Conducting performance-based Instructional Analysis: Analysis Should Occur in Every Phase of an Instructional Systems Design & Development Effort Targeted at High Stakes Performance

Published in November 2020

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Book Description:

Analysis Should Occur in Every Phase of an Instructional Systems Design & Development Effort Targeted at High Stakes Performance.

That’s how I’ve been approaching ISD efforts as an ISD Consultant since 1982.

I’ve been avoiding Analysis Paralysis by getting exactly what I needed for my next steps, and no more. And by using a Facilitated Group Process with Master Performers and Other Subject Matter Experts for a focus on Tasks and Outputs and the Stakeholder Requirements for both!

In this book, I share my approach, based on my decades of experience as an award-winning consultant, practitioner, and coach in the conduct of Performance-Based Instructional Development efforts.

Table of Contents:

Copyright Page. ii

Early Reviews. i

Table of Contents. xi

Dedications. xiii

Acknowledgments. xiv

Preface. 1

Foreword. 5

Section A Instructional Analysis Throughout a Development Effort 7

Chapter 1: Instructional Philosophies and Options. 15

Chapter 2: Modular Curriculum Development–MCD.. 37

Chapter 3: Analysis Happens in Each Phase. 47

Chapter 4: Analysis in Post-MCD Systems’ Processes. 59

Summary Section A.. 62

Section B MCD Phase 1–Project Planning & Kick-Off 64

Chapter 5: Instructional Request Intake Process. 67

Chapter 6: Project Planning. 87

Chapter 7: Phase1Gate Review Meeting. 101

Summary Section B. 107

Section C MCD Phase 2–Analysis. 109

Chapter 8: Target Audience Analysis. 117

Chapter 9: Performance and Gap Analysis. 123

Chapter 10: Enabling Knowledge/Skills Analysis. 153

Chapter 11: Three Approaches to Generate Data. 173

Chapter 12: Analysis of Existing Content. 181

Chapter 13: Phase 2 Gate Review Meeting. 188

Summary Section C. 194

Section D MCD Phase 3–Design. 197

Chapter 14: Analysis Data into Events. 203

Chapter 15: Analysis Data into Lessons. 221

Chapter 16: Analysis Data into Instructional Activities. 227

Chapter 17: Phase 3 Gate Review Meeting. 261

Summary Section D.. 270

Section E MCD Phase 4–Development 279

Chapter 18: Develop Alpha, Beta, and Pilot Test Content. 281

Summary Section E. 296

Section F MCD Phase 5–Pilot Testing. 299

Chapter 19: Conduct Pilot Test. 303

Chapter 20: Conduct Phase 5 Gate Review Meeting. 309

Summary Section F. 314

Section G MCD Phase 6–Revision & Release. 315

Chapter 21: Revise & Release Instruction for Deployment and Access. 317

Summary Section G.. 320

Section H Analysis Data from the Deployment and Evaluation Subsystems. 321

Chapter 22: Analysis Data from Deployment & Access Systems’ Processes. 327

Summary Section H.. 340

Section I Book Summary and Closing Comments. 341

Appendices. 349

Appendix A: PACT Processes Overview.. 351

Appendix B: Modular Curriculum Development Phases and Tasks. 357

Appendix C: The Twelve Sub-Systems and Forty-Seven Processes of a T&D System.. 387

Appendix D: 12 Facilitator Tips for a Facilitated Group Process. 395

About the Author. 416

About the Editor. 420

Index. 421

Detailed Table of Contents. 429

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Early Reviews

Thank you to every early reviewer who took the time to review this book, provided their feedback, and allowed me to share their thoughts.

***

Guy has given us an Instructional Systems Design treasure. He provides a step by step process and models for ISD from Analysis through Implementation. And he shares personal experiences and stories from his work with clients from over 40 years. His models and job aids can be used by those new to the field and those who have more experience using the ISD approach. Add this treasure to your Performance Improvement library.

