KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.-- Keesler’s faculty development staff consists of 24 specialists who create the processes to train, develop and deliver the focused and driven warriors that in-turn, train the next generation of Airmen.
The Faculty Development Flight authors and conducts 13 courses including the Military Training Leader courses, Enhanced Learning and Instructional Techniques Enrichment course and Basic Instructor course.
“In developing courses, the starting point is the need,” said Kurt Higgins, 81st Training Support Squadron faculty development flight chief. “The need is what drives a course being developed.”
Working with career field managers and other sources, the faculty development staff creates tailored training for the Air Force’s needs, while offering Community College of the Air Force accreditation.
“When COVID-19 was at its peak, our staff brought MTL training to an online environment,” said George Holbert, 81st TRSS faculty development training manager.
MTL training was transitioned into a blended course where students would take the knowledge portion of the course during their two-week restriction of movement and then spend the following two weeks on the performance portion in a classroom.
Out of the 13 courses offered, only four were capable of making the shift to online learning.
“We are finding it is best to teach certain courses in-residence because of the collaboration that goes on within the classroom,” said Higgins.
Courses best taught offline are taught in scale-up classrooms, which teach instructors how to facilitate an environment led by students instead of a slideshow.
Although Faculty Development Flight is split between multiple facilities, they continue to teach innovative processes to over 1,000 students on and offline from various branches and bases.