March 2009

This is the second article in the series: ABC's of Lesson Development. This article builds on language introduced in Part I.

This workshop process is like a focus group. The best way to discover all the KSJ's is to bring together a group of of SME's, in this case they would be Internet Marketers. If you are developing these materials on your own because you are the SME and you don't know any other experts, you can proceed through this process by yourself.

Step 2. Ask the question "In the course of my everyday work as a Internet Marker I..."

What follows next is a verb and a skill, knowledge or judgement. For example:

In the course of my everyday work as an Internet Marketer I...:

Typically this process is completed over two days with groups of 8 - 10 experts and the list of KSJ's can exceed 100. This list is usually displayed on cards along a wall, but it can be expressed on paper just as well. If you are trying to develop more concise materials you can keep this list short or break a longer list into a multiple set of materials.

Step 3: Group the KSJ's in categories. 

You can categorize these skills as "Communication." I've included an example of a DACUM chart that demonstrates how you can group your list of KSJs. This chart represents an entry level Art Advertising course that is delivered by a local college. Now you can make your own DACUM chart. A smaller version of the DACUM chart can be viewed below as well.

 

Step 4. Assign a Competence Level to Each KSJ (Optional)

This helps you gauge how in-depth you may want to teach certain KSJ's. For example in the skill above "record video"  you may not want to teach that as in depth as "tweet messages."  If that is the case, I would assign a "2" to record video and a "3" to "Tweet Messages." This process really helps you focus your materials development to those skills that are most important and require more content than the less important skills.

This DACUM process is the standard for developing curriculum, and if you are a knowledge-based consultant or independent trainer this process is a great way to organize your training.  In the next post we will explore how we can take the DACUM chart and create lessons in Dojo Learning. The ABC's of Lesson Development is a series on outcomes-bases lesson development and assessment. If you are interested in this series subscribe to our RSS feed and follow along.

I've spent the last 6 years working with curriculum development in an Adult Learning organization. We used a curriculum development process that makes delivering training thorough and practical. Having a clear structure helps clients see what they are learning and provides them confidence with the materials you have developed.

This process is called Outcome-based Learning.  An outcome is a conceptual container that holds all the knowledge, skills and judgements  you need to accomplish the outcome. At the onset of each lesson the developer should complete the following sentence:

"At the end of this lesson my learners will be able to..."

and what follows next is an action word, or verb, and the outcome.

Let's use the example of cleaning a kitchen in this sentence. At the end of this lesson, my learner will be able to Clean the Kitchen.

The learning outcome, Clean the Kitchen holds all the knowledge, skills and judgements (KSJ's) required to perform the outcome. Here is a list of KSJ's for the Clean the Kitchen outcome.

Knowledge
Safely use cleaning chemicals.
Prepare cleaning solutions using ratios.
Understand the appropriate tools for the appropriate job task. 

Skills
Sweep floors.
Wash dishes.
Wash floors.
Clean counters.

Judgements
Choose appropriate cleaning supplies for the job.
Choose appropriate cleaning tools for the job.
Assess when kitchen is clean.

These KSJ's are what you teach your clients if they are taking your How to Clean the Kitchen lesson. This framework provides the lesson developer with a road map for lesson development and a clear framework for you clients. This method is considered a best-practice in curriculum development and private trainers and consultants can use this method for developing their own materials too.

The next article in this series is on DACUM (Developing A CUrriculuM) which is a storyboard / workshop method that helps you develop KSJ's for your training. The ABC's of Lesson Development is a series on outcomes-bases lesson development and assessment. If you are interested in this series subscribe to our RSS feed and follow along.