Syllabus Training and Development, Spring 2015

Sutapa Bhattacharjee
Assistant Professor
&
Student Counselor
Institute of Business Administration
University of Dhaka
Office: Room# 215
E-mail: sutapab@iba-du.edu
Office Hours: Before and after class, by appointment
Required Text:
DeSimone, Randy L., Werner, Jon M., & Harris, David M. Human
Resource Development, Sixth Edition. Cincinnati: Thomson/South-Western
College Publishing.
Objectives:

The overarching objective of this course is for each student to learn how to assess,
develop, carry out, and evaluate a training program. To get to this objective, we
will review the field of training and development, as well as the broader area of
human resource development (HRD). This means covering some of the basic
concepts of training/HRD, such as motivation and learning theory, needs
assessment, and the evaluation of training. Different types of training programs
will be examined, including orientation, skills training, team building,
management development, organization development, and diversity training.
The applied aspect of the course will come primarily through teams of students
planning, designing, delivering, and evaluating their own training programs.
Other individual and in-class assignments will seek to provide other skills needed
by HRD professionals. While there will be lecturing during the semester, I view
each of you as adult learners, and therefore encourage class discussion as much as
possible. Four exams will be used to measure your grasp of the content of this
course. There should be a lot of faculty/student and student/student interaction in
this course.

Grading:

Your course grade will be determined based on the following:

Quiz
Midterm
Final exam
Group Project: Training Program Presentation
& Paper
Attendance and Participation in Class
Discussions
Total

10 points
25 points
40 points
20 points
5 points
100 points

Final grades will be determined using the total points you earned during the semester (A= 90%,
B+ = 85%, B= 80% C+= 75%, C= 70,D+= 65%,D=60%, F= 59.9% or below).
Group Projects.
For Group Project, students will form small groups during the first week of class;
these student teams will plan, design, deliver, and evaluate their own training
program. See the last page of the syllabus for more extensive details on this
project. Groups should select a topic that is of particular interest to them (see
Chapters 8-15 for potential topics). Topics for each groups training program
should be decided upon (and turned into the instructor) by Saturday February
28. A Project Plan (what you intend to do) is due on Saturday March 21 . I will
give you feedback on this plan, and then you are to present your training program
to the class on Saturday April 25. Each group will have 30-35 minutes to
discuss the design and evaluation of their technique, as well as to demonstrate
their technique (or some portion of it) to the class.
Both professionalism and creativity are encouraged in all presentations.
Further, each group will be asked to submit a Final Report which should be typed
(TNR 12 font), double-spaced, and error-free in spelling, grammar, etc. This
report will document the task analysis you conducted, plus details of your design,
implementation, and evaluation efforts. Include all supporting documentation as
appendices at the end of your report. This report should include a discussion of
the strengths of your training program (e.g., how does it improve upon what is
currently being done?), possible weaknesses or limitations of this approach, and
possible applications of this technique. Papers for all groups are due on Friday
August 3. Paper copies of any slides used in the presentation should be included
with the written report.
Participation &
Attendance:
Regular attendance and active participation is expected from all students.
Attendance will be taken each day. In general, if you miss an in-class assignment
without contacting me ahead of time, you will not be allowed to make it up at a
later date. Students are expected to ask and answer questions throughout the
semester, and especially during the discussion leading and presentations made by
other groups.
Attendance, promptness, and participation contribute 5 points towards your final
grade. Participation points start at zero, and work up to a maximum of 05 points,
based both on the quantity and quality of your comments and questions during the
semester. Arriving late or leaving early will also count against your attendance
grade. Attendance points will be assigned as follows:

0 absence
1 absence
2 absences
3 absences
4 (or more)

-- 5 points
-- 4 points
-- 3 points
-- 2 points
-- 0 points

Note 1: Make-ups and extensions are discouraged for all tests and other
assignments, and will only be considered with timely notice (i.e., if at all possible,
before the class or assignment you miss), and with appropriate documentation,
etc. Use either voice or electronic mail to contact me.

GUIDELINES FOR GROUP PROJECT ASSIGNMENT

Assignment: To plan, design, deliver, and evaluate an original training program.
Process:
1.

Groups with approximately three students per group will be formed in the first week of

class.
Each group will select their own topic for their training program. The topic should be
one in which the group has considerable interest (or expertise).
2.

Using Chapter 4 as a guide, each group will conduct a needs assessment for their
proposed training program. This should include both a person and a task analysis. Make clear in
your write-ups what interview questions, questionnaires, etc. you used.
3.

Based on your needs assessment and any assumptions you may need to make, develop
specific training objectives.
4.

5.

Develop a detailed Training Proposal (Project Plan), . This should include:

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Title and brief description of the program

Training objectives
Training methods to be used, and a rationale (justification) for using them, based
on training theory
Proposed instructors, and the reason for using them
A tentative training outline
A tentative list and description of training materials needed

g.
h.

An evaluation plan (including both short-term and long-term evaluation, where

appropriate; see Ch. 7)
Estimated budget for the program

Each group will receive feedback from the instructor on their Project Plan. Based upon
this, they should then finalize their training program, class presentation, and Final Report. Class
presentations will be made on . Presentations should review the groups efforts to develop and
evaluate the training program, and must include some demonstration of the training program to
the class (you may only have time to present a section or module of the training to the class).
Final Reports for all groups are due on April 25, and must include all information on your needs
assessment (task analysis), design, implementation, and evaluation plans.
6.

Since cooperation within the groups will be critical to the success of each project,
students who do not cooperate or contribute their fair share of effort in the total project
(as judged by the instructor and their peers) risk having their grade lowered by one or (in
extreme cases) two letter grades. You are expected to work together to accomplish the
assigned tasks. Changes in the groups will only be made in unusual circumstances (as
determined by the instructor). Remember that with e-mail and file attachments, a great
deal of work can be accomplished without all team members being physically present in
the same place at the same time.