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This is the grandpa scenario in full-effect. Whenever my brothers and I would go over to my grandparents, there would be Twix and Twizzlers in the top cabinet over the stove. I’m completely convince my gut is lined with whatever Twizzlers are made from. There were also giant chocolate chip cookies that made it seem grandma was the head ringer of the cookie cartel.
All those good memories become sadly obscured with the emailin’ and taskin’ and blog writing, but I’ve managed to harness 6.5 ounces of good ol’ grandparent wisdom and turn it into a blog post with some helpful tips about getting the most out of SolidWorks Training. A stretch? Only to the cabinet over the stove.
Give them something to look forward to
What is he going to do this time? I always wondered that about my Materials Engineering teacher. He was odd, but you don’t have to be odd to make it interesting. I think all it takes is engaging the interests of people and having some consistency mixed in.
Training (and learning) can get real dry when a book lays it all out for you. Training, exercise, training, exercise… on into the oblivion of scraping dried cheese of your shirt. I prefer to mix it up and those going through the training will prefer it too. You can usually gage what’s possible by the responses from the students. It could be:
- Working the exercises together
- Having people help each other
- Modeling an object your company makes
- Having a student that has picked things up quickly instruct
- Having a competition (to the death… I kid)
One of the best thing to do is to talk about future lesson. It’s good for feedback from students and instructor. Those treats at grandpa’s house were always there and it was always something that made you excited to go back.
Give them options
One box of chocolaty sweetness is cool, but a bag of red licorice right next to it… insane I tell you. That’s enough sugar to last all day and night.
Going by the book or agenda is fine. It requires the least amount of stress and preparation, but I think the instructor and student will learn more and be able to apply what they learn if some other practices are mixed in. Here’s just a few ideas for ya:
- Start with questions about previous lessons
- Show some photos or models from previous classes/projects
- Have someone explain how a model was created
- Continue unfinished exercises from the previous day
- Go over resources that will help them learn more
I know there’s schedules and all, but a completed schedule doesn’t hold squat against someone that has a real grasp on what you’ve taught. Plus, now you may have some people that are interested in learning more and teaching others how to do the same.
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Good stuff. Personally, when I am learning something new, nothing inspires me more than a friendly competition among fellow learners. Especially when there are more than one way to do something, when the competion is complete, the top few competitors can try to explain how and why they did something the way that they did, that way, folks can learn from more than one person at a time, and may get more out of the lesson…
Hey Jason, nice to hear some friendly competition is going on, AND even better that they explain how they did it. I can see that providing a lot of dialog between everyone. sweet!
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