Dr. Roger M. Addison, CPT, Performance Architect
Chief Performance Officer, Addison Consulting

***

Guy’s book does a lot to extend the usual conversation about needs analysis, which is often boiled down to one or two interviews and 20 quick questions. His book is good for a more experienced practitioner, ready to take a deeper dive.

Jane Bozarth, Ph.D.
Researcher and Author

***

I have always believed in ‘Nothing of what happens inside matters unless it matters to someone outside,’ and I believe Guy’s latest adventure epitomizes it. He has written this book from the perspective of what will make sense to your clients. I have used his approach as the base for many of my client interactions, and it has never failed me. Best Wishes!

Pratapaditya Chakravarty (Paco)
Global Head of Learning in a Silicon Valley-based Non-Profit
operating in 15 Countries (SEA, Africa, LatAm, India)

***

After managing a training design company for over 20 years and teaching training design in a large university, I’m glad to finally see someone with Guy Wallace’s experience thoroughly describe the most effective approaches to front-end analysis. His experience is invaluable for our field. This is not a basic textbook for beginners, but readers with even limited experience in training for the workplace will resonate with the challenges and clear solutions he describes.

Richard E. Clark, Ed.D.
Professor Emeritus, University of Southern California

***

I really enjoyed the read, and a great reminder of how good it is to do analysis upfront and always think of performance outputs at the other end.

Donald Clark
CEO at Wildfire Learning

***

Guy Wallace provides an invaluable guide to performance improvement and instructional development in this helpful book. High points include discussions of unnecessary training and alternatives, a very comprehensive structure for modular curriculum development, how to include analysis in every step of the process, and tips for working with a client. All of this based on years of Guy’s own professional experiences. He includes many actionable guides to help you transition from abstract models to concrete steps and comprehensive annexes. Performance improvement and training development specialists will benefit significantly from the methods presented here. They will no doubt find themselves returning to the book for tips frequently—I know I plan to do so.

Jeff Dalto
Workplace Learning/Performance Improvement Professional

***

The text is rich with content while remaining practical and applied; Wallace generously shares the steps taken in structured phases to guide you from project planning to the revisions and release of instructional content. Instructional design can be efficiently applied to leverage learning for performance outcomes by anchoring analysis, design and development processes directly to real on-the-job practices.”

Wallace not only allows an organisation to root out redundant traditions and biases relating to training but also demonstrates a distinct respect for the workforce itself, their time, and Stakeholder investments. Wallace yields an almost timelessly, finely tuned, and consistent explanatory model.

This is a book to be carried in the field and used, like how an explorer may check a mentor’s journal to navigate uncertain terrain.

Matthew C. Day
Anthropology Ph.D. Research Student

***

Regardless if you are new to talent development or an L&D expert, I want you to read this book. Using a conversational style, Wallace walks you through the MCD process methodically and systematically. As you dig into the book, you’ll discover techniques and job aids that guide you in making better design and development choices.

For me, Wallace’s book helped me finetune what I do in ways I wouldn’t have imagined, which speaks volumes considering that I’ve been in the field for more than two decades and am a lifelong learner!

Gary A. DePaul, PhD
Author of What the Heck Is Leadership and Why Should I Care?

***

This book is very well written and has a very strong structure. It encompasses the entire process of analysis, design, development, testing, and implementation. Therefore, it is a very complete cycle in which it emphasizes the importance of analysis at each stage. It also provides many tools especially in the later chapters. This book is a combination of a doctoral degree thesis and a tool book. Overall, this is a very good book and deserves to be kept on the shelves of every instructional designers. Guy did an excellent job!

George Gu
Co-Founder of Improvement Consulting
Minhang District, Shanghai, China

***

“I do not want to be seen as Training Champion, or a Learning Champion, or an Instruction Champion. Or a Learning Experience Champion. Not me. I want to be seen as a Business Champion first and foremost.”

This is a wonderful frame for this book. If you wish to benefit from over 40 years’ experience of studying and doing Learning & Development the right way, then this is the book for you. Guy has managed to unpack his approach for easy accessibility.

