MY PROGRAM

Capstone Experience

The capstone experience was valuable for myself as well as for the Roux Institute. This project allowed me to hone skills and templates that I have built throughout this program. I frequently referred back to this portfolio for ideas and structure when creating my final project deliverables. I also continued to build my project management skills and created a project plan to manage my deliverables. This project was valuable for the Roux Institute because the customized learning team will use what I have built while rolling out their new online learning platform and training stakeholders on its use. The plan that I developed will help to measure the success of the rollout and determine what changes need to be made before using the new learning platform in all of the customized learning courses.

​

My advice for future XN students is to choose a project that they are very interested in, to build extra time into their timelines and to ask for frequent feedback from their sponsor. A genuine interest in the project is important because it can be hard to maintain motivation when classmates are working on different projects and it is difficult to benchmark yourself against others. I am glad that I built a time cushion into my timelines because I ended up needing additional rounds of edits and feedback on the first session plans that I built. When I was not sure of something I made sure to check in with my sponsor for feedback on what I had done so that I did not spend a lot of time on a task if I was going in the wrong direction. This proved to be very helpful, especially with the first draft of my session plans.

​

For sponsors I would advise that they offer as much feedback as possible throughout the project. This helps ensure that they get a product that they like and can use. It also allows the student to learn about different processes, what it is like to work with a specific organization or department and how to better work with subject matter experts.

​

I found it helpful that the supervising faculty required biweekly updates on how our projects were going. This helped to set a cadence for check ins with the project sponsor as well as for deliverables. Having a chance to receive feedback from classmates was also beneficial during these check ins.

​

Program Reflection

I started this program with a basic understanding of learning design and creating for adult learners, but I did not have much knowledge of the research behind these best practices. I would have found it difficult to explain why it was important for my learning objectives to match my assessments or to describe the learning and teaching theories that I was building upon to create them.  I can now confidentially make design decisions based on audience, format and content, and just as importantly, I am able to explain why I make specific choices. At the beginning of this program, I also had limited experience with taking session plans and building them out in a course platform. I am now familiar with Canvas and Argos and I could use what I know to effectively build within new platforms.

​

For one of the earlier assignments in this course I went back and looked at session plans that I had developed before this program and compared them to ones I created throughout this program. It was gratifying to see how much they have improved!

​

An example of a pre-program course I designed is Sip & Savor. I included timing, a workshop description and learning outcomes, but I omitted some important elements of a successful course:

• Identification of audience

• Background on the need for the course

• Performance, learning + cultural context

• Instructional treatment + progress of instruction

• Outcomes, assessments and their related teaching/learning strategies

• A breakdown of tasks that need to be completed before the start of the course (including how learners will register for the course)

• Technology/media plan

• Implementation plan

• Evaluation plan

• While it includes tasting activities that build upon each other, it is still lecture heavy

• No associated course site or optional materials

 

Towards the beginning of this program, I took Foundations of Learning Experience Design. For my project I chose to create a course called AIPAs vs NEIPAs. I designed it as a 3-hour course, with 90 minutes in-person and 90 minutes completed asynchronously.

​

This plan improves upon earlier work by including:

• An instructional goal

• An audience

• Terminal + Enabling learning outcomes

• A clear time commitment

• A materials guide that outlines all materials needed to teach this course

• A Lead Beer Appreciator Guide, which breaks down all tasks that need to be completed before the workshop

• A detailed lesson plan that includes objectives, materials, strategies and assessments

• As associated course site and optional materials in Canvas

 

During the later portion of my program, I took the course Advanced Practice in Learning Experience Design. In this course I created a design plan for a re-worked and improved upon version of AIPAs vs NEIPAs. In this plan AIPAs vs NEIPAs became a 60 minute, in-person course with a 10-minute asynchronous activity required for a badge.

​

The improvements in this course include:

• Identifying a learning theory and using it to keep the course design succinct, to create learning objectives and make sure learners are able to reach learning objectives

• Providing data around the beer industry and why the course was created

• More clearly identifying the audience

• Creating an instructional treatment that clearly identifies the three main aspects of the course

• Identifying assumptions about learning, the theory base and pedagogical approaches used in the course design

• An evaluation plan that includes Kirkpatrick’s three levels

• A media plan including an associated course site and optional materials in Argos

 

Next Steps

In the professional competencies exercise I identified areas where I have made progress and also where there is room for further improvement. I will continue to learn about and research these areas to improve my resume and to remain relevant in the field of learning design.

​

At the Roux Institute I am currently building out the Project Management program and will use the skills that I have developed in this program to do so. I enjoy working in adult, noncredit education and I hope to use my degree to help me move from a mostly administrative position in this field to one that is more focused on learning design. Long-term I would like to lead a learning design team within continuing education.

​

In my personal life (and also in many of my master’s degree projects!), I spend a lot of time thinking about beer education and how to make women feel more welcome in the industry. I plan to use what I have learned in this degree to found a beer education company that helps beer appreciators develop their tasting skills and beer style knowledge. I live in a small city with over 40 breweries and yet there are almost no opportunities to learn about this amazing beverage. I think that beer education will play an important part in expanding the beer industry in Maine.