A student at a recent RO class told me we need to market the RO seminar as, “We don’t read the rulebook to you,” because he found the RO seminar to be much more interesting and informative than he expected. I chuckled and told him if I had to read the rulebook to the class, I wouldn’t be teaching. But the suggestion for that new marketing slogan wasn’t a bad idea, because I am sure there are members who think that is what we do. Let me tell you what we really do!
When I took the RO seminar in 2011, I was expecting a very boring day of listening to an instructor drone on about the rules. I was shocked when I arrived at the seminar and the instructor (RMI) had a projector and PowerPoint slides. I didn’t expect it to be that fancy. Back then the seminar covered the whole rulebook by starting at chapter 1 and proceeding through chapter 12, but there were a few videos, some pictures, and some short quizzes during class. But what made it interesting was the experiences of the instructor and stories of how the rules were applied at matches (especially the more obscure rules that make you ask, “Why?”). We also had the opportunity to ask questions about rules applications at matches we had shot. And the biggest thing I learned is that knowing the rules helps you be a better competitor. It helps you know what freestyle actions are legal under the rules and which ones will earn you a penalty. And, if you know the rules you can reason with ROs who maybe haven’t kept up with the rules, or don’t know them, and are trying to apply penalties that don’t exist.
While the RO seminar was well received at the time, NROI is always looking for ways to improve the learning experience. Since 2019 we have changed the focus of the RO seminar to emphasize how to perform the job of a RO versus a comprehensive rules review. No, we no longer start at chapter 1 and work through chapter 12. We initially reorganized it into sections based on topic versus location in the rulebook. We then moved the background information to short videos on our online Learning Management System (LMS), which are completed before the seminar, so we can focus on ‘how to RO’ in the seminar. By moving the background information online, we were able to add activities to the seminar to give students a break from hearing the RMI talk (believe me, we don’t like talking for eight hours either). We have opportunities for small groups to practice the range commands as well as see what 180 breaks and trigger in the finger guard look like from the timer and scorekeeper positions using rubber guns. We also have some flipped classroom exercises where we give small groups a card with a scenario on it and they have to determine what they would do as the RO and which rule supports the call. They then report to the class, and we discuss whether the answer is correct or not. And did I mention all the new pictures, figures, and videos we have added to help demonstrate and explain the rules? And we are constantly adding more as needed. All of this occurs on day one of the seminar, which is generally 8 hours of instruction.
On the second day we do the range exercise with typically lasts a few hours. We have one shorter stage that is scored Virginia Count where we hand out cards to the students. The cards either say “shoot normally” or have a non-DQable offense for the purpose of teaching. To pass the range exercise, students must run the timer and use the proper range commands and also take a turn entering scores on the tablet. We also can build a second field course type of stage so students can get more practice, but that often is dependent on the available range facilities, class size, and weather. We also allow clubs to pair the RO seminar with their local match. The RO seminar students are in one or two squads and shoot the match together while the instructor offers pointers on how to officiate the stages safely. After class is over, each student is assigned a 50 question rules exam that is open rulebook and is completed on the USPSA website.
We do send out a post-class survey to all the students asking for feedback on what they liked, didn’t like, and what they would like to see more of. We do work to improve our seminar materials and teaching methods based on the feedback we get. Overall, the comments and feedback are very positive, but that doesn’t mean we are going to stop evolving the seminars and our teaching practices. We are listening and making changes to ensure the quality of the instruction as well as looking for ways to make the training more accessible and that we are efficiently using our members’ time when they attend the seminar. We hope to see you in a seminar in the future and if your club would like to host one, please check the seminar request page.