TRAINING DEVELOPMENT
After 25 years for running STTU training programs and teaching instructor development at the university level, Operational Studies has garnered considerable experience in teaching and training methodology. However, what separates STTU and OS training development programs from conventional teaching is the experience that only comes from training soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and law enforcement officers and agents at the local, state and federal levels. This experience is further enhanced by international work with coalition forces in Europe and the Middle East, and law enforcement officers in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Pacific Rim.
Operational Studies Training Development programs for both military and law enforcement include:
1. Principles of Adult Learning
2. Teaching & Training Methodology
3. Train-the-Trainer Development
4. Courseware Development
5. Training Program Development & Time Management
6. Training Assessment & Minimum Operating Standards
7. Mission-Specific Training Development
While staying true to the established principles of learning such as stimulus, response, reinforcement and motivation, OS stresses the importance of repetition in training to condition the trainees and achieve a positive change in behavior. This requires a constant process of teaching, trial, feedback, practice, reinforcement, re‑practice (as many times as necessary), constructive critique, and finally conditioning. OS also applies the principle of guided discovery where learning is a process of building on past experience, knowing that optimum learning occurs when students are able to apply past learning to a new learning situation.
TRAIN-the-TRAINER PROGRAMS
After trainees have completed selected STTU programs, Operational Studies can take them to the next level as instructors and trainers. Apart from demonstration quality tactical skills, the Instructor has many obligations to meet when teaching, among which is the shaping of proper behaviors until conditioning and transfer of learning occurs.
Instructor candidates are taught to employ all phases of teaching, to stimulate students and reinforce responses, then to motivate and guide students through a learning process. They are also taught to take into consideration the individual and physical factors affecting learning, and to develop an effective course structure. In the tactical programs, efficient and effective use of training time is a must and safety must be built in as a formal component.
For additional information on Training Development, email the Director at STTUOperations@gmail.com
