Terminology Tuesday: Analysis Part 2

Last week I started a discussion about Analysis, talking about some elements (e.g. Needs Assessment) and some strategies for conducting analysis. This week I’m providing a bit of a follow-through plan. Sort of. Or perhaps you can call it a guide for things of which you need before writing performance objectives. Call it what you want. I’ve made a doodle of some things you’ll want to analyze:

 

Less of a doodle and a bit more flow chart-esque am I right? Yeah. I know. Anyhow. What the heck do all of these things mean?

When working in the analysis phase, you may come in on any portion thereof, but the key things you need to analyze are:

• Your Audience – Who will be receiving the training? What prior learning experiences do they have? Do they need prerequisite knowledge?
• The Environment(s) – How will the training be delivered? Face-to-face? Online? Blended? Where will the audience be applying the training? If on the job, will they need a performance support tool? Will it need to be mobile-friendly? Will it need to be a stand alone training aid?
• The Job or Task – What is the job/task for which you are developing training? Break that task down into each individual sub-task. Don’t assume your audience will know how to complete ANY of the sub-tasks, unless you’ve been specifically told they have the knowledge, and determine how much information is required (for each sub-task) to achieve mastery of the task for which the training was developed.
• Content – What content is available? Once you’ve analyzed your audience, the environments, and the job or task, you will have a greater understanding of what content you will need. At this point, you can analyze the content that’s available and determine whether there are any gaps. If so, you can request or source the missing content.

I know these posts are a very brief primer (of sorts) about Analysis in Instructional Design, but they provide you with some primary information necessary for some forthcoming blog posts targeted at elements and strategies related to conducting analysis.

Stay tuned for next week’s post: Design Part 1 – EXCITING, I KNOW!