Active training handbook of techniques review

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536 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY
Mel Silberman. Active Training: A Handbook of Techniques,
Designs, Case Examples, and Tips. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Pfeiffer, 1998, 320 pages, $44.95
Reviewed by Brian S. Patterson, Performance Consultant, Eli Lilly and
Company, Indianapolis, IN.
Learning is not a sedentary activity. Rather, it is, by definition, about
a person thinking and doing and growing and changing. It is also not
about an instructor's ability to present content. Confucius knew this.
Socrates knew this. Gagne knew this. Knowles knew this. Now you can
know what active learning is because of Melvin Silberman's hook. Active
Training. In his book, Silberman presents an excellent and comprehen-
sive discussion of active learning methods and techniques.
This book does not necessarily present new information about active
training, but it does stand out as one of the more useful books that I have
read on the topic. Most books typically take a catalog approach to pre-
senting various learning methods, thus leaving the reader to guess how
the methods might fit into their overall training program. Silberman's
book, however, is different because it takes the reader through three as-
pects of active training: introducing it, designing it, and conducting it.
The first part of the book reviews adult learning. The second part is a
thorough examination of active training methods within the context of
the instructional design process. Silberman wraps up the book with a
discussion of how to conduct and evaluate an active training program.
The structure of the book, which includes many tips, questions, and case
examples, makes it an excellent resource for novice to experienced train-
ers, instructional designers, and project managers of training efforts.
The first several chapters are about adult learning, assessing the need
for training, learning objectives, and opening exercises. These contents
are a nod to the tried-and-true principles of adult learning that Knowles
(1990), Gagne (1987), Mager (1975), Rossett (1987), and others have
espoused for years. The good news is these principles have not changed
and are still relevant. In the first chapter, Silberman explains why a train-
ing assessment should be done and the type of questions to use when
conducting one. He then moves on to address the importance of identi-
fying the learning objectives for an active training program. Rather than
referring openly to active training techniques at this point, he examines
these questions: Is training even needed? What performance should be
evaluated? In this chapter Silberman begins to use case examples and
questions as ways to clarify key concepts. The repeated use of examples
and questions throughout the book are useful reminders of the issues
that we in the training community need to address with our customers as
we develop training.
BOOK REVIEWS 537
In Chapter 3, "Creating Opening Exercises," Silberman addresses
the very important—and often overlooked—step of the opening exer-
cise. He dispels the myth that opening exercises are purely social events
by suggesting that they have three very important functions: team build-
ing, on-the-spot assessment, and immediate learner involvement. For
each one of these functions he presents specific examples of opening ex-
ercises.
From the discussion of opening exercises, the author proceeds to an
in-depth chapter on preparing effective lectures. Although it seems odd
that Silberman would include a chapter on perhaps the least effective
teaching technique that an instructor could use (isn't the term, "effective
lectures," oxymoronic?), I am glad that he did. Many instructors who
are not formally trained, or who are reluctant to use active learning
techniques, will always use lectures. Rather than deny this, the author
offers creative suggestions on ways that instructors can make lectures
more interactive. All of these techniques are simple and can be easily
implemented by an instructor.
Silberman dedicates the next chapter, "Finding Alternative Meth-
ods to Lecturing," to active learning techniques that have their roots
in lecturing. Oddly, case studies are included in this chapter. I think
that case studies can be far more difficult to design and implement than
other techniques included here, such as guided teaching and informa-
tion search. A case study, even a small one, usually requires extensive
research and preparation time by the instructor, not to mention the time
it takes a learner to read and process the content of the case. In ad-
dition, the skill needed to facilitate a case study discussion, I think, is
much greater than the skill needed to facilitate the information search
technique. Information search is a fill-in-the blank exercise that requires
the learner to hear the answer during the lecture and write it down. It
seems to me, based on its apparent simplicity, that this technique would
be more at home with the techniques found in the "Preparing Effective
Lectures" chapter.
My point is that I think Silberman could better structure this part of
the book by combining some of these chapters. For example, the next
chapter, "Using Experiential Learning Approaches," covers techniques
such as role-playing, games, observation, mental imagery, and so forth. I
think this chapter could be combined with the previous chapter and sim-
ply retitled "Active Learning Methods." To further improve this part of
the book, perhaps Silberman could present the various learning methods
from the "simplest" to develop and use to the "more difficult." It might
also be helpful if he could identify to what types of learning objectives
and content the various methods best apply. Nonetheless, the author
538 PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY
does a fine job discussing the various techniques, such as demonstra-
tions, case studies, guided teaching, information search, jigsaw learning,
and learning tournament. Again, Silberman provides helpful examples
of how to use each technique.
