Learning Programme Design Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Learning and Development Manager, Learning Designer and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-184

Before you join: Participants should have experience in training delivery, learning coordination, content development, HR, talent management or a related role.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Learning programmes often underperform because they begin with requested content rather than a defined performance need. Teams may invest in workshops, e-learning and expert time without identifying root causes, target behaviours, workplace constraints or evidence of success. Learning professionals need to distinguish a learning requirement from process, policy, technology, management or resourcing issues before committing to a solution.

This course teaches participants to design structured learning programmes from needs analysis through evaluation. Participants use ADDIE, Bloom's taxonomy, Gagné's Nine Events, Universal Design for Learning and Kirkpatrick's evaluation model to define audiences, write measurable objectives, map content, select learning methods, create assessments and plan transfer. The course addresses classroom, virtual, blended and self-directed formats, with attention to accessibility, quality assurance, governance and maintenance.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings, analysis of realistic cases, group design work, facilitated critiques, assessment design tasks and programme planning. Cases reflect common corporate, public-sector and regulated settings, such as onboarding customer-service teams, improving manager performance reviews and introducing new compliance procedures. Participants leave with a completed learning programme design pack for a current or planned initiative, including a needs-analysis brief, programme architecture, objective set, assessment blueprint and evaluation plan.

The course suits learning and development professionals who already contribute to training delivery, content development or talent initiatives and now need a repeatable method for designing programmes that support measurable workplace performance.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose performance needs using stakeholder interviews, root-cause analysis and evidence gathering
  • Construct a learning programme architecture using ADDIE stages and curriculum pathways
  • Write measurable learning objectives using Bloom's taxonomy and performance conditions
  • Create task analyses, content outlines and scenario-based learning materials
  • Design learning journeys using adult learning principles, practice and feedback methods
  • Build assessment blueprints, rubrics and workplace performance evidence requirements
  • Integrate accessibility, inclusion and blended delivery requirements into programme designs
  • Plan programme evaluation, transfer support, quality assurance and implementation controls

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce defensible learning designs rather than responding only to training requests
  • Write objectives and assessments that make expected performance observable
  • Select appropriate classroom, virtual, blended and workplace learning methods
  • Conduct more structured conversations with sponsors and subject-matter experts
  • Build a reusable design portfolio for internal projects and career progression

For your organisation

  • Reduces investment in training that does not address the actual performance cause
  • Creates consistent design standards across internal and supplier-developed programmes
  • Improves evidence of learning transfer through aligned assessments and manager support
  • Makes accessibility and inclusion requirements part of programme design decisions
  • Provides clearer governance, evaluation data and revision controls for learning investments

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can determine whether a performance issue requires learning and document the resulting design brief.

  • Business performance problems distinguished from learning, process and resource causes
  • Stakeholder interviews structured using performance consulting question sets
  • Current-state evidence gathered from documents, metrics, observations and interviews
  • Root-cause analysis using the five whys and fishbone diagram
  • Target population segmented by role, proficiency, location and workflow
  • Training needs prioritised through impact, urgency, feasibility and risk criteria
  • Needs-analysis brief records assumptions, constraints, sponsors and success measures

Participants can create a programme architecture that defines scope, sequencing, responsibilities and decision points.

  • ADDIE stages connected to programme governance, review points and decisions
  • Learning programme architecture maps curriculum strands, pathways and prerequisites
  • Audience personas capture motivations, prior knowledge, access needs and constraints
  • Learning journeys sequence prework, workshops, practice, reinforcement and transfer
  • Scope boundaries prevent content creep and duplicate interventions
  • Programme charters define purpose, sponsors, audiences, outputs and measures
  • RACI matrix assigns design, approval, delivery and maintenance responsibilities

Participants can write measurable objectives and map them to workplace capabilities and assessment evidence.

  • Bloom's taxonomy differentiates recall, application, analysis, evaluation and creation
  • Measurable objectives specify audience, behaviour, conditions and performance standard
  • Terminal objectives translated into enabling objectives and observable task steps
  • Action verbs selected to match workplace performance and assessment evidence
  • Constructive alignment links objectives, learning activities and assessment criteria
  • Competency maps distinguish knowledge, skills, behaviours and decision rules
  • Objective quality checked against relevance, observability and feasibility

Participants can turn expert knowledge and job requirements into structured, relevant learning content.

  • Task analysis breaks critical work into decisions, steps, tools and errors
  • Subject-matter expert interviews elicit tacit knowledge, exceptions and judgement
  • Content inventories classify existing materials by accuracy, ownership and reuse
  • Scenarios represent realistic triggers, constraints, data and consequences
  • Worked examples expose expert reasoning before independent problem solving
  • Information mapping structures procedures, concepts, processes and reference material
  • Content outlines allocate depth according to risk, frequency and difficulty

Participants can select and sequence learning methods that support retention, practice and workplace transfer.

  • Gagné's Nine Events structure attention, instruction, practice, feedback and retention
  • Adult learning principles connect relevance, autonomy, experience and immediate application
  • Practice design progresses from guided tasks to independent workplace decisions
  • Feedback criteria distinguish corrective, reinforcing and developmental responses
  • Spaced retrieval and interleaving strengthen retention across programme intervals
  • Peer learning protocols set roles, evidence standards and debrief questions
  • Facilitation guides specify timing, prompts, materials and contingency actions

Participants can design valid assessments that show whether learners can perform required workplace tasks.

