Instructional Techniques Certification Program (ITCP)

Course Overview

This course consists of 12 lessons that provide teachers, coaches and trainers the concepts, tools, and best practices that will enable them to teach high quality classes using real world examples in both virtual and face-to-face settings.

Throughout this course, trainees will learn the key concepts to teaching adult learners, become familiar with an instructional design model that will help plan and teach classes in a structured manner, and understand the importance of preparing and planning for a successful learning session.

In addition, the trainee will acquire tools that will allow them to deliver compelling presentations, learn techniques to help maximize the understanding of new content, and discover best practices for asking and answering questions, handling difficult situations, and including humor in the classroom.

Throughout this course, trainees will receive feedback and suggestions for improvement. This course will be highly interactive and is designed to help build confidence for delivering quality training.

Prerequisites

Diagnostic Evaluation

Before a trainee can attend this course, they must go through a diagnostic evaluation. Each trainee must submit a recorded video of themself delivering a class. This video must be submitted one week before the course start date, so the instructor has enough time to evaluate them prior to class.

This video must have the following:

• The topic will be chosen by the trainer; it is essential that the class is aimed at students with no prior knowledge of the topic.
• The duration of the video must be between 5-7 minutes.
• The trainee must appear on camera for the entire duration of the video.
• The video format must be MP4.

The trainee will receive their diagnostic evaluation on the first day of class so they can target areas of improvement during the course.

Capstone / Final Evaluation

Each trainee is required to conduct a final presentation on the last day of class. Each presentation will be 20 minutes (15-minute delivery and 5 minutes of feedback from the instructor). We encourage trainees to review their diagnostic video submissions and incorporate any feedback/tips that they have learned throughout the course.

Face-to-face feedback in class will be limited to the instructor pointing out strengths of the trainee, as well as their main areas of improvement. One week after completing the course, trainees will receive an evaluation rubric of their final presentation with descriptors of their performance, as well as some suggestions on how they can improve. The evaluation will inform the trainee if they have passed or failed their presentation.

If the trainee fails their first evaluation, they can reschedule another evaluation after 2 weeks to ensure there is enough time to incorporate feedback that was provided in the evaluation. If they fail a second time, they must wait 2 months to reschedule.

Course Outline

Andragogy: 6 Fundamental Keys to Adult Learning - This module will help trainees understand how adults learn and what key aspects of their class should be considered to ensure their students have the best learning experience.

Class Structure: 9 Learning Moments - With this module, the trainee will learn an instructional design model that will serve as a reference to plan and present complete and structured classes that achieve the learning objectives.

Preparation and Planning for Your Class - In this module, the trainee will learn the elements and activities that must be considered prior to teaching a class.

Class Opening - This section will address the moment of opening a lesson. The trainee will learn the actions that they can carry out to start their class with a learning environment in which the students feel safe and confident, as well as elements that must be presented at the beginning of the session.

How to Improve Your Presentation - In this section, trainees will discover elements that will help them make better presentations for their students. The class begins with some elements that will help catch students’ attention, as well as improve their understanding of the subject, to continue with aspects of non-verbal communication that must be taken care of in order to retain the interest of their students and project confidence and credibility.

Whiteboarding - In this section, the trainee will learn how to incorporate whiteboarding during a virtual or face-to-face class, learn about its importance, as well as some tips, and best practices for a successful incorporation.

Handling Difficult Situations - For this section, the coach will teach about the most common difficult situations that can be faced during a class, as well as tips and best practices to successfully overcome these difficulties.

How to Ask and Answer Questions - This section of the class will help the trainee ask and answer questions appropriately, through considerations, guidelines, good practices, and include tips that can be put into practice during a class.

Inclusion in the Classroom - In this section, the trainee will learn the importance of teaching classes in which all students can participate freely, as well as some tips to achieve it.

Use of Humor in the Classroom - During this section of class, the trainee will discover the importance of incorporating humor into their classes, in addition to knowing some ways and tips to help them do it properly.

Closing the Class - This section addresses the closing moments of a lesson, with trainees learning about the events that must occur to end a learning session properly, as well as some ways in which the closing can be carried out in a creative and motivating way.

Handle Nervousness Before and During a Class - In this section, the trainee will identify the most common symptoms of nervousness before and during a class. In addition, they will learn some tips to have better control of them so that they don´t have a negative impact on their performance as a teacher.

Incorporation of Technology in Virtual and Face-to-Face Classes - This portion of class addresses a range of necessary, recommended, and useful technological tools to deliver a successful, interactive and interesting online and face to face classes for the student.