Curriculum Development

For Adult Learners

Basics

• Educational objective- – What they will learn– Learning needs assessment or gap analysis

• Learner outcomes- Knowledge, skills, attitudes• Content and Sequence• Instructional methods- Didactic; Interactive; Small

groups; Live; Live remote; Recorded; On-line • Evaluation- Knowledge, skills, attitude, behaviors,

other outcomes

Content

• Guided by direct learning needs assessment• Gap analysis• Learning objectives– Knowledge– Skills– Attitudes– Behaviors

Instructional Methods

• A thread should run from learning objectives/outcomes to evaluation connected by instructional methods– New knowledge: many delivery methods; observe

application of or test for new knowledge– New skill: practice the skill; observe the new skill

being used– Attitude change: Qualitative; survey; observation

Adult Learners

• Application is essential: new concepts applied to current role(s)

• Integrate new ideas with what they already know

• Use self-directed learning• Small groups and team learning• Hands-on skills instruction• Respect for learners as peers

Instructional Design

• Instructional design specialist• Create a team: subject matter expert (SME),

designer, instructional design specialist, evaluation expert

• If you are the SME stick to your focus and let the team design the learning product

• Ask lots of questions

Evaluation

• Guided by learning objectives• Moore’s levels of outcome1. Participation2. Satisfaction3. Declarative and procedural knowledge- “knows” and

“knows how”4. Competence- “shows how”5. Performance- “does”6. Patient health- important patient outcomes7. Community health

Summary

• Clear objectives• Instructional methods that support the

learning outcomes• Recognize the special needs of adult learners• Evaluation plan consistent with objectives and

learner outcomes