UW-Stout Graduate Certification Capstone Project
This certification program provided me with a strong foundation in instructional design models, systems, and best practices through four graduate-level classes. Over the course of the year, I underwent the instructional design process and developed a capstone project supported by documentation and deliverables.
EDUC 765: Trends and Issues in Instructional Design provided a survey of instructional design methods and learning theories. We also developed a project from an existing instructional need and learned to conduct a needs assessment by following the Morrison, Ross, and Kemp model. I was also aided by Robert Mager’s strategies for writing objectives, Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning domains, and Kirkpatrick’s four-level learning evaluation model.
EDUC 766: Instructional Strategies and Assessment Methods offered me an array of instructional strategies from which to hone my objectives and design learning content, activities, and assessment. I took the most inspiration from William Horton’s recommendations for structuring activities as well as alignment and backward design.
EDUC 767: Designing Computer-Based Training helped me develop a SCORM-compliant RLO in Articulate Storyline. I learned to prepare a course design document and engaged in computer-based/digital learning pedagogies. I also learned how to use other programs such as Udutu and Articulate Rise, and sharpened my video editing skills with Vyond, Audition, and screen-recording software.
EDUC 768: Project Management for Instructional Development mimicked the instructional design process from a project management perspective. My team and I learned how to document and plan an instructional project by analyzing a case study and carrying out each step of the instructional design process. We successfully created a gap analysis, project charter, work breakdown schedule, course design document, storyboard, and more.
You can read more about my project, peruse my documentation, and experience my RLOs below.
Capstone Project Overview
Instructional Need • Delivery Method • Target Learner Overview • Project Documents & Deliverables • References
Instructional Need
The third-largest workforce (Newhouse & Salamon, 2020, p. 4) and generator of income and tax revenue (Newhouse & Salamon, 2020, p.7), the nonprofit sector continues to grow and evolve at a significant rate. According to Newhouse and Salamon at the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies (2020), the nonprofit workforce increased by 18.6 percent between 2007 and 2017 (p. 9). Although the impact of COVID-19 led to a 13.2 percent decrease from pre-pandemic levels between March-May 2020 (2022), as of March 2022, the Center now projects that the overall sector will return to pre-pandemic levels within the next eight months (2022). As the visions of these nonprofit agencies evolve, so do the duties and expectations of their development and communications staff.
Nonprofit-related job listings with titles including “communications coordinator” and “development associate” often list graphic design under necessary job duties and preferred experience. At many agencies, nonprofit development and communications staff need to be able to design and maintain websites that cater to donors, clients, and new and existing staff. Staff also need to create graphics for social media and e-mail marketing campaigns. Finally, staff must be able to design event invitations and annual fundraising mail campaigns according to printer guidelines.
Yet, if staff members do not possess any education and background in graphic design, the quality and professionalism of the agency’s brand image often suffer, and a survey of the websites and print materials of five healthcare-related nonprofits in Southern California reveal glaring errors. Website text was difficult to read or comprehend due to the font, colors, and spacing. Furthermore, some print materials included unintended white margins around the edges of the page, illustrating that staff members did not know how to apply bleeds. Many product research, marketing, and design-related blogs like Sageworld (2019), Axies (2021), and Visme (2015) list a lack of knowledge of design principles like hierarchy, balance, and color; improper file formatting; and inaccessible design as common novice errors. These reports echo my results from surveying former and current graphic designers in the nonprofit sector. Interviewees listed web accessibility guidelines, principles of designs, and practical technical knowledge among top knowledge and skills they wish they had better possessed as entry-level employees.
In Usability: Principles and Practices for Designing Digital Applications, Schatter and Levinson (2013) attribute these knowledge gaps to the overlap of roles and diversity of disciples (xii) from which professional graphic designers come. Given so many novice errors are rooted in both aesthetically pleasing and functional design, Schatter and Levinson (2013) call for better and more training in “visual usability” or “design grounded in principles and an understanding of people” (xii). At the intersection of user-centered design and usability also lies accessibility. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) (2022) states that accessible design “improves overall user experience and satisfaction, especially in a variety of situations, across different devices, and for older users.” The stakes for not adhering to web accessibility and visual usability guidelines are high, and there can be grave legal consequences as well.
Instead of hiring outside consultants or firing and rehiring new staff, nonprofit agencies can save significant time, costs, and resources by providing current staff members with the necessary training to help them excel at graphic design-related duties. This project aims to develop the training for development and communications staff to acquire the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to abide by accepted industry design and accessibility standards. This project will also develop training to help staff members carry out tasks related to designing for the web and print production. Overall, this training ensures associates can fulfill their day-to-day duties effectively, helps nonprofit agencies enhance their visual brand images, and reduces the costs of hiring outside consultants for troubleshooting and additional support.
Delivery Method
This course will be delivered through computer-based training (CBT) eLearning modules on accessibility, file types, and design to reach as many learners as possible. This training will also be SCORM-compliant and flexible enough for agencies to upload it to their unique SCORM-compliant LMSs. Given their diverse array of responsibilities, learners can take this course at their own time and own pace. Learners will also receive aids during the training to help them learn, practice, and retain their new knowledge, skills, and experience.
Target Learner Overview
In today’s world, the KSAs of nonprofit development staff encompass many different professional fields. In addition to event planning and fundraising, staff members often design agency websites, social media assets, e-mail marketing campaigns, print advertisements, and event invitations. To be successful, staff members must have a comprehensive understanding of graphic design. Yet, without formal education or prior experience, staff members struggle to apply design principles, differentiate between web and print file specifications, and design accessibly for a diverse range of audiences. With their time and services already being pulled in multiple directions, they also struggle to effectively apply outside feedback when revising their designs.
Project Documents & Deliverables
Documentation
Project Management
- Gap Analysis (Coming soon!)
- Project Charter (Coming soon!)
- WBS (Coming soon!)
- Course Design Document (Coming soon!)
- Storyboard (Coming soon!)
References
8 graphic design mistakes to avoid. (2019, October 11). Sageworld. https://www.sageworld.com/blog/index.php/2019/10/11/8-graphic-design-mistakes-to-avoid/
Chibana, N. (2015, December 21). 19 common graphic design mistakes made by non-designers. Visme. https://visme.co/blog/graphic-design-rules
Henry, S. (2022, March 31). Introduction to web accessibility. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/
Newhouse, C. & Salamon, L. (2022). Nonprofit employment during the covid-19 crisis. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. Available at ccss.jhu.edu.
Newhouse, C. & Salamon, L. (2020). The 2020 nonprofit employment report. Nonprofit Economic Data Bulletin no. 48. Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. Available at ccss.jhu.edu.
Schlatter, & Levinson, D. (2013). Visual Usability: Principles and Practices for Designing Digital Applications. Elsevier Science & Technology.
Top 5 common graphic design mistakes to avoid. (2021, September 6). Axies. https://axies.digital/common-graphic-design-mistakes/