is the purpose of your training? What knowledge do you aim to impart to your students? Is it basic or advanced level training? Understanding your audience and their skills help you determine the clear purpose of your training, on which you can base your course curriculum and content.
Engagement – People learn more when they are actively involved in training. Do you engage your audience well enough? Speaking loudly and clearly, interacting with your students at regular intervals and developing an individual rapport with each one of your students will help you engage them effectively.
Retention – Are your students able to retain what you’re teaching them? Studies have shown that people tend to only remember 10% of what they read or hear, and about 90% of what they see, hear and practice. To ensure that your students can retain what they learn for longer, devise teaching methods that involve students’ active participation.
The outcome of Training – Are your students able to achieve the desired results after attending your training? Were you able to teach new information and skills? Are their knowledge and skills enhanced at the end of your training? Delivering the expected results is a basic element of any training, and you cannot compromise on this.
Designing Training Content
There are many factors to consider when you are teaching adults. Remember that there could be technical gaps, their classroom skills might be rusty because they have been out of the classroom for a long time, and not all students will possess the same skills or knowledge. Being creative is the key to designing the best content for your adult students. Sometimes it might be a good idea to hire a content writer.
Mode of Instruction – The first step towards building your training content will be to determine the mode of instruction that you’re going to follow. Is it going to be online training or classroom training? Is it group training or individual training? Choose an appropriate mode of instruction that responds to the subject and student expectations.
Duration of Training – Depending on how intense, elaborate, or basic your training is going to be, determine the duration of your course. It could be a one-day session or a month-long training course. If you are developing an online training programme, decide on the number of lessons/modules that will be needed.
Course Outline – Prepare a course outline depending on how much needs to be taught in the specified time. Clearly identify and mention the lessons in a sequenced manner, starting with basic skills/information before moving to more complex issues.
Theory and Practical Lessons – To ensure that your students are effectively engaged and understand as much of your content as possible, build a balanced training programme with an appropriate number of theory and practical lessons. For instance, a soft-skills training programme will include more theoretical lessons. In contrast, if you’re giving guitar lessons, more practical training will be required.
Assessments – To track your students’ progress, including frequent assessment methods in your curriculum. Devise different methods through which a student’s performance can be evaluated. It could be through quizzes, tests, projects, and a final assessment.
Training Delivery Methods
In addition to the course content, a good training programme involves unique and creative methods to make learning more interactive and effective. Here are some key training methods that you can implement in your next training programme.
Classroom Training and Lectures – Classroom training or a lecture is basically an educational talk in front of an audience. It is best to conduct this type of training when technical or academic lessons are to be taught to a group of students.
Experiential Training – Experiential learning is the process of learning through experience. When students get a well-designed hands-on experience of a new skill or concept, it easier to retain the knowledge and understand the concept better. Experiential training comes in handy when you’re teaching a completely new skill.
Case Study and Group Discussions – Case studies and group discussions enable students to understand lessons in a more practical and interactive manner. It is also a good way to evaluate a person’s understanding by offering real-life examples and asking the students to identify solutions to them. Dividing your class into small groups and offering a platform for group discussions ensures active participation of all students and ensures critical thinking.
Games and Activities – Classroom sessions and lectures can sometimes become boring and less interactive. Devise games and interactive activities to help students learn complex skills in an interesting manner. Games and competitive activities create a fun learning environment in which students can grasp concepts quickly and implement them better.
Projects and Assignments – Individual or group projects are a great way to reflect a person’s understanding of a concept. Projects and assignments can be allotted to students when a technical area needs to be understood more clearly. It could be in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, research report, or a detailed article.
Self-Study – While creating your course content, you can also include some self-study material. Self-study allows students to learn skills on their own with the help of specially designed study materials. At the end of the self-study session, you can include a quiz to evaluate understanding of the concept.
Traditional teaching methods in which the teacher reads out a lesson and students take notes might still work at the school level, but they are not going to work the same way with adults. When you teach adults, you must awaken their curiosity and their desire to learn by making your lessons more entertaining and interesting. While you do this, you must also ensure that all the necessary concepts and skills are duly imparted. All in all, good training is a combination of quality content and excellent teaching methods developed skillfully to bring out the best results.
