ASSIGNMENT: BEST AND WORST TRAINING EXPERIENCES ESSAY
Create an 8 to 10 page essay (not including cover and reference pages) analyzing one of your best training experiences and one of your worst training experiences. Be specific in discussing what made the experiences good or bad. Please review the content of learning theories, the design of training, training evaluation, transfer of training, and training methods. This material should be reflected in your essay.
Your essay should include brief descriptions of the training experiences:
• The target audience
• The objective(s) of the training
• The training site
• Training methods used
Your analysis should include:
• An assessment of the specific factors that contributed to the success or ineffectiveness of the training; for example, consider these questions:
o Did the training achieve its objective(s)?
o Was the training site conducive to learning?
o Were the methods chosen appropriate for the topic and the audience?
o Did you have opportunities to practice and receive feedback?
• A discussion of the learning theory or theories that you believe guided the training .
• A discussion of how your learning as well as the effectiveness of the training were evaluated .
• An assessment of the competencies, knowledge, and/or skills demonstrated or not demonstrated by the trainer(s). The Association for Talent Development (ATD) has developed a competency model for TD professionals that includes foundational competencies and specific areas of expertise. Access an interactive version of the competency model.
• A discussion of whether or not you transferred what you learned to your job, whether or not you had any relapses, and what contributed to your successful or unsuccessful transfer and/or to your relapses .
• Your specific recommendations for improving the training, based on what you now know about effective training programs.
The information above should be included in your paper but you are free to organize your essay in whatever way makes sense to you. You may use the first person ("I attended a program" or "the trainer told us") in discussing your experiences. Make sure you define all key terms and cite the source(s) of your definition. Since this is not primarily a research paper, no specific number of references is required. However, you must cite your sources.
Use APA format for all citations, quotations, and references. References should be listed on a separate page as required by APA style. Your paper should be double spaced with one inch margins and a font size of at least 11 points; do not include any spaces between paragraphs or sections.