How to Design a 1-Day Training Program for Postgraduate Students

Although an entire day of training may sound like a long time, it has to be well organized to be effective. Training at the postgraduate level may be general skills training, such as thesis writing or research techniques, or it may be discipline-specific competencies, such as lesson curriculum planning for teachers or new treatment procedures for dentists. No matter the topic of the training, certain planning elements must be in place if the session is to be successful.

• 1

  Identify the purpose of the one-day training course. By establishing the skills you want people to learn, you will be better able to evaluate how well they accomplished the task.

• 2

  Find out how much money you have to spend on the one-day training course. Budget will determine factors like keynote speakers, printed materials or CDs to be given out and, possibly, where the training is held.

• 3

  Determine the date of your one-day training and let potential participants know when and where it is being held. Clearly identify the objectives of the training. You may want to sketch in the time frame of the training yourself or use a template that can be downloaded.

• 4

  Organize resources. If you are going to begin the training day with a keynote speaker, make sure the public address system is working properly. If it is a one-day training on learning how to use a new software program, be sure enough electrical plug-ins are available so all the postgraduates can use their laptops. If you are handing out USBs with information, make sure you have enough copies. Check all details twice.

• 5

  Hand out a printed copy of the times allocated for each activity immediately after welcoming the participants. It will keep you and the postgraduates on track for the rest of the training day.

• 6

  Provide lunch for the one-day training program, even if you are working with a limited budget. Have the food catered and served in an open area because this encourages participant interaction. Valuable discussions about the training may take place while eating a sandwich. If postgraduates go out to eat, they will stray back at different times and the training momentum could well be lost.

• 7

  Have an evaluation form printed and ready to hand out to the students at the end of the training session. The most accurate --- and highest rate of return --- information comes from collecting it from people on-site. Send out a follow-up email thanking the participants for their comments and suggestions to pave the way for future one-day training sessions.