Section outline

  • Course description

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    This is a free course of 1.5 hours for citizen science practitioners looking to employ ‘Train the Trainer’ within their project or activity. Train the Trainer (TTT) is a learning method that equips people with the skills and understanding of a project, in order to deliver training, programmes or projects to others. No prior knowledge of the TTT technique or strategy are needed.

    By the end of this course, the learner will:

    1.      Understand what ‘Train the Trainer’ is and how it can benefit citizen science projects
    2.      The fundamental components of a TTT course
    3.      How to plan the learning journey for their own TTT course
    4.      The key considerations to make if they wish to utilise TTT methodologies

    This guidance is aimed primarily at contributory citizen science projects, and provides advice mainly to those who wish to host face-to-face training. Many of the principles can also be adapted to suit online trainings. The concept can be utilised for trainings across a broad range of subject areas, but does have a focus on environmental sciences.

    Click here to enrol in this course and use enrolment key trainthetrainer to do so. Once you enrol you will be able to take quizzes and receive a badge upon successful course completion.


  • Welcome and Introduction (5 minutes)

    • Welcome (2 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A welcome and some information about what this course will cover, how long it will take, and how you will be assessed.

    • What can we be expected to learn on this course? (3 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A short description of the "Train the Trainer" (TTT) method and the learning outcomes for this course.

  • What is "Train the Trainer"? (10 minutes)

  • Training design (28 minutes)

    • Training Design Interactive Content
      Students must
      Mark as done

      This section involves a series of considerations about your TTT workshop, and what to take into account when designing it. Please treat it as a self-led activity in which you read through the considerations below and make notes for yourself about your particular planned TTT as you go along.

  • Engagement pathway (12 minutes)

    • What is an engagement pathway? (2 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
      An introduction to the engagement pathway, a critical step in planning TTT and ensuring effective learning
    • Checklist Exercise (10 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      Text of a guided exercise, which will allow you to plan your engagement pathway with the support of guiding questions

  • Facilitators (10 minutes)

    • Who are facilitators? (5 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A video and text explaining who facilitators are and ideas surrounding recruitment.

    • Key considerations (3 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      Short text explaining the top considerations when recruiting facilitators.

    • Quiz (2 minutes)
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A short, non-assessed quiz to check your understanding.

  • Learning Content (35 minutes)

    • Introduction (2 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done
      Text explaining the learning content and giving an overview of the content covered in this section.
    • Course Length (2 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A list of subjects which should be covered during TTT courses, with optional extended content for longer courses.

    • Course Structure (7 minutes) Interactive Content
      Students must
      Mark as done

      In this section of the course, we will look in more detail at the different aspects of the learning content in more detail. Data collection, facilitation skills and participant management encompass a wide range of considerations, and so will be discussed in more detail, later in the course.

    • Case Study: Capturing Our Coast (CoCoast) project (2 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A case study to serve as an example from the  "Subject Knowledge" heading in the previous section. 

    • Quiz (1 minute)
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A short, non-assessed quiz to check your understanding.

    • Key components of data collection (4 minutes) Interactive Content
      Students must
      Mark as done

      Text explaining of the importance of the data collection component of learning content and what to include

    • Activity (3 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      Short text activity to contextualise the previous content and encourage you to think about direct application to your project or training.

    • What are facilitation skills and why are they important? (1 minute) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      Text explaining of the importance of the facilitation skills.

    • What is important when teaching facilitation skills? (5 minutes) Interactive Content
      Students must
      Mark as done

      Text explaining of the importance of the facilitation skills.

    • Quiz (2 minutes)
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A short, non-assessed quiz to check your understanding.

    • What is participant management and what skills are important? (5 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      Text explaining of the importance of the participant management and how to do it.

    • Quiz (1 minute)
      Students must
      Mark as done

      A short, non-assessed quiz to check your understanding.

  • Summary and Self-Assessment (10 minutes)

    • Course Summary (5 minutes) Page
      Students must
      Mark as done

      Summary of the issues that were covered in each section, with the main “take away” points.

    • Self-Assessment Quiz (5 minutes)
      Students must
      Receive a grade
      Receive a passing grade

      This is the course quiz, which is assessed. There are 10 multiple choice questions. The pass mark is 50%.

  • Further reading and learning

  • Sources and Acknowledgements