KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.-- The 335th Training Squadron introduced a new direction for the Financial Management career field in its most recent graduating class.
The course is focusing on teaching only the most important and relevant material to their students to improve the quality of the class.
Efficiency and facilitation are what Tech Sgt. Timothy Jacobs, 335th TRS financial management instructor, is hoping for these changes to achieve.
“The course has shifted into a more of a self-learning environment for the students,” said Jacobs. “We are focusing on student collaboration and research instead of class-based lectures. We hope the students retain the information better by interacting with each other and by discovering information on their own.”
Staff Sgt. Takiis Thompson, 335th TRS financial management instructor, explained how this new way of teaching is better suited for the students.
“Our way of teaching was outdated,” said Thompson. “The students think differently now than they did in the past. I see Airmen with more of a thirst for knowledge with the new way of learning. Now, our students have much more control over their training.”
Jacobs explained how not only changing the style of the class but also the length and material can positively impact the students and the Air Force.
“We are providing financial management Airmen to their bases in half the time and better prepared than before,” said Jacobs. “Instead of teaching the Airmen a little bit of every part of our job, we are teaching them skills they will need throughout their entire careers. We are focusing on critical thinking and problem solving within the job.”
Jacobs highlighted the innovation and efficiency of the 335th TRS.
“Our senior leaders have revamped and updated our training to improve our career field in the best way possible,” said Jacobs. “We want to consistently improve our Airmen to pursue the Air Force mission.”