Unique Content Article: For A Competent Developer Instructional Design Curriculum Has To Be Done Scientifically

For A Competent Developer Instructional Design Curriculum Has To Be Done Scientifically


by Dennis Fox


All successful businesses know that they need to invest in their employees in order to stay abreast of their competition. To this end most big companies spend substantial amounts of money on training programs. Highly skilled employees are more productive and they are much more likely to make a positive contribution to the overall goals of the company. But training cannot be done for the sake of training alone. With an experienced developer instructional design curriculum is possible, however.

Designing curricula and courses is a highly skilled profession. Far too much money is spent on training that is of no use to the student or his employer. Course designers can make sure that the needs of companies and their employees are fully satisfied in custom designed training courses. They employ the principles of educational technology in order to maintain a scientific approach to the process.

The first step in the process of designing a course is to carefully study the environmental factors that will have an influence on how the course should be designed. There are always some constraints, such as how long the course should be, how much money will be made available for presenting the course, what other resources are available and whether there are competent people to actually present it. Ignoring these factors is a recipe for a failed course.

Next is a thorough analysis of the intended target group. The profile of the typical student that will undergo the training has a decided influence on many issues such as the delivery method, the setting of entrance requirements, the selection of training resources and many others. The more the designer knows about the target group the more likely he is to produce a course that will achieve results.

Far too many courses are based on existing resources such as books or manuals. Instead, a proper training needs analysis should be performed in order to determine exactly which skills and what knowledge the students need to acquire. Professional course designers use different techniques to determine the training need and this step is perhaps the single most important one when designing a course.

The next step is to refine the course content into measurable objectives. Training objectives need to be exact and they must specify what exactly it is that the student must learn or master, to which standard it must be done and the time limit within it must be done. This is the only way in which students can assess their own progress and in which those delivering the course can know what it is that they must teach.

Evaluation forms an important part of any course. Students, instructors or other delivery systems and the course itself need to be subjected to evaluation. It is the only way in which to make sure that they course have been successful and whether changes need to be made. When training, certain outcomes are expected and the only way in which to determine whether those outcomes have been achieved is through evaluation.

Course designers can play a very important role in helping their clients to spend their training money wisely. They can design courses that will make sure that the actual needs of the company are satisfied. A scientific approach to course development within a systems approach is the only way in which to truly ensure training excellence.




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