Good instruction & MOI within the DF

[The Sultan]

If your anyway useful as a lecturer then people shouldn't want to sleep.

[Groundhog]

...most important: an Instructor who can impart information without reverting to Army-speak every five seconds.
regards
GttC

A military instructor who does not use military terminology. why not maths teachers who shouldn't use numbers, computer instructors who are not allowed use computers and English teachers who must speak German exclusively.

[DeV]

MOD: Stick to the thread lads or posts will be deleted

[Infantry Sandbag]

When we were first being taught fieldcraft, we were brought outside set up a few benches, which were made into an open box with the lecturer at the open end obviously, we were shown the different types of camoflage equipment i.e. green smock as opposed to DPM gear, plain helmet opposed to one with a net and vegetation stuck to it and shown it at different distances under different conditions, then at the end we were brought to an open area with a few trees surrounding it and had to try and find 3 different NCO's using 3 different types of camoflage.

Brilliant class i can still remember it to this day, so in closing the outdoors is the only place to learn fieldcraft.

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi Groudhog
You misunderstand me. Some instructors I have encountered simply parrot the phrases from the handbooks, because they really don't understand exactly what they are talking about.It's most common with instructors who are new to the subject or are not technically-minded. We encountered this as apprentices when we converted to the Steyr and some of the NCO instructors, who were also newly-acquainted with the gun, fell back on reciting words and phrases from the manual, rather than admit that they were not on top of their subject. As technicians, involved with continuous education on technical topics, we could spot a poor instructor a mile off. Also, some people simply didn't have the vocabulary to expand the topic outside the terminology used in the manuals. The same applied in the Apprentice School.Some instructors were poor deliverers of information and failed to get their message across.They used poor technique and often reverted to good old Army shouting when they found themselves failing, which completely ruined the lesson for both sides. They were often, completely, untutored in the art of class control, which is the system's fault, really. We found that the "lesson plan" method of instruction, whilst perfectly suited to firearms or tactics, just didn't wash when used for more advanced technical subjects.
regards
GttC

[Infantry Sandbag]

Theres no point in having someone teach you something if he dosen't know it thoroughly himself.

We always hade either a senior NCO or an officer doing the teaching, as for control of the class you either stayed quiet and learned what was being taught or an NCO would be glad to take you out of a bit of foot drill, thats class control.

[trellheim]

No 1 : There must BE a training room and it should be available. Not all units have one and must beg from others.

There are no such things as hand-outs in the DF. Just Press-Aides. :-)

Giving out handouts beforehand is bad practice; the only thing to recommend it is writing notes on them.

The worst thing you can do with Powerpoint is use someone else's slides. In addition, Powerpoint is a crutch a lot of people use to get over bad instructing skills.

Blackboards are best, followed by whiteboards, followed by powerpoint.

Practical lessons are best of ALL

[yellowjacket]

Blackboards are best, followed by whiteboards, followed by powerpoint.

How do you arrive at that one?

[trellheim]

there is less to go wrong with a blackboard and there is usually chalk around. Whiteboard markers have a low tolerance to care. Also, portable whiteboards are usually too small unless you're using it as a flip chart and you've laid it out beforehand, in which case it can be a very useful tool.

My opinion, but it works for me.

[yellowjacket]

Blackboards also offer poor display capabilities (colours etc), are slow to "refresh" i.e. dusters, depend very much on the large format handwriting skills of the instructor, can only have a limited amount of information pre-prepared before the class, and don't offer the facility to show items one by one, unless the instructor writes as they go, which can be messy.

I'd say pretty much the same for whiteboards.

I'f I'm going low tech, I find the flipchart to be the best option as it deals with many of the above problems.

In the hands of a good instructor Powerpoint is fantastic. Many of the issues people have with Powerpoint are down to shit presentations prepared by people with no idea how to use the medium properly.


A good instructor is a good instructor regardless of the method used - just some methods give more flexibility.

[JAG]

Giving out handouts beforehand is bad practice; the only thing to recommend it is writing notes on them.

In addition, Powerpoint is a crutch a lot of people use to get over bad instructing skills.

Having studied the theory of how people learn both in university and in far lesser detail in FCA, having on occaision inside and outside of the FCA been obliged to impart knowledge and insight to individual's and/or groups of total strangers, need to strongly disagree with these two.

Handing out reading material before class facillitates active learning. You can fit far more onto paper (or on a website/CD rom etc) than you can fit into a 45 minute lecture. A vast source of information may interest the student, who can learn far more on his own initiative than can be taught in the limited time available.

Powerpoint is a teaching/presentation aid- it's not a replacement for, but an aid to, teaching/presentation. It is no more a crutch than a PC/blackboard/whiteboard/cue cards/notebook/the internet/Bic Biro.

Anything that helps, helps.

But trying to teach tactics in a classroom or barracks is taking the p1ss, IMHO.

[yellowjacket]

Agreed, delivering the lesson by voice, aided by cue cards and perhaps some props, followed up by handouts later on, can be an extremely effective way to do things, once the subject isn't inherently stupefying.

When to distribute handouts is a judgement call, and largely depends on the group you're instructing. Given out beforehand they can help people follow things better during the lesson, but some individuals get distracted by them and start flipping through pages at their own pace etc. If you think the class is made up of people unlikely to be easily distracted, I'd say givem the notes in advance. If they're a dedicated bunch, giuve them the notes a week or more in advance so they can pre-read.

I understand that how to instruct is called MOI in the DF, what sort of training do prospective instructors get in this stuff?

[Barry]

I understand that how to instruct is called MOI in the DF, what sort of training do prospective instructors get in this stuff?

A freshly minted Cpl can have anywhere from 3 days to 2 or 3 weeks (PNCO course and unit course) of full time MOI training

[DeV]

The MOI - Method of Instruction - element of a PNCO course, involves a number of lessons on how to teach a class - eg how to ask questions, how to prepare the lesson, how to organise aids (props), etc.

This is followed by a number of days of the student practicing giving lessons to other students - followed by constructive critasim.

[Bosco]

PPPPPP
6 P's familar to anybody.
Proper Preperation Prevents Piss Poor Performance!
Its simple if you know your stuff and dont prepare you wont give a good lesson, if you are not familar with the material and prepare very well you can give a decent lesson.
If you know your material and prepare properly you will give a very good lesson.