CHALLENGE

Paul Massarelli, lieutenant at Baltimore County’s Fire Department, is in charge of all EMS training for the entire county. There are over 1,000 employees and even more volunteers the county trains on a yearly basis. The programs Massarelli oversees have 15 to 20 students each. With many volunteers, Massarelli observed students were reserved and did not fully participate during program training.

SOLUTION

The department began the initial implementation of audience response technology to help students study for exams by using interactive polling questions. To enhance review sessions even further, the department adopted the instructional game suite BRAVO! Response provided by C3 Softworks.

Turning's audience response software is compatible with BRAVO! interactive games and enables BRAVO! users to answer game-based questions, capture scores and track individual results. With the combined efforts of these solutions, the department noticed the enhanced comprehension of program material.

“The way students learn these days we feel is a more technological type of environment and this allows them to interact and be more involved in the training,” said Massarelli.

“Our Fair Practices Committee felt they could get a better response from employees through the anonymity provided by the technology. They feel as though it really enhanced the training they were doing.”

Paul Massarelli
Lieutenant, Baltimore County Fire Department

RESULTS

The instant feedback from t solutions provided Massarelli with the benefit to modify learning material to better accommodate overall comprehension. With interactive test reviews, students were able to assess what material they needed to study and what they already understood. The success of Turning and CSoftworin Massarelli’s programs boosted his interest in moving forward with a more technological approach to training.

The use of the technology evolved from test review to everyday in-class use. “We try to incorporate them often in our PowerPoint presentations so we can base the student’s knowledge as we’re going, not just at the end of the session,” said Massarelli.

Every student was now interacting and becoming more involved with the training programs. Other departments soon recognized the positive impact Turning provided Massarelli’s students and began to implement the technology.

“Our Fair Practices Committee felt they could get a better response from employees through the anonymity provided by the technology. They feel as though it really enhanced the training they were doing,” stated Massarelli.

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