Training Courses
Training Methodology
Over the last seven years, we have served several hundred organizations and many thousands of students, and we consistently hear that our teaching methods and courses are superior to any other training our students have ever attended. Throughout over 7 years of business we have maintained a 100% satisfaction rate. Here are some of the reasons for our success:
It has been said that a classroom can have a "whole lot of teaching", a "whole lot of learning", or a "whole lot of nothing" going on. At Orion Technical Training, we realize that you come to a training course to LEARN. What is taught, is not nearly as important as what you learn and go back to work with. Everything we do is centered around maximizing the relevancy, the applicability, and the amount of what you learn at our training.
We strive very hard to ensure that each of the topics and concepts covered in our courses, are relevant, and necessary. We avoid unnecessary theory, and instead explain the how's and why's of each concept in as direct and simple a way as possible.
Our hands-on lab exercises are a primary component of all of our training courses. Labs are very well thought out and integrated into the overall training structure in a very methodical way. Some of the key goals of our lab exercises are to:
1. Keep students interested.
2. Enhance long-term retention of concepts & issues.
3. Make concepts more applicable to real world applications.
4. Allow flexibility for differing skill levels and goals.
5. Ensure maximum interaction between students and Instructors.
6. Make learning natural, easy, and fun.
In the real world, Technical personnel usually learn by seeing a problem, or raising a question and then finding the answer (or cause) to that problem. This 'natural' learning methodology is a keystone of our successful training. In our courses, the material is taught in a very purposeful sequence, such that students often find that the next question or concept they are wondering about - is the very next topic covered. We work very hard to sequence our courses so that they mirror this natural learning sequence.
Another example of our unique teaching style is in our extensive use of lab exercises - Many of our courses utilize 75% or more lab exercise time. Many of our lab exercises have built in 'questions' or even problems. The students usually encounter these problems and ask about them. The Instructor helps steer the students to discovering the reasons, and/or understanding the concepts of the unexpected problem. We call this the "open-the-box" style of teaching. The students form a question in a natural way in their mind (opening the box) - and they fill it with the right answer / reasoning. This approach is much more conducive to how our brains actually function, (dendrite linking, etc), and results in a much more long-term understanding and better applicability of the concepts. One benefit of this style of learning is that when the student runs into that same 'question' years down the road, the linking is already built in to their brain for the right box/answer.
Unlike many "outline based" technical training organizations, we often cover key concepts more than once. The truth is, most people don't learn things permanently by a first pass through a concept, no matter how well presented. Therefore, our courses utilize a built-in review of key concepts, usually in a progressively more open-ended and applied way. We find this built-in review greatly enhances the long-term retention of these key facts and concepts.
Our lab exercises are not just busy work to keep students awake - All exercises are relevant and applicable to real concepts which students need to understand to progress in the field. The exercises are each used systematically to demonstrate and apply the concepts covered in preceding lecture sessions.
Most of our lab exercises have considerable flexibility. We have a wide range of students from varying industries and job functions with very different objectives and needs. Our flexible lab exercises allow us to customize training on a one to one level, ensuring each student gains as much as possible of what they specifically need to know.
Our Instructors are true 'Teachers'. Friendly, easy-going, relaxed training is a hallmark of Orion Technical Training. You will find your Instructor to be very knowledgeable, and extremely experienced, but also honest about things they might not know. You will also find the Instructors to be extremely patient and truly concerned about each individual in a classroom. Questions are a key part of the learning process, and as such, we highly encourage questions from all students.
All of our course sequences allow for considerable lab exercise time, in which Instructors go from student to student making sure questions are answered and ensuring concepts are making sense along the way. This is extremely interactive training!
Lastly, we focus on real LEARNING. We have found that everyone truly enjoys learning. Therefore, we work tirelessly and patiently to ensure that EVERY student learns as much as they possibly can. Our Instructors truly care about each student, and regularly stay late after class to help students with specific needs, or with specific application problems.
Telephone 800-642-8851 info@orion-training.com
Page Updated: Jan 6, 2009 Copyright © 2000-2009 Orion Technical Solutions, LLC
