May Meeting: Secrets of Training Design

by Jim Korth, PR Committee member

Do you want instructional design that is not only faster and cheaper, but also better? What do games, fun, and money passed out during training have in common? The answer: Learning and behavior changes... especially when Sivasailam Thiagarajan—better known as Thiagi—is involved. Thiagi will be the featured speaker at the May 8th meeting of the LSC, and the title of his program is “Rapid Instructional Design.” Thiagi goes beyond the standard complaints heard about instructional design by providing a new approach based on his CCCC (Continuous, Creative, Concurrent Co-Design) model, which has been used on both hard- and soft-skill training topics.

Details Thursday, May 8, 2008, 6:15-8:00 p.m. Crowne Plaza Hotel North Dallas-Addison 14315 Midway Road, Addison, Texas Need directions! Reservations (Reservations made after 5pm on April 28 are subject to a $5 penalty) Click to register for the meeting now! Dinner (with reservations): $20 STC members/ Students with ID $25 non-members Program Only Attendance (with reservations): $5 for STC; $10 for non-members FREE students with valid student ID

Thiagi will explore the following principles in the program:

• Authentic assessment as the core of training
• Open questions and innovative assessment techniques
• Interactive strategies that wrap around different content resources
• Blend of training with performance improvement interventions
• Co-design with learners taking on the roles of trainers and evaluators

Thiagi is known as a prolific and creative designer of games and simulations. His games are considered ingenious, easy to conduct, and provocative of thoughtful discussion. Thiagi’s work has been described as being easily adapted to any learning environment. He is an acknowledged master in creating accelerated learning with simulations and games.

Thiagi (shown here) is Director of Research and Development at the Thiagi Group, an organization that helps people accomplish more through interactive strategies for improving performance. Internationally recognized as an expert in human performance technology, Thiagi has lived in three different countries and has consulted in 21 others. Thiagi has twice been president of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) and has also been the five-time president of the North American Simulation and Gaming Association.

Those interested in discovering how learning can truly be fun are urged to attend Thiagi’s walk-the-talk interactive program at the LSC meeting on May 8th.