Clip & Save - American Society for Training and Development reference guide - Brief Article

Training & Development, July, 2001

Info-line is ASTD's how-to reference for training and performance professionals, with practical, concise information in an easy-to-read format that gets readers up-to-speed on training topics in a matter of minutes.

A technique called interactive lectures (or lecture games) combines elements from the lecture method of training and from training games. Interactive lectures preserve the structure and control of lectures, yet still have the interest and excitement of play.

This issue of Info-line contains detailed instructions for conducting six different types of lecture games. A job aid at the end of the issue shows you how to design your own interactive lectures by mixing and matching key design elements.

Design        What Does the
Element       Presenter Do?
Debriefing    Conduct an intense experien-
discussions   tial activity that provides a
              metaphor for some concept,
              skill, or principle. Facilitate a
              debriefing discussion that
              encourages participants to
              reflect on the experience,
              share insights, and plan for
              future applications,
Participant   Permit participants to control
control       the content and sequence of
              the presentation.
Coaching and  Demonstrate a skill to a
feedback      small group of participants.
              Ask these participants to
              teach others through one-on-
              one coaching techniques.
Job aid       Demonstrate the use of a job
walk-through  aid so participants can per-
              form the required task by us-
              ing the same job aid in a
              new context.
Design        Example
Element
Debriefing    The presenter asks teams to come up
discussions   with suggestions for marketing a new
              project-and keeps changing the
              nature of the product and the require-
              ments of the task. After sufficiently
              frustrating the teams, the presenter
              debriefs participants through a dis-
              cussion of strategies for coping with
              rapid change.
Participant   Each team interviews the presenter
control       for 10 minutes on the training topic.
              At the end of these interviews, the
              lecturer is given 10 additional min-
              utes to explore relevant topics
              that were not discussed during the
              interview.
Coaching and  The lecturer demonstrates a card trick
feedback      to six participants who are divided
              into two teams of three members.
              Members of each team recruit and
              train other participants using individ-
              ual coaching strategies. At the end
              of the specified time, the team that
              trained the most people wins
              the contest.
Job aid       The lecturer uses a job aid to demon-
walk-through  strate the proper use of video-editing
              equipment to an individual appren-
              tice, while other participants observe
              this interaction and follow along
              with their copies of the same job aid.
              The presenter periodically replaces
              the apprentice and repeats the
              demonstration.