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National Weather Service Training Center
Hydrometeorology & Management Division

1. Introduction

Many professional trainers take a systematic approach to training that follows a plan known as the Instructional System of Design or ISD. This method has four main components:

a. identification of training needs
b. design, development and planning of the training
c. conducting the training
d. evaluation of the effectiveness of the training.

Each of these is briefly described below and shown schematically in Figure 1. Each topic will be addressed in more depth in later sections of this guide. Although the boxes in Figure 1 are shown as separate entities, there is a general flow from top to bottom, and feedback among components.

Figure 1: Components of the Instructional System of Development

2. Identification of Training Needs

The first step in any training process is a training needs analysis. The purpose of a training needs analysis is to assess the current abilities of a trainee and identify what training needs to be accomplished to bring that trainee to a specified level of competence. A trainer must match the training program to the needs of the trainee. If a person does not need training in a specific area, do not schedule that person for training. On the other hand, if a person needs to improve his/her performance, or if new technology or equipment arrives on station, develop and/or schedule the appropriate training. A training program planned around a good needs analysis will be more effective than one that is "ad lib" in nature.

3. Design, Development and Planning of the Training

Once a training need is identified, the second step is the design, develop, and plan the training. This segment starts with a list of the knowledge and skills that the trainee should have upon completion of the training. The formulation of goals and objectives for the training follow directly from these knowledge and skills. These goals and objectives are then expanded into topic and lesson outlines that will accomplish the desired training. A lesson plan is developed that describes the lesson content, sequences the material, selects the proper learning strategy, and identifies resources that are needed during the training. This process can be very time consuming. For example, a one-hour lesson, on average, takes ten hours of development time.

4. Conducting the Training

Once the training material is prepared, the conducting phase deals with the actual delivery of the material to the trainee. This segment is the process of providing information to the learner. Later sections of this guide will cover a one-to-one training model that is very useful for WFO/RFC training.

5. Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Training

Both during and after a training session, a trainer needs to ask several questions: How is my training session going? How effective was my training? Did my students learn anything? How am I doing or how did I do? These questions are all part of the training evaluation process. This part of training is frequently overlooked or minimized by inexperienced trainers. However, it provides feedback to both the trainer (on how the training was conducted) and trainee (on he/she did). It is a very important part of the overall training process.

Although listed as a separate component of ISD, selection of an evaluation strategy should be done during the design and development stage. Evaluation should never be a after-thought.

6. Concluding Remarks

Over the last 50 years the formal ISD concept has developed into a rather "rigorous" approach to training. The rigidity of this approach is best illustrated by the training methodology used the U.S. military. A training program that follows this rigor is usually very structured and time consuming to produce. In a WFO/RFC environment the four basic steps of the ISD process need to be used, but the rigor is not necessary. For example, rigorous ISD requires specific wording and format for lesson objectives. A training lesson needs objectives to identify what the lesson is trying to accomplish, but standardized wording and format are not needed in the less formal world of WFO/RFC training. The approach taken in this training guide keeps this "less rigorous" level in mind.

Review Questions

Use the following questions to review the content of this lesson.


(1) Match the following stages of the ISD process to their purpose:

_____ Needs Analysis	A. Delivers information to the trainee.
_____ Design & Development	B. Provides feedback to both the trainer and trainee.
_____ Conducting Training	C. Identifies what training should be conducted.
_____ Evaluating Training	D. Sequences the material that will be taught and selects the proper learning strategy for the lesson.

(2) An effective training program should be developed around and based upon a good __________   __________, the first step of the ISD process.

(3) The most time consuming segment in the ISD concept of training is typically the __________  ___________ and
__________ phase.

(4) The most overlooked step in training is often the __________  __________   __________.

Appendix A

Answers to Review Questions

(1) C - Needs Analysis
  D - Design and Development
 A - Conducting Phase
 B - Evaluating Training

(2) Needs Analysis

(3) Design, Development, Planning

(4) Training Evaluation Process