Assessment of Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI) Courseware Can Enhance Army Training
Abstract
Since 1998, the Army s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) has been engaged in establishing and fielding The Army Distributed Learning Program (TADLP) to enhance and extend traditional methods of learning. The Army intends to achieve a number of important goals through distributed learning (DL), including increased access to standardized training, improved unit operational readiness, and reduced costs. The Army envisages a greatly increased role for DL over time, and the development of interactive multimedia instruction (IMI) courseware is an important element of the training strategy. Development and evaluation of Army DL is decentralized in individual proponent schools and centers, and there have been limited efforts to assess the effectiveness of DL training at the program level. TRADOC asked Arroyo to assess how efficiently and effectively TADLP has accomplished its objectives overall. For one component of this evaluation, the research team developed and tested a method of evaluating the instructional design and technical features of asynchronous IMI courses. Using standards from the training and development community, the team developed criteria to evaluate IMI courseware. The researchers then applied the criteria to a sample of 79 lessons from 10 high-priority courses in order to assess the feasibility of this approach for evaluating courseware in a highly resource-constrained environment, illustrate the kinds of information produced by such an evaluation, and demonstrate how that information can be used to identify areas for improvement in courseware and to monitor quality at the program level.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA586963
Entities
People
- Kate Giglio
Organizations
- RAND Corporation