EDT 512 Instructional Design (ID) Plan Spring 2012
1. Problem. Poor writing skills are evident in the business environment resulting in poor communication. Employers need employees who can articulate and get their point across in an effective manner. The writing habits of a majority of the workforce are in need of great improvement. In addition, technical manuals and procedures are not written in plain language.
2. Need. Develop better written communication skills. Create a standard format for general use. Eliminate time wasted in trying to understand what has been written.
Reduce the need for unnecessary follow up. Employees must be prepared to respond to customer problems quickly. Firms that have dedicated customer service, customer complaints departments, etc., where written communication is necessary, it is imperative that employees know how to communicate properly.
3. Audience. The audience for this course is practitioners in training and performance development (i.e., instructional designers, curriculum developers, trainers), technical writers (and others who write instructional manuals, users guides, procedures, reports, etc.), adult education and higher education professionals, team leaders, managers/supervisors, and any other employee interested in improving his or her writing skills.
Characteristics:
v Diverse multiple-level audience
v Adults – age range, 18 - 60+
v Gender: male & female
v Education: Generally they are college graduates with a bachelor's or master's degree. Some supervisors and managers may not have a degree, but have the requisite years of experience through field work and can perform the job. Others may have a high school degree or GED equivalency.
v Achievement levels: employees who are in a position that requires appropriate writing skill level
v Language: English is the standard language used for business communication. However, better than average ability to read, write, and speak English is required for those who may be speakers of a foreign language.
4. Objectives/Assessment. By the end of the program, students will be able to:
v Identify the three stages (or processes) of writing
v Use the chunking (or clustering) method to present information that is easy to understand
v Write a document that is concise, clear, and properly structured
Student(s) will be given a sample document (about one page in length) to rewrite in a manner that is clearer, concise, and structured in a format that the reader is able to understand its content. Success will be graded on a 4 point scoring rubric based on: clarity, conciseness, coherence, and organization.
5. Content. The content will identify concepts and procedures. For example, references to keeping sentences short, clustering or grouping like information, etc.
v Prewriting
v Free writing
v Rewriting
6. Instructional Strategies. The instructional design will be computer-based instruction. It will be a self paced method using a step-by-step approach to delivering the key concepts. The progam will be developed in a Flash environment using elements such as words, graphics/pictures, audio, and possibly videos. The student(s) will work on each module independently including activities to reinforce learning.
Other possible strategies: prior knowledge activation; modeling.
7. Additional Materials. Use additional methods to deploy the learning for quick and easy access via the latest technology portal (i.e., iPod, iPad, iPhone, etc.) to the students.
8. Program Use. The program will be used by instructional designers, technical writers, managers, supervisors, and others who must write a variety of products: i.e., training materials, user’s manual, policy and procedures, memos, proposals, reports, or general correspondence. It is ongoing as there will be a need for this type of training needed to answer the call of managers for an educated workforce.
9. Summative Evaluation. Evaluate results from sources that demonstrate achievement of objectives (i.e., Q&A (testing) activities, T/F, multiple choice selections, fill in the blanks).
Look for results that answer any or all of these questions: Does the performance match up with task listing/analysis of this job? Did the participants learn the content identified in the program objectives? Can they do the tasks?
10. Appendix N/A.
