From executive presence to managed care 101, there are countless subjects that healthcare and pharmaceutical professionals must study and master. To help their employees in this endeavor, many organizations turn to instructional design firms. These companies create custom coursework that educates participants on specific topics that further their professional development and their organization’s success.
Instructional designers use a variety of models when creating these courses. One of the most effective is the ADDIE model, a development structure that has been in use since the 1970s. This model offers many unique benefits that make it the best choice for producing effective courses that provide an exemplary return on investment.
Breaking Down the Model
The ADDIE model consists of five parts:
- Analysis – The course designers gather information on what their client needs from their custom course. This is done using various analytical tools, including profiles of the intended participants and interviews with the organization’s top decision-makers.
- Design – The designers devise the best way to accomplish the client’s instructional goals. This includes outlining objectives, choosing the right medium for the course materials, and deciding how those materials will be delivered.
- Development – The course content is created and assembled into a coherent whole. The finished product should take participants on a learning journey that introduces the information required to meet the course objectives step by step.
- Implementation – The course is put to the test with a small group of real participants. During this process, participants are observed interacting with the content and the group of individuals around them to gauge how well the course is meeting its objectives. Participants also offer feedback on their perceptions of the course’s effectiveness and utility.
- Evaluation – The course designers evaluate the feedback they have received and refine the course based on the insights they identify.
When all five parts of the model have been completed, the course is ready for release.
Striving for the Perfect Curriculum
Like learning, instructional design is an exceedingly complex process. Even the most expertly designed courses are rarely as effective when they are first built as they are after some additional fine-tuning.
There are myriad ways that a training course can fail to achieve its objectives. Perhaps the course presumes too much starting knowledge from participants and jumps directly into advanced concepts without laying enough groundwork. Conversely, it might explain too much, causing the learner to feel like their time is being wasted. It might even fail to tie the content it is teaching to real-world applications that make it worth learning in the first place.
The ADDIE model helps instructional designers create courses that avoid these pitfalls. Each step involves analysis, reflection, and purposeful action. The course’s goals are identified at the start of the creation process and guide every aspect of the design process. If part of the course is not contributing to the objectives that have been established, it is reworked until it succeeds.
Consistent refinement is not the only advantage of this model. Getting real-world feedback from the people for whom the course is being designed helps ensure that participants will engage with the content the way the designers intended. A section that is meant to promote collaboration should have your test audience readily sharing information and insights, while sections meant to be completed individually should be interesting and challenging enough to hold participants’ attention.
All of these benefits combine to create the kinds of effective, engaging courses that healthcare and pharmaceutical companies rely on to hone the productivity of their biggest asset: their workforce.
Commission Custom Training Courses from Leading Healthcare Instructional Design Experts
The ADDIE model allows instructional designers to produce exceptionally engaging and goal-oriented courses. This is why The Brooks Group’s Learning eXperience service is built around it. We use this model for all of our custom course design projects, allowing us to deliver superior online and blended learning courses tailored to our client’s unique needs. Contact us today for more information on our instructional design services or any of our other training and market research offerings.