This blog post is the second in the UNIVERSE-HPC Running a Training Pilot series. These posts contain excerpts from the Pilot Operations Guide published on Zenodo and developed by UNIVERSE-HPC.
In the first post of the series, we introduced key areas to consider when planning and preparing for a training pilot and also covered some tips for how to develop training materials. In this post, we will cover two decisions in more detail that greatly affect the shape of a pilot: how it will be delivered and whether it will be held online or in-person. The options for these decisions vary significantly and will greatly affect the event, so the advantages and disadvantages of each should be carefully considered.
Method of Delivery
We'll consider two key delivery models which are both organised around a scheduled event:
- Instructor-led (pedagogical), where learners follow the lead of an instructor in a shared learning environment, using techniques such as presentations or live coding.
- Supported self-learning (andragogical), where the responsibility and pace of learning are passed to the learner, although within an environment shared with other learners.
In both cases, helpers (or other instructors) are on hand to answer questions and help solve problems. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of each of these approaches.
Instructor-led | Supported self-learning |
Advantages | |
Well suited for novice learners who haven't built a working mental model of fundamentals yet | Well suited for intermediate or advanced learners; they typically require less direct instruction |
Greater opportunity for structured group exercises | More flexible, learners can fit it around schedules |
Since teaching is synchronised, real-time problem solving across the cohort for common problems | Easier to scale to accommodate more learners - just add more helpers |
More welcoming / less intimidating for coding novices | Progress through material at own pace |
Easier to build a rapport between students and instructors | Learners can choose their own learning path, if the course supports it |
Disadvantages | |
More taxing for instructors, so may need more of them to rotate them per session | Less engaging, can prove difficult for learners to maintain motivation over many sessions, easier to be distracted |
Requires capable instructors to instruct room at right pace and deal with problems | Far more difficult for instructors to gauge learner progress and problems |
Risk of learners falling behind if they encounter a problem | Lower knowledge sharing; fewer opportunities to learn from other's questions and experiences |
Success greatly depends on quality of instructors | Learners can feel more isolated |
For established training courses, switching to the other mode of delivery may still work well, although success depends largely on the nature of the material, an understanding of the typical challenges encountered with the material (and whether they are suited to a particular delivery style), and the technical level of the learners. Of course, for pilots, there are many more unknowns, particularly with what learners (and instructors) will find challenging, and to what extent there are undiscovered errors in the pilot materials. How problems are handled and communicated is therefore even more important.
Issues tend to surface much more quickly in instructor-led delivery, which are then resolved (with learners able to use solutions to common problems immediately). Capable instructors are also able to adapt the learning narrative in the event of unsolvable issues, using analogous examples to illustrate the same concepts. However with self-learning, as noted in the drawbacks, the self-pacing and distance learning aspects may mean that problems aren't always so readily identified and may lead to learners struggling with the material if they are unsure they are at fault. Plus, any solutions to problems must be communicated to other learners somehow, which is more challenging with a self-learning approach.
One way to make self-learning more engaging is to include pre-recorded videos of instructors in the material. This could be for course or section introductions, or for explaining fundamental or difficult concepts, although note that developing, recording, and editing course videos often takes a fair amount of effort, as does re-recording/re-editing them if the underlying material needs to change. However, if a self-learning course is planned to be developed from an existing in-person one, recording instructors' presentations for the self-learning version can mitigate this considerably.
There is also a third, hybrid model of both, where the training is initially instructor-led (for example, using live coding) then switches to supported self-learning, which has the benefit of high levels of engagement and feedback with introductory topics to give the training momentum, motivate learners, and bring them up to a baseline skill level, whilst then allowing them individual space to self-learn remaining topics at their own pace.
In-person vs Online
The rise of teleconference platforms, together with the pandemic, has seen online training events becoming increasingly popular. Let's look at the benefits of online compared to in-person training.
In-person | Online |
Advantages | |
Greater social engagement between instructors and attendees - a more communal event | Easy to organise and host event |
Easier for multiple helpers to solve multiple problems simultaneously | More flexible for attendees; easier to drop in and out on own schedule |
With enough helpers, barrier to ask for help is lower for attendees | Works well for smaller pilots |
Feedback (from instructors to learners and vice versa) is often immediate | Scales very well for guided self-learning model of delivery (just add virtual rooms each with a helper) |
Typically more enjoyable for both instructors and learners | Convenient for geographically split cohorts |
Allows learners to engage via chat instead of verbally - may encourage learners who are anxious to contribute | |
Disadvantages | |
Greater effort (and sometimes cost) to organise and prepare venue | Typically a much higher rate of drop-offs and no-shows |
Physical travel, which may dissuade potential attendees and present a barrier to accessibility | Doesn't scale well with instructor-led training - difficult to handle multiple problems |
May exclude some attendees due to cost of travel | Harder for instructors to teach and gauge overall progress |
Harder for attendees to engage with material and instructors | |
Tempting for attendees to split attention on other things and get too far behind | |
Potential attendee issues with poor internet connections | |
May prove difficult for learners to manage instructor, materials, and own terminal/IDE on single laptop screen | |
There is a common theme shared with supported self-learning in terms of their disadvantages: particularly with pilots, the identification and resolution of issues is often more difficult and time-consuming, and it's harder to gauge overall progress. Online delivery together with supported self-learning may therefore prove especially challenging for both instructor and learner, so for initial pilots and inexperienced training teams an in-person instructor-led event will likely make the most sense.
However, there are ways to mitigate issues with running online + self-learning training. Organisers often take advantage of "physical" virtualisation, with events splitting the cohort into manageable groups across multiple "breakout" rooms each with an instructor (or helper) to assist learners. This helps to reduce the communication "bandwidth" and cross-talk issues with using a single virtual room, although at the expense of a greater need for coordination between instructors and helpers in separate rooms. Shared documents and backchannel communication also greatly help to record and share issues and solutions found in separate virtual rooms.
What's Next?
The two remaining posts in this series will look into the following:
- How to collect and use feedback to improve your training pilot, from the perspectives of both the learner and training team
- Ways to promote your event and how to actually deliver the pilot, in terms of staffing, scheduling and running it
Alternatively, if you would prefer to have all the guidance at once, take a look at the full guide on Zenodo.