Running head: Project Plan: Putting it All Together

Project Plan: Putting it All Together Final Project Adrienne Santiago EDU433 Laura McDonald March 10, 2014

Project Plan: Putting it All Together

Project Plan: Putting it All Together

The college would like to develop a welding and fabrication training program. The current campus shares a parking lot on the north side of the building where three units have been vacant for about a year. The owners of the building have been negotiating with the college president to acquire the space for the welding and fabrication program. This instructional design project will utilize the skills, tools, and management processes required to undertake a project successfully (Westland, J. (2007). We are now in the planning phase of the project that contains specific components to the planning phase. The Planning Phase consists of seven sub-plans, which include resource, financial, quality, risk, acceptance, communication, and procurement. Creating a Resource Plan: Resources for this project must be identified. For this welding and fabrication training program, resources will be needed to answer questions (Brown, A., & Green, T. D. (2006). Resources will also be needed to build the training facility and acquire the equipment. A resource plan listing the labor, equipment and materials required (Westland, J. (2007) has been created for this project. A resource plan describes the physical resources required to complete a project (Westland, J. (2007). For this instructional design project, the resources include the building that will house the training program, the human resources needed and the training material and equipment needed. For human resource needs, specific roles important to the projects completion have been identified and assigned certain tasks. Accomplishing these tasks and

Project Plan: Putting it All Together assigning dates for expected completion can be seen on the list of milestones and the time management table. Risks must be identified for the resource table to allow for resources not arriving on time. TASK Acquiring the building training facility RESOURCE Architect-Prepares a design of the improvements needed to house the training program. Electrician-Ensures the facility can safely handle the amount of power needed to run the equipment. Risk: 1. Building pricing cannot be negotiated. 2. Build fails safety inspection. Quality Target Building safety, city building regulations.

Control: Building safety inspector visiting the project frequently to assure compliance with building codes. Schedule visits dates are identified on the project timeline.

Training Equipment

Miller and Lincoln Electrics-provide educational pricing, dimensions of equipment and power supply needed to be housed in the laboratory. College IT Department: provides computers, overhead projectors, and classroom equipment used for instructional media.

Cost of equipment remains within the proposed budget. Control: Requisitions for all proposed training equipment and classroom instructional equipment. Ordering dates will be scheduled on the timeline to ensure on time delivery of equipment.

Project Plan: Putting it All Together Risk: 1. Training equipment and Instructional equipment does not arrive on time. Books and Training Materials Publishers- Provide desk copies for review of Current instructional material media used for instruction. Risk: 1. Training material including textbooks in certain subjects are limited. submitted for review. Control: Evaluation of training material against the goals and objective of the training program.

Dates have been established in the project timeline for ordering instructional materials,

Human Resources

Department Chair- Works with the instructional designer to develop the instructional material. Instructional Designer- Conducts the learner analysis, task analysis, needs analysis, instructional goals, learner characteristics, instructional material, develops curriculum. Risk: 1. Delivery of curriculum is delayed.

Oversees all aspects of the training program including the training facility and training materials. Control: Frequent meetings and communication with instructional designers and the design of the training facility. Timelines have been established for delivery of completed program.

Creating a Financial Plan:

Project Plan: Putting it All Together Once a resource plan has been identified, the next step would be to create a financial plan. A financial plan is created after the resources plan has been defined (Westland, J. (2007). For this project, the financial plan will be the responsibility of the college president. A budget has already been established which includes the estimated cost of the building, tenant improvement, laboratory equipment, classroom equipment, and consumables to project the financial feasibility of the training program. The budget was an important component to be completed by the department chair and the college president as it will determine the tuition charged for the program. With this instructional design project, determining the financial plan affects the number of enrolled students the college would need to sustain the program financially. The results of the financial plan now require the program to be offered during the weekend. A financial plan also affected the amount of financial aid that can be offered to students seeking enrollment in the program, and the amount of uncovered balance the student many incur. The cost of books and tools for the Welding and Fabrication training program will also be included in the financial plan. Consumable laboratory equipment will be taken into account to determine the lab fees incurred for the student. Create a Quality Plan: Expert practitioners establish their credibility by providing high quality outcomes, by maintaining good working relationships, and by demonstrating their ability to make good sound

