This stage involves defining how to achieve the learning outcomes, and translating the designed learning experiences into tangible materials such as presentations, exercises, and guidelines for group discussions. There should be a feedback loop between design and development phases to ensure iterative improvement.
When developing training material, it is crucial to assign clear roles and responsibilities to team members. Specify which parts of the material a person or group will develop, and select an appropriate learning environment and platforms for developing, storing, and sharing materials. An essential aspect of this stage is describing the materials in a standardized way, with structured metadata such as Bioschemas, that will enhance the findability and accessibility of the materials. Additionally, special considerations should be given to how the material will be shared, including any reused materials. Finally, the choice of platform for delivering exercises should be user-friendly, so that trainees have an easy technical setup.
The FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) play a crucial role in the development process, and should guide the organization and management of all training assets. For detailed guidance, refer to FAIR training handbook and the training course provided by ELIXIR, which offers comprehensive insights into designing FAIR-compliant training materials here.
What are the pedagogical aspects?
Pedagogical aspects of developing training include organizing for and building in inclusivity, engagement, effective content, and mechanisms for improvement.
- Assessing Learning Outcomes: Use to develop content and if needed revisit the LO’s definition.
- Logical Structure: Organise training content in a logical and coherent manner, ensuring smooth progression from one topic to the next.
- Effective Signposting: Use clear headings, subheadings, and visual cues to guide learners through the material.
- Diverse Learning Materials: Utilise a variety of material formats, such as text, visuals, videos, and interactive exercises, to promote learning.
- Engaging Activities: Incorporate hands-on activities and interactive elements to enhance learner engagement and retention.
- Formative Assessment: Regularly assess learner understanding through quizzes, polls, or short exercises to identify knowledge gaps and provide timely feedback.
- Teaching aides: Instructor notes and presenters notes or transcripts should be developed and stored in the same location as presentations and exercises, to facilitate future reuse.
- Inclusive Design: Consider the needs of diverse learners by providing alternative formats and accessibility features - e.g. video captions, colourblind-safe colour palettes…
- Continuous Improvement: Revisit the lesson plan frequently to guide effective development. Integrate mechanisms to gather feedback from learners and trainers to identify areas for further development of the materials (see also evaluate).
What are the logistical aspects?
Logistical considerations during training material development include choices of technical infrastructures, coordination of the trainer team, and ensuring that assets are annotated and FAIR.
- Team Coordination Plan regular meetings and use common channels. Clearly define roles and responsibilities in the team for accountability and to streamline workflows.
- Asset Overviews Create a list of necessary items or assets required for all exercises and interactions, e.g. Mentimeter, pens, games, flipcharts, web applications for exercises, etc.
- FAIR Use the FAIR by Design approach to organise and manage training assets. Use standard vocabulary and define structured metadata (e.g. Bioschemas) for your materials. Include full citations and define clear licenses for reused and newly developed materials.
- Content Organization Choose a structured organization for organizing and managing training content, such as a GitHub repository or e-learning platform.
- Quality Assurance: Build in a review process to ensure quality and accuracy of developed training materials.
- Citations and Findability Define the release version of the material and store it in a repository like Zenodo to ensure version control and accessibility. Additionally, register material in a web-accessible aggregator like TeSS.
Technical infrastructure is a large logistical consideration during development:
- Video Storage and Servers Choose platforms for storing and hosting training videos, datasets etc. that serve the purposes of your training.
- Data Accessibility Define how learners will be provided access to datasets and software tools. Conduct test runs to ensure that these processes work, and be aware of maintenance windows for selected platforms.
- Exercise Setup Create and test computer environments and installation instructions for hands-on exercises. Ensure that these are functional for different operating systems.
- Data Security Implement robust measures to protect sensitive data and participant information. This also includes responses or submitted exercises that you gather throughout your course delivery.
Related resources:
References
Alexander Botzki
VIB Training & Conferences
Bruna Piereck
VIB Training & Conferences
Elin Kronander
NBIS National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden
Geert van Geest
SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics