A Fresh Approach
This training module represents a new beginning for me as an instructional designer. In my previous projects, I relied too heavily on design models that had been used in the past for the same workplace. These projects were quickly outdated because they could not keep pace with a changing workplace and a diverse workforce.
I decided to throw out my preconceived ideas at the beginning of this project. Instead, I began with a fresh analysis of the target audience. This resulted in revised learning objectives and completely new delivery methods for this workplace.
The target audiences for this project are highly motivated and are already familiar with copy editing and using style manuals to cite references. My goal was to use multimedia lessons and varied activities to keep learners engaged despite their familiarity with the material.
Best Practices and Universal Design for Learning
The key ideas that guided my design were relevance, chunking/scaffolding, and activation of prior knowledge. For this learner population, I wanted each activity to be clearly relevant to assignments given in the workplace. The activities are designed to mimic workplace assignments as closely as possible in an effort to increase learner engagement. (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, Principle III, Guideline 7, Checkpoint 7.2).
The subject matter of this module benefits from chunking and scaffolding because an understanding of the elements of a citation leads to correctly formatted citations which then lead to correctly formatted reference pages. The lessons and activities are broken down into small chunks and build on one another until the learner can create a complete reference page. (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, Principle I, Guideline 3, Checkpoint 3.3)
The primary learner audience has a strong foundation of prior knowledge on the subject matter that I wanted to engage to create a bridge from previous experience to future success. The lessons begin with information that is common to all style guides and then show the unique aspects of the AMA Manual of Style. (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, Principle I, Guideline 3, Checkpoint 3.1)
This training module incorporates another principle in the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, which is “Principle I: Guideline 1: Provide options for perception” (CAST, 2014, para. 2). Each lesson provides both audio voiceover and a text transcript of the voiceover. In addition, all reference guides are provided in a PDF format that can be scaled to a larger size for enhanced visibility. Lesson slides can be slowed down or sped up so that learners can move through the information at their own pace.
These design features are intended to remove barriers and maximize success for a diverse learner population.
Moving Forward
This training module is the instructional design project through which I have learned the most so far in my career. In the future, I plan to build on the concepts I have incorporated into this training module. More specifically, I want to complete learner analyses at the beginning of projects and to design training with enhanced accessibility based on the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. I also want to explore new ways of moving from assessment to evaluation—in other words, not just collecting data on learner scores but using the data to improve training in meaningful ways. I look forward to the challenges ahead as I continue to keep learning a lifelong process.
References
CAST (2014). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/
This training module represents a new beginning for me as an instructional designer. In my previous projects, I relied too heavily on design models that had been used in the past for the same workplace. These projects were quickly outdated because they could not keep pace with a changing workplace and a diverse workforce.
I decided to throw out my preconceived ideas at the beginning of this project. Instead, I began with a fresh analysis of the target audience. This resulted in revised learning objectives and completely new delivery methods for this workplace.
The target audiences for this project are highly motivated and are already familiar with copy editing and using style manuals to cite references. My goal was to use multimedia lessons and varied activities to keep learners engaged despite their familiarity with the material.
Best Practices and Universal Design for Learning
The key ideas that guided my design were relevance, chunking/scaffolding, and activation of prior knowledge. For this learner population, I wanted each activity to be clearly relevant to assignments given in the workplace. The activities are designed to mimic workplace assignments as closely as possible in an effort to increase learner engagement. (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, Principle III, Guideline 7, Checkpoint 7.2).
The subject matter of this module benefits from chunking and scaffolding because an understanding of the elements of a citation leads to correctly formatted citations which then lead to correctly formatted reference pages. The lessons and activities are broken down into small chunks and build on one another until the learner can create a complete reference page. (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, Principle I, Guideline 3, Checkpoint 3.3)
The primary learner audience has a strong foundation of prior knowledge on the subject matter that I wanted to engage to create a bridge from previous experience to future success. The lessons begin with information that is common to all style guides and then show the unique aspects of the AMA Manual of Style. (Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, Principle I, Guideline 3, Checkpoint 3.1)
This training module incorporates another principle in the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, which is “Principle I: Guideline 1: Provide options for perception” (CAST, 2014, para. 2). Each lesson provides both audio voiceover and a text transcript of the voiceover. In addition, all reference guides are provided in a PDF format that can be scaled to a larger size for enhanced visibility. Lesson slides can be slowed down or sped up so that learners can move through the information at their own pace.
These design features are intended to remove barriers and maximize success for a diverse learner population.
Moving Forward
This training module is the instructional design project through which I have learned the most so far in my career. In the future, I plan to build on the concepts I have incorporated into this training module. More specifically, I want to complete learner analyses at the beginning of projects and to design training with enhanced accessibility based on the Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. I also want to explore new ways of moving from assessment to evaluation—in other words, not just collecting data on learner scores but using the data to improve training in meaningful ways. I look forward to the challenges ahead as I continue to keep learning a lifelong process.
References
CAST (2014). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.0. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/