We recently had the opportunity to interview Heather Heward, a wildland fire instructor, who attended the Transfer Design program. Here are some highlights from our conversation:
WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO ATTEND THE TRANSFER DESIGN PROGRAM?
“I wanted to get help applying the concepts of transfer effectiveness to my field, and I wanted to have a dedicated reason for digging into the concepts of the book. I also wanted to see what training was like that was designed to be effective.”
WHAT BENEFITS DID YOU EXPECT FROM THIS TRAINING AND WHAT BENEFITS DID YOU ACTUALLY GET?
“I expected to see experts in action, and that is just what I saw. The physical and virtual resources that came with the class were a huge bonus that will continue to serve me.”
DID YOU HAVE ANY MAJOR AHA MOMENTS (KEY INSIGHTS) FROM THIS PROGRAM?
“Making better training happens one small improvement at a time, and if you begin at the end and work backward, you will reach your training goal.”
YOU’RE IN A VERY INTERESTING FIELD. COULD YOU SHARE WHAT YOU DO AND HOW YOU ARE IMPLEMENTING THIS TRAINING INTO YOUR WORK?
“I teach about wildland fire – not just how to put fires out but how to use fire as a tool to keep nature healthy. This is tricky business, and fire managers need to be proficient at their jobs so they can protect life and property AND improve the health of the ecosystems that depend on fire to be healthy. I used what I learned in this training to design a course on how to use fire – it’s called being a Burn Boss. There is a lot to being a burn boss as you could imagine and attending a 40-hour training is not going to get you there. The Transfer Design program helped me design elements before, during, and after the class that will help increase how the training is implemented. There are some cultural changes that will take time, but I believe the results will show that this training is producing the impact that we need in this field.”
HAS THERE BEEN AN IMPACT ON ENGAGEMENT AND EFFECTIVENESS SINCE YOU STARTED INCORPORATING THE TRAINING?
“Definitely. Partly because I am more confident in what I am doing and why. All the elements of the training are now very strategic, and I can help the students really centre on the purpose of training and how to get the most out of it.”
IN YOUR CERTIFICATION ASSIGNMENT, YOU MENTIONED THE USE OF THE BRINKERHOFF STUDY. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DID WITH THE BRINKERHOFF STUDY IN YOUR CERTIFICATION ASSIGNMENT?
“To start off, I included the Brinkerhoff Study as part of my opening activity to discuss the HOPES of the participants. I began by reminding the participants that they and their employers had invested a significant amount of time and energy into the class. I then highlighted the need for additional actions to promote transfer to maximise the benefits of the training. I explained that by studying what the trainers want them to get out of the training, participants will be able to notice when they are acquiring that information, which can help them to get more out of the training.”
HOW HAVE THE PARTICIPANTS REACTED TO THIS EXERCISE, AND WHAT HAS IT ACCOMPLISHED/CHANGED IN YOUR OPINION?
“My first observation is that this has a huge impact on the TRAINERS. They have never been asked this question before and when they step back and actually think about what they want the students to get, they become more invested in getting the students there throughout the training. It breaks them out of the boring old Course Objectives stuff. This exercise gets the students’ attention and sets a mindset of “I will work to get more than 15% out of this training.” I think for this to really work, I need to circle back around to it during the more directed transfer planning section which is currently not very well established in this training. Ideally, students would review this sheet at the end of the training and evaluate whether the objectives were met.”
WHAT TIPS OR BEST PRACTICES CAN YOU OFFER FOR OTHERS WHO WANT TO USE THIS TOOL? WHAT ARE YOUR LEARNINGS, DO’S AND DON’TS, AND WHAT SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND?
“People who are about to put on a class are often overworked, so don’t make this a burden. Make a new one each time the course is taught to feed on the energy that the cadre has at the moment. And as I said, circle back around to these with the students AND later the cadre to see if the objectives were met. In addition, make sure to clearly communicate the purpose of the Brinkerhoff Study and how it can help participants get more out of the training. Finally, encourage participants to reflect on their own HOPES for the training and how they can take ownership of their learning.”
LAST QUESTION: WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THE TRANSFER CERTIFICATION PROGRAM? AND TO WHOM?
“I would recommend this program to anyone involved in teaching and designing training. You will gain more from this class if you have a direct application for the material – so come with a challenge you need to solve. Also, plan to spend time after the training applying what you learned. There is so much material in this course that it has taken me a while to go through it. I am glad that it took me a while because it allowed me to soak in the material.”
Overall, it’s clear that the Transfer Design program not only had a significant impact on Heather’s work as a wildland fire instructor but can be applied to almost any industry or field where instructional design and training is needed and executed.
We’d like to thank Heather for her time and her in depth insights into the program. For more details on the Transfer Design program click here.
