HSM Training Guide - Section 3

HSM Training Guide

3. Summary of Delivery Methods

Training accessibility is essential to reach the largest audience and support successful implementation of the HSM. Highway agencies operate on limited budgets and opportunities for training personnel may be limited because of travel restrictions. Potential delivery formats may include, but are not limited to: instructor-led workshops, webinars, webinar discussions supported with advance materials, or on-line self-paced training.

With instructor led workshops, the instructor and the students are located in the same facility. This style of training allows for the most interaction between the instructor and the students and provides opportunities for group activities. It also provides students with the opportunity to network with other students in their field and hear various perspectives on how to incorporate the knowledge. While this method may be the best for keeping students engaged in the learning, it may be more expensive if participants are required to travel to attend the training.

Web-based training delivers training through the computer using any combination of video, text, and audio delivery of concepts. The biggest advantage of web-based training is that it allows a student to take a course on-line at his or her own pace and convenience. This delivery method has the greatest potential to reach the largest audience. Unfortunately, this method does not allow for interaction with an instructor and the participant has the responsibility to contact individuals during or after the training if there are any questions. Participants also do not benefit from the discussions typically generated by the questions of attendees at on-site instructor-led workshops. Another disadvantage is that this learning method leads to understanding at the lower cognitive level. In other words, the participants are only able to recall facts (e.g., what is regression to the mean), rather than being able to perform synthesis and evaluation tasks (e.g., conducting an EB analysis and interpreting results).

The success of web-based training is highly dependent on the course design and interface followed for the particular training material. With web-based training, it is also important to consider how different learning styles will be accommodated and whether participants will have a means to engage in discussions and active learning exercises during and after the training session(s). It is important to note that these types of activities are usually not included in traditional web-based training because of the significant resources required to develop the materials.