Skills Development

Becoming an excellent instructor means that learning is not simply a means to an end; it is a way of life. This course is the first in a series of courses that will present the tools and knowledge required to help you gain the confidence, skills and ability to facilitate.
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Adult education reflects a specific approach about learning and teaching based on the theory that adults can and want to learn, that they are able and willing to take responsibility for that learning, and that the learning itself should respond to their needs.  As important as learning techniques and course design are; it is equally as important to determine what the needs of the group are when choosing the materials for training, designing program delivery and evaluating whether the lessons have addressed the strengths and needs of the individual participants.

One of the steps in an instructional course is determining the purpose of the course; another step is evaluating the results from a course.  A needs assessment is part of the planning processes and is often used to better understand the ‘why’s’ for having the training and the people who will be attending.  An evaluation is about making a judgement about the value of something.  It helps you see what was accomplished and how was it accomplished.  Both are effective tools to simplify problems and identify the right interventions or solutions.  The results of a needs assessment and an evaluation can guide you in decision making – including the design, functioning, and evaluation of projects and programs, that will lead to achieving your goals.

At the end of this course, you will have the answers to the following questions:

• What is a needs assessment & what is an evaluation?
• What steps are involved in conducting a needs assessment? What steps are involved in conducting an evaluation?
• What aspects of a needs assessment are important to its success? What aspects of an evaluation are important to its success?

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Over $170 billion a year are spent worldwide on skin care products. Learning more about the skin, fingernails and hair is a great foundation to apply a wide range of products effectively. The goal of this course is to share accurate information about a growing business based on science, not promotional material.  Only after understanding the basics can a worker share with a customer how a product may work with them.
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This is the second part of a two part course where Part 1 examined skin, nails and hair and Part 2 will focus on customer service and make-up application in a safely and correct manner.
Only after understanding the basics can a worker share with a customer how a product may work with them.
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This course builds on the Culinary Skills: Intro to the Bakery course.  In this course, we will look at bread making.  Understanding the fundamentals of bread making allows participants to better understand both the food industry and bakeries in particular.

Whether you are a home cook or you are looking to work in the bakery industry - this course will ensure you understand the fundamental skills and know-how to bake bread – plus give insight into the bread making from your home kitchen or on the commercial side (same exact science as home but on a larger scale with bigger machines).

So you completed the webCampus course “Culinary Skills: Intro to the Industry,” and you're inspired to learn more. The journey of every chef starts with learning the fundamentals of cooking. Having a clear understanding of these basics is necessary in order to work in a professional kitchen.

“Culinary Skills: Cooking Foundations” will introduce you to:  

• The general concept of cooking;
• Understanding flavour and structure (how chefs create their dishes);
• Culinary stocks (the fundamental basis for all culinary cooking);
• Culinary sauces; and
• Culinary cooking techniques and cooking methods.

Understanding these fundamentals will help ensure that your culinary journey begins on the right track.
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Research over the past decade has produced indisputable evidence that vegetables play an important role in maintaining a healthy diet, and can aid in disease prevention and weight maintenance. They also provide a variety of colours, textures, and flavours to a meal. Evidently, eating vegetables can pay off in a number of ways. 

This course is another addition to the Culinary Skills series, which is designed to help participants develop the fundamental techniques required to work in a professional kitchen or simply improve their personal cooking skills.

The course will provide suggestions on how to “spice up” vegetables by teaching participants about the different vegetable categories, how specific veggies are affected by cooking, and how to cook vegetables using methods such as poaching, boiling, steaming, roasting/grilling, and sautéing. A primary goal of the course is to help participants create mouth-watering vegetable dishes.

If cooking is an art, then baking is a science. Baker’s are some of the most system-oriented individuals in the kitchen.  A chef’s life is chaotic and they live and breathe the chaos, however, a baker lives and dies by what they can measure and weigh.  Both are equally impressive!

This course will provide insight for working in a professional bakery, either in a grocery store, commercial or specialty bakery. For those of you who simply enjoy baking or want to get better, we hope there’s some insights for you too.

