Change is Required

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
The recently released publication, Change Is Required; Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum, is a culmination of essays by leading museum professionals as the entire field begins to adapt and change to cultural and professional realignment over the last two years. Some of the questions the book’s essayists ponder include:  Can we break through traditional hierarchies to change our decision-making processes?Do we need to consider new shapes and structures for our organizations?How can we reform and update our hiring and advancement practices to support the needs of our people--and the sustainability of our institutions? Like many other organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged American museums to rethink old assumptions and examine outdated models. The book gives examples of 50 American museums that have set new visions for themselves and their communities. Some examples featured in the essays include museums that have taken a decisive turn to digital programming and others that have changed focus toward community and developing new collaborations with their neighbors and local...
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Are You Getting This?

Are You Getting This?

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
It is a widely shared experience to be hosting a training or workshop and look into the crowd of participants staring back at you and wonder, are they getting it? In the previous post, I shared about pre-assessments and how they can help your workshops or training become more engaging through proper pacing and meeting students where they are. In this post, I’ll share another form of assessment that will allow you to measure participants learning in real-time to give you information to improve your training to meet the needs of the participants. This type of assessment is often called formative assessment. What is a Formative Assessment? The Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning defines formative assessment as a form that allows both instructor and student to monitor progress toward achieving learning objectives by identifying misconceptions, struggles, and learning gaps.  These assessments are often characterized by their informal nature. They are usually embedded in a lesson and take less time to complete. They...
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Power of the Pre-Assessment

Power of the Pre-Assessment

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
Are you planning a workshop or upcoming training? Wondering what the best way not to bore your trainees is? Or you might wonder, how should I assess employees’ existing knowledge? You might also be asking yourself, how do I know what they know or don’t know? All of these questions can be answered by using the power of the pre-assessment. Pre-assessment is crucial to ensure the proper pacing of information. For example, if you think people attending your training know more than they do, you risk jumping into the deep end with trainees who metaphorically don’t know how to swim. They might find your training confusing or overwhelming and leave with a sense that they weren’t understood or, even worse, that they are stupid or unable to learn content they should be able to grasp. Alternatively, if you don’t assess for knowledge that trainees already have, you might get feedback that the training was easy, not helpful, or even a...
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Start at the End

Start at the End

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
Can we think of training and development as a product that can be produced just like a chair or laptop? I would argue we can. Although not made of physical matter, a training has an audience whose goal is to create value for the customer. So if we think of a training as a product, we can apply design thinking to improve it. According to the Interaction Design Foundation, “design thinking is an iterative process in which you seek to understand your users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions which you can prototype and test.” We engage in this type of thinking when we center training design around a deep interest in understanding the people for whom we design training. I love using this technique because it helps me and my clients observe and develop empathy with their staff. We get curious and begin asking better questions about how we share knowledge and skills. I recently read Matt Wallaert’s book Start At...
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The Myth of Learning Styles

The Myth of Learning Styles

by Meghan Schiedel1 Comment
Have you ever been taught something that seemed to make so much sense, and you accepted it as the “truth” only to later find out that it was false? I recently had that realization with Learning styles. When I was in grad school in 2008, learning styles were taught as the gospel truth. They are now so widely accepted that we don’t stop to question them when they are referenced. Did you know there is no credible evidence that learning styles exist?! In their article, The Myth of Learning Styles in Change The Magazine of Higher Learning (Riener, Willingham August 2010), Cedar Riener, assistant professor of psychology at Randolph-Macon College, and Daniel Willingham, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, break down this deeply held educational myth. It has me questioning everything!  Not only is there no actual research supporting learning styles, but they also support racist, classist, and ableist views of learners. So why have they persisted for so...
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Reflecting on Practice

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
Recently, I held up my clock to a mirror. It was time for reflection–   I am sorry; I couldn’t help myself! I have often been thinking about the role of reflection in training and staff development. This winter, I completed a professional learning program called Reflecting on Practice(RoP).* This program aims to allow informal educators to dive into the latest science on learning within a cohort model. The RoP project’s goals are to put research ideas into practice, transform its participants, and promote a culture of learning. This train-the-trainer model allows the program to reach millions of people in out-of-school settings like botanical gardens, museums, national parks, nature centers, and zoos every year. I found this program to be transformative because it fully embraced the social aspect of learning and professional development. The cohort model allows for many opportunities to interact in small groups or one-on-one with peers. The framework that they present is social as well. Educators are encouraged to enable...
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How to Develop Training Objectives

How to Develop Training Objectives

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
After reading the last post on the power of objective-based training, I hope I have you convinced it is worth your time to create and use objectives to drive your training. You might now be asking yourself, “how do I start when writing training objectives?”  You want clear, concise objectives; for this, I love the ABCD model presented by The University of Connecticut’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. This acronym stands for audience, behavior, condition, and degree.  Audience When thinking about your audience, you will want to consider who is coming to your training and what are their academic and experience backgrounds. You may also want to consider what are their cultural and linguistic backgrounds. For the objective statement, you will most likely use a noun like participants or attendees.  Behavior Behavior is the part of the objective that describes what you will observe and measure. You want to strive to use the most accurate and specific verb. Vague verbs like know or understand are nearly...
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The Power of Objective-Based Training

The Power of Objective-Based Training

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
How many times have you been to a training where the instructor or facilitator dives right into the material, and you are so confused about what will be covered and why you are even trying to learn this in the first place? I know I have been to many of those and have, unfortunately, probably led a few of them too. That was before I started using objective-based training. Objective-based trainings are trainings designed around desired outcomes or objectives. These trainings clearly state the goals, identifying what trainees should be able to do after completing the training. Here are the three reasons I love this style of training so much. First... Objectives force an instructor to get real with the constraints they are dealing with for a specific training. Many outcomes that you might want are entirely unreasonable if you do a one-hour virtual training. The outcomes shape what you will teach, but the constraints shape your results.Things to consider when looking...
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Improv’s “Yes and…” to Improve Brainstorming

Improv’s “Yes and…” to Improve Brainstorming

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
I have always loved brainstorming. There was a time when my team seemed to sour on brainstorming, and I was heartbroken. I was determined to understand why. With a few minor tweaks, I improved the quality of our brainstorms and decreased resistance to them.  Have you ever been in a brainstorming session where ideas seem to propagate more great ideas, and the energy in the room feels like it is sizzling? Picture that brainstorm session, and now picture a brainstorm that you have been at that felt awful. When done poorly, brainstorming sessions can drain the energy from the room and have a lasting impact on morale.  How do you develop a team that is good at brainstorming? Here are a few of my favorite ideas:  1. Practice “yes and” skills through improv. By playing improv games that encourage your team to practice a “yes and” mentality, you will create a team that can take risks and is resilient when brainstorming. This article lists some...
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Barriers to New Things

Barriers to New Things

by Meghan SchiedelNo Comments
Recently I tried a new product, detergent strips. They were great, and I think I’m a convert from conventional liquid or powder detergent. I couldn’t help thinking, why did it take me so long to try these! They are much more environmentally friendly, extremely efficient, and take up hardly any space on my laundry room shelf. So why did it take so long to try them, and what can we learn from this when thinking about training and staff development.  Knowledge of a Different Way The first thing is the knowledge that there is a different way of doing things. These laundry strips are not sold at the grocery store and are still relatively unknown. Because of that, one of the barriers to starting to use them was even knowing they existed. I can’t remember where I heard about them first, but the company had to spend money to help get the word out that this even was an option when thinking...
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