For this project, we were required to create a training needs analysis, based on a previous student's work. The instructor had us add a new section to the analysis every week, to culminate in a project that reached about 15 pages or so. The analysis was based on a nutritional course, which we were to utilize as the foundation of our project and modify according to the audience we selected. I chose to go with developing a project for a compulsory nutrition course at a college or university, that would be held towards the beginning of the student's freshman year. The audience would be freshmen students, ranging in age, but most likely from about 18-25. The audience that would have been reviewing the actual training needs analysis, however, would have been project sponsors, school administrators, the school's Education department, and SME's (Subject Matter Experts) involved with the development of the curriculum.
The project was worked on all month long. Below are some images from the areas we were asked to add week by week.
Week 1:
Revise and improve the given training needs analysis using Word’s Track Changes feature. Here, we simply edited the original work, correcting grammar mistakes and adding information as we saw fit.
Week 2:
Add a Data Planning section and a Content Outline & SME Checklist section, creating surveys and checklists for the people involved (namely, SME’s). For this week, we developed surveys for the SME's. Below are the final versions of these elements.
Week 3:
Define the instructional design model the project was based on, create a text-based storyboard and 60-second training video for one aspect of the prospective course, and evaluate and improve the assessment planning section, adding assessment questions for the hypothetical audience.
Week 4:
Add an Evaluation Planning and Implementation Planning section to the analysis, communicating how one would evaluate each deliverable and how the course as a whole would be disseminated. This week was the culmination of the entire month’s work. Here, I included a formative and a summative evaluation plan. Formative evaluations would occur just before, and even during, the curriculum launch, in order to help develop the actual content. Summative evaluation would be after the class or curriculum has been delivered and the students have been assessed. This would measure the success of the curriculum, and identify areas of opportunity.
Ultimately, the biggest area of improvement for myself and my fellow classmates ended up being the development of the Instructional Objectives and Learning Outcomes. They had to be formulated using Bloom's Taxonomy and the ABCD model (Audience, Behavior, Condition, Degree).