7/22/2016 Learning and Training Needs Assessments in Instructional Design

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NeedsAssessmentsin
Instruc onalDesign

St.Mark'sEpiscopalCathedral,locatedin
Seattle,Washington,hasacircular,40foot
labyrinth.Visitorswalkthepathforits
centuriesoldspiritualandhealingproperties
thataresteepedintraditionandsymbolism.
Thecontemplativenatureofthelabyrinthis
saidtobringinnerpeacebyhelpingoneto
centeronthespiritualnatureofthings,rather
thantheclutteroftheworld.

Labyrinthshavebeenusedasmeditativetools
asfarbackasthe13thcentury.Butnowadays,
walkinglabyrinthshasevolvedbeyondthe
church,ashospitals,retreatcenters,prisons,
andschoolsareofferingsimilarlabyrinthwalks
tohelpcalmpeople'smindsbyabsorbingthem
inwheretheyaregoing,whileatthesame
time,makingthemawarethattheydonot
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7/22/2016 Learning and Training Needs Assessments in Instructional Design

reallyknowwheretheyare.

LearningNeedsAssessments(LNA)or
TrainingNeedsAssessments(TNA)share
severalsimilaritieswiththelabyrinth.Justasa
labyrinthhasapathtofollow,theLNAhasa
gapthatmustbefoundandbridged.Thisgap
iswhatisbetweenwhatiscurrentlyinplace
andwhatisneeded,bothnowandinthe
future.Whilesomelabyrinthshaveonepath
thatmuststrictlybefollowed,othershavea
multitudeofwaystoreachtheendorexit.The
PerformanceNeedAssessmentislikethis
secondgroup,asthereisnormallymorethat
onewaytobridgethegap.

Whilefollowingthepathofalabyrinthbrings
oneinnerpeace,buildingthebridgeacrossa
performancegapallowsdesignerstohave
innerpeacebyknowingthattheycanvisualize
anappropriatelearningandperformance
structure.

Deni on
ATrainingNeedsAssessmentisthestudy
doneinordertodesignanddevelop
appropriateinstructionalandinformational
programsandmaterial(Rossett,1987
Rossett,Sheldon,2001).However,itworks
betterifyouthinkofitasaLearningNeeds
Assessmentsothatyouconsiderbothformal
andinformallearningneeds.Thatis,whatdo
theyneedtolearnandhowcanyoubest
supporttheirinformallearningneeds?

IntheBackwardsPlanningmodelshown
below,thefirststepintheAnalysisphase,
BusinessOutcome,identifiedtheBusiness
Need,thesecondstep,PerformanceAnalysis,
identifiedtheperformancethatisneededto
obtainthatobjective,whilethisstepidentifies
thevariousLearningandTrainingNeedsand
theactivitiesandexperiencestheyneedto
learntherequiredskills:

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7/22/2016 Learning and Training Needs Assessments in Instructional Design

Inadditiontohelpingyouidentifythevarious
learningneedsrequiredtoobtainthedesired
performance,thisstepalsoallowsthe
customertounderstandthelearning/training
activityanditspurpose.Customersoftenview
outsideactivitiesasmeddlerswhointerrupt
theirdailyflowofwork.Theseclientsareoften
onthedefensiveandhidetheirtruefeelings
andfacts.Duringthisinitialanalysisyoumust
bringthecustomersinonthelearningdesign
activitiesandmakethempartofthesolution.It
isuniversallyadvisedthattheclientsor
customersofaproposedinitiativebe
extensivelyinvolvedintheconstructionofany
newproject(Bowsher,1998,pp.6488Trolley,
2006Wick,Pollock,Jefferson,Flanagan,
2006).

Besidesintroducingthecustomersandthe
trainingactivitytoeachother,otherbenefits
includethatthecustomerswillacceptand
benefitfromasystemthattheythemselves
helpedtodefine.Inaddition,nobodyknowsthe
system'slearningrequirementsbetterthanthe
peoplewhoownandworkinit...oftenwiththe
helpofyourguidance.

