HOPE Partnership

Supported by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from the

NationalCenter for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health (Grant No. R25 RR018490)

Training Procedure for Docents/ Guides

Goals

  1. To teach students about the anatomy and functioning of the lungs/respiratory system.
  2. To teach students how allergies and asthma affect lung function.
  3. To teach students how to identify and to avoid asthma and allergy triggers.
  4. To inform students and the local resources and agencies that can help them with asthma and allergy problems.

Objectives

  1. Students will be able to describe he anatomy and functioning of the lungs/respiratory system.
  2. Students will be able to describe how allergies and asthma affect lung function.
  3. Students will identify how to avoid asthma and allergy triggers.
  4. Students will receive information about local resources and agencies that can help them with asthma and allergy problems.

Activities
Training the docents/guides is one of the most important things in this activity. This is because the docents’ ability to explain the material, engage the viewers by pondering questions, time management, and mere enthusiasm will add to the success of the Asthma and Allergy Museum Walk. It is the responsibility of the docents to conduct the tour smoothly, and achieve the goals set by the training. They also have to make quick decisions during the tours such as:

  • Changing the presentation style to suit the education/age level of the tour group.
  • Spending more time on one station and less on another depending on how interested the viewers are.
  • Deciding whether to skip playing the game if there are time constraints, but still ensuring that the tour group gets an idea about the game. The docent should give the teachers in charge of the school groups the Teacher Resource CDs at the end of the tour.

The docents should be ready to discuss various ideas that some viewers may have and direct them where to find any additional information they like to know. Therefore, assign or encourage the docents to learn about regional information on asthma and current research studies. They should also be up-to-date on as much asthma and allergy-related information as possible.

The docents should be trained by a HOPE partner using the Asthma and Allergy PowerPoint presentations and other resources provided in this binder. Preparation information couldalso be selected from the Asthma and Allergy Resources page:

The number of docents needed for this activity may differ by location. Preferably, 3-6 docents and an event coordinator will be needed for each day of the event. The docents will be assigned to 1-2 stations each and will become specialized on the information pertaining to those stations.

Docent recruiting and training should start very early in the process. Two to six months before the event contact your interns and/or volunteers from the local Schools of Public Health, Colleges of Pharmacy, and/or Schools of Medicine etc. Recruit those who are interested in acting as docents and decide upon a date for the training.

One to two months before the event conduct the training for the docents and assign them further reading.

  • Let the docents try out the hands-on activities. This will provide them with a better idea how the activity should be conducted.
  • Each docent must do one or more mock guided tours using the other trainees. This will give the trainers a chance to correct any mistakes. Plus, docents can learn from each other about strong presentation styles.
  • At this point the docents could choose which of the stations they would like to be in charge of.

Create name tags for the docents. Keep in touch with the docents as the event date gets closer. Make sure they are confident with the activities they have to conduct at the event.

Assessment

The docents will be assessed by the teachers who come to the Asthma and Allergy Museum Walk. Teachers will be given an evaluation form to give their feedback on the event. Some of the questions in this assessment directly or indirectly address the performance of the docents. Here are those questions:

  1. Was the information in the Asthma and Allergy Museum Walk easily understood by your students?

  2. Did the presentations made by the docents help your students to pay attention to be curious about the topic?
  1. Do you feel that the docent was sufficiently prepared for your class in terms of knowing the material?

Let the docents know how the teachers assessed their performance. In the case of detailed feedback type up the comments and give them to the docents for their records or the portfolio. Present the docents with a certificate of appreciation for their valuable contributions to the Asthma and Allergy Museum Walk.

After the event you may invite the docents to share their ideas about the event, criticisms, and complements with the COEP staff. Their feedback should be collected and include in the event folder, which will be created after the event.

Asthma AllergyMuseum Walk1