Training for a pavement management system: Experiences from New Zealand

Road & Transport Research, Mar 2003 by Pradhan, Nabin K, Wilson, Douglas J, Dunn, Roger C M

These pilot courses were comprised of the presentation as well as the hands-on training with the computer software application. The pilot study participants were included five teams made up of a major road network management consultant and a road controlling authority for each of the five regions represented. The pilot study training courses were undertaken in four different locations throughout NZ. The course materials and the presentation methods were progressively refined for each course.

In each of the pilot training courses, the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire to be used for the further improvement of the training courses. Participants' suggestions for the improvements to the courses included (HTC 1999a):

* The management level course had too much technical detail and not enough on general principles of asset management and pavement asset management;

* More time was needed especially for 'hands-on' examples/case studies and experience;

* The training manual required a step-by-step guide (a 'dTIMS for Dummies'), especially for supporting the dTIMS software; and,

* More time was needed for training (a few suggested 7 days although this was partially due to participants requiring some general computing tuition), but the practicalities meant that about 2.5 days was probably the maximum time that anyone could arrange from his or her busy work schedule.

Following the pilot study training, a one-day technical workshop was held in June 1999 for the pilot testers to share their experiences of using the preliminary dTIMS System, and to finalise the refinements needed in the system. It was found that all of the participants who attended this workshop significantly benefited by sharing their experiences in using the system.

Training course program refinement

The experience and feedback from the pilot study training courses and the workshop were used in designing the standard dTIMS training courses to be used on an ongoing basis. The following modifications were made to the pilot study training program, based on this feedback:

* The duration for the training was shortened to 2.5 days against some of the participant's suggestions. The principal reason for this was that presenters had become much more proficient in their objectives and delivery methods, therefore requiring less time than was required for the original pilot studies. Furthermore, the materials had improved, and some of the case studies originally undertaken in the pilot training courses were taken out of the course and developed into step-by-step tutorials in a new dTIMS training manual.

* User-friendly and comprehensive training manuals were developed so that the users could work and learn independently by following through the manual and tutorials, once they had taken the training course and were back at their offices.

* Each course module was developed in a complementary but modular way. However, trainees were required to progress from one level to the next without missing a course level. This 'building block' approach has made it possible for a trainee to have a break after each module to continue work back at the office and to become more familiar with the system and therefore to become better prepared for the further training, which they could recommence later.