A - Professional Communication and Conduct Program

*DESCRIPTION: The course covers brain and cognitive issues relating to forensic science. It then connects the cognitive issues to practical and specific issues in forensic decision making. In addition to knowledge about the cognitive factors in forensic decision making, the course also provides practical solutions to address weaknesses as well as best practices to enhance forensic practices. More details are available at: www.cci-hq.com

*INTENDED AUDIENCE: This course is aimed at forensic examiners, quality assurance units, crime scene investigators, and managers across the forensic science domains. The training program is appropriate for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level staff.

*ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Itiel Dror is a cognitive neuroscientist who received his Ph.D. at Harvard in the area of cognitive factors in human expert performance. Since his Ph.D he has been researching this area, and has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles specifically looking at cognitive factors that mediate human expert performance. His insights and understanding of the human brain and cognitive system underpin the class. Without such deep knowledge, it is not possible to properly deliver a class on the ‘cognitive and human factors’. Over the last decade Dr. Dror has worked with a variety of forensic laboratories across the US (and other countries), in which he has visited and shadowed examiners doing casework and reviewed SOPs and practices. Dr. Dror was the Chair of the OSAC Human Factor group and a member of the National Commission on Forensic Science Human Factors subcommittee. The recommendations on cognitive and human factors of the NCFS and the NAS & PCAST reports, as well as other bodies, is substantially based on the research and work of Dr. Dror. More information is available at www.cci-hq.com

The success of his courses and his training in this area has been recognized by a variety of forensic labs and professional bodies. For example, Dr. Dror has received the Association of Business Psychology’s Annual Award for 'Excellence in Training' for his courses on cognitive and human factors in forensic decision making. The purpose of the award is to recognize excellence in demonstrating how applying an understanding of the science of human behavior can impact and deliver practical value to organizations. The association commented that Dr. Dror's workshops are, "A highly rigorous application of relevant theoretical frameworks", "Truly innovative, breaking entirely new ground in a most challenging context", and "Entirely focused on application of conceptual models – underpinned by deep research".

This four (4) day hands-on workshop will acquaint forensic practitioners in non DNA disciplines with statistical methods used in the standard operating procedures now commonly being implemented in forensic labs. The course assumes minimal knowledge of statistics and is designed to be hands-on, with a combination of class discussion and exercises on the computer. It is designed to build attendees’ skill set and confidence in applying the methods that will be discussed. Topics covered will include basic descriptive univariate statistics, the GUM/uncertainty budgets, hypothesis testing, error rate statistics, gauge repeatability and reproducibility, regression for calibration curves, the “likelihood ratio paradigm” and (time permitting) Bayesian networks for forensic scenarios. To the extent possible, techniques will be illustrated with data sets familiar from laboratory practice. Attendees are also encouraged discuss or bring any data they are interested in analyzing for their laboratory. All software used will be open source, freely available, and peer reviewed. Skills learned in this workshop will provide a statistical foundation the practitioner can take back to their laboratory and reproduce on any computer system

This one-day (eight-hour) course focuses on the practical application of forensic science ethics codes to ethical dilemmas encountered in forensic science. It also offers insight into the enforcement and background of ethics codes. The course provides tools to readily access the content of over three dozen forensic science ethics documents from around the world. Students apply that content to realistic scenarios encountered in forensic science and discuss their results with the class. Lecture materials offer insight into the role of morals, purposes of ethics documents, character traits that could factor into unethical conduct, historical background, enforcement policies, encountering unethical conduct, filing an ethics complaint, being the subject of an ethics allegation, the role of ethics in cognitive bias, lawyer’s ethics, and discovery rules. The target audience is individuals who work with evidence in traditional crime laboratory disciplines or who teach in a forensic science program (e.g., criminalists, latent print examiners, questioned document examiners, evidence technicians, and forensic science educators). Class size is limited to fifteen students.

A three-day (24-hour) course teaching clarity in technical writing with emphases on organization, sentence structure, grammar, word usage, and punctuation. Each class is limited to 12 students.

This 2-day (16-hour) course is intended for criminalists with prior training and qualifications in forensic DNA analysis, such as casework, missing persons, or data bank programs, who are or may be called to testify in court. The first day will have detailed presentations on the courtroom process followed by presentations on courtroom style and strategies. The second day will be dedicated to moot court exercises. Students will be asked to bring examples of their work that will be used to make direct and cross examinations relevant to their current analytical work. Each class is limited to 12 students.

This two-day (16-hour) course focuses not so much on technical issues, but rather on communication methods employed by expert witnesses for effective testimony. The two-day workshop uses video taping and solid constructive critiquing. Throughout the workshop, participants will learn and practice the key elements to improve their overall testifying skills and become more confident. Witness effectiveness is increased by enhancing positive skills and modifying subconscious behaviors that interfere with the goal of successful public speaking. This is intended for criminalists, toxicologists, latent print and questioned document examiners, investigators, crime scene and identification technicians, and law enforcement specialists called to testify in court (applies for all levels of experience).