The Analysis Phase of ADDIE: Part 2 of 6

The "A" part of ADDIE stands for Analysis, but just as easily could've stood for "Ask" - this is where we want a list of appropriate questions that must be answered before we move on and get into designing the course. Is there a way to keep this process simple? Well, maybe no course needs to be designed in the first place and training isn't the solution to the problem or "gap". One of my favorite college professors told me the simplest form of training needs analysis involves the trainee and a gun - put the gun to their head and have them do a task. If they can perform the task, they probably don't need training, just effective motivation. I cannot emphasize this enough - Analysis is all about asking and answering the correct questions for your project.

A powerful thought comes to mind using this example - perhaps they would just need a job aid to accomplish that task consistently and correctly each time - like a checklist, or what some places refer to as a "JIB" - Job Instruction Breakdown.

What the heck is  "JIB"?

Well, this is an interesting question - but let's start with a different acronym from the 1940s: have you ever heard of "TWI"? Training Within Industry? When you Google it, this comes up:

"Training Within Industry, TWI, is a dynamic program of hands-on learning and practice, teaching essential skills for supervisors, team leaders, and anyone who directs the work of others. TWI is an essential element of Lean and continuous improvement programs around the world including the Toyota Production System."

TWI demands that tasks be broken into their smaller parts in order to be taught to inexperienced workers.

I'm hoping already you can see the ties to performance improvement and the linkages between how your workers learn and the importance of their training programs being solidly designed.

JIBs break tasks down into their bare elements and each ordered step gets three columns: What you're doing, How to do it, and Why you're doing it. In  part 1 of 6 we talked about the training piece is the "WHY". This format could also be used as a job aid to assist those whom have forgotten how to do something they were trained and qualified on at a previous time. This of course could be an outcome of the Training Needs Analysis (TNA). Analysis should include both a Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and a Needs Assessment.

 What should be in a TNA?

So, why not give this some new flavor? I have put together a new way of remembering what to do in the Analysis phase of ADDIE:

"COPY AND PASTE" (Yes, I put this together, and no it's not trademarked, really because it's nothing new.)

Constraints, physical and organizationalOptions for deliveryProject completion timelineYour knowledge sources including Subject Matter ExpertsAdult learning theory to best apply (using taxonomies)New desired behaviors identifiedDesign and characteristics of the course structurePurpose and goalsAudience and their learner characteristicsSkills transferred or reinforcedTechnology requirementsEvaluation and assessment criteria

The mnemonic isn't the best thing since ADDIE, however, it does cover pretty much everything you'll need to sort out in this Analysis phase.

A couple more resources

Check out this pretty awesome e-Learning Blog on ADDIEAnother popular Instructional Design Blog here

More questions you could include in a TNA:

1. What is the typical background of the students/participants who will undergo the program? Personal and educational information such as age, nationality, previous experiences and interests should be determined.
2. What is the target group?
3. What are the educational goals, past knowledge levels, experiences, ages, interests, cultural background etc. of the learners?What do the students need to accomplish at the end of the program? What are the learner’s needs?
4. What will be required in terms of skills, intelligence, outlook and physical/psychological action-reaction? What are the desired learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, behavior etc.?
5. Determining popular methods being used around the subject and taking a look at what needs to be developed and improved. Review of existing instructional strategies employed. Are they adequate? What aspects need to be added, clarified and improved upon?
6. Determining target objectives of the project. What instructional goals does the project focus on?
7. Determining the various options available with respect to learning environment. What is the most conducive learning environment?
8. A combination of live or online discussions?
9. What are the Pros and Cons between online- and classroom-based study?
10. What delivery option is to be chosen?
11. What type of learning environment is preferred?
12. Does one opt for online or face-to-face or a blend of both?
13. If online is preferred what will be the difference in learning outcomes between classroom-based learning and web-based learning?
14. Determining limiting factors to the overall goal of the project. What limiting factors exist with respect to resources, including technical, support, time, human resources, technical skills, financial factors, support factors?