{Editor’s note: As Washington State University Master Gardener Volunteer week comes to a close, it seemed fitting to talk about what makes for rich learning opportunities for Master Gardener volunteers. Master Gardener Mary-Jean Grimes describes how new hands-on training and a subsequent evaluation are supporting volunteers in Grays Harbor-Pacific Counties, Washington.}
Washington State University (WSU) Master Gardener Training has two parts, the online modules presented by the WSU experts and the local county component. The content & exams were set up to make sure that all the Master Gardeners in Washington State receive consistent training from WSU. The second component is planned by the local counties and varies in content and number of sessions.
From Lecture to More Hands On Training
Sifting compost during Master Gardener training
Grays Harbor-Pacific Counties decided 2 years ago that a practicum aspect of training was needed. We used the objectives from each module to determine the focus of the activities. Then we asked for Master Gardener volunteers to plan and facilitate the hands-on activities. We changed our terminology from presenter to facilitator because people heard presentation or lecture when we used the term presenter and we didn’t want PowerPoint presentations or lectures. Just changing the term forced a change of mindset. The sessions became very active.
This type of training is successful. Trainees were very enthusiastic and felt more confident about working in plant clinics, demo garden, and presenting to the public.
Another aspect of the local training days is the trainees’ evaluations of each session of the day. The evaluations are required, but they are anonymous. (The papers are numbered so we know who has turned in the forms, but the numbers are removed before the evaluations are read by anyone.) The evaluation form is simple:
1. Which activities were worthwhile?
2. Next year it might work better to:
3. Please eliminate or change:
What do MGs think of training sessions?
For our last training we had an evaluation for each day, but the information we got was too general. This year our evaluation was specific to each topic. This gives us better subject information as well as overall information. The trainees also can focus their comments , offering very good feedback and insights.
One particular day (The day we spent the day in a garden working with small fruits, in an orchard, deciding on a veggie garden site and determining how to plant to rotate crops, and propagating plants!) we got this in the Please Change section:
“Don’t make such a long day of standing, plan some time to sit and do things.”
We also get praise for the use of small group and practicum activities:
“Small groups worked well; everyone was able to engage/practice.”
We also got these 2 comments:
“Somehow have raspberries that show disease (BUT NOT AT MY HOUSE!) and Serve berry smoothies.”
This was another comment:
Each module should include some of the “common questions that you’ll likely be asked…” or perhaps, “here are the most common questions that WSU receives on this…So, I’m suggesting that the leaders of each exercise spend time collecting this background on “Here’s what to expect…” so that the exercise imparts not just basic knowledge & skills, but also emphasizes that this is a program to “train the trainer” for the eventual public support/service responsibility.”
Integrating Feedback Back into Training
"Which crop where" training
Needless to say this immediately went out to the remaining facilitators for use planning their sessions. By making adjustments and using the suggestions shows the trainees that their evaluations are important and used.
Our county agent stresses,
“What is the impact of what you are doing as master gardeners? How are you going to measure it?”
Besides getting good feedback on how to make training the best, we are also showing the trainees that evaluation & impact are important parts of the master gardener program. For a full summary of feedback from one Grays-Harbor-Pacific training class, see: GraysHarbor-Pacific_SummaryEvalClass3_4-7-12)
-Mary-Jean Grimes,
Master Gardener Grays Harbor-Pacific Counties, Washington State
Tags: volunteers, washington state