  • Assessment blueprints align evidence requirements with objectives and performance standards
  • Knowledge checks use selected-response items with plausible distractors and rationales
  • Performance assessments use observation checklists, rubrics and decision scenarios
  • Rubrics describe criterion levels using observable quality indicators
  • Reliability risks include inconsistent scoring, ambiguous instructions and cueing
  • Validity checks confirm assessments sample the intended workplace capability
  • Assessment feedback records strengths, gaps and next-practice priorities

Participants can incorporate accessibility, inclusion and psychological safety into programme materials and methods.

  • Universal Design for Learning offers multiple means of engagement and representation
  • WCAG 2.2 considerations cover contrast, captions, headings and keyboard access
  • Plain language reduces cognitive load in instructions, cases and job aids
  • Accessible documents use styles, alt text, reading order and descriptive links
  • Psychological safety supports participation, challenge and respectful feedback
  • Bias review checks examples, names, assumptions and assessment contexts
  • Language adaptations preserve performance standards while clarifying unfamiliar terminology

Participants can choose delivery modes and specify digital components suited to learner and performance needs.

  • Modality decisions weigh performance risk, practice needs, access and cost
  • Blended learning patterns combine self-study, virtual sessions, workshops and coaching
  • Virtual classroom design uses polls, breakouts, annotation and timed practice
  • Learning management system workflows assign modules, reminders, records and reports
  • Digital learning assets follow storyboard, prototype, review and release controls
  • Job aids provide point-of-need prompts, checklists and decision support
  • Copyright permissions and version control protect reusable programme materials

Participants can plan evaluation and transfer activities that connect learning to workplace performance measures.

  • Kirkpatrick's four levels distinguish reaction, learning, behaviour and results
  • Evaluation plans define questions, indicators, sources, timing and owners
  • Baseline measures establish comparison points before programme implementation
  • Transfer plans assign manager conversations, practice opportunities and follow-up
  • Learning analytics combine completion, assessment, confidence and performance data
  • Cost-benefit estimates document design, delivery, participant time and expected gains
  • Evaluation reports separate findings, interpretations, limitations and recommendations

Participants can prepare a learning programme for pilot delivery, review, revision and controlled implementation.

  • Pilot plans set participant criteria, test objectives, feedback channels and decisions
  • Quality assurance checklists inspect objectives, content, accessibility, timing and assessments
  • Facilitator calibration aligns delivery standards, examples, scoring and escalation routes
  • Change-control procedures record revisions, approvals, versions and release dates
  • Implementation plans sequence communications, enrolment, materials, staffing and support
  • Programme dashboards track milestones, risks, decisions and outstanding dependencies
  • Personal application plans schedule a current programme design and stakeholder actions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Learning needs-analysis brief template
  2. Learning programme architecture model
  3. Measurable learning objectives library
  4. Assessment blueprint and rubric template
  5. Blended learning journey planner
  6. Evaluation and transfer plan

Who should attend

  • Learning and Development Manager — needs a repeatable method for designing business-focused programmes
  • Learning Designer — needs to convert performance requirements into structured learning journeys
  • Training Manager — needs to improve consistency across internally delivered training programmes
  • Instructional Designer — needs stronger methods for objectives, assessment and evaluation planning
  • HR Business Partner — needs to commission learning interventions linked to workforce performance
  • Subject-Matter Expert — needs to contribute usable expertise to learning programme design

Skills and tools covered

Learning needs analysisProgramme architectureObjective writingAssessment designBlended learning designLearning evaluation

Tools and standards

ADDIE, Bloom's taxonomy, Universal Design for Learning, Kirkpatrick's Four Levels

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce design methods, followed by realistic case work and structured group activities. Participants analyse performance requests, interview stakeholder roles, draft objectives, map learning journeys and critique design choices against agreed criteria. Simulations address common decisions such as choosing delivery modes, resolving content overload and responding to weak assessment evidence. Facilitated peer review helps participants test their designs from learner, manager and sponsor perspectives. Individual application planning connects course outputs to a live workplace programme.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience in training delivery, learning coordination, content development, HR, talent management or a related role. They should understand the basic purpose of workplace learning and be able to discuss a real training or performance issue from their organisation. Familiarity with presentation software and online meeting platforms is useful. Prior study of instructional design, formal education theory, psychometrics, data analysis or e-learning authoring tools is not required. Participants do not need to bring a completed programme, although a current learning request will help them apply the methods.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have some exposure to workplace training, learning coordination, HR, talent or content development. Formal instructional design qualifications are not required, and the course introduces each design method before participants apply it.

Bring details of a current learning request, planned programme or recurring performance problem if possible. This gives you a useful basis for building your design pack, though course cases are available if you cannot share workplace material.

It is designed for L&D managers, learning designers, training managers, instructional designers, HR business partners and subject-matter experts. It is most useful for people who need to design structured programmes rather than only deliver existing courses.

Train-the-trainer courses focus mainly on facilitation, presentation and classroom management. This course focuses on diagnosing needs, defining objectives, structuring programmes, designing assessments and evaluating learning transfer.

The templates can be used when responding to a new learning request, redesigning an existing programme or briefing an external provider. Participants leave with a design pack that can be reviewed with sponsors, managers and subject-matter experts.

The five days provide approximately 32.5 contact hours, combining instructor input, case analysis, group design tasks and feedback. Modules progress from needs analysis and architecture through content, delivery, assessment, evaluation and implementation planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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