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Instructor Guide

Caution

Crucible environments are often customized. Procedures, scoring, and user interfaces may vary by deployment. Review local documentation or range notes before facilitating exercises.

Overview

Instructors lead and support learners as they navigate Crucible exercises. Your focus is on guiding understanding, maintaining engagement, and creating meaningful learning experiences. You don't have to master every technical detail—what matters is helping participants connect actions in the range to the real-world skills those actions represent.

Before the Exercise

Use this stage to understand what learners will encounter and set them up for success.

Preparation Focus Areas

  • Understand objectives: Know what skills or decisions the exercise is meant to build.
  • Preview the flow: Familiarize yourself with scenario structure, milestones, and transitions.
  • Check access: Verify that participants can reach their environments and accounts.
  • Align expectations: Communicate timing, format, and support options.
  • Share a clear, welcoming introduction that frames the exercise as exploration.
  • Anticipate common hurdles and decide what level of help you'll provide.
  • Encourage learners to take responsibility for preparation (accounts, tools, readings).
  • Coordinate with Range Builders or Admins if technical issues are anticipated.

During the Exercise

Your presence shapes the learning environment. Effective instructors observe, prompt, and guide rather than over-explain.

Facilitation Tips

  • Start with orientation: Briefly remind participants of goals and flow.
  • Observe patterns: Watch for hesitation, confusion, or disengagement.
  • Prompt reflection: Ask questions like "What are you seeing?" or "What might that mean?"
  • Encourage peer learning: Let learners explain solutions to one another.
  • Intervene minimally: Support problem-solving without taking over.
  • Keep communication open: Use chat or voice to check in periodically.

Managing Momentum

  • Keep track of time, but prioritize depth of learning over strict pacing.
  • Encourage teams to narrate their reasoning so others can follow their approach.
  • If the environment falters, turn downtime into teaching moments (incident response, contingency thinking).

After the Exercise

Reflection is where insight turns into understanding. Your debrief sets the tone for how participants process what they learned.

Debrief Focus Areas

  • Reconstruct the event: Walk through key actions or turning points.
  • Highlight decisions: Discuss why particular choices mattered.
  • Compare perspectives: Encourage teams to share their different approaches.
  • Connect to real-world practices: Translate scenario outcomes into professional takeaways.
  • Celebrate progress: Recognize effort, creativity, and teamwork.

Feedback and Assessment

Deep Dive into CERT Research

Our own experience with team-based assessments is documented in Self-Assessment in Training and Exercise.

  • Provide feedback that is specific, encouraging, and forward-looking.
  • Emphasize growth over grading.
  • Use formative observations—what participants did and thought—to inform next steps.
  • Encourage participants to document what they learned or would do differently next time.

Supporting Learners

Crucible exercises can be intense. Participants benefit from instructors who are approachable, calm, and resourceful.

Common Support Situations

Challenge Instructor Focus
Confusion about goals Reframe the task; remind them what success looks like.
Technical problems Keep them moving—note the issue and escalate if needed.
Frustration or fatigue Pause for perspective; celebrate small wins.
Off-topic exploration Redirect by asking how their path relates to the mission.

Encouraging Collaboration

  • Reinforce communication and documentation habits early.
  • Recognize teams that share knowledge effectively.
  • Use competition sparingly—keep the emphasis on learning, not winning.

Growing as an Instructor

Teaching in Crucible is a continual craft. Reflect after each session and refine how you engage, question, and guide.

Ongoing Development

  • Review participant feedback: It reveals patterns in engagement and challenge.
  • Connect with other instructors: Share stories and strategies.
  • Stay current: Update your knowledge of evolving threats, tools, and frameworks.
  • Experiment: Try new facilitation styles and debrief formats.

Best Practices Summary

  • Focus on learning, not performance
  • Encourage exploration over perfection
  • Foster communication and teamwork
  • Reflect and iterate each time