Instructional Analysis: A Guide for Educators and Trainers

Instructional analysis helps break down learning goals into clear, actionable steps. It involves analyzing the skills and knowledge required to achieve those goals, as well as identifying additional supporting skills learners need.

Dick and Carey outline this as a two-part process: goal analysis and subordinate skill identification. By classifying outcomes, mapping goal steps, and pinpointing essential sub-skills, instructional analysis creates a clear learning path for success.

In this article, we’ll discuss instructional analysis in detail and explain how to conduct one properly. Let’s get started!

Why is Instructional Analysis Important?

Instructional analysis is important for creating effective training programs because it helps break down big goals into manageable steps. This makes sure the training is focused and relevant and without it, your program might miss the mark or fail to address key problems.

However, instructional analysis is just one of the crucial analyses. Let’s look closely at all of them, their role, and why they matter.

Needs Analysis

A needs analysis looks at the gap between where people’s current position and where you want them to be. It helps identify missing skills or knowledge and any obstacles in the way. Whether it’s outdated tools, poor communication, or a skill gap, this analysis shows what needs to change for better performance.

How to gather data:

• Review company documents like mission statements, policies, and goals.
• Talk to managers, stakeholders, and employees for their views.
• Use a survey and training needs analysis questionnaire to get direct feedback.
• Observe employees doing tasks to find gaps.

Audience Analysis

Knowing your audience is critical for creating successful virtual training programs. Audience analysis helps you understand who you’re training, from their job roles to their learning styles. It looks at their education, work attitudes, and even their motivation. This knowledge helps you design training that feels relevant and is more likely to stick.

Key traits to consider:

• Age, job roles, and work schedules.
• What they already know or don’t know.
• Learning preferences—do they need extra help or prefer independence?
• What excites or holds them back, like biases or low motivation?

How to gather data:

• Conduct one-on-one or group interviews with learners.
• Speak with supervisors who know the group well.
• Review data from your LMS and reports to spot patterns.

Task Analysis

Task analysis digs into the specifics of what people do in their jobs. You break down tasks by importance, frequency, difficulty, and required tools. This helps you focus training on the most critical tasks and prepare learners.

How to gather data:

• Interview experienced workers skilled in these tasks.
• Talk to supervisors for a broader view of how tasks fit into bigger goals.
• Observe employees while they work to see tasks firsthand.

Instructional Analysis

Once you have the tasks mapped out, instructional analysis helps break them down into specific knowledge and skills. It identifies the smaller steps learners must master to succeed. This analysis keeps you focused and avoids unnecessary content, streamlining the training.

How to gather data:

• Review employee training materials to see what’s taught and why.
• Interview subject matter experts (SMEs) for insights on essential knowledge.
• Use cognitive task analysis to understand how experts think during tasks, revealing hidden steps or skills.

Environment Analysis

The environment analysis ensures the training format suits the setting. Whether it’s in a classroom, online, or on-the-job, the training must match the environment where skills will be used.

Is the training remote? Does it need to be mobile-friendly? The impact of remote work on training programs is undeniable, which is why understanding the environment helps you choose the right tools and formats.

How to gather data:

• Talk to supervisors and stakeholders about training locations and methods.
• Observe different learning or work environments.
• Ask users about their experience with past learning settings and what worked best.

Technical Analysis

The technical analysis makes sure your training works with available tools and systems. It looks at tech needs—such as devices, software, and media like videos or quizzes. This helps avoid some of the challenges of remote work for training and development, such as technical issues.

How to gather data:

• Consult your IT team to understand available tools and limitations.
• Work with project managers to identify technical requirements for the training.

As you can see, each analysis helps you create a focused training program.

Without them, you risk wasting time, money, or effort on content that doesn’t improve performance. Instructional analysis ensures that every training step serves a purpose and addresses real-world needs.

By conducting these analyses, you can create effective training for both learners and the organization.

How to Conduct Instructional Analysis?

Instructional analysis helps create different types of training programs that work. It breaks down what learners need to know and helps you design clear, focused lessons.

Using a system like the Dick and Carey approach ensures that your training is well-structured and effective. Here’s a clear, easy-to-follow guide for conducting instructional analysis.

Step 1: Set Clear Instructional Goals

Before designing your training, figure out the goals. These goals should clearly state what learners will be able to do by the end of the course. Work with a subject matter expert (SME) to define these goals.

Use a needs assessment to understand the gap between the current position of the learners and where they need to be.

Example:

Desired status (what you want learners to know) - actual status (what they know now) = need (the gap).

Once you know the need, set specific goals for the learners, including:

• Their profile.
• What they will be able to do.
• Where they’ll apply the skills.
• The tools they will use.

Step 2: Conduct Instructional Analysis

Now, break down each instructional goal. Identify the skills and knowledge required for each goal. Be sure to match the goals with the appropriate learning domains (e.g., cognitive, affective, psychomotor). These domains guide the type of learning that needs to happen:

• Cognitive: Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation.
• Affective: Attitudes and emotions related to learning.
• Psychomotor: Physical skills and actions.

Step 3: Analyze Learners and Context

Understand the profile of the learners and the context in which they’ll be learning by creating learner personas. Here’s what to include:

• Their prior knowledge.
• Their attitudes towards the subject.
• Motivation and learning preferences.
• Skills they already have.
• Education and ability levels.

It’s important to design for the specific needs of your target learners, whether they’re beginners or experts.

Step 4: Write Performance Objectives

Performance objectives represent clear statements of what learners will be able to do by the end of the training. These objectives should include three parts:

• Conditions (CN): What tools or resources will the learners have?
• Behavior (B): What action or skill will the learners demonstrate?
• Criteria (CR): What is the standard for success?

Example:

Given a welding torch (CN), the learner will turn on the torch (B) and adjust settings without assistance (CR).

Step 5: Create Assessment Tools

Choose how you will assess learners' progress. The assessments should match the performance objectives and measure whether learners can do what the objectives say. This could include quizzes, practical tests, or observations. Keep in mind the learning environment and response time needed for assessments.

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Step 6: Plan Instructional Strategies

Pick the teaching methods and activities that will best help learners achieve their goals. This could include skill-based training, group discussions, lectures, simulations, or hands-on activities. Consider the learners' motivation, characteristics, and performance context when choosing strategies.

Step 7: Develop and Select Instructional Materials

Instructional materials like textbooks, handouts, interactive videos, or computer simulations will help learners meet the performance objectives. Make sure these resources align with your objectives and assessments to ensure consistency in the training.

Step 8: Design and Conduct Formative Evaluation

Formative evaluation takes place during the training. It’s about collecting feedback as instruction happens. This can include:

• Asking questions.
• Observing learners.
• Conducting interviews or eLearning feedback surveys.
• Reviewing progress through quizzes or discussions.

Formative evaluation helps make adjustments during the course, keeping learners on track.

Step 9: Design and Conduct Summative Evaluation

Summative evaluation happens at the end of the training. It looks at how well the training worked as a whole and if the learners achieved the desired outcomes. Summative evaluations measure the effectiveness of a training program and identify areas for improvement.

Instructional Analysis: Our Conclusion

Image credit: researchgate.net

Instructional analysis helps create better learning experiences by focusing on what learners need to succeed. Using the Dick and Carey approach ensures every part of the lesson works together to support learning.

The goal focuses not just on teaching content but on building an environment where learners grow and apply their skills. Keeping the focus on their needs helps instructors create and sell online courses that truly make a difference.

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