HOW TO USE A LEARNING GOAL WORKSHEET TO SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN 8

Guide
8
HOW TO USE A LEARNING GOAL
WORKSHEET TO SUPPORT
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
Randy Hollandsworth
Randy Hollandsworth, PhD serves as director for Radford University’s Center
for Leadership and Professional Development in Radford, Virginia. Randy has
served as a member and a board member for both the Valleys of Virginia ASTD
chapter and the North American Simulation and Gaming Association. Randy
worked in executive development with Norfolk Southern Corporation and
American Freightways, Inc. He has presented programs on conflict management,
communications, leadership, instructional design, and team building for organizations and conferences across the United States. He codesigned a team effectiveness game, TeamSpirit, with Dr. Charles Petranek of the University of
Southern Indiana. Randy received his PhD in curriculum and instruction/
instructional technology from Virginia Tech in 2005, with a research emphasis
on leadership training design and postinstructional follow-up. Randy is also a
frequent contributor to the Sourcebooks.
Contact Information:
Center for Leadership and Professional
Development
Radford University’s Business Assistance
Center
P.O. Box 6953
Radford, VA 24142
540.831.6712 or 540.831.6735
rhollands@radford.edu
www.bac.radford.edu
The Learning Goal Worksheet was created to support instructional
design for professional training and development initiatives. It serves as
a tool to support initial training needs analysis meetings between clients
and designer/trainers. The worksheet applies concepts from Gagne’s
Learning Outcomes for instructional design (Gagne, Briggs, and Wager,
1988), Kirkpatrick’s Levels of Training Evaluation (Kirkpatrick, 1994),
and Gagne et al. (1988) writing effective performance-learning objectives. The Learning Goal Worksheet also serves to document needs,
structure learning, and fully define the stakeholder’s learning outcomes
217
for any training initiative. Furthermore, the worksheet provides a
template to develop good performance learning objectives for the new
or seasoned instructional designer. This tool supports the classic
instructional design approach with assessment, design, development,
implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE). The information defined in
the Learning Goal Worksheet serves as a compass for development,
implementation, and assessment, ensuring alignment with the “true”
learning goals for the client or key stakeholder. This guide provides an
outline for using the Learning Goal Worksheet for assessing training
needs and creating performance learning objectives.
Defining Learning Goals
The resources for defining and writing learning goals are essentially too
vast to explore in this guide. However, as a professional designer, trainer,
or training manager, you are called on to determine and achieve various
learning goals. Theoretically, establishing learning goals falls to the
responsibility of whoever is conducting the training needs analysis. The
alignment between an effective analysis and defining the learning goals
ensures that the correct intervention is applied. The alignment also
ensures that needs analysis data involves the client and is not constructed
by trainers distanced from the performance. However, in many scenarios,
experience has shown that designers and trainers meet with the key
stakeholders requesting changes in performance, behavior, or attitude.
The Learning Goal Worksheet serves as a reminder for those meetings
that maybe training is not the answer to the problem. It also serves as a
reminder that learning goals must be broken down into functional
performances or skills and that these skills should achieve some level of
mastery through various instructional strategies.
218
PRACTICAL GUIDES
The use of the Learning Goal Worksheet ensures that these processes
are considered and that the initial discussion is documented. In application,
define the learning goals documented from a very broad perspective of
the performance need. The goal should then be broken down into individual skills or learning performances. For each defined learning goal, a
separate Learning Goal Worksheet has to be completed.
Defining Levels of Measurement
Kirkpatrick’s (1998[AU: or 1994?]) set of measurement classifications
have become a standard for the training and development community.
The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) applies
these measurement categories into empirical research conducted for the
field and ASTD reports on the levels annually. The application of
Kirkpatrick’s Levels requires for the purposes of this article requires
only a brief review of these categories of measurement:
• Level 1 measures perception (class evaluations, focus groups, oneon-one interviews).
• Level 2 measures comprehension (practical and written assessments).
• Level 3 measures application (observations, self-surveys, 360-degree
assessments).
• Level 4 measures impact or return (ROI analysis, performance
measures).
In the Learning Goal Worksheet, a box for Levels of Measurement
serves as a reminder to the designer/trainer to engage the key stakeholder in a discussion on what measurement is required early in the design
process.
GUIDE 8: HOW TO USE A LEARNING GOAL WORKSHEET TO SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
219
Defining Learning Outcomes
Determining learning outcomes, as defined by Gagne, Briggs, and
Wager (1988), involves considering hierarchical outcomes applied
during the learning event.