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7/22/2016 Learning and Training Needs Assessments in Instructional Design

Games for
Businesses
Partnerw/Playbasisandtransformyour
mobilecustomerexperiencenow

E x e m p l a r y P e r f o r m e r,
SubjectMa erExperts,
ExpertPerformers,and
ThoseAected
Thereisasimpleindicatorthatwillhelpto
identifythecomplexityoftheproblemyouare
facingthesourceofyourinformation.First,
therearefourtypesofexpertsfromwhoyou
canobtaininformation:

ExemplaryPerformersareableto
performthetasksandareworthyof
imitation,butdonothaveagreatdealof
knowledgeabouttheperipherals
surroundingthesubjectortask.

SubjectMatterExperts(SME)knowthe
subjectortask,butdonotpresently
performinthatarea.Anexampleisa
collegeprofessorthatteachesbusiness,
butisnotengagedinabusinessora
personthathasperformedinthesubject
areainthepastinawidevarietyof
contexts,butisnotpresentlyaperformer
inthatarea.

ExpertPerformersareabletoperform
thetasksforacertainsubjectareaand
areworthyofimitationinadditionthey
haveagreatdealofknowledgeaboutthe
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peripheralssurroundingthesubjector
task.Anexampleisaphysicianassistant
(PA)whoworksinthatjobduringtheday
andteachescollegecoursesaboutitat
night,oraPAwhonotonlyperformsthe
duties,buthasperformedinanumberof
surroundingareasthatgiveshimorhera
broadcontextofthesubjectandtasks.
Basically,anexpertperformerisbotha
SMEandExemplaryPerformer.

ThoseAffectedbytheperformance
problemareoftenthebestexpertswith
theknowledgeforsolvingwicked
problemswhenthenarenootherexperts
(Rittel,1972).Thisisbecausetheylivein
theproblemenvironment.Yet,theonly
timewenormallybringtheministobe
guineapigsfortestingaperformance
solution.Normallyyouwillnotbeableto
bringtheentirepopulationofthemin,but
dobringinenoughofthepopulationwho
canactuallyrepresentthepopulationasa
whole.

Thesedefinitionsofthevariousexpertsthat
learningandinstructionaldesignerscallupon
arethekeysforidentifyingthecomplexityof
thedesignenvironment:

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7/22/2016 Learning and Training Needs Assessments in Instructional Design

Correctlyidentifyingyoursourceofinformation
helpstoidentifytheanalysisanddesign
approach.

Theexpertswhoaresenttohelpyouwiththe
learningprojectareoftentheoneswhohave
developedbandaidsthatkeepthesystem
running.Thisisnotaputdown,butrathera
compliment.Forwithoutthemtheentire
systemwouldhavecollapsedintoabsolute
chaos.

Thesepeopleoftenbecomefrustratedwiththe
paceoftheanalysisprocess,not
understandingwhydevelopmentoftheproject
cannotbeginimmediately.Theyoftenjump
aheadtodesignanddevelopmentfartoosoon.
Ensureyoucapturetheirsuggestionsinthe
formofdesignnotesattachedtotheanalysis
documentsforlaterconsideration.Thisallows
teammemberstofeeltheirinputsare
consideredimportantandwillnotbeforgotten.

HintsforDiscovering
Tra i n i n g a n d L e a r n i n g
Needs
Whenlookingforlearningandtrainingneeds,
orwhenproblemsarise,thereareseveral
instrumentsthatmaybeusedtolocatethe
actualsymptoms:

Immersion:Workwiththeemployeestogainan
understandingofthechallengesandopportuni es
theyfaceonadailybasis.
Literatureresearch:Analyzebudgetdocuments,
qualitycontroldocuments,goalstatements,
evalua onreports,schedulingandstangreports,
orotherdocumentsforexis ngproblems.
Interviews:Talktosupervisors,managers,Subject
Ma erExperts(SME),andemployeeswho
performthetasks.
Observa ons:Watchthejob,process,ortask
beingperformed.

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Surveys:Sendoutwri enques oners.

Groupdiscussions:Leadagroupdiscussion
composedofemployeesandtheirmanagers.

Somequestionsthatmightbeaskedto
determinetrainingneedsare:

Whatareyouremployeesdoingthatthey
shouldn'tbedoing?
Whatspecicthingswouldyouliketoseeyour
peopledo,butdon't?
Whenyouenvisionworkersperformingthisjob
properly,whatdoyouseethemdoing?
Whatpreventsyoufromperformingaprescribed
tasktostandards?
Arejobaidsavailableandifso,aretheyaccurate?
Aretheybeingused?
Arethestandardsreasonable?Ifnot,why?
Ifyoucouldchangeonethinginthewayyou
performyourwork,whatwoulditbe?
Whattaskwouldyouliketoseeyourworkers
trainedon?Whatwouldyouliketobetrainedon?
Whatnewtechnologywouldbenetyouthemost
intheperformanceofyourwork?
Whatnewtechnologywouldyouliketosee
inventedtohelpyouwithyourwork?Why?

