Required Text:
IFSTA’s Fire and Emergency Services Instructor, 7^th Edition, available from the Shelton State Bookstore at 1-800-538-0762. Fire Instructor III Student Workbook, 10/04, provided by the Alabama Fire College.

Supplementary reading:
NFPA 1041, Standard for Fire Service Instructor Professional Qualifications, 2002 edition, available from NFPA at www.nfpa.org.

Instructor materials:
Teaching Outline and PowerPoint: Rev. 10/2004

Fire Instructor I, II, III Pre-Course Materials

Course Description/Objectives

Description:
This course is designed to provide the Fire Instructor with the next level of understanding for the training of personnel. This course is designed to train the participants to perform job and task analysis, develop goals and objectives, and develop a lesson plan along with the coordinating of training aids and student test and evaluation.

Goals:
The purpose of this course is to specify, in terms of performance objectives, the minimum requirements for professional service as a fire instructor. This course shall cover the requirements for the Fire Instructor III level of progression.

Objectives:   

• After completion of the Fire Instructor III course, the candidate must be able to perform the following job performance requirements:

• Administer a training record system, given agency policy and type of training activity to be documented, so that the information captured is concise, meets all agency and legal requirements, and can be readily accessed.
• Develop recommendations for policies to support the training program, given agency policies and procedures and the training program goals, so that the training and agency goals are achieved.
• Select instructional staff, given personnel qualifications, instructional requirements, and agency policies and procedures, so that staff selection meets agency policies and achievement of agency and instructional goals.
• Construct a performance based instructor evaluation plan so that instructors are evaluated at regular intervals, following agency policies.
• Write equipment purchasing specifications, given curriculum information, training goals, and agency guidelines, so that the equipment is appropriate and supports the curriculum.
• Present evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations to agency administrator, given data summaries and target audience, so that the recommendations are unbiased, supported, and reflect agency goals, policies and procedures.
• Conduct and agency needs analysis, given agency goals, so that instructional needs are identified.
• Design programs or curriculums, given needs analysis and agency goals, so that the agency goals are supported, the knowledge and skills are job related, the design is performance based, adult learning principles are utilized, and the program meets time and budget constraints.
• Modify an existing curriculum, given the curriculum, audience characteristics, learning objectives, instructional resources and agency training requirements, so that the curriculum meets the requirements of the agency, and the learning objectives are achieved.
• Write a program and course goals, given job performance requirements (JPRs) and needs analysis information, so that the goals are clear, concise, measurable, and correlate to agency goals.
• Write course objectives, given JPRs, so that objectives are clear, concise, measurable, and reflect specific tasks.
• Construct a course content outline, given course objectives, reference sources, functional groupings and the agency structure, so that the content supports the agency structure and reflect current acceptable practices.
• Develop a system for the acquisition, storage, and dissemination of evaluation results so that the goals of the agency are supported and those impacted by the information receive feedback consistent with agency policies, federal, state and local laws.
• Develop course evaluation plan, given course objectives and agency policies, so that objectives are measured and agency policies are followed.
• Create a program evaluation plan, given agency policies and procedures, so that instructors, course components, and facilities are evaluated and student input is obtained for course improvement.

Instructional methods: Classroom instruction and projects

Course Schedule 

 (Tentative, subject to change depending on the progress of the class)

Day Two:
Planning, Project Two, Testing and Evaluation, Management and Supervision, Project Three - Training Plan and Policies, Board Meeting

Day Three:
Project Four - Modifying a Teaching Outline, Project Five - Training Staff
Development, Board Meeting

Day Four:
Project Six - Recruit School Application Process and Records, Recruit School Problems, Video, Record Systems, Specifications, Project Seven - Equipment Request, Board Meeting

Day Five:
Group Presentations, Review and Critique, Certification Exam

Course Policies

Tardiness:
Students must adhere to class schedules. Students are required to be punctual for all classes and class activities. Classes will begin promptly at the scheduled time unless specific instructions are given otherwise.

Class participation:
This course will involve discussion, questions and answers on the materials, and case study. Class participation is expected from all students.

Safety:
Safety of the student is top priority to the Alabama Fire College. Students must adhere to safety regulations while attending a class on or off the Fire College campus. At the Fire College campus, safety instructions are posted in every classroom, as well as escape routes and tornado actions.

Academic misconduct:
Academic misconduct or dishonesty such as cheating and plagiarism is not permitted in class. Suspected cases of academic misconduct will be reported to the Executive Director. Conduct detrimental to the fire service on or off campus will not be tolerated. We will investigate any complaints, and if the complaint is valid the student will be dismissed and his/her agency will be notified.

Grading:
Letter grades are assigned according to the following system for all certification courses for which students have registered.
A – Excellent (90-100)
B – Good (80-89)
C – Average (70-79)
Satisfactory grades for certification are A, B, or C. A mark of AU is assigned for course work performed as an audit.

Certification:
There will be an examination for state certification provided by the Alabama Fire College and Personnel Standards Commission. An overall score of 70% is required to the successful completion of this examination. Re-tests may be taken after 30 days and within 12 months of the date of course completion. The Alabama Fire College and Personnel Standards Commission is accredited by the National Professional Qualifications System (NPQS). The Executive Director has generously decided to fund national registration and certification for all successful students, so each student will automatically receive certification from the NPQS upon successful completion of the course and exam.

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