For analysis and design to address real business problems, this is a book to scan once and then refer to again and again. The scan will provide you with insights into what has really worked to deliver real results for Guy – and his clients. But it is in the classification and ease of access to his tried and tested tools that makes this such a valuable resource.

That all said, this is not a Learning & Development toolkit in a vacuum. Guy talks candidly about what happens when we butt up against reality and Stakeholders and how to navigate these, protecting and enhancing our ‘currency’ at the same time.

I have my copy and I’ll be returning again and again.

David James
CLO, Looop

***

Take your current performance improvement books and put this one on top. It details methods for real success.

Roger Kaufman, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Florida State University

***

One of the challenging realities about working in the training and performance improvement field is that anyone who knows something about anything feels like they can teach it. At some point, organization leaders realize that’s not true, and they hire or rent instructional designers. Still, many in the training field do not have the expertise required to do more than use authoring tools to make courses. This book offers a way to elevate the profession with thoughtful, effective, and yes, detailed analyses and project management practices to fuel instruction that will improve performance. If you’re ready to take that journey and to develop instruction that matters and delivers business results, this is the book for you. Guy Wallace is a true expert practitioner who gives you a clear, replicable process to deliver the best possible performance-oriented instruction. Take the journey. You’ll be glad you did.

Mike Kunkle
VP of Sales Effectiveness Services, SPARXiQ

***

This book is content-rich, with a comprehensive array of the essential steps in every phase of Guy’s models for an ISD process. More than the expressed focus on analysis, Guy augments with detailed descriptions of activities he typically includes with each phase. The formality of the work required is embellished with stories and anecdotes from Guy’s personal experience with client projects over 40+ years of professional practice. People new to a performance improvement role will be able to use the model flow charts to find guidelines most relevant to their designated responsibilities. More experienced practitioners may use the overviews as an audit of the currency of their own knowledge and skills.

Margo Murray
President & COO, MMHA The Managers’ Mentors, Inc.

***

The deadline to share my review of Guy’s book was approaching so I decided to have a quick look at it to assess how much time it would take me to go through it and draft some comments. The plan was to add some slots to my insanely full schedule (I am teaching this fall so, similarly to all my colleagues, accommodating an unprecedented number of requests from students dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and anticipating a second wave any day now. As I started scrolling through the first pages, I found myself drafting notes for my next ISD class, then reflecting on questions I received from my students as we were discussing how to conduct instructional and performance needs assessments… 3 hours later I was still reading, taking notes, and modifying my slides. In short, this ISD book reads as a very captivating and remarkably rich collection of experiences synthesized and presented generously on a silver platter to ISDers, as Guy call them, regardless of their years of experience in our field, and to faculty members who teach in the EdTech programs and must train and equip the Next Gen of ISDers.

Guy not only does an incredible job walking us through the process of conducting performance-based instructional analysis, but he also explains in detail the reasons behind every step he advises ISDers to take. A very comprehensive guide, that combines theory and practice in very compelling and easy-to-navigate chapters. Already added to my next fall course outline!

Nadia Naffi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning Sciences at the Faculty of Education, Université Laval

***

Guy Wallace is one of its kind when it comes to performance analysis and performance-focused instructional design. His work is a collection of gems and this book is no different. Wallace shows why analysis should be a constant factor when designing instruction. He clearly outlines how to systematically design instruction while constantly iterating. This book is a must have for anyone who designs performance-focused instruction.

Mirjam Neelen
Head of Global Learning Design & Learning Sciences and first author of Evidence-Informed Learning Design

***

Guy Wallace brings deep rigor and refreshing candor to the practice of making high-stakes learning truly succeed. It may seem complicated, but it is a tried and true approach to achieving outcomes that make a real difference.

Clark Quinn, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Quinnovation

***

I just had the pleasure of finishing Guy Wallace’s new book, Conducting Performance-Based Instructional Analysis. As with all of Guy’s books this one is chock full of detail and easy-to-follow processes for conducting performance analysis.

