Instructional Design

Learning needs assessment

The following is the learning needs assessment, as part of the ADDIE model, for the fictional municipality of Glenoak. There was an increase in low-income seniors using the resources of the local food banks, which the municipality was funding. The municipality was, therefore, looking at containing expenses by supporting low-income seniors in eating healthy meals on a fixed weekly budget.

As an initial step in the ADDIE process, the learning needs assessment was a critical first step in establishing an initial framework to produce an effective learning program that best suited the specific demographic of learners. The learning needs assessment also includes the summative evaluation to assess learners’ gains from the instructional program, to help align the learning objectives in the needs assessment with the successful attainment of those objectives.

While challenging at times, I found the learning needs assessment as one of the most critical pieces to carefully develop. It required a thorough analysis of different factors and requirements, from the sponsor’s business need to the program objectives, and aligning them to produce a well-tailored learning program.

Design Plans

The following are the design plans developed for the municipality of Glenoak, following the learning needs assessment. The design plans purpose was to provide an overview of the learning program, the design elements, and the structure in which the learning program would unfold.

I found that the design plans provided a good roadmap going forward to better develop the learning program. There was careful consideration of elements such as the type of genre, communication medium and learning strategy which would be utilized further in the process. It made me reflect on the different units of my learning program, and how they interplayed to contribute to a positive and impactful learning experience.

Learning program

The learning program was developed as part of the development and implementation phase of the ADDIE process. It encompassed both the previous elements from the learning needs assessment and design plans, providing further details on the learning program which learners would be exposed to.

It was tailored toward low-income seniors residing in the municipality of Glenoak, and was built as a face-to-face classroom course to accommodate most learners and to provide a valuable learning experience.

The process of creating both the instructor’s guide, and the necessary classroom material, was easily guided by both the learning needs assessment and the design plans. The instructor’s guide was created using Microsoft Word, and the visuals (as well as the instructor’s version) was developed through Powerpoint.

Formative Evaluation

The formative evaluation was part of the evaluation phase of the ADDIE process in designing a learning program for the municipality of Glenoak. Using three types of evaluations; the technical review, an editorial review and a pilot test, it’s aim was to assess the overall success of the learning program before being implemented for the municipality of Glenoak.

While it was challenging at times to provide very specific details on the evaluations, it was necessary to ensure the quality of the learning program. It was also essential in making sure the sponsor, the municipality of Glenoak, would be able to attain their business goal of containing expenses.