Is Your Course Just “Healthy Enough?”
Last week, I went to the doctor for my routine exam – something I do every year. While I don’t find the experience unpleasant, it can be kind of a pain. I need to take time from my busy schedule to attend the appointment and any follow-up care that results. Sometimes I wonder, why do I go? Is it really necessary? I feel “good enough,” right?
After my appointment, it occurred to me that my routine doctor’s exam resembles a course audit in more than a few ways. While I often feel “good enough” when I go to my regular appointment, I go to get a picture of my well-being. This knowledge will hopefully allow me to stay healthy or improve my well-being. Similarly, professionals who seek feedback on a course want to ensure the course’s “health.” They don’t want their course to be just “good enough.”
Of course, we monitor a course’s “health” differently than we do our own. In a doctor’s exam, the physician will assess the patient’s heart, lungs, and general appearance, as well as her blood pressure. Medical benchmarks or “objectives”— for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose levels and more — give the physician and patient a guide of where she should be. If the patient is not within a healthy range for some of these barometers, the doctor counsels the patient how to improve her health, whether it be through diet, exercise, or medication.
Instructional designers pronounce a course “healthy” when it engages learners and effectively meets the course’s learning objectives and/or the company’s business goals. EnVision’s course audit offers both assessment and advice, and it’s a pretty thorough exam!
EnVision’s consultants will attend the class if it’s live, and review all class materials. We measure the class against our proprietary 80-point checklist. We’ll then determine what in the course worked well and can stay, what needs to be improved or should go, and how well the material and activities support the learning objectives. We prioritize the list of improvements, so the client knows which ones will have the highest impact. We include these points in a written report that we go over with the client in a follow-up conversation.
EnVision’s course audit provides a snapshot of a course’s “health.” Our clients then have the option of updating the course themselves, or engaging us to help.
Just like a medical exam provides a person with information to better her health, a course audit gives the organization tools to improve a course, whether it is a live class or elearning. This “health snapshot” points the instructional designer in the best direction to update the course, and ensures it meets the needs of both the learners and the organization.