Introduction

The next section of your design document is the Learner and Context Analysis. When creating a multimedia program, as with any instructional design project, it's important to understand who your target learners are so that you can design an instructional event that is best suited to your audience. In addition, it's important to understand the context in which the instruction will take place, and the context in which the learners will eventually use their new skills.

In addition to describing general characteristics such as age, grade level, and topic being studied, you should be able to describe your learners in terms of the following characteristics:

  • Entry Behaviors
  • Prior Knowledge of the Topic Area
  • Attitudes Toward Content and Potential Delivery System
  • Academic Motivation
  • Educational and Ability Levels
  • General Learning Preferences
  • Attitudes Toward Training Organization
  • Group Characteristics

When analyzing the performance context, you should look at factors such as:

  • Managerial Support
  • Physical Aspects of the Site
  • Social Aspects of the Site
  • Relevance of Skills to Workplace

The other type of context is the learning context. Factors to consider here include:

  • Number and Nature of Sites
  • Compatibility of the Site With the Instructional Requirements
  • Compatibility of the Site With the Learner Needs
  • Feasibility for Simulating the Workplace

Click below if you'd like more information about analyzing learners and contexts.

More Information

Multimedia Design Document: Sections 4 and 5

So far you've assessed your needs, written a goal statement, and created an instructional analysis that identified your goal steps, subordinate skills, and entry behaviors. The next step is to describe the learners themselves, the context in which learning will take place, and the context in which the learners will eventually use their new skills. You've had to think about your learners in previous lessons, but now it's time to take a really close look at who you are designing your multimedia program for. The fourth section of your design document will contain your Learner Analysis, and the fifth section will contain the Context Analysis.

Section 4: Learner Analysis

By the time you reach this stage in the instructional design process you should know a great deal about what is expected of your learners if your goal is to be accomplished. However, you may need to know more about the learners. Although you identified who was associated with the need and who should accomplish the goal, you should take a closer look at these learners in order to identify possible incompatibilities between the learners and the goals. For this section you should write a description of your learners that addresses the following points:

  1. What are the general characteristics of your target population? Examples include age, grade level, topic area, etc.
  2. Are there any general entry behaviors that are not specific to your goal, and yet you feel are required for your intended learners to possess? (Entry Behaviors)
  3. Do the learners already know something about the topic? (Prior Knowledge)
  4. Do they have a positive attitude towards the content and the delivery system? (Attitudes Toward Content and Potential Delivery System)
  5. Is it reasonable to expect them to want to learn what needs to be learned? Is the topic likely to interest them? (Academic Motivation)
  6. Is it reasonable to expect that they can learn what needs to be learned? (Educational and Ability Levels)
  7. Do they have any general learning preferences? (General Learning Preferences)
  8. Do they have a positive attitude regarding the organization providing the instruction? (Attitudes Toward Training Organization)
  9. Are there any important group characteristics? How similar or diverse are they? (Group Characteristics)
  10. How did you obtain this information regarding the learner characteristics?

Label this section of your design document Learner Analysis.

Section 5: Context Analysis

Next you want to describe the context in which the learners will use their new skills and knowledge after the instruction is completed, as well as the context in which the learning will take place.

Performance Context

Write a paragraph describing the context in which the learners will eventually be required to use their new skills. Keep in mind that this is different from the context in which they will actually learn the skills. Address the following points:

  1. What type of organizational support can learners expect to receive when they use their new skills? (Managerial Support)
  2. Will the use of their new skills depend on certain equipment, facilities, tools, or other resources? (Physical Aspects of the Site)
  3. When using these new skills, will they work alone or in a group? Will they work independently or supervise others? (Social Aspects of the Site)
  4. How relevant are the new skills to the actual workplace? Will the new skills actually be used in the performance setting? Will they be used in other areas of the learners' lives? Are there any physical, social, or motivational constraints to the use of the new skills? (Relevance of Skills to Workplace or Life)
  5. How did you obtain this information regarding the performance context?

Learning Context

Finally, write a paragraph describing the context in which the learning will occur. Keep in mind that this may differ from the context in which the skills will actually be used. Address the following points:

  1. How many sites are there, and what are the characteristics of the sites? Will learners receive the instruction in a classroom setting? What equipment and resources are available? (Number and Nature of Sites)
  2. Does the site include any tools or other items that are necessary for the learning of the goal? Are there any personnel or time constraints that you can identify? (Compatibility of the Site With the Instructional Requirements)
  3. Are the sites convenient to the learners, are there necessary conveniences available, and is there adequate space and equipment for the expected number of learners? (Compatibility of the Site With the Learner Needs)
  4. Does the learning environment adequately simulate the eventual work environment? Is there anything that can be done to make it more like the work environment? (Feasibility for Simulating the Workplace)
  5. How did you obtain this information regarding the learning context?

Label this section of your design document Context Analysis.

Submitting Sections 4 and 5 of your Design Document

Sections 4 and 5 (Learner Analysis and Context Analysis) should be added to the design document you started creating earlier. Once again, this document should be typed up in Microsoft Word. At the top of the document you should have the title "Learner Analysis and Content Analysis". Underneath that should be your name, email address, and the date. You should save the document on your computer with the name "mmlearners". After you have saved your file, go to the student interface and submit your assignment for grading. Click here if you need additional information regarding submission of your assignment.

Assignment: Learner and Context Analysis Points: 20
Grading Criteria:

Learner Analysis

  • Learner Analysis describes general characteristics of target population. (1)

  • Learner Analysis describes general entry behaviors not specific to the goal. (1)

  • Learner Analysis describes prior knowledge of learners in regards to the topic. (1)

  • Learner Analysis describes learners attitude towards the content and the delivery system. (1)

  • Learner Analysis describes the academic motivation of the learners. (1)

  • Learner Analysis describes learners' educational and ability levels. (1)

  • Learner Analysis describes learners' general learning preferences. (1)

  • Learner Analysis describes learners attitude regarding the organization providing the instruction. (1)

  • Learner Analysis describes any important group characteristics. (1)

  • Describes how they obtained learner analysis information. (1)

Performance Context

  • Performance Context Analysis describes the managerial support expected at the performance site. (1)

  • Performance Context Analysis describes the physical aspects of the performance site. (1)

  • Performance Context Analysis describes the social aspects of the performance site. (1)

  • Performance Context Analysis describes the relevance of new skills to workplace. (1)

  • Context Analysis describes how they obtained performance context information. (1)

Learning Context

  • Learning Context Analysis describes the number and nature of the learning sites. (1)
  • Learning Context Analysis describes the compatibility of the site with the instructional requirements. (1)
  • Learning Context Analysis describes the compatibility of the site with the learner needs. (1)
  • Learning Context Analysis describes the feasibility of the site to simulate the workplace. (1)
  • Describes how they obtained learning context information. (1)