The Trainer's Guide: A Practical Manual for the Design, Delivery, and Evaluation of Training.

The authors state that the purpose of this loose-leaf manual is to serve as a guide for trainers. It contains practical information about the design, delivery, and evaluation of training. Developed to train trainers for the United States Postal Service Technical Training Center in Oklahoma, this manual primarily focuses on individuals who have been selected by their organization or institution because of their excellent technical skills in training other technicians.

Within this manual, the authors specifically separate training, education, and development on the basis of when the goal(s) will be met. Training involves the improvement of present job-related skills, knowledge, or attitudes; whereas education focuses on future goals and development concentrates on more long-term goals. The trainer is the person responsible for the design, implementation (delivery), and evaluation of training.

The manual is divided into three parts: curriculum design, instructional delivery, and instructional evaluation. Within each part there are sections, each with its own objective. The objective enables the trainer to see what he or she will be able to do after completing the section and to determine what component of the manual will be of most help to him or her at any particular time.

Section 1 on curriculum design is subdivided into five elements. They are (1) conducting a needs analysis, (2) conducting a training analysis, (3) designing the training curriculum, (4) designing group training materials, and (5) designing individualized training materials.

The second section consists of units on (1) creating a positive training climate, (2) delivering instructional content, and (3) serving as a group facilitator. Specific examples of training situations are included in this section, along with applications of the skills or principles discussed in the text.

Instructional evaluation is presented in the third section. Developing knowledge-based and performance-based tests, as well as evaluating the impact of training on job performance, are the topics discussed in this concluding section. Sample instruments are displayed to assist the trainer in the design of surveys or forms to meet his or her own needs.

The manual is well organized, with the margins of facing pages clearly identifying the part of training (on the left) and the subdivision discussed in the text (on the right.) Samples of reports, forms, and surveys, as well as exhibits of other illustrative materials are interpersed throughout the text and are easy to locate by labels that correspond to particular sections and subsections of the manual. In addition, a detailed table of contents representing an outline of the manual's text, a bibliography at the end of each subsection, and a five-page index make the manual easy to use and a source for more information on a particular subject.

Although this manual was written to train trainers in helping technicians improve their job performance in a specific area, it is applicable to physical therapy. The most direct use is with training aides in the physical therapy department. Depending on the degree and type of training the aide may have had previously, this manual could help the physical therapy staff member who is assigned the task of designing a training program to change a "generic" aide into a physical therapy aide. In addition, parts of the manual could be helpful to practitioners in designing in-service programs for their department or a teaching unit for a physical therapy program. The manual has a limited use for clinical instructors of physical therapy students.