Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating,
and Resolving Disputes in Elections
information, participants will identify courses of action that
must be taken and make decisions based on content or processes learned during training.
• Role Play: A structured scene or series of scenes involving
interactions between two or more persons. Participants are
assigned roles that enable them to demonstrate or practice
interpersonal skills related to a training objective or outcome.
• Group discussions: A discussion with participants on an agreed
upon topic that is facilitated by a trainer. Group discussions are
a good way to get input on a topic from a group of people in a
relatively short period of time.
These methods can be mixed and matched in the sessions defined above.
For example, a session might begin with a 10-15 minute mini-lecture and
then lead to a group discussion or preparation for a role play. A role play
activity might be used to stimulate small group discussions. A presentation of a case study might be followed by group discussions on the best
way to resolve the complaint presented.
D. Evaluating Training
One important part of the training process that is usually neglected is
an evaluation of the training program and its impact on the participants.
Some of the more obvious questions that could be answered are: What
did participants really learn? How well can participants apply the knowledge they gained during training? Are participants using the competencies gained when investigating or adjudicating electoral complaints? How
did the training help them in other aspects of their work or life?
While all of these questions might have merit, the challenge is to focus
the evaluation question. What is it that we are trying to learn? Are we
measuring the number of competencies gained? Are we looking to determine if the trainer was a good trainer? Are we interested in the number
of complaints resolved by EMBs? Do we want to know if the participants
are happy with the training? Each of these questions differs in tone and
purpose, and they imply different methods of eliciting answers.
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