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I’ve spent the last several years teaching course design to just about anyone who will sit still to listen. And even though I’ve crisscrossed the state with this message I still find that many folks are unsure of the process. As we work through the process of developing the transition curriculum I’ll provide a few quick summaries to let you know why we are doing what we are in this process of course design.
So, where does one start? Conducting a needs assessment is generally the first step in a rather dynamic process. In the needs assessment the course designer attempts to figure out what to focus on. This seems easy at first. The scope of practice is pretty clear about what knowledge and skills are new to each level. So why run a needs assessment process?
It is not enough to understand the “what.” Do we understand what people already know in the new material? Are we aware of the constraints to learning; such as time, money, availability of instructors, and fear of change? What about the preferred methods of learning? All of these things fit into the arena of needs and are the focus of the work that we are doing with the project. Once we have answers to these questions . . . and the questions we haven’t figured to even ask, we can identify where to spend our time and energy as we start putting the courses together.