Guy provides an excellent review of why a learning architect should care about analysis, and the context from which to do it. He also highlights how important it is not to do analysis just once- at the beginning of an initiative. He argues successfully that it is essential to continuously analyze throughout the entire duration of the project and even afterwards (then evaluation).

This is the perfect book for the relatively new consultant in the field. It is also the perfect book for the experienced provider. Both can derive quite a bit of wise and useful advice along with systems and processes to make instructional analysis better. Two thumbs up!

Matthew Richter
The Thiagi Group

***

Analysis is often a misunderstood and ignored essential aspect of instructional design. This book provides a clear path of flexible complexity to clearly identify performance problems and achieve results based on tangible outcomes.

Alex Salas
Learning Director at eLearning Launch

***

We tend to build content when instruction or other performance support is needed. Guy Wallace shows us ways to find out what’s really needed. Without a deeper and more analytical approach, we too often waste people’s time and effort.

Patti O. Shank, Ph.D.
Learning Design Expert, Author, Facilitator

***

As an analysis junkie, I work hard to monitor what’s going on in the analysis world. I read Guy Wallace’s new book on instructional analysis with interest. There are two things that Guy always brings to the forefront of any discussion: 1) the performance focus of the work and 2) the fit to the business context. This tome on instructional analysis continues these themes.

Guy explores analysis in the context of his project planning methodology (MCD – Modular Curriculum Development/Acquisition). MCD is one of the three levels of design in the PACT Process for performance-based instruction. Within the context of his panel-based methodology, he provides examples, worksheets, and practical information about how to gather and organize and move forward with analysis information at each phase of an instructional project. This is one of his key points—that analysis happens throughout a project, not just at the beginning.

While the content is closely aligned to his specific methodology, there is sufficient explanation and justification for analysis activities that readers can determine how to modify activities to promote success in their organizations.

What I think is most valuable about this book is that it’s one of the few published works focused on organizing a curriculum in an enterprise organization—not just a course. And this is information that is sorely needed in today’s talent development environment.

Dawn M. Snyder, Ph.D., CPT, Prosci CCMP

***

Right from the cover, Table of Contents and Preface, Guy Wallace leaves no doubt that this book is not for ISD novices. This is a very meaty, well-documented volume for experienced instructional designers/developers, ones well-armed with the professional concepts and well-versed in performance-based instructional design concepts, processes, and terminology to which Wallace continuously refers. This is a comprehensive tome, that I do not recommend reading in one fell swoop. This is more of a sourcebook. There is simply too much to reflect upon and digest in a short space of time. Each graphic and tool, of which there are many, is filled with highly meaningful content.

Overall, this is not a book for the uninitiated or unprepared for what ISD totally consists of. Given Guy Wallace’s experience in Instructional Design and his many publications on the subject, this volume is a comprehensive tome for those seeking depth beyond the ordinary. It is a great book to own, immerse oneself in, carefully absorb what it provides, and remain close at hand on one’s bookshelf.

Harold D. Stolovitch, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Universite de Montreal,
Principal at HSA Learning & Performance Solutions LLC

***

Guy Wallace’s new book, Conducting Performance-Based Instructional Analysis, brings us a needed antidote to the toxic practice of relegating analysis to a narrow band of the learning-to-performance process. From years of in-the-trenches experience, Guy brings practical wisdom to the learning design and development cycle—enabling true performance improvement.

Will Thalheimer, Ph.D., MBA
Work-Learning Research, Inc.
Research-to-practice consultant

***

If I had this book when I started learning instructional design, I would have become rich and famous by this time. One of the great insights I got from the book is that analysis can and should occur in every phase. And the book teaches the reader how to do it.

Sivasailam Thiagarajan (Thiagi), Ph.D., RMS
The Thiagi Group

***

The definitive book on creating, implementing, and maintaining large-scale performance-based training systems that produce valued behavior change in the workplace–from the Guy who’s been there.

Steven W. Villachica, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning, Boise State University

***

Extended Review by Matthew Day:book-review-conducting-performance-based-instructional-analysis-wallace-2020-by-matthew-day-1Download

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