Learning Objectives: Measurable Skills, Not Vague Knowledge

Transcript

Traci: Welcome to the Operator Training Edition of Chemical Processing's Distilled Podcast. This podcast and its transcript can be found at ChemicalProcessing.com. You can also download this podcast on your favorite player. My name is Traci Purdum, and I'm the Editor-in-Chief of Chemical Processing. And joining me once again is Dave Strobhar, Founder and Principal Human Factors Engineer for Beville Engineering. Dave is also the founder of the Center for Operator Performance. Happy Friday, Dave.

You and I are working on a series of podcasts that examine flaws in industry training. And we've discussed instructional system design and job analysis, and now we're going to talk about learning objectives. So let's set some groundwork here, how do learning objectives fit into the instructional system design model?

Developing Learning Objectives

Dave: So, learning objectives are your second step. So, if you're creating a training program, should have had the job analyzed. So, you've looked at job requirements, you've defined this skill and knowledge that you want to impart upon the trainee, so you've got this set. And now the goal is to begin that transition from, well, this is what they need, to how am I going to give it to them? And that step is developing these learning objectives.

So, this is the point at which you would be looking at those skills and knowledge and saying, "Okay, well, then what do I want to teach them? So, we're transitioning from what do they need, to what do I want to teach? So I've got to understand that if I need knowledge on distillation, how distillation works, that would come from the job analysis, but now I need to turn that into a learning objective. Okay, so what about distillation do I want to impart upon the student?

Traci: That makes sense. And is there a basic skeleton to get people started so they don't have to start from scratch on these types of things? Or how does that work?

David: Well, yeah. So, the basics of the learning objective is pretty straightforward. And it's somewhat interesting in that the term learning objective, if you look at the word objective as a noun, it means a goal, and that's what it means here. But as an adjective, it means that it isn't subject to interpretation. And that's where most training programs break down, in that they don't write learning objectives that aren't subject to interpretation.

So the basic skeleton, the basics of a learning objective is that it should be something that you can measure, something you can see. Knowledge, in and of itself, is not really a learning objective. Continuing my example from distillation, if you say, "Okay, my learning objective is they should understand distillation." Well, that is subject to interpretation. How do I know if they know distillation?

So, I need to translate, I need to take that and now make it something I can measure. So, if somebody knows distillation, then the learning objective is something that I can then specify from that. So, the learning objective might be understand or be able to list the effects of increasing reflux or list the effects of decreasing reboil. You need to take that knowledge that you have defined from the general job assessment that you did, and now you're making it into something that I can see.

And I think the key thing is not subject to interpretation. Because that's where most plants break down, is they have these learning objectives, but they're open to interpretation. They'll do something like, well, you must know distillation. Well, how one person thinks that I know distillation and how somebody different does, the supervisor that's going to be doing that interpretation really likes me or doesn't, that's going to affect it, and it shouldn't. It should be unbiased so that the learning objective is to be able to list the effects of increasing reflux. Well, that's pretty straightforward, so the training module would have, "Well, here's the effect of reflux," and so on. And then eventually a test question would be coming from it.

So, the learning objective is going to eventually lead to both what I want to teach them and how I am going to test them. So, it needs to be something that you can put into an objective test, not just something that, well, I watched them do this, and they seem to know it, so I'm going to check it off and grade it. You want something that you can actually see, measure, and be able to say, "Yes, they have acquired this skill or knowledge that I specified in the learning objective." So that basic skeleton is it needs to be something that I can measure.

And that's sometimes hard to do. So you have to think about, well, how am I going to do this that I'm going to translate that, have to know distillation? Okay, well, what about that? The learning objective is going to have to be stated in a way that eventually I can turn that into a test question.

Measuring Success

Traci: So, I guess you're kind of answering the question I had in my mind, how do you measure success? It's testing?

David: It's testing. So this is the instructional system design. When the Air Force created this, they were trying to take this all the way through. So you're going to build upon the skill knowledge requirements that you have defined and then take those and create something that I can measure to see that they've gotten that. And eventually, that's going to go, you're going to test to see if I've had that.

One of the sorts of new areas that can be tapped into is the use of simulators for console operators. So, in my example around distillation, if the skill knowledge was this console operator needs to understand distillation, and I can have, the objective is to be able to list the impact of reflux or recoil. But if I've got a simulator, I can actually have them and specify what they should be... That they can restore a distillation tower to normal after a loss of reflux within a minute.

And if I've got the simulator, I can test that now. I can put them on the simulator. I can shut off one of the reflux pumps and measure, can you do that? Can you find the right controller? Can you make the necessary adjustments? And from that, bring it back down.

So, where in the more traditional learning, you had to do it sort of paper and pencil and okay, how am I going to measure that? If you have a simulator and you're talking about console operators, well, I've got the measurement tool right there. So, these learning objectives that eventually are going to become test questions, you can now create test questions that are even more objective. So, not only do I have the, can I respond, list the three things that I should be doing if I lose reflux, I can actually have them demonstrated within a certain time period. And I know then that, okay, they've achieved that learning objective.

