GUIDELINES FOR MANPOWER TRAINING AS DEVELOPED BY THE HUMAN RESOURCES RESEARCH OFFICE OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

THE SYSTEMATIC, GENERALIZED PROCEDURE FOR BUILDING AND EVALUATING TRAINING COURSES, WHICH HAS EVOLVED FROM HUMRRO RESEARCH, CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING SEVEN STEPS: (1) DETERMINE JOB PERFORMANCES REQUIRED, (2) DEVISE TRAINING OBJECTIVES FROM JOB PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS, (3) BASE TRAINING CONTENT ON TRAINING OBJECTIVES, (4) SELECT APPROPRIATE TRAINING METHODS, (5) ADMINISTER TRAINING APPROPRIATELY, (6) MONITOR THE TRAINED PRODUCT, (7) MODIFY TRAINING AS REQUIRED. THE MOST CRITICAL OF THESE STEPS IS THE DETERMINATION OF JOB REQUIREMENTS, BASED ON THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. A USEFUL PROCEDURE FOR THE SELECTION AND SEQUENCING COURSE CONTENT IS FUNCTIONAL CONTEXT TRAINING, IN WHICH THE STUDENT PROCEEDS THROUGH A GRADED SERIES OF JOB- RELATED TASKS. ONE OF THE PRIMARY ADVANTAGES OF THIS PROCEDURE IS THAT IT ENHANCES THE PROBABILITY THAT THE TRAINING WILL, IN FACT, BE JOB-RELEVANT. THE MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMRRO RESEARCH ON MAINTENANCE TRAINING ARE AS FOLLOWS: (1) DEVELOPMENT OF A GENERALIZED APPROACH FOR TRAINING COURSE DEVELOPMENT, (2) EMPHASIS ON JOB REQUIREMENTS, (3) ORIENTATION TOWARD TROUBLESHOOTING BEHAVIOR, AND (4) DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED MANUALS AND JOB AIDS. THE BASIC QUESTIONS WHICH MUST BE ADDRESSED IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH ON A TRAINING COURSE CONCERN THE JOB REQUIREMENTS, PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENTS, TRAINING METHODS, TRAINING AIDS, AND JOB AIDS. IMPROVEMENT IN TRAINING CAN MORE OFTEN BE ACHIEVED BY REVISION OF COURSE CONTENT THAN BY IMPROVEMENT IN PEDAGOGICAL PROCEDURES. /ARTICLE/