Prospectus Needs Assessment

Description/Overview
The Learning Design and Technology department at a local University
needs to address their current workflow and process of onboarding and
training new Subject Matter Experts into developing graduate online
courses due to delayed course developments that lead to decreased
course output. The need to streamline processes and increase course
development production is driven by the University goal of creating and
developing 20 online graduate courses a year due to the recent advances
in online education and the current state of the world. In this paper I
propose developing an online training course on the online course
development process and informing SMEs of the essential deliverables
needed prior to beginning the 17-week course development with
instructional designers at the University. Training new SMEs will allow them to learn the various
components involved in online course design and the work expected of them prior to starting
development.
Skills Gained
I gained the knowledge and skills to properly address an organization's needs and apply my
content knowledge of instructional design methodologies to create a solution, which was a online
training course for SMEs. AECT Standard 1 is addressed in this assignment, as I created an
online training course within a learning management system based on assessing the needs of
proper SME training to keep projects within their designated timeline. Efficient management of
time constraints and cost were considered when planning the concise training program. Lastly,
consideration of the ethics of learners background and prior knowledge in online course
development were taken into consideration in the design of the training program by gathering
needs assessment data in an anonymous manner and from people working with subject matter
experts in different capacities.

Lesson Learned
I learned that instructional design projects are an iterative process and you will always find ways
to improve a process and/or the design of a training program based on assessing learner and
stakeholder feedback. I also learned that it is extremely valuable to gather information from a
variety of stakeholders to properly assess a need in training and/or process, since some issues can
be solved without formal training.

Impact Importance
Although I may not currently be involved in major decision making at my current workplace, it's
very important that our course design goals and outcomes are aligned to the organization's goals
to make them successful and supported by major stakeholders. Without proper justification for
course and/or faculty training and alignment, stakeholders will not see the course/training as vital
to the goals and mission of the organization.
 Goals:

The Learning Design and Technology department at my current place of employment

experience issues with project creep which results in projects not being completed within the

contractual development period. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) struggle with initiating and

creating the instructional design documentation, known as the Online Course Planning Outline,

which consists of: 1) course description; 2) course learning objectives; 3) and a cumulative

assessment. The Online Course Planning Outline provides vital course information to begin the

overall course design process. The department hires quality industry Subject Matter Experts to

design and develop online courses, however, most instructors are adjunct faculty members who

have never taught online let alone developed for online learners. The typical development

timeline of a 3-unit (7 module course) is 17-weeks, which includes SMEs completing the Online

Course Planning Outline.

Time constraints and limitations are current issues for adjunct faculty, considering most

of them have full-time careers outside of online teaching and development. Therefore, I propose a

need for the Learning Design and Technology (LDT) department to address the online course

design and development knowledge gap and project creep by developing a task-centered online

course development training based on Merrill’s First Five Principles that will equip adjunct

faculty with the knowledge and skills to create a robust Online Course Planning Outline. The

online training program will also explain their role and expectations in the online course

development process, thus setting them up for success in subsequent modules.

Designing a training program around the online design and development process will

better prepare new subject matter experts on the design process used by the LDT department,

ensure course development aligns to the project timeline and ensure that the learning tasks are not

too complex and avoid hampering working memory capacity (Jong, p. 106). In order to avoid

cognitive overload, the training program will be scaffolded into separate sections and have

learning tasks build upon each other. Possible difficulties that may arise during the design and

development of this training program include time limitations of the instructional designers and
stakeholders to provide data of what adjunct faculty specifically struggle with during the course

development process and the collection of needs assessment surveys from stakeholders. Lastly,

adjunct faculty resistance to the online course training program could be an issue that may emerge

throughout implementation.

Needs Analysis:

The University stakeholders, which include the President, Vice Presidents, and Provost

have mandated that the Learning Design and Technology (LDT) department, which incorporates

instructional designers, to create quality courses that are rigorous and robust in nature for our

graduate students, and to produce two graduate programs (20 courses) a year. Given this

information the Learning Design and Technology Department seeks to implement an online

training program for adjunct faculty/Subject Matter Experts to front load them with adequate

training about the course development process and assist them with the creation of the Online

Course Planning Outline. The adequate preparation of SMEs will aid in the overall course

development process, ensure course development production is on schedule, and result in

rigorous and robust courses.

Gathering the Needs Information:

Given the request to produce two graduate programs a year (20 courses total), the LDC

department will collect online surveys that will be sent out to academic directors and higher

management to gather information and requirements they believe are needed to produce robust

and rigorous graduate courses. Virtual interviews will be conducted with instructional designers

and program coordinators of graduate programs to gather essential information regarding

difficulties for course developments and the specific needs of staff that work with Subject Matter

Experts.

Review and Prioritize the Needs

Online Training Objectives:

 1. The student will identify the roles, expectations, and responsibilities that consist of the

Learning Design and Technology Department to better understand the online course

design process.

