Course Design and Development
We build high quality training materials step-by-step, from needs and task analyses all the way through the development and production of materials for students and instructors.
Developing training materials that students will value and keep at their desk for future reference is something that LTS is known for. Being able to turn complex technical material into clear, easy-to-follow training materials requires the education and experience that we can provide.
If you're a small, start-up company, you have smart, hard-working people building your products, but they may not have the background to turn their expertise into a well-structured training course. If you're a large company with an experienced training staff, you already know how to produce good training materials, but you may not have enough people available at the right time to add new courses.
LTS can bridge the gap between the technical information and the training materials. Your subject matter expert or instructor can then use the materials to conduct effective training. If you need someone to conduct the training class, we can teach the class for you.
To learn more about how we have helped businesses with their development needs, you can read about developing a performance class for a storage manufacturer or developing an adapter programming class for a computer manufacturer.
Course development model
LTS designs and develops courses using the industry-standard ADDIE model for instructional systems design. Over the years, this technique has been found to be the most systematic and reliable way to develop training courses for business.
The ADDIE acronym stands for the five steps in successful training development:
- Analysis
- Design
- Development
- Implementation
- Evaluation
We combine this development methodology with an understanding of adult learning principles to produce a course that reflects the quality of your business.
If you are interested in learning more about ADDIE and other aspects of effective course development, check our resources.
Needs and task analysis
The first step in developing any course is to analyze who might need training and what they need to be able to do on the job.
At this stage, we interview your subject matter experts (SMEs), and read your documentation. From this, we determine the tasks that the students will be asked to perform on the job, and break down the skills and knowledge they must have to accomplish those tasks.
This analysis becomes a deliverable to you. It is the cornerstone that the course is built on.
Developing student materials
From the task analysis, we build a course outline, showing the order that tasks will be taught in. This takes into account dependencies between the tasks.
For each section, LTS develops objectives or Learning Outcome Statements (LOS), detailing what the student will be able to do at the end of that section. We also develop hands-on exercises at this time, where the student will practice the task and verify that they meet the objective.
After we know what the student needs to be able to do and how we're going to measure whether they can do it, we develop a student guide, job aids or whatever materials will help the student meet the goals.
Feedback
Once the course materials are developed, your expert can teach the course for the first time. We sit through the course as it is being taught, to observe how well the students are able to understand and carry out the tasks taught in the course. At the completion of the course, we ask students for feedback and interview the instructor.
Based on the feedback, we make adjustments to the course materials to make sure they are on target for your students.
