The Learner-Centered Methodology (LCM) approach to ID
By Archana |Oct30, 2008 Main Articles Add commentsThis post has been authored by Geeta Bose.
The objective of the approach is to design courses that help learners achieve their learning outcomes and increase the ROI of stakeholders. This research is based on proven research in human factors engineering, which has techniques, processes, and procedures to design user-centered products.
How is this different from the methodology adopted in regular e-learning courses?
Most eLearning courses are content-centered rather than learner-centered. While instructional designers go through the various phases of audience analysis, content analysis, and requirements analysis, they seldom incorporate the outcomes of the analysis into the course design. In most cases, the motivations of stakeholders, technology constraints, and project deadlines take precedence over the learners’ needs in an eLearning program.
Often learning strategies and pedagogy are driven by the type of content rather than the needs of the learner. The decisions to use case studies, themes, or particular instructional strategies are based on the type of content covered rather than profile of learners. Consequently, the pedagogy is far removed from the learner’s motivation. In this scenario, an entry level manager as well as a CEO may be subjected to the same eLearning program with neither benefiting from it.
Very few eLearning programs are actually aligned to the motivations of the learner from the analysis phase down to the micro design of the course. Let us understand the methodology in detail.
How does LCM benefit stakeholders?
To overcome this expectation mismatch, we at Kern, design and develop courseware based on the philosophy that the learner is at the center of the eLearning process. In this process, the development life cycle (DLC) has the learner as the focal point. Every step in the DLC derives from the study of learners.
Principles of LCM
- Learner is at the center of the development process.
- LCM is an iterative process. Every phase involves iterations within the phase before becoming input for the next phase.
- This is a diagnostic approach to elearning, which is in contrast to a quick-fix approach.
Benefits for stakeholders/clients
Typical eLearning approach promises clients ROI by saving on the costs of classroom training, increasing productivity with just-in-time training, and saving on delivery time. This is only 25% of the potential gains that the client can derive from the LCM approach. An eLearning courseware designed with the LCM approach offers the following benefits:
- Definite increase in the productivity of employees from day one
- Reduction in peer-review time, rework, and supervision
- Reduction in learning time on the job
- Increase in first-time correct deliverables
- Supervisors have time for other things
- Longer and better retention
What are the phases in the LCM approach?
LCM is an evolutionary approach. The final courseware is shaped over time. The instructional designers arrive at the optimum design through an iterative process of validating with the learning outcomes at all phases and steps in the eLearning development phase. The typical phases are:
- Learner Analysis
- Requirements Analysis (Stakeholders requirements and technical requirements)
- Design and Prototyping Phase
- Development Phase
- Testing Phase
Various tests, checks, and validations at each phase of the DLC provide inputs that help designers understand learners’ goals, motivations, expectations, and learning behavior. The typical tests, checks, and validation mechanisms are:
- Persona creation
- Instructional design review
- Exploratory tests
- eLearning acceptance tests
- Learner testing
- Learnability evaluation at workplace
Each test is a scientific approach that elicits information from learner. This information is ploughed back into the DLC to ensure that the focus of the courseware is always on the learner.
Development Process Using Learner-Centered Methodology
Building usability into the design of eLearning includes:
- Utilizing knowledge gained during needs assessment to ensure usefulness.
- Employing interface design principles to achieve ease-of-use.
- Using instructional design principles to attain learnability.
| eLearning DLC | Methods/Techniques to validate each step in the process |
| 1) Learner Analysis2) Requirements Analysis:(normally it is given by the stakeholders) | 1) Access to learners directly or remotely through the clients/stakeholders to gather information about the learners’ needs, wants, and motivations. The steps for obtaining information about learners are to create a protocol for instructional audit and in-depth interview. Ideally, a sample size of 5-8 should give an idea about the primary and secondary goals. Interpret them to derive the ID approach for the course. Find out a tangible metrics, measure/quantify them. (We will discuss how we go about this in another blog.)2) Explore the workplace realities that your client may not know about that could impede the success of the course. For example, the learner’s workplace environment might have noise distractions, an inconsistent Internet connection, or no access to speakers or headphones to listen to audio.
