IV. Participant will demonstrate knowledge of the components of the TRIM process

TRIM Process - Develop Activities

The objectives provide the foundation for the training plan. Desired outcomes of the training should result when the objectives are completed by a trainee. The activities provide the vehicle by which participants are moved toward completion of an objective. From the participant's perspective, the activities are the way by which they get in touch with the content. The training objectives take on meaning for our participants as we engage them in the various kinds of activities we have designed.

A helpful rule of thumb for staff development planners is to develop two or three activities per objective. Depending on the complexity of the objective, five or six activities might be appropriate. We should assume that if a body of content warrants an objective being written around it, then it surely needs more than a single activity to carry it out. What we know from surveying the adult learning literature, is that the most efficient way to assist people to successful completion of a training objective is to involve them in varying approaches to the new learning, each reinforcing the other. For example, a lecture by an 'expert' is a typical lead off activity in many trainings. A valuable, reinforcing activity to follow the lecture might be an opportunity to observe the new 'thing' on a video during which participants work in partners to identify examples of the 'thing'. The activities are chosen with a specific purpose in mind and always referencing the objective.

As training activities are written, it is important to bear in mind that they should describe what it is the trainee or participant will be doing. Examples of participant oriented activities might be:

Participate in lecture/discussion.
Complete an exercise.
Lead the group in an activity.

Click link to view a Planning Form in Word format with activities included which will meet the objectives and ultimately achieve the desired outcome. Click link at right to view form in pdf format.

Considerations that contribute to high quality training activities include:

the activity should match the outcome (i.e., a skill outcome training needs activities that allow for practice, lecture or reading alone wouldn't be adequate).
the activity should contain a verb(s) that clearly indicate what will be done;
completion of an activity should have a logical link to performance of the objective;
a completed training plan should include activities of varying types as reflected in the following graphic.

Percent of Retention Compared to Method of Teaching

The following shows how different instructional approaches and outcome levels affect participants' retention.

Source: Early Prevention of School Failure, An NDN nationally validated model; Dr. Lucelille Werner, Director, 114 North Second Street, Peotone, IL.

When the training activities have been developed, the planning of the training session is nearing completion. The outcome has been determined, a set of objectives have been tailored to achieve the outcome, and the activities you will conduct in the training have been determined.

The final piece in the training plan is to develop evaluation strategies for assisting us as trainers in knowing whether or not we have been successful in guiding our training participants toward successful completion of the objectives.