taught it; so as soon as you teach trainees to doa job, have them practice it.Teaching applicable safety precautions isespecially important. Teach a safety precautionjust before reaching the point in your demonstra-tion where it applies. Tell the reason for theprecaution so that the trainees will understand theneed to comply with it.Patience is a virtue for any petty officer. Ifit does not come naturally to you, you must trainyourself to be patient. A slow learner may neveracquire the knowledge or skill you are trying toimpart if you are impatient.Avoid sarcasm toward a bungler; that personmay be trying harder than you suspect. Nothingexhausts the patience of the expert as much as thefumbling attempts of a beginner; however, theinstructor must patiently demonstrate and explainuntil the trainee acquires the needed competence.Good instruction means a more effective crew,and such an asset justifies any amount of patience.If you find that your trainees have not learnedwhat you tried to teach them, do not react as ifthey disobeyed orders. If trainees do not under-stand a certain lesson or operation, that couldindicate a poor job of teaching. The old saying,“If the learner hasn’t learned, the teacher hasn’ttaught” might apply in some situations.RELATED TECHNIQUESYou can use instructional techniques with anyof the above methods. These techniques includethe use of the lesson summary, oral questioning,and training aids.Lesson SummaryThe term summary as used here refers to thatpart of the lesson in which the instructor reviewsthe material covered. In summarizing, keep inmind two major aims. First, you want to help thetrainees identify and organize the subject matter.Second, you want to assist the trainees in under-standing and, where necessary, in memorizing thesubject matter. Use the following techniques insummarizing a lesson:1. Introduce the summary properly.2. Summarize the subject matter thoroughly.Plan the summary so that it assists the traineesin organizing the important subject matter intoa form more easily learned. Review the actualsubject matter, not just the topic, thoroughlyenough for the trainees to gain an adequateunderstanding of the subject. Having the traineesreview the topics (class notes) will aid them inunderstanding the subject.3. Avoid a strictly oral summary, if possible,Remember, if you need training aids to make theright kind of lesson presentation, then you alsoneed them for the right kind of summary.4. Summarize at appropriate intervals. If thelesson is long—for example, 2 or 3 hours induration—you would be wise to summarize at theend of each period or at the end of each significantarea of subject matter. Trainees will absorb shortsummaries better than an unduly long summaryat the end of the complete lesson.Oral QuestioningWe cannot place enough emphasis on theimportance of questioning in any teachingsituation. Oftentimes, the difference between adull, boring lecture and a lively discussion is onlya matter of some well-planned, well-directed oralquestions. The ability to direct thought throughquestioning is recognized as one of the most validproofs of teaching skill. A direct relationshipexists between your success as an instructor andthe quality and quantity of oral questioning youuse in teaching. Therefore, you will find thefollowing techniques of invaluable use to you, asthe instructor:1. Stimulate trainee thought. Ask questionsthat call for the application of facts rather thanjust facts alone. Facts can easily be committed tomemory and require little or no thought on thepart of the trainee.2. Establish a level of instruction. Askquestions that require trainees to comment onprevious experience in the subject matter you aregoing to teach. By asking a series of oralquestions, you can determine the trainees’ levelof knowledge in a particular subject matter. Thatinformation will enable you to determine the levelat which you should begin instruction.3. Arouse interest. Asking a general question,such as, How many of you have fired a .50-calibermachine gun? or How many persons died on thehighways last year? will serve to clear trainees’minds of any extraneous thoughts. Such questionsaid in motivating trainees as they mentally search5-8
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