decisions as their project proceeds (Liang, C. (1999). For this Welding and Fabrication training program, the final product will not only be a well-developed training program, but a well-trained employee. The training program has two customers, the student, and the employer. Creating a quality plan with both customers in mind will allow for high quality of the final deliverable. For this project, a program advisory team (PAC) has been assembled, consisting of employers to

Project Plan: Putting it All Together advise the project team on the employment needs in the community. This relationship with the community and the employers is very important to the success of the training program. The advisory committee will be a key component to determining the quality of the training program. For this section of the project plan, we will develop a Quality Assurance Plan and a Quality Control Plan: Quality Assurance Plan Technique Recruit Skilled Instructors Description Instructors must have a minimum of 4 years in field experience and be certified welders through the American Welders Society Frequency Instructors will be hired as

needed and consist of full and part-time instructors.

Competency Based Training

Welding Competencies will be Competencies will be created for the training program to validate the training that each trainee is receiving. conducted at the end of each training module.

Identify Students At Risk

Students, who receive a 70% or less on an assignment, quiz, or project will be formally counselled and assigned for tutoring as needed.

Students who are not meeting the learning goals will be evaluated weekly.

Project Plan: Putting it All Together

Create a Program Advisory Committee

The PAC will be responsible for determining that the training program meets the needs of the employers in the community

Every 6 months

Quality Control Plan Techniques Student Evaluations Description Student will complete an evaluation form where they will survey the instructor and the delivery of instruction. Program Advisory Committee Task List The program advisory committee will be charged with the task of: 1. To attend two regularly scheduled meetings annually. 2. Review, at least annually, the established curriculum of the program and comment as to the appropriateness and Twice a year, Spring and Fall Frequency Every 6 weeks for each course taken.

Project Plan: Putting it All Together adequacy of the program objectives, program length, curriculum content, learning resources, and the adequacy of facilities and equipment. 3. Review and comment, at least annually, on student graduation, graduate employment, and where required, state licensing examination outcomes of the training program. 4. Review and comment on each new program including the appropriateness of curriculum objectives, program length, and curriculum content prior to the Commissions approval of the new program.

Create a Risk Plan:

Project Plan: Putting it All Together

Not all projects will go according to plan. Included in the project-planning phase, project risk must be identified, defined, and quantified. A risk plan will list all of the foreseeable project risks and provide a set of actions required to prevent each risk from occurring and reduce its impact should it eventuate (Westland, J. (2007). For the Welding and Fabrication Training program, I have identified the following risk and established a rating or likelihood of occurrence. Risk Assessment Plan Risk Category Financial Risk Description The budget created for the project is not practical. Building and Equipment Building will not be appropriate to house the program and the equipment. 40 Low Score 40 Low Description Budget items have been itemized with written quotes. By including the architect and the electrician in the early stages of the design project, the building has been approved to meet the program needs. Detailed schematics have been acquired to ensure the building can accommodate the machinery needed for

Project Plan: Putting it All Together the program. Human Resource Department Chair The department chair leaves the project before an entire staff has been hired. 50 Medium Providing a detailed job description and

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comparable salary in the selection and hiring process will minimize this risk.

Instructional Materials

Instructional Material is not appropriate for the training program

40-Low

Having the instructional materials reviewed by the program advisory committee will reduce this risk.

Instructional Designer

Instructional Designer resigns from the project.

40-Low

Providing a detailed job description and comparable salary in the selection and hiring process will minimize this risk.

