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To present background knowledge and develop proper attitudes, vary your use of the learning
techniques discussed in earlier chapters. Use the following techniques when giving an actual
demonstration:
n Position the students and training aids properly. If you direct the students to gather
around a worktable or a training aid, make sure every student has an unobstructed view.
n Show and explain the operations.
Perform the operations in step-by-step order.
Whenever possible, present the telling and doing simultaneously. Do not hurry; you will
not normally emphasize speed in performing operations or in moving from one operation
to another in the demonstration step. Make certain the students understand the first step
before you proceed to the second, and so on. Repeat difficult operations. Pause briefly
after each operation to observe student reaction and to check student comprehension.
n Observe safety precautions. Rigging a safety line, donning a safety mask, or tagging an
electric cable may take a few more seconds, but you have not wasted the time. Instead,
you have impressed the students with the importance of exercising extreme care in dealing
with potentially dangerous equipment.
~ Give proper attention to terminology. Call each part of a training aid by its proper name
each time you call attention to it. Getting students to retain the correct nomenclature
requires more than just mentioning the name. The following suggestions should prove
helpful:
— List the names of parts.
— Refer students to any available chart that shows the parts and names of parts.
— Conduct a terminology drill on the parts of the training aid while the aid is assembled
or disassembled, as appropriate.
n Check student comprehension carefully. Ask questions during the demonstration step that
require the students to recall nomenclature, procedural steps, underlying principles, safety
precautions, and the like.
Watch the class for reactions indicating lack of attention,
confusion, or doubt; but do not depend solely upon visual observations.
When teaching skills, such as donning an oxygen breathing apparatus (OBA), in which a
distinction between right and left is important; ask an assistant instructor or a well-coached
student to help you.
Ask the assistant to stand so that the class may see what he or she is
doing. Then direct the assistant in performing the activity while you observe the reaction of the
students.
Remember the law of primacy when performing the demonstration step. Always proceed
from simple to complex in logical sequence; show the correct way to perform the steps the first
time you demonstrate them. Along with teaching a skill, develop proper attitudes, such as the
desire to perform safely, and the desire to exercise economy of time and effort.
REPETITION STEPS
When using the demonstration method, you will always provide a demonstration step and a
performance step.
Generally, you will include one or more repetition steps between the
demonstration step and the performance step.
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