Writings

Firehouse Magazine December 2023 Edward Tracey schools instructors on what might have eluded them in the process of capturing the attention of members and ensuring their recollection of lessons well into the future. Think about a memorable drill that covered a skill or new information that still sticks with you. What made the drill that

Short Drills: Microlearning Principles Improve Training Sessions (Link) By Edward A. Tracey Firehouse, April 2023 When a drill in the fire service is developed, the person who designs the training session faces numerous pressures: competing demands for time, the crew wants the drill to be engaging and job-related, the firefighter or fire officer who conducts

What is the Drill? (Link) Developing an Objective for a Successful Company Level Drill By Edward A. Tracey Size-up Magazine, Issue 3, 2021 Company-level drills are the bread and butter of firefighter knowledge development and skill improvement. It is within these drills where firefighters are afforded opportunities to learn from knowledgeable officers and instructors and

Learning in the Firehouse (Link) By Edward A. Tracey Fire Engineering, December 2021 Fire department officers and fire service educators need to incorporate and report informal learning activities as ways in which firefighters learn their trade. How do firefighters learn at work? Or, better yet, how do firefighter learn in the firehouse? The initial reaction to these

What the Best Fire Instructors Do (Link) By Edward A. Tracey Fire Engineering, April 2021 Research on the best teachers applies to fire service instructors, too, writes Edward A. Tracey. In 2004, Ken Bain, a professor at New York University, wrote a book on effective college teaching, What the Best College Teachers Do. The “best”