Instructional Designers call this a "regressive" learning model, and for teaching SPC, or Statistical Process Control, it's a perfect fit. That's because to work best, training should go beyond subject matter, and also take into account the state of the participants themselves.
Just consider: why are the most complicated things usually taught at the very end of a course, when people are tired, brains are full, and everyone’s thinking of home? The answer is more often "it's traditional" than "it's truly necessary."
Back at the beginning of a course is when everyone is most rested, most interested, and most ready to learn. So, don't waste their precious attention on minutia. Hit the deck running! Throw 'em in at the deep end! In SPC terms, that means ramp up fast, and do X-bar and R Control Charts right away. Follow up with a genuinely necessary (and easier) prerequisite: Histograms. And then, wham-o! The biggie: Process Capability!
Crazy? Nope. Not if you prepare.
"Hard" First, "Easy" for Dessert
Here’s the whole better, "backwards" flow:
- Control Charts
- Histograms
- Process Capability
- Run Charts
- Brainstorming
- Flow Charts
- Cause-and-Effect Diagrams
- Scatter Diagrams
- Pareto Charts
It’s an ambitious agenda, yes. But Day One ends with a Run Charts snack, and everyone happy and sated.
Day Two begins with Brainstorming (easy), and is intended to be a total breeze. Everyone’s supposed to relax and have fun (translation: “learn better!”). And who wouldn't, since all of the tough stuff is already behind them!
Got Trailguide?
None of this works, of course, unless each person gets a complete, step-by-step trailguide -- a course workbook chock full of explanations and examples that are 100% relevant to their work back on the job. It’s got to all be about what they reach out and touch on a daily basis. For manufacturers, maybe it really is about the usual nuts and bolts found in most SPC texts. However, for printers, it’s got to be about printing. For florists, flowers. And so on. Because, if training is to succeed, it has to matter personally -- to them!
Exercises should thus involve tools and take-aways they'll use later. Like terse visual glossaries (see middle column, illustration), fill-in the blank forms, “cheat sheets,” or other job aids. But, whoa! Don’t back up a truck! Keep everything lean and mean. Focus on a minimal solution that yields the maximum desired effect.
Good Instructional Design will smooth out the bumpy spots, so folks can enjoy their ride. Plenty of little self-check exercises hone skills, and let each person prove to themselves, every step of the way, that “Hey, I actually ‘got it.’” These opportunities for practice during class, while expert coaching is still readily available, are extremely important. But, if you follow a strictly progressive learning model -- with its traditional crescendo of difficulty up to a Big Bang finish -- they don't even exist.
So, I tell ya' -- the regressive learning model -- ya just gotta love it. It's often a much better way. And I've seen enough course evaluations to prove it.
Finally, even the greatest course design is nothing without great content and great delivery. Special thanks to statistician Pete Bartell for his brilliant contributions as Subject Matter Specialist and lead instructor!
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