Steps: a) A member of the design team should plan to spend several hours shadowing a typical user to determine environmental issues that might affect the ability of the average user to consume training. b) The session should conclude with questions that allow the designer to probe deeper into the observed issues and develop design recommendations. 3) Obtain information to create personas of learners. Personas are archetypal learners that represent the needs of larger groups of users in terms of goals and personal characteristics. Personas in e-learning help stay focused on the learner and make informed decisions about the functionality and design of the course. Steps for developing persona: a. Define learning goals and tasks (primary learning objectives and enabling objectives). b. Include demographic information such as age, sex, and place of residence. c. Identify psychographic details such as the goal of the learner, reason for taking this course, expectations from the course. d. Indicate the likes and dislikes of learners. e. Assign a name and a photo to the persona. f. A good approach is to create a poster of the persona and display in visible places. Whenever decisions need to be made, the learner is always “present”. 4) Factor in the following requirements/constraints while designing: 1) Business requirements 2) Requirements of clients and stakeholders This phase ends with the creation of the learner analysis document and the requirements analysis document. Output: 1) Learner profile 2) Personas 3) Goals and objectives |
| 3) Design Phase:The findings from the analysis phase are ploughed into the design phase. In this phase, we brainstorm about the macro design approach for the course. This includes the design for the content treatment as well as the visual treatment of the course. The TOC is developed in parallel. After the TOC is signed-off by the SME (Subject matter expert), the instructional designers determine the micro strategy for each module defined in the TOC of the course. Our instructional designers, visual designers, and our technical team discuss with the client the implementation plan of the course. | 1) Validate against the inputs derived from learner analysisThis will help instructional designers test whether the design maps with the goals and tasks of the learners. We evaluate the effectiveness of the course’s instructional design and learning activities.
2) eLearning Acceptance Testing: This form of testing is designed to provide a richer picture of how successful an online course will be, in terms of its level of learner acceptance and the level of complexity required. This testing method is especially important when designing online training for inexperienced e-learners. eLearning acceptance testing process: a) Begin with the identification of an online course that is fairly representative of the level of complexity, interactivity, bandwidth and language levels that also will be utilized in the current development project. b) Users should be observed completing this representative course, either in person or via WebEx or phone conferencing. c) Once the user is finished, the observer should interview the learner about the experience with the course, including the ability to consume the level of content and its ease of navigation. d) The information gathered in this step from first-time users is critical to ensure a successful course for this type of learner. e) All of the feedback gathered can then be incorporated into the design of the new courseware. Constraints: In absence of access to a learner’ workplace, conduct a small learner test remotely in real-time. Or, conduct a contextual inquiry to gain information. Output: 1) Creation of a design document |
| 4) Development Phase:The development phase starts in parallel with the design phase.a) Creation of the interfaceb) Wireframing: Based on the TOC and the design document, create the wireframes of the course. Wireframes are mock-ups of the actual course screens. They represent the actual composition of the screen.
c) These wireframe storyboards are sent to the SME for a content review. Kern has a parallel activity where these screens are run through actual learners for:
Alternatively, these wireframes are mapped to personas (in the absence of access to learners) to see whether they conform to the learning goals and tasks. Findings from user interface design testing, acceptance testing, and learner testing are ploughed back into the development phase. |
1) Interface Design Testing: Interface design testing is an excellent way to gather preliminary feedback on the user interface of the course.In the absence of real learners, you can make use of prototypical/representative users. Steps:a. Use of online collaboration tools (WebEx) or phone conferencing facilities to have a remote testing.b. Conduct the test on at least 5 learners.c. The interface design should give learners adequate visibility into the navigation and graphic interface.
d. Follow up the tests with a standardized interview to clarify observations and feedback.