So, that's taking and linking you all the way through now when you get to the test. But that's where a well-written learning objective pretty much creates the test for you. You may want to have a couple questions around the same objective. It should be where the testing comes from. And if you have test questions that don't match a learning objective, then the question is why are you asking them? Because it's not something that you have defined as being a requirement for knowing or performing that job.

Traci: I just was tossed back to high school and college when you take a test and you're like, "What is that question? We never studied that."

David: Yeah, I've never heard of this.

Industry Standards and Certifications

Traci: Exactly. You had mentioned knowledge is not a learning objective. What about industry standards and certifications? Should those be learning objectives?

David: Well, in some cases, yes. Particularly, it may be around environmental requirements. In other words, you may have a list the conditions in which the EPA should be notified of something within your job scope. So they can say, "Well, okay, if I'm flaring sulfur gas or I have a spill," as part of that job analysis, you would want to have these industry standards set forth.

And then the same thing, you would create the learning objective. Okay, so there are these industry standards. And like so many of these things, what we are looking for is whether it is actionable. Is there something actionable from this by that individual? And if there is, then that becomes part of that learning objective so that they understand, hey, when I do this, I'm supposed to take these particular actions.

And that's what so much of the whole instructional system design is geared toward is we want to ensure that the trainee when they take the job, can perform the correct action, because that's really what we're trying to do here is be able to have them perform correctly. And that's where when you just say know, knowing something or understanding something, that's not actionable. So, they very well may need to have some of those industry standards, again, part of the objective.

But not just, again, don't just say, "Understand the EPA requirement." Okay, I understand. And what does that mean? Know, under what conditions do you contact the EPA? Because I can list those, or depending on how you're going to create it, I can create a multiple-choice test. Which of the following are conditions under which you should contact the EPA? So there's a variety of ways you can do it from that learning objective. But again, now it is what actions do I need to take?

Accommodate for Different Learning Styles

Traci: I like your example of what... The EPA example you gave, and that, to me, is very... That's how I learn. So, I guess what I want to know is how do you accommodate different learning styles?

David: So, this is, I'm going to transition to what we're going to be talking about next, which is the actual design of the training program. So, we have the objective, when do I contact the EPA? That's true. That's what they need to be able to do.

Now, the next step that we're going to be coming into is, okay, how do I want to impart that? And that's where the instructor's going to have to look at what are the characteristics of the students that are coming in. So, do I have to have different lesson plans based upon different groups? If I'm training engineers on what to do, when do you have to contact the EPA? That might be entirely different than when I'm dealing with operators who may be more verbally inclined. So maybe with the engineers, I have them read it and write some stuff out. Maybe, if I've got this more verbal group, maybe we need to do some sort of role-playing or scenario based. I'm going to give you a scenario and have you respond to it.

So the learning objective is going to be the same. But then as you move into creating lesson plans, you need to look at, well, what's my population here? And what style is going to best transfer that information? So if they're visual learners, I may do one thing. If they're auditory learners, I may do something else.

You have cases now where English is a second language. What do I need to do to accommodate that, knowing that a large portion of my student population, English is not their first language? So that's where those learning styles are going to come in as we take those learning objectives and create lesson plans from them.

Make Learning Objectives Realistic

Traci: And how do you make them realistic?

David: Well, and that's where it actually helps. Actually making the learning objectives objective actually helps make it more realistic because you're dealing in concrete things. It's not just some sort of, oh, know distillation or know the EPA standards. You're dealing with things that you could put into scenarios.

Scenario training is just... It's a tremendous opportunity and something you can really build on, where you're putting this in context so that the individual can put themselves into the story, if you will. I know you and Trish have been talking about storytelling. So this is a case where I can take these learning objectives and put them into a scenario. So, hey, it's 4:00 AM, heavy downpour. Console operator calls you and says he's got a high sump level alarm. You go out and look to see what is happening, and that sump is now overflowing.

So at that point, then you can then ask that question. Okay, so is there anybody you need to contact? Or what are your next steps in doing this? So if you've got good learning objectives, it enables you to create training that is going to actually seem realistic. So the more specific you can be, the more it's going to link to your actual task. So if you're talking about, well, you need to learn reflux. Well, you need to learn the reflux on this. So it has that connection to reality, to what they're actually going to be doing, rather than, oh, this is just something I have to learn and check a box and I'm done with it.

Traci: Dave, I think you're the king of scenarios. And I probably should go back in all of the podcasts we've done and just pull out the snippets of scenarios you've given us because you do put people in the position and give them things to think about, so I appreciate that. And I appreciate you teaching us about learning objectives today.

If you want to join us next time, listeners, we will be discussing another flaw in training, that's practice. Want to stay on top of operator training and performance? Subscribe to this free podcast via your favorite podcast platform to learn best practices and keen insight. You can also visit us at chemicalprocessing.com for more tools and resources aimed at helping you achieve success.

On behalf of Dave, I'm Traci and this is Chemical Processing's Distilled Podcast, Operator Training Edition. Thanks for listening, and thanks again, Dave.

David: Thanks for having me Traci.