Improving the Army’s Assessment of Interactive Multimedia Instruction Courseware (2009)

An important component of The Army Distributed Learning Programas (TADLPas) performance is the quality of its courses, which consist primarily of asynchronous interactive multimedia instruction (IMI). However, there are no current efforts to assess course quality at the program level. This report outlines a comprehensive approach to evaluating the quality of IMI within TADLP. In addition, it describes how a program-level evaluation program developed at RAND might be implemented within the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). RAND assessed the quality of the learning experience in a sample of recently fielded IMI courses, using criteria based on standards in the training development community. The analysis identifies strengths and deficiencies in technical, production quality, and pedagogical aspects of IMI courseware. This research demonstrates a feasible method for evaluation that can supply TRADOC with metrics concerning IMI quality, points to directions for needed improvements, and provides a basis for assessing improvement initiatives. The authors recommend adoption of this approach, as well as further development of other components of a comprehensive program of IMI training evaluation.