Week+4+-+D1

Preinstructional Strategy (D1)
As noted earlier in this instructional design plan, XYZ Jewelry is a rapidly growing company that expects to hire 200 new employees in the next 6 months. XYZ is becoming increasing more diverse with each wave of hiring. The company knows it must start to address the issue of diversity on a larger scale within the company.

Upper level management already understands the benefit of having a diverse workforce; however, the company has never had diversity training for its employees. In doing research on corporate Diversity initiatives, upper management finds that most diversity initiatives fail, in part, because companies do not spend enough time building a corporate culture that is more condusive to diversity. With this in mind, company leadership sought the services of Learning by Design, a diversity consulting company to conduct a diversity pilot program.

XYZ leadership chose to focus the pilot training on employees in key positions within the company who are known to be influencers in their work areas and who each demonstrate leadership tendencies. These employees have been targeted as potential diversity agents of change in their respective work areas. The employees range in age between approximate 22-65 years of age, have worked with the company at least 2 years, are mature, adult learners, with above average ability. The employees are aware their work environment is becoming more diverse, but have a limited definition of diversity. Although motivated to learn, the trainees do not understand how they can help promote diversity within their work areas.

Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & Kemp (2011) list a number of different pre-instructional startegies that can be used to begin the instruction. After reviewing the objectives for this instruction, two pre-instructional strategies seem to be best-suited for this training: a "pretest" or a "comparative organizer"; however, the we feel the comparitive organizer has the edge for the following reasons. First, employees already have a limited definition of diversity. This training will help take what the employees already know about diversity and expand their personal definition into a much broader concept of diversity. Second, understanding the broader concept of diversity will help the employees make the connection between the broader perspective of diversity and how the business can thrive if the workplace is more diverse and inclusive. We feel starting by mentioning the expanded framework will help the learner learn more through the instrction (p. 177-180).

Pre-instructional Strategy
to concepts || (adapted from Morrison, Ross, Kalman, & Kemp, 2001, Table 8-1, p. 177).
 * **Strategy** || **Function** || **Content Structure** || **Learner** || **Task Attributes** ||
 * Comparative Organizer || Conceptual framework needed to clarify content for the learner; compares the new content with what the learner already knows || Content of training has a dominant theme || Above average ability, mature, motivated, adult learners, experienced employees, exhibit leadership tendencies || Factual information linked

Reference

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., Kalman, H. K., & Kemp, J. E. (2011). Designing effective instruction (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.