Regardlessofwhichmethodyouchooseand
whatquestionsyouask,thedatagathered
mustaccuratelyreflectthespecifictasksnow
beingperformed.Theinformationgatheredwill
beusedasthebasistoselectthetasksthat
needtobetrained.

Thebeginningofperformanceis
knowingwhatconstitutesgreat
performance.Thekeywordis
great.Ifweaskformediocre
performance,thenthatiswhat
wewillget...andyoucannot
pounceonthecompetitionwith
somethingmediocreandexpect
towin.
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7/22/2016 Learning and Training Needs Assessments in Instructional Design

Proac veorReac ve?

Therearetwomainmethodstodiscover
learningneeds.Thefirstmethodtakesthe
proactiveapproach.Thisiswhenatrainingor
learninganalyststudiesthesystemorprocess
andsearchesforproblems,potentialproblems,
andwaystoimproveit.

Thegoalistomakethesystemmoreeffective
andefficientandtopreventfutureproblems
fromoccurring.Whenanewemployeeis
needed,therequiredKnowledge,Skills,and
Attitudes(KSA)ofthecandidateareknown,
andtheKSAsthecandidatemustlearnare
alsoknown.

Thesecondmethodiswhenamanagercomes
totheLearningDepartmentforhelpinfixinga
problem(Reactive).Theseproblemsare
usuallycausedbynewhires,promotions,
transfers,appraisals,rapidexpansion,or
changes,suchastheintroductionofnew
technologies.Learningdepartmentsmustact
rapidlywhenproblemsarisethatmightrequire
atrainingsolution.Thelifebloodofthe
businesscoulddependonit.First,investigate
theproblem.Atrainingneedexistswhenan
employeelackstheknowledgeorskillto
performanassignedtasksatisfactorily.It
ariseswhenthereisavariationbetweenwhat
theemployeeisexpectedtodoonthejoband
whattheactualjobperformanceis.

NextSteps
Gotothenextsection:CompileJobandTask
Inventory

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7/22/2016 Learning and Training Needs Assessments in Instructional Design

Klikdisiniuntukketahuilebihlanjut

ReturntotheTableofContents

AnalysisTemplates(containsseveralanalysis
templates)

PagesintheAnalysisPhase:

TheAnalysisPhase

BusinessOutcome

PerformanceAnalysis

NeedsAssessment

CompileJob&TaskInventory

TaskAnalysis

BuildPerformanceMeasures

ChooseInstructionalSetting

EstimatingTrainingTimeandCosts

References
Bowsher,J.(1998).RevolutionizingWorkforce
Performance:ASystemApproachtoMastery.
SanFrancisco:JosseyBass.

Laird,D.(1985).ApproachesToTrainingAnd
Development(2nded).Reading,MA:Addison
Wesley.
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7/22/2016 Learning and Training Needs Assessments in Instructional Design

Rittel,H.(1972).Ontheplanningcrisis:
systemsanalysisofthefirstandsecond
generation.Bedriftsokonomen.No.8,pp.390
396.

Rossett,A.(1987).TrainingNeeds
Assessment.EnglewoodsCliff,NJ:Educational
TechnologyPublications.

Rossett,A.,Sheldon,K.(2001).Beyondthe
Podium:DeliveringTrainingandPerformance
toaDigitalWorld.SanFrancisco:Jossey
Bass/Pfeiffer,p.67.

Trolley,E.(2006).LiesAboutLearning.
Israelite,L.(ed).Baltimore,Maryland:ASTD.

Wick,C.,Pollock,R.,Jefferson,A.,Flanagan,
R.,(2006).TheSixDisciplinesofBreakthrough
Learning:HowtoTurnTrainingand
DevelopmentIntoBusinessResults.San
Francisco:Pfeiffer.

Notes
UpdatedSeptember21,2015.CreatedJuly13,1995.

Findoutmoreaboutme(copyright,APAformatting,etc).~ABigDog,LittleDogandKnowledgeJumpProduction~Emailmeat

donclark@nwlink.com

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