When doing your goal analysis, you broken your goal down into tasks. You answered the question “what does the expert do in order to achieve the goal?”

The next step in the process is to break down each of the tasks asking the questions:

• What does the learner need to know? (knowledge)
• What does the learner need to know how to do? (skills)

For each step in the goal analysis, what skills and knowledge are needed for the instructional designer to complete the step successfully? Generally, this is done for most tasks in the goal analysis – however, if the task is general knowledge or skill or prerequisite knowledge or skill it is skipped.

Examples of task analysis

Writing Observable Goals

Goal: Instructional Designers need to write observable instructional goals in their home office with pencil and paper

Goal Analysis:

1. Gather pencil and paper.
2. Write the learners title.
3. Write what the learners need to be able to do in the performance environment.
4. Write a description of the performance environment.
5. Write a list of tools available within the performance environment.

Task Analysis:

1. Gather pencil and paper.
2. Write the learners title.
   1. Know a title that describes the majority of learners
3. Write what the learners need to be able to do in the performance environment.
   1. Write down what they do using measurable terminology
      1. Know where to find a list of measurable verbs.
4. Write a description of the performance environment.
   1. Know what characteristics of the performance environment need to be noted.
5. Write a list of tools available within the performance environment.
   1. Recognize various tools.
   2. Know the names of specific tools.

Evaluating New Technologies

Goal: Instructional designers need to be able to effectively evaluate new technologies using a minimal amount of time.

Goal Analysis:

1. Set a time limit for the evaluation
2. Write out evaluation criteria.
3. Search for several tools that meet the criteria.
4. Choose one tool and evaluate against criteria.
5. Create a journal entry outlining findings.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with other tools.
7. Stop when time ends.

Task Analysis:

1. Set a time limit for the evaluation – skip this one as it doesn’t require any training beyond a suggestion as the length of time depends on the complexity of the tool being evaluated.
2. Write out evaluation criteria – what does the instructional designer need to know or know how to do in order to write out the evaluation criteria? Remember, you are not actually writing the evaluation criteria, rather you are writing out how the evaluation criteria is set out.
   1. What is the goal / purpose of the evaluation?
      1. How to write a goal statement.
   2. What is the purpose of the tools being evaluated?
   3. What tools are actually being evaluated?
      1. Where do you find a list of tools to determine what to evaluate?
   4. What reviews have already been done on the tool?
      1. How do you find current tool reviews?
         1. How to filter search results by date.
   5. What tools are similar to the tool being evaluated?
      1. How do you find similar tools?
      2. How do you find tools of a different type that might also be used to do the same job?
   6. What perspective is the evaluation being done from?
      1. Who will use the evaluation?
   7. Who are the end users of the tool?
   8. What are common tasks done with the tool?
   9. How will you rate the different tools?
   10. How do you know the evaluation is complete?
3. Search for several tools that meet the criteria.
   1. How to write a good search string.
      1. How to use the AND operator
      2. How use the OR operator
   2. How to find alternative terms to broaden search.
   3. How to know you have found the ‘right’ tools to include in your review.
   4. How many is several?
4. Choose one tool and evaluate against criteria.
   1. How to learn a new tool quickly?
   2. Where to find good tool tutorials?
      1. How to search YouTube.
      2. How to search the tool provider website.
      3. Where to find other sources of training material.
   3. How to tell between advertised hype and actual tool use?
5. Create a journal entry outlining findings.
   1. How to write up findings in a way that they can be used in the future
      1. How to write a paragraph identifying the criteria.
      2. How to use a table to
   2. What not to write
   3. How to keep this step from being overwhelming
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with other tools – skip – this doesn’t need an analysis it is a repeat of prior steps.
7. Stop when time ends – skip – this doesn’t need an analysis as it is common knowledge.

Crew Overboard Drill

Interviewing Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

An important skill for instructional designers is knowing how to interview Subject Matter Experts.

Typically, when interviewing the SME the goal analysis and and task analysis happen at once, although this does depend on the size of the project.

I usually begin a SME interview by asking them to explain the step-by-step process. I like to draw this out on a whiteboard as they are explaining it (if feasible) – or I use a Google doc if I’m doing it online.

Once I have the steps, the next question is: what does the learner need to know, that is knowledge, and what does the learner need to know how to do?

A question that comes up often during this process, is how far do you drill down– that is how detailed. I usually try to go down to one level of prerequisite, so once you drill down far enough that you are getting to knowledge or skills that you expect learners to have before they enter the course, then you can stop.

I also ask a lot of clarifying questions. I ask “what does this mean?” and “will learners know that already?”
The question “what mistakes do people new to the activity make helps to identify both the skills and knowledge necessary to complete the task, and often helps to identify priorities in the training.