The Book Borough's
Scenario-Based New Hire Training
Overview
Where did we start? The Book Borough, a regional bookstore chain, is looking for a complete overhaul of their New Hire Training for newly hired booksellers. They are looking for training on basic procedures such as customer service, cash handling, and workplace safety. They have called on us to help redesign the training so that it engages the employees more, ultimately leading to better-retained material and success in the job role.
What is the problem? It has become more and more apparent that the staff is not motivated to participate in the required training modules. Currently, most of the training is designed with text-based manuals, traditional PowerPoint presentations and lengthy outdated videos.
How do we fix it? The redesigned training will incorporate current research-backed instructional designed trends: scenario-based lessons (with branching scenarios) on Articulate Storyline and microlearning mini-lessons on the mobile LMS EdApp.
The Instructional Design Theories: Research and Solution
Check out the links below to view the scholarly research on these instructional design methods:
Take a look at the difference between the old training and newly redesigned training in the video below:
Audio Transcript of Video
Example Benefits of Microlearning EdApp
Increases interactivity:
Users can click to expand certain sections that they would like to learn more about. This enables learners to customize their learning experience to their own needs. If they already know about a topic, they are not forced to see the extra information.
Measuring Success: Evaluation and Assessment
Success will be measured by taking quantitative and qualitative data on both employee satisfaction and knowledge retention.
For knowledge retention, there will be a pre-test and post-test before each scenario-based and microlearning module. The pre-test scores will be evaluated against the post-test scores to determine effectiveness.
Please view the attachment below, which is a satisfaction survey that will be distributed to each bookseller who completes the training. Answers on the satisfaction survey will be tracked and stored online, so that trends can be identified and improvements can be made to the training program as necessary.
Author's Background
Grace Stephens is an aspiring instructional designer and student in Fontbonne University’s MS in Instructional Design and Technology program. Grace has experience in training design and materials as well as extensive client support experience. She served as project manager for the creation of the learning activities. She was also the contact for any client interactions or concerns.
Bibliography
Buchem, I. & Hamelmann, H. (2010). Microlearning: a strategy for ongoing professional development. eLearning Papers.
Hout, N. (2021, May 12). The benefits of scenario-based learning in Customer Service training. eLearning Industry. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://elearningindustry.com/scenario-based-learning-benefits-customer-service-training
Hursen, C., & Fasli, F.G. (2017). Investigating the Efficiency of Scenario Based Learning and Reflective Learning Approaches in Teacher Education. European Journal of Contemporary Education, 6, 264-279.
Thalheimer, W. (2018, January 24). Updated Smile-Sheet Questions for 2018. Work-Learning Research. Retrieved August 10, 2022, from https://www.worklearning.com/2018/01/24/updated-smile-sheet-questions-for-2018/