Instructional Design for New Designers

For trainers who have less than one year of experience in course design. It is also intended for trainers who have been designing for more than one year but have no formal training in course design using an ISD model.

• Plan instructional design projects.
• Work with subject-matter experts.
• Analyze learners to target course content.
• Determine constraints affecting course design.
• Compile a task listing.
• Prioritize job tasks.
• Conduct a task analysis to determine course content.
• Write performance-based course objectives.
• Design tests and exercises to evaluate performance.
• Select the most appropriate instructional methods.
• Determine the best structure and “flow” for a course.
• Apply principles of adult learning.
• Develop course materials (e.g. lesson plan, manual).
• Validate course design.
• Evaluate course effectiveness.

Session 1

• Key questions to ask when a project is assigned to you.
• Tips for planning a successful design project.
• How training designs differ from educational designs.
• The pros and cons of traditional training strategies and e-learning strategies.
• How to estimate design time.
• 4 factors to consider in determining design priorities.
• How to compile a complete project for management/client approval.
• The most critical things you need to know about learners.
• Where to find information about learners.
• What to do if learners have diverse backgrounds.
• Tips for making course content meaningful and relevant to learners.
• How to get managers to reinforce your training.

Session 2

• How to best use job aids in training.
• How to develop performance-based content.
• How much theory/background material to include in a course.
• 8 errors to avoid in task listing.
• How to conduct a thorough task analysis (with multiple examples for different types of content).
• How to prioritize course content to keep it lean.
• How to deal with “soft” skills (e.g. customer service, management, sales, leadership, ethics, etc.).

Session 3

• How to work effectively with SMEs, clients, and line managers (and your own boss).
• How to create a solid design even if you aren’t an expert.
• How to write objectives quickly and easily.
• When to test learners.
• The 4 major types of tests and how to design them.
• The best testing pattern for any course.
• How to determine if pre- or post-course work is required.

Session 4

• 50 instructional methods you can use in your courses.
• How to incorporate a variety of methods into the training.
• 12 guidelines for selecting the most appropriate methods.
• How much content to cover at one time.
• How much content to cover in a typical day.
• How much practice to build into a lesson.
• How to maximize learner practice.
• Selecting the best way to provide feedback to learners.
• A 6-step learning strategy for structuring your courses.
• How to make your courses modular.
• The best method of sequencing course content.
• The recommended way to set up instructor lesson plans.
• 22 items to put into instructor lesson plans.
• How to design materials for inexperienced instructors.
• How to design handouts.
• The secret to creating “shelf-resistant” course manuals.
• How to keep materials at the best reading level.
• How to create easy-to-update materials.

Session 5

• Proven principles of adult learning.
• 15 tips for increasing learners’ attention span.
• How to build group cohesiveness.
• Techniques for encouraging healthy competition.
• 8 guidelines for managing instructional time efficiently.
• 10 tips for meeting learners’ individual needs.
• The top 10 ways for increasing learner motivation.
• How to guarantee everyone participates.
• Types of activities to schedule based on time of day.
• How to make your courses fun and exciting.
• When to schedule breaks and energizers.
• How to prevent boredom.
• The best time to conduct reviews and summaries.
• 14 proven methods for promoting the transfer of new skills to the job.
• What short-cuts to take if design time is limited (and which ones not to take).
• Tips for handling organizational politics.
• Guidelines for reducing course length.
• The 3 phases of course validation.
• A fail-safe approach for testing a course when you don’t have enough time.
• A versatile checklist for assessing your courses or vendor materials.
• The 4 types of evaluation.
• Items to include in course evaluations.
• 5 sample evaluation forms.
• How to measure learning.
• How to measure improvements in job performance.
• Why courses fail (13 major design errors and how to avoid them).

• All the worksheets, checklists, and forms in Microsoft® Word template format. Simply download them from your personal My Langevin website.
• 30-day access to all recorded online sessions.
• Free 1-year feedback service. Receive detailed feedback on your materials to help improve your courses.

This week-long workshop consists of 5 highly interactive synchronous sessions blended with off-line, self-paced activities. A total of 10 hours will be spent live/online where you will learn how to apply Langevin’s proven 12-step process to the design of traditional, instructor-led classroom training. Three 30-minute project support sessions immediately following sessions 2, 3, and 4 will round out your time online, while 6 to 8 hours will be required for pre-course reading and intersession assignments throughout the week.

In addition to the multiple practice opportunities built into this workshop, you will have the opportunity to develop, and receive feedback on, an individual design project. The project support sessions will give you a jump start on your project-related intersession assignments, giving you access to both the course facilitator and your peers for support and guidance.

Maximum Class Size: 12 participants (We limit class size to ensure maximum value and participation for our clients.)

• Log in to our Adobe Connect platform using a standard web browser and access the audio for the workshop using a telephone and headset (or ear buds with a microphone). A toll-free teleconference number will be provided.
• Expect an engaging, highly interactive, hands-on workshop with plenty of practice opportunities using breakout rooms, chat, polls, whiteboard annotation tools, etc.
• Review recordings of each session for up to a month after the workshop ends.