Planning a training session involves 1) establishing learning objectives based upon identified training needs; 2) identifying the components you want to cover in the session; and 3) assembling specific methods and activities in a coherent design that might be compared to a movie script.

Learning Objectives are statements of what we want a learner to know, feel, or be able to do at the end of training. For example, the learning objectives for a training session on the principles of adult learning might be:

• Learners will understand the basic principles of adult learning and be able to apply them by developing training strategies appropriate to different learners in a structured exercise.
• Learners will be able to describe their own individual learning styles and the general styles of other learners; they will be able to vary their training methods so that they appeal to a variety of learners, not just those with similar styles.

Learning Components are statements of what will be covered in the training session. For the same session, components might be:

• Basic principles of adult learning
• Relationship of principles to learner’s own experience
• Discovery of individual styles
• Practice with selecting training strategies to match learning styles
• Experience in working with peers (an instrument component)

A Training Design arranges specific methods and activities in order to accomplish the learning objectives. The training design for our example might look like this:

• Census: Learners are asked to remember times in their adult lives when they started to learn some new skill, then abandoned it. They are asked to think about the factors that led to ceased learning, writing the factors individually on sheets of paper. The trainer takes a census of the factors and records them on newsprint. Trainer then asks learners to comment on what these data say about the adult learner. Discussion.
• Flip Charts: Presentation of basic adult learner characteristics from Margolis; differences between adults and children as learners and between teachers and trainers; Dunn and Dunn model of factors influencing adult learning.
• Flip Charts: Adult Learning Cycle is explained as a basis for…
• Instrument: Participants are given the McBer Learning Styles Inventory.
• Flip Charts: Models for LSI are explained.
• Discussion: Participants discuss personal LSI results with Learning Partners; trainer encourages community discussion after Partner discussions.
• Exercise: Participants are divided into small groups. Using the LSI Grid, which each group draws on a flip chart, the group lists training strategies that would be appropriate with each of the learning styles represented on the McBer model. Trainer uses Gallery Technique to enable each group to present its ideas briefly to the community. Discussion as presentations are made.
• Review: Trainer briefly reviews major points that have come up in the session

The design script could, of course, be more or less detailed than the above example. It could also include, for example, timing for each activity, who will facilitate each activity (if co-trainers are being used), as well as details such as how large groups should be, tips on how to give directions for specific exercises, etc.

Though detailed training scripts often include major points and sub-points that the trainer wants to make (flip chart texts, for example), they should not contain a full, exactly worded text for the presentation, as memorized presentations typically do not meet the objective of involving the learner.

As enhancements or deletions are made to the training design, of course, the script should be changed.