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Instructional Design Project

Onboarding Course for Academic Tutors

An innovative and effective training program designed for the integration of new Academic Tutors, ensuring alignment with company mission, role awareness, and comprehensive knowledge of activities, services, and tools.

Onboarding Course for Academic Tutors

Project Overview

Key Information
  • Project Title: Onboarding Course for Academic Tutors
  • Methodology: SAM (Successive Approximation Model)
  • Duration: 6 days with 3 synchronous meetings
  • Main Objective: Design an innovative training program to ensure full adherence to company mission, role awareness, and knowledge of activities, services, and tools
  • Target Audience: Newly hired Academic Tutors

Needs Analysis & Information Gathering

Methodological Approach
  • Structured brainstorming sessions with all stakeholders
  • Use of MindMeister for creating real-time information maps
  • Implementation of Padlet for asynchronous information sharing and processing
Stakeholders Involved
  • Company Ownership: Focus on importance of guidance and tutoring
  • Client (Tutor Coordination Office): Organizational and support needs
  • Target (New hires): Consideration of required competencies and psychological well-being
  • Domain Experts: Multidisciplinary collaboration (Communication, Psychology, Law, Engineering)
Requirements Transformed into Objectives
General Objective: "Train Academic Tutors: actors in a student's learning process, aligned with the company mission, aware of their role and activities, knowledgeable about services and tools"

Specific Objectives:

  • Facilitate integration into the company considering psychological safety
  • Interpret the mission and understand company values
  • Guide and train the new hire
  • Develop soft skills: empathy, listening, and effective communication
  • Reduce the workload of the coordination office
  • Create a centralized information space
  • Develop a community of Tutors
  • Activate peer education processes

Design Process

SAM Model Selection and Application
  • Transition beyond the traditional ADDIE model for a more agile and iterative approach
  • Implementation of SAM (version 2) structured in:
    • Preparation Phase
    • Iterative Design Phase
    • Iterative Development Phase
    • Rollout
Project Documentation
  • Learning Environment Project: Definition of constraints, target, motivations, course organization
  • Detailed Content Schema: Mapping between content, micro-objectives, activities, and assessments
  • Assessment Plan: Integration of the Kirkpatrick model for evaluating training effectiveness
Learning Environment Innovation
  • Creation of an integrated learning environment (physical and virtual)
  • Division of the course into two complementary modes:
    • First phase: "Smart" printed materials with QR codes + synchronous meetings
    • Second phase: University e-learning platform

Teaching Methodologies & Innovative Approaches

Multimodal Pedagogical Approach

Cognitivist Model

Structured and visually organized teaching materials

Constructivist Model

Flipped classroom and collaborative activities

Behaviorist Model

Video tutorials and practical simulations

Experiential Learning

Simulation activities and forums

Innovation Elements
  • QR codes in printed materials to create a bridge between analog and digital
  • Incorporation of gamification elements (challenges and leaderboards)
  • Introductory videos created by Tutors already in service to promote emotional engagement
  • Interactive simulations of the real work environment

Development & Implementation

Iterative Development Phase
  • Collaborative content creation with the team of experts
  • Design of Independent Learning Objects
  • Development of active learning activities
Testing & Validation
  • First iteration: verification with industry experts
  • Second iteration: testing with a selected sample of users (Tutors with varying years of experience and from different faculties)

Evaluation & Learning Analytics

Evaluation Framework
  • Implementation of the Assessment Plan based on the Kirkpatrick model
  • Collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data
Key Results
4.7/5
Relevance Rating
4.6/5
Effectiveness Rating
100%
Would Recommend
0
Technical Issues
Organizational Impact
  • Reduction in coordination office workload for training
  • Standardization of the onboarding process
  • Creation of a centralized repository of training resources
  • Possibility of use as a tool for evaluating selection effectiveness

Conclusions & Value Proposition

ID Added Value in the Project
  • Systematic analysis of all stakeholders' needs
  • Methodological structuring of the training path
  • Integration of innovative technologies with established pedagogical approaches
  • Attention to psychological safety and well-being of new hires
Impact & Scalability
  • Project approved for Rollout phase
  • Potential adaptation for upskilling of Tutors already in service
  • Possible extension to other company roles
"Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity rather than a threat" - Steve Jobs