IS 300

[badger bob]

Finished 300 at Volk Field with the SARKID.

[Eclipse]

The 300 and 400 courses depend heavily upon the quality of your instructor.  If you get someone who reads ppt, and regurgitates slides then it will melt your brain. 

When I teach I try to get the students to engage in discussion and dialog.  If I can get the students to equate these new skills to how they do business, and identify ways to improve their operations the class goes much better.

I also refuse to teach the entire class myself.  I bring in 1-3 other instructors to assist.  This brings a variety of backgrounds and experiences, which makes a better course.

I have met instructors who claim that they can teach 300 in one day.  They skip the exercises, and simply lecture.  In this environment the students dont get to use the skills outlined in the lecture, and they dont walk away with a functional understanding of the material.

Finally there is now a 300B course.  This course allows for exercise options.  Instructors can now taylor the course to the audience by selecting one of four exercises per break out section.

Havnig taken it in the multi-instructor, enjoyable mode w/ exercises, I'd call the BS flag on anyone trying to cram it down in a day - talk about just checking the box.  The hands-on breakouts are the whole point. 

[Rotorhead]

When 300 and 400 are taught together over a two-day weekend, are they typically done with one course each day?

[arajca]

When 300 and 400 are taught together over a two-day weekend, are they typically done with one course each day?

If that's what's being offered, do not take it. The amount of information for each is not insignificant and you need to have the practical exercises to put it in context. ICS 300 is a three day class, ICS 400 is a two day class. Don't let someone cram the information down your throat in one day. Your brain will fry and you won't understand it.

[sardak]

If I had my way, I wouldn't accept the certificates from a one weekend 300-400 class. 

FEMA/NIMS shows 14 hours minimum course contact time for ICS-400 and 18 hours min for 300.

NWCG, which originally developed the classes, lists 16 hours for 400 and 18 to 24 hrs for 300. 24 hours would be too long.

One weekend for each class is reasonable, even if the hours don't quite add up.

The point of these classes is to get involved in working problems and interact with other agencies. It appears that some places are turning them into "diploma mills" so that students can get a requirement signed off somewhere instead of learning something about incident management.

Mike

[RiverAux]

Ditto on boycotting 1-day classes.  If you're going to even bother attending, go to the right course and take advantage of the opportunity to work with your local police and fire departments on the scenarios.  If you're just wanting to check a box and don't really care about learning anything, a one day course would be right for you.