L-180, Human Factors in The Wildland Fire Service, 2008

L-180 Decorative banner. Group of photos depicting wildland firefighters performing various duties.

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Course Delivery Information

L-180 may be delivered as instructor-led (classroom) or self-directed (online) training.

Expectations of Instructors

  • Prepare thoroughly. Study the course content you are going to teach.
  • Establish a collaborative and constructive classroom environment.
  • Communicate expectations.
  • Encourage student engagement.
  • Respect student diversity in backgrounds, talent, experience, and learning style.
  • Professionally represent your instructor cadre, your home unit, and your agency.

Course Guidance

Course coordinators and instructors should be thoroughly familiar with the NWCG Standards for Course Delivery, PMS 901-1.  The NWCG Standards for Course Delivery establishes standards for all aspects of NWCG training course management and delivery. These standards should be used in conjunction with the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1, and the course-specific guidance stated in the NWCG Training Catalog.

See L-180 minimum instructor qualifications. 

Recommended Class Size

Recommended class size is 24 students.  Instructors should maintain a 6:1 ratio of students to instructors/coaches to facilitate exercises and discussion and to enable strong mentorship to the students. 

Student Materials

Each student must be provided the following:

Technical Considerations

All presentations should be downloaded and tested before the start of class to ensure compatibility with software.

PowerPoint presentations are built in an older version of Microsoft Office.  Some features may not work correctly with newer software or systems.  

For help, visit the Microsoft Office website, https://support.office.com/en-us/powerpoint, or contact your local IT support personnel.

Course Evaluations

Use the NWCG Course Evaluation Feedback form to collect information critical to future training improvements.

Students and cadre members are asked to contribute course evaluations. Input is welcome on all aspects of the training course, including course content, pre-course work, reference materials, quality of instruction, delivery methods, and testing procedures.

Instructor Cadre Meetings

Conduct initial, pre-course, daily, and close-out instructor cadre meetings. These provide opportunities to plan, organize, preview materials, review training and exercises, and identify and address concerns and issues. Consider using an informal After Action Review process. Instructor cadre meetings are critical for instructors who do not have previous experience with the course.  Additional information is located in the NWCG Standards for Course Delivery, PMS 901-1

Self-Directed (Online) L-180 Delivery Instructions

This online course exposes students to human performance concepts as part of basic wildland firefighter training. The course is designed for entry-level operational personnel; however, this course also applies to all wildland fire service personnel, including non-operational personnel.  Additional information about the course can be found on the L-180 overview page.

This is an NWCG-certified course. Click here to view the NWCG certification statement for this course.

Instructions

  1. Complete the online course (estimate 4 hours).
  2. You will be directed to the National Fire Academy (NFA) Online website. You will need an NFA Online account to take this course; follow directions on the NFA Online website to obtain an account. Search for course title in the catalog and add the online course to your “To-Do-List.”  The NFA Online learning management system will track your progress.
  3. Print the NWCG certificate of completion (instructions below). Keep the certificate as proof of successful completion of the course.  If you have trouble with course completion, please email Wendell Welch at wwelch@blm.gov for further instruction.

Access

Please read Browser Requirements below to learn about compatible browsers.  Link to online training logon.

Attention All Students Taking NWCG Courses

You may be aware that many of the NWCG Courses (S190, S130, L180, etc.) on NFA Online Self Study are not working. We have learned that this is due to an update to ActiveX and the browsers/operating systems.

We apologize for the frustration this has caused all of you! We have been actively working on this issue since March 3rd. We have found a workaround using the CHROME Browser.

First before you begin, make sure you have the Adobe Flash Player installed and it is up to date. To download or update go to: https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/   If your Flash Player needs updated, you MUST restart your computer before opening the browser.

If you have not already done so, please download the latest CHROME Browser and follow the configuration settings below.

Important Notes:

  • You must configure CHROME each time you launch the content. CHROME will not save these Flash Player configurations permanently. Sorry, we know it’s a pain but that’s the workaround for now.
  • If you have already tried CHROME but it didn’t work, please clear your cache and cookies before proceeding with these configuration changes!

Step 1

Log into your NFA/NWCG Online Self Study account using the CHROME browser and do the following:

Allow Site to Run Flash:

  1. Within CHROME, at the top right, click More then Settings.
  2. Under "Privacy and security," click Site Settings.
  3. Click Flash.
  4. At the top, turn off Block sites from running Flash (recommended). It should have "ASK FIRST" enabled now.

Step 2

Launch the course you want to take and from the Content Window do the following:

To Run Flash on a Website:

  1. To the left of the web address, click Lock or Info icon.
  2. In the new tab, to the right of "Flash," click the Down arrow icon then Allow.
  3. Click “Reload” to apply the Flash.

1. Confirm the installed Adobe Reader is the current version for the browser you are using:  https://get.adobe.com/reader/

2. To print the online course completion certificate, log into your NFA Online account.  From your Home Page select "View All" in the "Completed Work" pod.

3. Hover mouse over the title of the course, wait for pop-up and select "Print Certificate":

Displaying screenshot of completed work screen.

None

 

 

Page Last Modified / Reviewed: 
2020-11-10

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