2. The student will explain the project timeframe and workflow required of Subject Matter

Experts working throughout the course development process, as well as their imperative

role in maintaining project scope and ensure course quality.

3. The student will create robust Online Course Planning Outlines that align with best

practices of instructional design prior to starting the development process and to ensure

project scope management is maintained.

4. The student will create and produce one academic graduate course, which will contribute

to the 20 graduate courses per year mandated by the University.

5. The student will develop quality and robust online graduate program courses.

It is apparent that stakeholders will benefit from the online training program meeting

the needs by improving the online course development processes which directly influences the

adequate production of 20 online graduate courses a year. The SMEs ability to know their role in

the course development process early on will help improve workflow to maintain project scope

and course quality. Subject Matter Experts will be the direct benefactors of the training, but the

students and University will ultimately benefit from the online training needs being met because

courses will be built with sound instructional design methods that provide students with a great

academically robust course experience. Providing students with a great academic experience will

aid in retention and improve online graduate program credibility and esteem amongst other

comparable Universities.

What’s Been Said

Barbazette (2006) states that “conducting training without assuring there is a training

need is a waste of time and resources, (p. 6)” therefore a needs analysis will be conducted via

interviews and online surveys will be sent electronically to provide stakeholders with vital
information and to demonstrate importance. Interviews will be conducted with instructional

designers and academic directors of all online graduate programs to determine the reasoning

behind delayed course developments, which in turn influence and affect the University goal of

producing two graduate programs per year and ultimately time and resources warranted for this

online training program. Stakeholders will also see a need for this type of training when statistical

information is provided to them from both the design/development and academic departments.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2021) information gathering

should be approached with caution, as it often suffers from reactions representing two extremes,

and it is the job of the instructional designer to distinguish real from exaggerated needs, and give

each the importance it deserves. Based on this knowledge I will dissect needs assessment data

carefully and methodically to determine what information is useful for this training program.

Methodically dissecting the data from stakeholders to demonstrate a need will validate the

importance of the online training program and determine other factors that may need to be

addressed.

Jonassen (2011) stated that “Teaching students a set of principles and heuristics,

especially if done in the absence of context, will not help students learn to make decisions or to

design” (p. 146). Given this statement, it's possible for the learners to misunderstand the design

process if they do not have the contextual overview of the team dynamic and the organizational

timeline. Therefore, I plan to include content in the online training program that illustrates how

the Subject Matter Expert role plays a pivotal part of the design process and without their content

knowledge and deliverables within a specific timeframe, the course process cannot continue on as

scoped for the project.

Project activities and the sequencing of activities is critical for effective project

management (“Project Management Concepts,” nd). Therefore, I plan on providing clear

communication of the project activities and course development timeline via a visual

representation (i.e. graphic). The online training program is additional work, but it provides

proper information and background for the SME to stay on target each week to produce robust
course content for students, which in turn provides them with a great academic learning

experience. Providing SMEs with visuals of the course development process and what is expected

of them will help them stay on target to complete each course project within the 17-week

timeframe.

According to Rogoff (1990), “in a learning process, experts create ‘supportive situations’

for learners to increase their knowledge or skills to a desired level and lead to learner interest and

students gradually gaining control of the task, thereby supports being withdrawn” (Cagiltay, K.,

2006, p. 95). Scaffolding will be implemented within the online training program to allow SMEs

to take ownership of the course development prior to starting the main development cycle and

increase their knowledge about the online course design process. The online training program will

allow learners to engage in activities to increase online course design knowledge to the

department desired level, teach the importance of each step in the process, and to gain more

interest. The implementation timeline for this training course will require careful project

management, proper instructional scaffolding, and clear communication of the course

prerequisite.

The instructional design method that will be utilized in this online training program will

be task-based learning, specifically focusing on Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. Merrill’s

(2002) First Five Principles address a problem and/or task that learners must undertake, by means

of activation of prior knowledge, demonstration, application, and integration of new knowledge

into the learner’s world (p. 44-45). This instructional design methodology will allow learners to

complete the Online Course Planning Outline by scaffolding content and allowing learners to take

responsibility of the learning task as the training progresses. Implementation of the first four

principles will allow learners to develop the knowledge and confidence to ultimately complete a

robust Online Course Planning Outline before beginning the course development process.
 References

Barbazette, (2006). Needs Assessment & Task Analysis Training Needs Assessment:

Methods, Tools, and Techniques. 978-0-7879-7525-8, Wiley.

Jong, T. de. (2010). Cognitive load theory, educational research, and instructional

design: some food for thought. Instructional Science, 38(2), 105–134.

doi:10.1007/s11251-009-9110-0

Jonassen, D. H. (2011). Learning to solve problems: A handbook for designing problem-

solving learning environments (p. 146). New York, NY: Routledge.

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First Principles of Instruction. Educational Technology Research and

Development, 50(3), 43–59.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2021, March 25). Knowing What You Need:

Step 1. Gathering the Needs Information.

Tutorials Point: Simply Easy Learning. (2021, March 25).