This course examines what it takes to work in the culinary industry. Participants will explore the many roles, expectations, and skills that are common to the industry, and will learn what it is like to work in a restaurant kitchen. The course will also help you become better in your own kitchen.
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This course covers the most important tool of the trade for cooks and chefs – the knife. After completing this course, you will have an understanding of:

The Knife: types and choosing yours, how to use your knife safely, how to properly care and maintain your knife. It covers Knife skills - including basic and advanced cuts required to work in a professional kitchen.
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Before you know what clothes to buy and which styles look best on you, you'll need to know which body shape you are. Knowing your basic body shape and understanding the types of clothes that will accentuate your good features (and minimise your less than perfect bits!), means you'll be able to dress in a way that really suits you. This course will help you understand body shapes so you'll always be able to find something that will complement your body shape, scale, proportions, colouring, personality and life style.
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Imagine if everybody wore the same clothes, had the same style and liked the same things. Our world wouldn't exactly be the most colorful and exciting would it? In fact, it would be downright boring! Our clothes are often an expression of our spirit and character, so creating your own personal style is the art of combining an outfit, or an image, based on the various aspects of your personality and lifestyle. In this course we will help you identify your fashion style and how to create your signature look so that you can create a wardrobe that works for you.
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Floral arrangements are associated with very significant events in peoples’ lives such as weddings, funerals and various celebrations. This course will introduce you to what are design elements, design forms, colour definition, colour harmony, and the effects of colour. This course also touches upon the parts of a flower, care and handling, and signs of unhealthy flowers.
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Flowers express joy and add colour to any occasion. This course builds on what was learned in floral design-part 1 by enlightening us about pesky insects, house plant diseases, and how to prevent them. By the end of the course you will have learned how to care and handle fresh cut flowers and flowers for weddings. If you like flowers, this course will grow on you.
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This course is ideal for individuals who have completed the Floral Design Part 1 and Part 2 courses offered through webCampus.  Floral Design Part 3 builds upon the knowledge and skills taught in the Part 1 and Part 2 courses and it would be helpful in better understanding the content covered in this course.

So stop thinking that there are difficult rules about creating beautiful floral arrangements.  Learn to trust your own vision while you are creating a floral work of art. Flowers are meant to be enjoyed – by you and by people who love to receive them.  Once you complete this course you will have the ability and confidence to create floral arrangements for all types of events.
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Children are 40% more sedentary today than they were 30 years ago and one Canadian child in every four is overweight. This course guides us through the complex world of weight management. By maintaining a healthy lifestyle through physical activity, nutritional strategies, learning of the myths about food, and eating out. When you have completed the course, you will have a better understanding the role nutrition plays in a healthy and long life.
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This course builds on Part 1 by furthering our understanding of the food systems, digestive system, common disorders, and allergies. In addition, participants will learn more about organic foods and the importance of water. At the end of this course, participants will have a solid nutritional foundation to further explore their interest in health.
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Have you ever wanted to make a career change? If you have an interest in gardening, perhaps working in a garden centre appeals to you. Or maybe you just want to create a garden, but are unsure how to do it. UFCW Canada’s webCampus Gardening Foundations course can help. This course will not only assist you in learning how to plant a garden, but it will also teach you the fundamentals of growing plants and vegetables. Gardening Foundations will introduce you to topics such as: Gardening Basics; How is your soil?; Fertilization – what does it all mean?; and Organic Gardening – what is involved?, just to mention a few.

Gardening Foundations will provide you new skills and enhance your existing knowledge to help you pursue gardening as a hobby or as a career change.
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The Garden Design course picks up where Gardening Foundations left off, and explores how to plan and design a garden. This course will also teach you how to plant a garden, and will show you how to put your knowledge to work at home or at your local garden centre. It may also help you advise others on how to plant their gardens. The possibilities are endless!

By the end of this course, you will:

• Understand and be able to explain the elements and principles of garden design;
• Be familiar with different types of gardens;
• Be able to explain the various aspects of garden maintenance;
• Understand the relationship between the plant hardiness zone and successful gardening;
• Know which tools are needed to plant and maintain a garden; and
• Be able to explain the concept of succession planting.

