TDC Learning Philosophy
Technical Documentation Consultants of Arizona, Inc. (TDC) has developed training programs geared for maximum student learning and retention. We instill the team concept to ensure all members of the team work together. Often we hear, "That's not my problem!" This response is undesirable for any company striving to maximize production and minimize costs.
Question: "What can the trainer do to help the student learn?"
- Learning is not new. We learn every day. Programmed learning must be challenging, understandable, relevant, and enjoyable!
- Training programs should start with an introduction on study techniques. Many students may not possess the skills needed, or their skills may be rusty. It has been a long time since many adult students were in a classroom.
- Give the student personal incentive to learn the material. Tell the students why they need to learn the subject material. Continually point out how this material can benefit both the student and the company. Stress the financial commitment the company has made to ensure student receive proper training.
- Adults will allow the trainer to "spoon feed" them if given the opportunity, a compromised learning situation. Trainers must put the burden for learning squarely on the student. Students must be accountable for their efforts! TDC conducts instructor graded quizzes and homework to encourage student participation. People learn best not by being told, but by experiencing the consequences of their thoughts and actions. Graded quizzes and homework are returned as soon as possible to give students feedback on their progress.
- Trainers must give students confidence in their ability to learn the material and take away the fear of learning! TDC quizzes and homework are success-oriented exercises. The grading instructor will add key words and overlook math and spelling areas, to support the student. The quiz and homework material is designed to have students pass and learn, not fail and forget!
- Extra help is available to students who are having difficulty with the course material. The trainer encourages one-on-one conversation for students with problems or for those students who will not ask questions during class. The trainer is always available before and after scheduled class times.
- Trainer must interject FUN into the training process. This concept provides a climate that puts the learner at ease. Fun can be in the form of a joke, a story, or a visual aid that pertains to the subject material. You may have heard the saying, "Laugh and the whole world laughs with you". We maintain, "Laugh and the whole class learns with you."
- Trainer needs to share experiences, "war stories" to develop personal rapport with the students and make the subject "real".
- Develop training aids based on the education of the audience, work experience, and subject material needs. In each of the GD&T training programs, TDC uses hundreds of viewgraphs and hundreds of actual machined parts, gages, and tools. Each student is able to handle each part during class.
- Learning retention studies reveal that student participation is required for the optimum learning. Studies indicate that:
| What the student reads |
10% retention |
| What the student hears |
20% retention |
| What the student sees |
30% retention |
| What the student sees & hears |
50% retention |
| What the student does & says |
90% retention |
Students are exposed to the class material four times; class lecture, reading from the textbook at lunch or in the evening, class closed book quizzes, and finally graded quiz review. Students are assigned homework exercises each night, requiring them to correct or complete actual drawings.
TDC strives to provide the very best in training programs available. Complete understanding of the material by the entire product team is the key to success!