Having discussed myriad learning methods, Silberman addresses how
to arrange the methods into an overall training program. In chapters on
designing, sequencing, and on-the-job application of the active learn-
ing methods, he offers excellent ideas, tips, and examples of how to do
each activify. Again, Silberman might enhance the structure and flow of
the book by consolidating some of the chapters. For example, I found
myself rereading Chapter 7, "Designing Active "Braining Activities," and
Chapter 10, "Planning Active Training Programs," wondering why the
two were separated. The content of "Planning Active "Raining" is short
and the tasks of designing and planning a course are, in my mind, so
closely related that discussing them together makes more sense. Other
instructional designers may disagree with me.
In Part III, Silberman addresses mundane but critical aspects of con-
ducting a successful active training program. Topics include how to ar-
range the physical environment of a classroom to achieve certain results,
gain leadership of the group, control timing and pacing, and facilitate
effectively. These aspects of training are often taken for granted and
not done because instructors focus more on themselves rather than the
learners. Silberman reminds us why these factors must be considered in
order for training to be successful. He offers tips, techniques, and actual
examples for instructors to consider as they prepare to teach their next
course. I certainly know of a few instructors and instructional designers
who could benefit from reading just this part of the book.
The author concludes the book with a chapter on evaluating an active
training program. I have been teaching and designing for nearly 10 years
and have grown to question the value of Level 1 evaluations. I basically
view Level 1 evaluations as a vehicle for learners to give reactionary,
nonconstructive feedback aboutthe instructor and course. Silberman
views this part of training as much more than a form to be completed
by the learner. To the contrary, he views the final evaluation as an
integral part of a course. Here, Silberman offers suggestions and ways
that instructors can encourage course participants to give feedback not
only on how the course could be improved but also on how the content
relates to their personal growth and jobs. He now has me viewing Level 1
evaluations in a much brighter light. I will definitely be using some of
these in my next training project.
In a sea of books on the field of training, Silberman's book offers
a simple, common sense perspective that the novice and experienced
practitioner can learn from. Overall, he has delivered an excellent book
BOOK REVIEWS 539
that will become a handy resource for me. He has kept the content and
language practical. The numerous case examples and ideas embedded
throughout the text serve to highlight important points that gave me
ideas that I will use. I highly recommend thait Active Training be on your
desk when you begin your next training development effort.
REFERENCES
Gagnd RM. (1987). Instructional technology foundations. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Knowles M. (1990). The adult learner A neglected species. Houston, TX: Gulf.
Mager R. (1975). Preparing instructional objectives (2nded.). Belmont, CA: Fearon.
Rossett A. (1987). Training needs assessment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational
Tfechnology.
Kevin R. Murphy and Brett Myors. Statistical Power Analysis:
A Simple and General Model for Itaditional and Modem Hy-
pothesis Tests. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1998, 120 pages, $39.95
hardcover, $19.95 softcover.
Reviewed hy Michael J. Zickar, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Bowl-
ing Green State University, Bowling Green, OH.
The critics of significance testing have failed to convince me that sig-
nificance testing is the bane of contemporary psychology. Like President
Clinton's response regarding attempts to eliminate affirmative action, I
think a more prudent strategy for addressing problems with significance
testing would be "mend it, don't end it." One of the essential components
to remedy the limitations of significance testing is a well-developed and
documented approach to power analysis, the topic of this book. It takes
a lot of gumption to write a book on power analysis, given that Cohen's
(1988) book has assumed canonical status. Murphy and Myors's book,
however, provides a useful extension of some of the basic concepts of
power analysis.
The main focus of this book is the expansion of traditional power
analysis and, by extension, hypothesis testing, from point hypotheses to
hypotheses about minimum effect sizes. The point hypothesis is a clas-
sic straw man argument. Like all straw man arguments, it does not take
much ingenuity (or in statistical hypothesis testing, sample size) to dis-
prove. As Murphy and Myors point out, any point-hypothesis is bound
to be inaccurate even if the discrepancy between the point hypothesis
and the observed value is trivial (i.e., decimal dust). Often what is more
important is not whether the observed statistic is different from the hy-
pothesized value for the statistic but whether the effect size is larger than
a trivial amount. Murphy and Myors argue at great length that most of
the time it is unlikely that there will be an effect size of zero in a study.