NASAGA - Games and Simulations

FACILITATION Certificate Program

Coordinated by Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan and his crew (Jim Clark, Dave Piltz, and Tracy Tagliati)

Note: There are two certificate programs and this one is on the facilitation of games, activities, and simulations for education and training. (The other one is on design.) You cannot take both certification programs simultaneously.
You do NOT have to have earned the design certificate before working on this certificate. These two certificates are independent of each other.
What Is This?
This certificate program provides an opportunity for NASAGA 2008 conference participants to gain professional credibility in the area of facilitation of games, activities, and simulations for education and training. Offered for the first time at NASAGA, this certificate program will provide the principles and procedures for participants who are interested in conducting training and educational activities that are more interactive, enjoyable, and effective. People enrolled in this certificate program will have the unique opportunity to work with and learn from experienced facilitators to focus their conference experience on the specific skills they wanted to build.
Who Should Attend?
It is NOT necessary that you should have attended the NASAGA Design certificate program earlier in order to participate in this program. Anyone interested in facilitating group and team activities (and this group includes all human beings) will benefit from this program.
Details
There are three parts to this certificate program:
A pre-conference workshop on the facilitation of games, activities, and simulations
At this workshop, participants will explore basic concepts related to instructional facilitation, handling different types of participants, and conducting debriefing discussions. They will gain hands-on experience in agile techniques for getting their participants ready for interactive learning, improvising just-in-time adjustments to the activities to increase their instructional and motivational effectiveness, and conduct after-activity reviews to encourage participants to reflect, gain insights, and share them. At the end of the workshop, each participant will develop a specific plan to improve her or his facilitation style and skills.
See below for a detailed description of this workshop.
Five selected sessions
During the rest of the conference, participants will attend at least five concurrent sessions to acquire more experiences and techniques to increase and improve their facilitation skills. In addition to participating the in these concurrent sessions, they will also record facilitator behaviors on a systematic observation form.
There will be opportunities to meet with others in the program as well as session facilitators throughout the conference to share daily insights.
Presentation of facilitation plan
During the last day of the conference, participants will present their personal action plans in a wrap-up session.
Optional follow-up activity
As a certificate program participant, you are strongly encouraged to submit a proposal for the NASAGA 2009 conference (or some other professional conference). The workshop team and the NASAGA 2009 conference committee will assist you with suitable feedback.
Workshop materials
You will receive a copy of the book, The Instructional Facilitator’s Toolkit. You will also have access to the resources at the NASAGA website and to another website with hundreds of training games and practical articles on facilitation skills.

How To FACILITATE Games, Activities, and Simulations for Education and Training

Facilitated by Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan with Dave Piltz, Tracy Tagliati, and others
Note: This workshop is a requirement for the Facilitation Certificate Program. However, you may enroll in the workshop without being a participant in the certificate program.
Workshop Goal
To conduct games, activities, and simulations by using effective and flexible techniques that result in more engaging activities, thoughtful reflection, and applicable learning.
Workshop Objectives
Module 1. Instructional facilitation. Differentiate among training, “pure” facilitation, and instructional facilitation. Specify the advantages and limitations of instructional facilitation.
Module 2. The balancing act. Identify critical dimensions of activities-based training (including pace, intensity, competition, and playfulness). Select, maintain, and balance appropriate intensities of these dimensions. Also make appropriate adjustments along these dimensions while facilitating a group.
Module 3. Let the inmates run the asylum. Recall and implement improvisation principles that enable co-opting participants in the design and delivery of training.
Module 4. Designing while delivering. Create instant training activities that incorporate existing sources of training content.
Module 5. Participants from hell. Recognize disruptive behavior patterns among participants. Reduce and eliminate these behaviors by transforming hostile participants into active collaborators.
Module 6. The power of debriefing. Recognize the importance of the debriefing process for linking the training game or activity to the workplace reality. Apply a powerful six-phase model for maximizing learning from experience.
Additional Tasks for Participants in the Certificate Program
Attend five concurrent sessions during the conference and incorporate the principles and procedures that you learned from these sessions in your facilitation project.
Present your facilitation plan and receive critique and suggestions in a final conference session.
Workshop materials
You will receive a copy of the book, The Instructional Facilitator’s Toolkit. You will also gain access to the resources at the NASAGA website and to another website with hundreds of training games and practical articles on facilitation skills.