Create an Acceptance Plan:

Project Plan: Putting it All Together An acceptance plan is used to confirm that each deliverable produced is complete and ready for customer acceptance (Westland, J. (2007). While milestones have been created for the instructional design project, the deliverables are still the curriculum and the well-trained

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employee. Milestones have been identified for the project, as these milestones must be reached in order to enroll students into the proposed program. Here are some of the milestones that have been identified for the instructional design project: Budget and Feasibility 1. The budget, which includes consumables and non-consumable items, must be completed before we can move forward with the project. If the expenses are too high, the cost of the program will be too high and students may have a higher out of pocket tuition cost that is not fundable through financial aid. 2. The architect and the electrician have reviewed the requirements of the training facility. This program requires heavy machine equipment that must have designated power supply and the architect must be able to ensure the building is equipped to provide the required electrical supply. The cost of creating this learning environment and the cost of improvements to the building need to be identified for the budget. 3. The individual lab equipment for personal use by students must be identified. These are also called the lab fees. This cost needs to be included in the estimated tuition cost of the program. 4. A feasibility study needs to be conducted to determine if the program is financially and structurally feasible.

Project Plan: Putting it All Together Building the Lab 1. A lab design designating training areas is developed based on the designs and requirements of the equipment. 2. Lab equipment has been ordered and each equipment has a specific area assigned. Building the Classroom Area: 1. Classroom equipment has been ordered and the facility design has specified a specific area for tables, chairs, computers, overhead projector, and white board.

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2. Computers have been ordered and the design reflects specific wiring to accommodate the equipment. Instructional Design: 1. Developing Goals and Objectives. 2. Identifying training materials. 3. Developing an Assessment Plan. These milestones have been identified and the assumption is that there will be no changes to these tasks throughout the project. All milestones will be periodically reviewed for completion, as all milestones must be completed before we begin enrollment into the program. Create a Communication Plan: Communication for this instructional design project is one of the most important components to the project. Constant communication amongst all members of the project team, the program advisory committee, and the employers will determine the success of this instructional design project. The Liang article advises, Expert practitioners develop expert communication networks (Liang, C. (1999). A good communication plan will create good communication practices throughout the project. For this project, a communication schedule will be established

Project Plan: Putting it All Together from the onset of the project. Calendars will be shared with all members of the project team.

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Detailed information pertaining to every step of the design program will be shared with the team. While the program advisory members will meet formally twice a year, throughout the development of this instructional design program, weekly updates will be sent to every member of the committee for review. The software programs Go to Meeting will be utilized so that members of the project team can review documents and diagrams together for comments and concerns. Minutes will be taken at every sub-committee meeting and shared with the entire project team. Creating a Procurement Plan: A procurement plan identifies all of the hardware and equipment that will be secured from an outside source. Equipment identified through the budget list has firm quotes submitted and pricing for each equipment has been confirmed. Schematics for each equipment including the dimensions and the power supply requirements have been identified early on for the architect and the electrician. Each piece of machinery and equipment will have a detailed laboratory activity plan written by the instructional designer and the department chair. The program advisory committee, for justification, has recommended each equipment used in the laboratory. The advisory committee justifies the need for training students with the equipment. In the digital age, instructional designers must possess both a sound instructional design knowledge based on solid project management skills that will enable them to complete courseware projects on time, on budges, and in conformance with client expectations (van Rooij, S. (2010). The skills we learn in project management will assist us as instructional designers to organize and create successful project. While the outcomes for this project may not

Project Plan: Putting it All Together be considered a tangible product, the project required the delivery of a very expensive and lucrative training program that will meet the needs of local employers and provide valuable training to students.

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Project Plan: Putting it All Together References Brown, A., & Green, T. D. (2006). The essentials of instructional design: connecting fundamental principles with process and practice. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall. Liang, C. (1999). Benchmarking Competent Instructional Media Designers in the Corporate World. Educational Media International, 36(4), 317.

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van Rooij, S. (2010). Project management in instructional design: ADDIE is not enough. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 41(5), 852-864. doi:10.1111/j.14678535.2009.00982.x Westland, J. (2007). The project management life cycle: A complete step-by-step methodology for initiating, planning, executing & closing a project successfully. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page, Ltd.