Where to Start When Creating a Course
How to design an effective, cohesive learning experience when your thoughts are all over the place.
The number one thing I hear from clients when they set out to create an online course or training program is that they “don’t know where to start.” The blank page is often the most daunting part of any project.
My response…start with the finish line.
The Three Stages of Backward Design
The Understanding by Design (UbD) framework is a useful strategy for creating an effective and outcome-driven learning experience. It states that you should “1) focus on teaching and assessing for understanding and learning transfer, and 2) design curriculum ‘backward’ from those ends.”
This framework helps to focus curricula development and make content and activities more purpose-driven.
There are three steps for achieving this…
Step 1: Identify Desired Results
There should always be strong end goals in place to ensure that every stage of the learning process is heading in the right direction. Especially when a series of courses or really complex topics are involved, it is easy to digress into topics and directions that aren’t feeding those primary goals.
The Importance of Setting Strong Goals
Goals that are really broad and difficult to track can be the death of a learning experience. For example, if you are creating an online course for financial wellness, a goal to ‘teach learners how to be financially stable and healthy’ is rather broad and difficult to track. Conversely, goals that are too simple and single-minded can make the learning process unengaging and superficial.
A more effective approach is to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. For instance, in an online course for financial wellness, a goal could be 'to enable learners to create and adhere to a personal budget within a six-week period.' This type of goal is not only specific and time-bound but also allows for clear tracking of progress and assessment of the learning outcome.
By balancing the complexity and clarity of goals, educators can foster a more effective and meaningful learning experience.
What Goals Should You Be Setting
The Kirkpatrick Model has become the standard for evaluating learning and development programs, particularly in the workplace. While this model is getting a little up there in age (it was created by Dr. Donald L. Kirkpatrick in the 1950s), it is still cited as an effective and valuable tool for evaluation.
The Kirkpatrick Model states that there are four levels that should be evaluated:
Level 1: Reaction
The degree to which participants find the training favorable, engaging, and relevant to their jobs
Level 2: Learning
The degree to which participants acquire the intended knowledge, skills, attitude, confidence, and commitment based on their participation in the training
Level 3: Behavior
The degree to which participants apply what they learned during training when they are back on the job
Level 4: Results
The degree to which targeted outcomes occur as a result of the training and the support and accountability package
Some criticize the Kirkpatrick Model for its evaluation priorities, stating that all levels are equally important or that the entire model should be reversed, with results being level 1 and reactions being level 4. However, these are simply conceptual semantics that distract from the model's bigger message—that learning goals should cover all aspects of the learning experience, including what comes after.
Typically, the Kirkpatrick Model comes in at the end of a learning experience to evaluate its effectiveness. But, I argue that this is not the most effective way to apply it. Instead, the model should be used from the start to determine the course objectives.
A learning experience should have multiple goals that cover the four main aspects of the Kirkpatrick Model:
Reaction: What experience learners should have
Learning: What learners should be able to do by the end
Behavior: How new knowledge should be applied in the real world
Results: What outcomes should result from the new behaviors (could also be company/organizational objectives)
Here’s how this could be applied using our financial wellness online course example:
Reaction: The learners should feel empowered and motivated by the course. They should experience an increase in confidence regarding their financial decision-making abilities. The course should be engaging, interactive, and should resonate with their personal financial situations, making them feel that the course is directly applicable and beneficial to their lives.
Learning: By the end of the course, learners should be able to create and manage a personal budget, understand and manage debts, have basic investment knowledge, and make informed decisions about savings and retirement plans. They should also be able to interpret financial statements and understand key financial concepts like interest rates, inflation, and credit scores.
Behavior: Learners should apply the knowledge gained by actively managing their personal finances. This includes regularly tracking their income and expenses, making informed choices about investments and savings, responsibly using credit, and planning for financial emergencies. They should also demonstrate improved financial habits, such as reducing unnecessary expenses and increasing savings rates.
Results: The new behaviors should lead to tangible outcomes, like increased savings rates, reduced debt levels, improved credit scores, and better preparedness for financial emergencies among the learners. For a company or organization, this could translate into employees being more financially stable, which can lead to reduced financial stress, improved employee satisfaction, and potentially even improved productivity at work.
Step 2: Determine Assessment Evidence
Once the goals are established, your next task is to determine how you will assess whether those goals are being achieved. This ensures that the training is aligned with all goals and not just some and helps you pinpoint where improvements can be made.
Ways to Assess Goals
For reaction goals, collect learner feedback using surveys, preferably ones that are anonymous and collect both qualitative and quantitative insights. You can also look at engagement analytics, such as how many people completed the course and how many people successfully completed activities/quizzes.
For learning goals, quizzes and activities are some of your best tools. Quizzes should not only assess whether learners retain and understand the information but also allow them to practice applying it in real-world scenarios. Activities should be viewed as opportunities to practice knowledge application for when they step into the real-world. Think of it as preparation for achieving the behavior goals.
For behavior goals, this should track how the learners are putting their new knowledge and skills into practice. These evaluations could come in the form of performance reviews, self-assessments, and surveys on how learners use the techniques. It is a good idea to evaluate behavior goals at various intervals post-learning experience, such as a week after training, a month after training, and six months after training, to ensure behaviors are being both applied and maintained. And be sure to provide opportunities to review materials and touch up on certain aspects of the training as needed.
For result goals, these should be measurable and tracked using various metrics and analytics. All goals should be evaluated from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. However, the results, depending on the nature and topic of your learning experience, will probably sway more toward quantitative data.
Step 3: Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction
From there, you start to build out the learning experience. Each lesson and design component of the learning experience should support a particular goal.
Reaction
Focus on creating an engaging and relatable course environment.
Use interactive elements like quizzes, discussions, and real-life case studies.
Design the content to be visually appealing and user-friendly.
Include motivational elements and personal success stories to inspire learners.
Ensure that the course feedback mechanisms are robust, allowing learners to express their experiences and emotions related to the course.
Learning
Structure each lesson to build on the previous one, gradually increasing in complexity.
Use a mix of teaching methods such as video tutorials, readings, and practical exercises.
Implement assessments that test the learners' understanding of key concepts and their ability to apply them.
Provide supplemental resources for deepening knowledge in specific areas.
Behaviors
Design activities that require learners to apply what they've learned in real-world scenarios. This could include simulations, project-based learning, and case study analysis.
Encourage peer discussions and group activities to facilitate knowledge sharing and application.
Offer guidance on how to integrate new practices into daily life, and provide tools and templates that can be directly used afterwards.
Provide opportunities for learners to ask questions and seek guidance if they struggle to put the behavior into action afterward.
Results
Ensure that the course content aligns with the desired outcomes; this may mean modifying learning or behavior outcomes to more directly align with your result goals.
Collect and analyze data on the course's impact on these outcomes.
Use collected data to continuously improve the course content and structure.
The UbD is an effective instructional design tool that is actually quite simple once you start to use it. And it makes sense…all learning experiences should have robust goals and objectives in place; otherwise, they’re at risk of becoming aimless and ineffective.
How can you know if something is on-target if you don’t know where you’re aiming?
When setting out to create a learning experience or strategic curriculum, start with the end goals in mind. This will help you get over that blank page paralysis and design something cohesive and purposeful.
