David Kolmer
curriculum effectiveness enhancement
Abstract
This project was assigned as a thought experiment to gain understanding of project management around an imaginary Instructional Design case. One of the given scenarios was a mirror of a training that I am currently developing while I am implementing at work. Therefore, I leveraged the opportunity to improve my process at work that simultaneously benefited my academic endeavors.
I was hired to work at Lumeris as a Senior Training and Development Specialist in the Medical Claims department. This case study is based off of my experience of developing the first draft of the curriculum while facilitating it.
I am not able to complete the tasks I am training to for the most part. I have had to rest on the theories and techniques of Instructional Design to complete my assignment.
Process
The training of claims analysts in its previous state was led by a subject matter expert with no curriculum. The outcome was a state of cognitive overload for the learner. This was especially true for those new to the company. The high-performing claims processors recently promoted to the claim analyst role adapted to the training. However, those new to the company struggled significantly. Moving forward, the plan is to hire analysts from outside of the company not from within.
The solution was to break the traditional eight-hour lecture teaching sessions down into smaller modules. The modules are participant guides that reference the other materials, systems or guide to analyze and process that type of medial claim. Each module would focus on one type of analyst claim and would not discuss any other issues unless absolutely necessary. This decision was made based on the Cognitive Load Principle. (Clark 86)
“Cognitive Load Management Principle: Manage cognitive load in the design of instructional materials and activities so that limited cognitive resources can be devoted to learning processes.”
- Ruth Colvin Clark, Building Expertise
Note Template
P.G. Template
Each Participant Guide starts by clearly stating what causes the need for this type of claim processing; it defines why there is an issue. Next, the module describes and shows how to identify the issue on a medical claim. After that, the module discusses the most common resolutions of the claim issue. Then support documentation is discussed and hyperlinked to on the Intranet. Next, general call outs and exceptions are discussed along with standard acronyms. After that, the actual steps to process the claims are presented in a very high-level list that only takes up one page of the document. (Clark 243)
This method is working for planting seeds of knowledge on the topics. However, additional support is being provided by subject matter experts who are entering the learning space to provide live demos. David Kolmer, who is facilitating the class is creating Screen-Capture Videos via Skype for business chat which are being used as Micro-learning Artifacts. (Murphy 36)
How to Create a Screen-Capture Video Via Skype
Evaluation
The evaluation of the class participants was achieved by bench-marking Key Performance Indicators. The participants had the opportunity to process medical claims while they were in training. If a topic was new to the processor then the claim auditor would audit that topic at 100%. This was a business function that was in place to protect the business.
Limited amounts of information were shared with the Health Plan Training department around claim analyst performance in this implementation. For example: "This associate is performing below expected performance."
In future iterations of this newly created curriculum the goal is to develop a robust system of tracking the quantity and quality of claims processed through-out training. Moving forward this data with multiple choice exams housed on the LMS will facilitate Evaluation.
Support Documents
P.M. Plan
Training Agenda
Status Report 1
Status Report 2
Author
David Kolmer is a Learning and Development Specialist who focuses on curriculum development and eLearning authoring. Mr. Kolmer holds a Bachelors in Theater Arts from Milikin University and is working toward a masters in Educational Technology and Instructional Design from Fontbonne University.
https://improvementdave.wordpress.com/
references
Clark, R. C. (2008) Building Expertise Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. pp 53, 86
Kolmer, D. (2018). Skype recording demo Sunday, June 17, 2018 6 11 06 PM, 01.
Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/5wb0TVcuih8
Murphy Paul, Annie. (May 2016). Microlearning 101. HR Magazine, Volume (2), pp 36-42.
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