The key outcomes that are represented by Gagne et al. (1988) are
intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, verbal statements, psychomotor
skills, and attitudes. The levels of intellectual skill begin with the ability
to discriminate between elements at the lowest level, then to identify
elements, to demonstrate how to use the elements, to classify the elements, and finally to generate a solution to a problem applying all of the
previous intellectual skills (Gagne et al.). Cognitive strategies represent
any strategy or tool that supports learning, such as mathematical formulas,
conversational models, pneumonic, or other learning aids. Verbal statements represent simple rote learning, such as memorizing key safety
rules or customer service center locations. Psychomotor skills reflect
more technical performance of skills, such as removing a filter from a
machine, replacing a hard drive on a computer, or replicating a shutdown
process for a complex computer system. Finally, attitude skills represent
seeking to influence an employee’s perception of a new manufacturing
process or impacting employee’s attitudes toward customer service.
Consider that one learning outcome reflects a single performance learning objective, so checking three boxes of learning outcomes represents
three written learning objectives.
Experience has shown that the use of the Learning Goal Worksheet
serves the designer and developer extremely well but can create confusion with clients or the key stakeholder. Consider that your background in instructional design, in most cases, outweighs that of the
stakeholder or subject matter expert. I use the tool to drive design questions and direction of the goals, needs, and how outcomes will appear.
However, I limit my involving the stakeholder directly in ISD terminology and concepts both for efficiency and as a courtesy.
220
PRACTICAL GUIDES
Writing Effective Performance Learning Objectives
A second use for the tool is its ability to support the creation of effective
performance learning objectives. This capability of the tool has proven
helpful in coaching new designers in writing performance objectives. As
defined by Gagne, Briggs, and Wager (1988), performance learning
objectives consist of four parts: Performance, Condition, Outcomes, and
Criterion. As noted on the Learning Goal Worksheet, reading a specific
skill from left to right provides all four parts. The skills are recorded vertically on the Learning Goal Worksheet in the first left-hand column.
The second part of a performance learning objective is the condition for
learning, or the learning environment. Prior to making this decision, I
normally focus on the learning outcomes to determine which outcome is
required. As many have found with distance learning, sometimes the
technology or medium drives the condition—the opposite of the standard ADDIE approach. Finally, the criterion for learning defines the
available learning tools, assessment restrictions, and levels of success or
failure in demonstrating comprehension.
The Learning Goal Worksheet serves as a template for writing an
effective performance learning objective consisting of all four parts. An
example of a performance learning objective from the LGW segment is:
While performing in dyad and small group role-plays, the participant will demonstrate how to actively listen, with direct feedback
provided by participants and the instructor.
This objective reflects all four components of a performance learning
objective and applies the verbs reflective of a midlevel intellectual skill.
Gagne et al. (1988) define specific verbs that highlight the learning
outcomes represented:
• Intellectual skills: Verbs—discriminates, identifies, demonstrates,
classifies, and generates
• Cognitive strategies: Verb—adopts
• Verbal information: Verb—states
• Motor skills: Verb—executes
• Attitudes: Verb—chooses
Designing with the Learning Goal Worksheet
New professionals might seek answers to questions that many of you
have already sought, such as, how do I learn more on instructional
GUIDE 8: HOW TO USE A LEARNING GOAL WORKSHEET TO SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
221
design and apply the concepts to my training? The answers are not
always easily available except through experience, education, and training. The holistic nature of instructional design and the number of theories
and techniques out there provide both the answers and contribute to the
confusion. Regardless of the design approach you apply, the use of an
instructional systems development (ISD) approach provides systematic
and deliberately planned outcomes. It offers controls for instructional
strategies and ultimately aligns with the learning goals. Effective
instructional design ensures continuity and focus for the designer and
the learner. One of the strongest barriers to effective learning is a focus
on the process versus the outcomes by designers. This focus may explain
some of the low levels of measurement and program follow-up
performed by many organizations. The ASTD Annual Report states that
surveyed organizations conduct Level 1 measures at 91 percent, Level 2
at 36 percent, Level 3 at 17 percent, and Level 4 at 9 percent (Thompson,
Koon, Woodwell, and Beauvais, 2003, p. 32). My hope is that the
Learning Goal Worksheet will help shift that focus from the process to
learning outcomes.
The Learning Goal Worksheet offers fundamental support to a complex process for complex learners. It initiates customer involvement and
applies validated theories and tools. The tool offers documentation for
the inevitable “returning to the blackboard” that is sometimes required.
Finally, it supports the most fundamental instructional design question,
how do I best prepare learners to successfully meet the established
learning objectives?
REFERENCES
Gagne, R. M., Briggs, L. J., and Wager, W. W. Principles of Instructional Design,
3rd ed. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1988.
Kirkpatrick, D. L. Evaluating Training Programs. The Four Levels. BerrettKoehler Organizational Performance Series. San Francisco, CA: BerretKoehler, 1994.
Thompson, C., Koon, E., Woodwell, W., and Beauvais, J. (2003). Training for the
Next Economy: An ASTD State of the Industry Report on Trends in
Employer-Provided Training in the United States. www.astd.org (accessed
August 21, 2003).
[AU: Excluded second image of worksheet, same as on page 219]
222
PRACTICAL GUIDES