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This course is designed to teach participants about the relationship between energy, exercise and motivation. The goal of this course is to provide a foundational understanding necessary to effectively manage fitness strategies and achieve health-related goals with a focus on injury prevention.
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The practical aspects of Health & Fitness will be addressed in Health & Fitness Specialist – Part 2. Members who found the ‘Food & Nutrition Specialist’ course valuable, will find that this course significantly adds to their knowledge and quality of life. Health & Fitness Specialist – Parts 1 & 2 may help you prepare for the CanFit test.
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Good nutrition is necessary for people to maintain health, but do you know how to get good nutrition? By taking this course, you will dive into the world of vitamins, supplements and minerals, learning about how they work. The course will break them down from the A to Z's on what they do, how to tell if you are deficient, the effects and how you can get them naturally.
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After completing Part One of Health Food Clerk, students begin to understand the complexity involved with keeping our body healthy and the role vitamins, minerals and supplements can play. Health Food Part Two will introduce students to herbs, organics, essential fatty acids, probiotics, label logic. Note: no part of this course is intended nor designed to offer, suggest or advise on any medical issues. This course is designed to help our members learn more about these topics and more.
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Do businesses really see people as resources? And if they do, does that include respect and encouragement? or, are they treated like other resources? How people are treated by the organizations they work for demonstrates how a business views their human resources. This course introduces you to skills you may need to advocate and communicate with workers. You will gain a better understanding of people (nature vs. nurture), your workplace and how conflict arises.
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The bulk of the work in Human Resources revolves around information; information dealing with roles, expectations, and wages. The Human Resources Advocate Part 2 course will examine the role surveys play in an organization, workplace assessments that can affect a worker’s performance, safety issues that surround employee ‘skill’ testing and compensation factors to better understand how they are vital to the health of a business and our society from which a business draws its resources.
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Home Staging is the skill and ability of decorating a house to sell quickly and for top dollar.  Staging isn't just decorating, it's choosing the right props, moving or getting rid of furniture that makes a space look smaller, and creating focal points in main living areas.  The goal is to make the home stand out in both pictures and in viewings so buyers walk away wanting to live there.  In this course, we will introduce you to the home staging profession, hat it is AND how do you do it, as well, this course will provide you with solid tips for personal staging and how you can use these tips to stage your own home for sale.

You know what it feels like when you walk into a well designed room. You can sense how everything feels cohesive and put together. It feels just right. When you know the basic interior design principles you can transform any space to look fabulous. Pair that knowledge with practice and experimentation and you’re on your way to creating a beautiful home.

This course will introduce you to the fundamentals of interior design and interior decorating basics. We will provide you with a simple yet clever ways to help you execute your vision and maximize your design options. We will break it down for you and at the end of this course you will be able to recognize and use the basic interior design and decorating principles used by every interior designer to transform your house into a home.
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Interior design is about creating a beautiful, comfortable space that makes the best of what a home initially offers and improving on those not-so-nice aspects like poor natural lighting or an unusual room layout. This course will help you consider your space function, its limitations and its potential, so you can turn your ho hum space into the room of your dreams.

The skills required to be an effective Pharmacy Assistant include a basic knowledge of mathematics, computers and reading comprehension. This course introduces you to the code of ethics, the three drug schedules, and the importance of confidentiality.
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Pharmacy Assistant Part 2 discusses the difference between important vs. urgent, effective vs. efficient, the importance of priorities, methods of receiving prescriptions, measuring/converting/calculations, directions/dispensing, and the various drug plans that exist. This course focuses on areas foundational to everyday work in most pharmacies.
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This Pharmacy Assistant Part 3 course reviews sig codes: why we have them and what they mean? You will also learn about the different components of a prescription: action, form, route, and amount. As pharmacists are expected to know how the prescriptions affect the body and the challenges patients have, you will be reviewing several common diseases that are seen prescribed for with a prescription.
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Many projects are short term and require a high degree of teamwork and organization. This course introduces participants to the field of project management in practical ways and with helpful insights. Whether it is a fundraiser or new product launch, this course outlines the basics of project management.
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If you owned a store, what would you sell and how would you sell it? This course explains shelf management and what factors influence decisions within a retail system, such as inventory, ordering, stocking, profit, holding power, and variety. In addition, the course introduces UPC symbols are used to monitor sales and price integrity.
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Shelf Management part two builds on what was learned in part one by exploring the following areas to better understand how they affect both the business and the workers: perpetual vs paper inventory and computer assisted ordering. This would be a great course to take if you were thinking about owning or working in retail.
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Almost every sector that UFCW Canada members work in – from food retail to health care to warehousing – requires math skills. This course will help you strengthen your math skills and feel more confident in your ability to perform everyday arithmetic.
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According to study.com’s Why Writing Skills are More Important than Ever, there are many reasons why it is important to have good writing skills in today’s economy.  When you speak directly to someone, you get immediate feedback. Depending on the feedback – verbal and non-verbal – you can adjust your message accordingly. Written communication poses a greater challenge. When writing any sort of content, you have to think about the message that you want to convey, and how you are going to clearly communicate that message. But you also have to think about your readers and their needs. If you don’t have good writing skills, you will have a hard time communicating with your readers. This course will help you improve your writing skills, both in the workplace or in your personal life.
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