Guidelines - hdbk10860039

DOE-HDBK-1086-95

Is any of this content taught elsewhere in your training

structure before we include it as content for this lesson?

Content may even be identified which should have its own

course or be taught under a different topic which contains similar

content. Questions similar to the following can establish this:

This seems like it would probably be a big topic. Should we

create a new course to teach this content and make it a

prerequisite to the content we are presently working on?

or...

This content seems similar to that taught under this course

over here. Should we teach this content under that topic

instead? or

This appears to be a recurring content area for many of the

tasks. Should we teach this content under one topic instead

of teaching it over and over in each lesson?

A thorough understanding of the preceding process is needed in

order to guide the team in an effective manner. Keep in mind

the guidelines outlined below.

Guidelines. Several factors influence the validity of the content

that is determined for a task using the procedural analysis

process. These are (1) the quality of the procedure, (2) the

expertise of the SMEs, and (3) the skill of the facilitator. When

conducting procedural analysis, course content has the highest

probability of being valid when you have a high quality

procedure, a very knowledgeable and experienced team of

SMEs, and a facilitator who has the skills (questioning skills,

etc.) that draw out all content possibilities.

The Quality of the Procedure. A high quality procedure is one

that is up-to-date and reflects how the task is currently being

performed by the workers. The more a procedure explains

exactly how a task is done, the less training will need to take

place to learn the task.

The Expertise of the SMEs. A team of SMEs that is very

experienced in the position being analyzed will tend to yield the

most valid content information. The less experienced the SMEs

are, the more the facilitator will need to be skilled in questioning

and probing in order for the appropriate information to be drawn

out of the SMEs. While it is best to have a team of SMEs with

several years of experience, this type of group can present

problems. SMEs with several years experience can tend to view