2. Objectives:
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
do course selection
develop courses
define subject and describe aims
identify course content
write trainer's guide and student materials
run pilot course
identify criteria used to determine course content
3. Introduction:
Having established that training is appropriate for the
identified needs, the next step is to find courses that
meet the needs
We have to make choices whether to buy or develop
courses that meet the needs
Developing a course from scratch can be both
expensive and time consuming
Even purchasing a course that exactly match all the
requirements is not as easy as it sounds
Therefore, one has to adopt a systematic approach
to address the issues in designing a curriculum or
course to meet the needs of the learners
4. Training Curriculum and Content
Development Issues:
Trainees - entry behaviors, needs and
characteristics
Course content - identification, structure,
sequencing, timing
Expertise - subject matter and the trainers,
their roles
Approaches - methods and media
Logistics - registration issues etc.
5. Course Selection:
Two issues to consider:
Availability of existing material
Urgency and demand for the course
Choices or options:
Using an existing course
○ availability is there
Modifying an existing course
○ add, remove or rearrange parts
Buying or licensing an external course
○ large and urgent demand; large budget
○ caution: copyright issue, training manual
6. Course Selection (con’t)
Developing our own course
specific to the organization; large and urgent
demand
cheaper
Using an “in-house” course
one in which a training company runs one of their
courses on the premises
medium demand that is not the company’s area
Using a public course
cost-effective if demand is small
caution: suitability of the course, style, content
and professionalism
7. Course Development Process:
Processes for developing training courses:
1. Define Subject Matter
based on training needs analysis
to develop what is really required
check on training needs analysis results
2. Describe Goals (general learning objective)
provide as a tool for evaluating effectiveness as
well as developing the course
3. Obtain Subject Matter Expertise
save time
control over deadline and expected results
8. Developing Courses: (con’t)
4. Describe Students
detailed profile of prospective students -
knowledge, attitudinal and physical
5. Identify Course Content
e.g. “in sequence type” of course content
9. Developing Courses: (con’t)
6. Structure Course Content
determine structure and timing
A.) Timing
estimate duration by:
estimate the duration of individual components and
add them up
start a fixed time and see what we can fit in
be aware of limitations and consequences
factors to consider:
student’s current state of knowledge
training methodology
content of the course
10. Developing Courses: (con’t)
B.) Sequence
Factors to consider:
dependencies or prerequisites?
to be learnt now?
can be learnt at the same time?
Check for logical sequence/logical flow:
simple to complex or vice versa
general to specific or vice versa
concrete to abstract or vice versa
Once sequence and flow are decided then we have a
course agenda
11. Developing Courses: (con’t)
7. Write Objectives and Tests
A.) Write Objectives
○ Behavior
○ Conditions
○ Standard
B.) Writing Tests
○ does not need to be an exam
○ should be able to observe the desired behavior
○ see whether training has been achieved
12. Developing Courses: (con’t)
8. Choose Methods and Media
Issues to Consider:
A.) “Best” training methods
○ “trainer led” or “self directed”
○ specific to general or vice versa
○ case study or a real-life example
B.) Giving freedom of choice to the trainees
○ construct a course map that has alternative
routes through the course
13. Developing Courses: (con’t)
C.) The issue of training technologies
○ “only way to train”?
○ will never be one “best” medium
D.) Focus our attention to the trainees
E.) Which methods and media -
○ most suitable for each part of the course?
○ best courses have a wide range of media and
learning experiences
14. Developing Courses: (con’t)
9. Write trainer’s guide and student materials
A.) Trainer’s Guide
1. course objectives
2. course program
3. course prerequisite
4. course pre-work
5. number of training and break-out room required
6. list of student materials
7. list of equipment required
15. Developing Courses: (con’t)
8. list of audio-visual materials (transparencies,
posters, prepared flip chart, slides, audiotapes and
videotapes)
9. room layout
10. preparation notes for each session
11. lessons plans for each session
The structure of the trainer’s guide is not necessarily
in this order
16. Developing Courses: (con’t)
B.) Lesson plans
○ detailed timings, structure and activities
10. Preparing Visual Aids
○ if necessary?
11. Peer Assignment
○ spot the flaws, annoying inconsistencies and
irritating errors
17. Developing Courses: (con’t)
12. Run Pilot Course(s)
are test “flight” for newly developed courses
a.) first test : developmental test to get all the mistakes out
of the course
b.) second pilot course: should have students who are
representatives of the target population
feedback from invited stakeholders
take note of the difficulties or problems
get students fill in a written feedback
discussion
work with trainers on how to change, amend and
revise
18. An Example of Course
Development
Background
company with full and contract employees
full time employees have started to immerse into the
culture and language of TQM
company realized that contract staff are being
isolated because they have no understanding of the
language and processes of TQM
therefore a one day overview of TQM was decided
19. Example Course Dev’t (con’t)
1. Defining the Subject
What Total Quality Management is all about
2. Describing the Aims
to allow the medium term contractors to participate
in quality circles
3. Obtaining Subject Matter Expertise
training analyst who has been training the full
course for two years
4. Describing the Students
medium-term contractors with concerns about being
treated differently from full time staff and whether
there would be another contract after the current
one expires
20. Example Course Dev’t (con’t)
may not have the same loyalty but they have a
professional approach
might be easier to communicate “customer awareness”
with electric/electronic, software or mechanical
backgrounds and would not appreciate a “wordy”
approach or put up with a significant amount of reading
are in good health with normal hearing and sight (good
color vision)
may have done business studies courses at university
or polytechnic; the subject matter will be new to most of
them
21. Example Course Dev’t (con’t)
5. Identify the Course Content
check for familiar topics and advanced topics
6. Structuring the Content
Choosing the modules for the course
22. Example Course Dev’t (con’t)
7. Choosing the Methods and the Media
○ trainer presentation and student exercises
○ short excerpts from videos
○ tape/slide presentation put on to video
23. Example Course Dev’t (con’t)
8. Writing the Objectives and Tests
Any idea how the objective should sound like for this
TQM programme?
How about the test?
24. Example Course Dev’t (con’t)
9. Writing the Trainer’s Guide and Student’s Materials
Student’s guide and student materials:
E.g. a booklet which had a section for each of the
module
10. Preparing the Visual Aids
Trainers should identify the suitable visual aid for the
TQM training
25. Example Course Dev’t (con’t)
11. Peer Assessment
materials were given to a new trainer to review
colleagues review the course at every stage of its
development
12. Running the Pilot Course
e.g. new trainer: made observations of the training
process and the student’s reactions
