| Learners change training |
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8 February 2006 ©2006 - Campus Review |
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John Mitchell's 'INSIDE VET' column It is tempting for training providers to modify their delivery methods based on only general ideas of what their learners want. One Australian training provider has reversed this common pattern by redesigning its delivery methods, based on findings from research it conducted into its learners' needs and preferences. An external reward for the provider, the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS), was to win the Australian Training Initiative Award, presented recently in Perth. QAS Principal Educator Rosemary Gore says that some of the initial change drivers for QAS to revamp itself came soon after it was endorsed as a registered training organisation in 2003. "Training is critical for our staff, both for new recruits and to ensure existing paramedics - especially those in remote locations - can perform optimally in emergencies." But Staff Satisfaction Survey reports indicated there was a problem: "There was poor satisfaction with the in-service education and skills training provided, and the organisation was experiencing difficulty in getting buy-in for learning activities from rural and remote staff," says Gore. The previous approach was to deliver most programs face-to-face, requiring staff to travel to metropolitan centres for blocks of classroom training. QAS has 2,600 staff spread across the whole of Queensland, and this inflexible approach to training was not working, says Gore: "Our employees were disengaged from learning, and were often not attending training or taking inordinate lengths of time to complete qualifications, or complaining about the training being offered." Characteristics of this previous approach to training were, according to Gore, "didactic training, block release sessions, expensive travel requirements, paper-based resources, isolated educators and less than optimal student outcomes". The response by QAS to the discontentment of its learners was unconventional: with funding from Reframing the Future, it commissioned Dr Elaine Roberts to conduct an action research project to identify a learning system that would meet the needs of its student base. The research project found that many learners' disengagement from their learning was "compounded by problems of distance, travel costs and limited access to effective technology", says Gore. "However, the most startling finding was that the most regular way to learn was from mistakes - clearly not desirable from the organisation's or the client's point of view, given the critical nature of the work!" Another finding from the research was that rural and remote paramedics preferred learning delivery methods at "the low end of the technological continuum, such as face to face teaching, CD ROMs, emailed notes and presentations and videoconferencing," says Gore. Students were clear: they valued learning opportunities that were "interactive, in real time and provided rapid feedback". Having clarified the learners' preferences, Gore and her team set about developing what they call the "Flexible Learning Organisation Initiative". Elements of this initiative included the development of an e-learning network of leaders, the production of online and CD-ROM teaching materials, the provision of online support for learners, the use of high-quality videoconferencing, and the provision of online forums for problem-solving. Some features of the new approach are blended learning methodologies to allow much of the delivery of the Diploma of Paramedical Science to take place in the regions and the construction of digital learning objects for training in topics such as pain management. QAS also developed multimedia and CDROM teaching tools, to provide consistent content across the organisation. Gore volunteers that the learning methodologies now being used by QAS, "while very innovative in an emergency services environment, would not be considered cutting edge in the wider VET sector". But what is outstanding, says Gore, "is the sound analysis of learners' needs that underpins our new approach". Also impressive is the result of the new approach: the effective re-engagement of its staff as learners. Contact rgore@emergency.qld.gov.au Dr John Mitchell is a specialist on VET strategy, change and workforce development. Contact johnm@jma.com.au or go to www.jmablog.com
Research by QAS revealed that their staff were interested in learning provided it was:
Source: QAS |