In 2022, I completed the Instructional Design MasterTrack® Certificate through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Coursera. Two courses comprise the Certificate: (1) Instructional and Training Systems Design, and (2) Learning Technologies. The final project for the Instructional and Training Systems Design course involved working as part of a team to design an instructional plan for a scenario of our choosing. I was fortunate to be a member of a team that had a variety of experiences, including a STEM teacher, a professor, and an instructional media specialist. Using the models and theories presented in the course as well as our diverse experiences, we created the following instructional plan.
EPOL 472 Instructional Design Project
The final project for the EPOL 472: Instructional and Training Systems Design course involved working with a group of our peers to design an instructional plan for a scenario of our choosing.
Context:
My group designed a training focusing on improving the integration of a small organization into a larger company as a result of an acquisition. The training was broken up into four modules focused on employee engagement, empathetic communication, conflict management, and standardizing documentation procedures.
Learning Goals:
Upon completion of modules in this training, learners will be able to:
- define employee engagement and explain the relationship between leadership, management, and workplace engagement;
- explain why the availability of resources is related to engagement and how to address resource insufficiency;
- apply appropriate active listening skills in workplace communications;
- apply effective communication strategies in difficult conversations in order to minimize conflict;
- determine and differentiate strategies for responding to intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup conflict;
- apply empathetic and effective strategies in responding to conflict in the workplace;
- properly record detailed information for deliverables and internal files based on established organizational protocols;
- demonstrate the ability to correctly apply information within a standardized template for deliverables to clients.
Instructional Strategy:
A needs assessment and learner analysis determined that employees from both the larger company and the acquiesced organization would need to attend a training to improve the integration of the organization into the company. Modules were geared toward providing employees with techniques and skills to help smooth the transition and encourage better communication between members of both groups. Lessons covered instruction on utilizing soft skills, including empathetic communication, to more technical skills such as operating procedures to establish a standard method of documentation within the company. Interactive exercises and discussions were deployed throughout the training to encourage learners to work with one another throughout the instruction.
Carolyn Kupec 