2) Instructional Design Review: This is done keeping the learner goals in mind.
3) Learner Testing: In case of experienced learners, you can conduct a learner test (or a remote learner testing) of the prototype (mock-ups). a. Create a protocol for testing b. Ensure the learning environment is as close to what they would encounter in real life c. Since the test will be for a single sitting, run the course for 20-25 mins. d. Ensure that the wireframes are understood by the learner. The incompleteness should not hinder learning. e. Note down your observations. At the end of the testing, ask questions to probe certain behavior exhibited during the test. Do not seek opinions. A minimum of five users should participate in the session with follow-up several weeks later to assess whether or not they have retained and applied the knowledge and skills from the session. Their feedback can iterated into the design process. Constraints: Time constraint may hinder the follow-up sessions. |
Finally, after the results of the tests are collated and incorporated in the course design, the course is sent to SME for a sign-off. Post SME sign-off, the entire course is sent for construction.In this phase, the activities performed are:
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Mid-review takes place just before final development.Output:Final course ready for QA (quality assurance testing) |
| 5) Testing Phase:In this phase, the course is tested by our QA team for navigational issues, content issues, or other functional issues. After the testing report is generated, the issues are fixed by the development team and the course is ready for an Alpha Release to the client. Client’s feedback about the product is incorporated and the product is packaged and is ready to roll out. | The learnability evaluation of the course does not stop with the rollout of the course.Learnability Evaluation at Workplace
The learnability of the course can be assessed in the real sense only after the learner takes the course and applies it at the workplace. We evaluate the course by including: 1) Post-course assessments 2) Surveys and interviews 3) Performance measurement All this will help gain understanding of the impact the course on the learners. This will also help the stakeholder measure the ROI from the course.
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The outcome of this evaluation will help an organization measure the effectiveness of the eLearning program in meeting the business goals. It will help the organization evaluate the improvement in performance of employees and the true return on investment. Post-course feedback will refine the course for continued administration. As further needs are discovered and new employees are hired, the circle of usability will continue to help develop engaging courses that are usable, useful, learnable and motivating.
How does LCM influence the micro design of the course?
Visual – The visuals, images, video, audio, and other media used are based on information derived about learners in the learner analysis phase. The use of these elements is evaluated while creating the high level design document. The use of each visual element is derived from research about learner’s goal.
Writing Style – This is perhaps the single most element that is derived directly from learner analysis by most instructional designers. Written information that is part of e-learning should be concise and to the point.
Interactive – An advantage of LCM is that design factors in the learners preferences and motivations. Learners can interact with the courseware through quizzes and multimedia activities that let them practice skills, demonstrate knowledge, discover relationships and new information, and reinforce learning.
Engaging – Appeal to the learner’s professional experience and their emotions. Use case-based learning and scenarios that get the learner to analyze and synthesize information and put it within a frame of reference. Ask the learner to make decisions or judgments relevant to the case-based learning and scenarios.
Relevant – E-learning should address a learner’s current needs or learning gaps. In addition, developers must maintain the accuracy of the content. Revisit elearning content on a regular basis to ensure that it is still relevant and accurate for your audience.
Feasible – Make sure that the technologies you choose for enabling e-learning are feasible for your learners and their learning environments. If your audience is using 56K modems, be mindful of that limitation in choosing media and tools for creating your e-learning experience.
Empowering – Provide access to additional resources for more information so that the self-directed learner can explore content relevant to their interests and learn more.
Reference:
1) Handbook of Usability testing by Jeffery Rubin
2) Michael Allen’s Guide to e-Learning by Michael W. Allen
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3rd November, 2008 at 7:52 pm
very interesting post. thanx.
20th January, 2009 at 2:39 pm
As someone who’s involved in the industry - this has to be the way forward… For me - the day’s of lengthy offsite courses are numbered - so few people can sustain the costs.
Great post - thanks for the detailed thinking.
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8th May, 2010 at 5:33 pm
great post as usual!