Instructional design

Start from performance

Ask what learners will do differently at work: recognise a situation, explain a principle to a colleague, distinguish two things that are often confused, choose among options, document a decision, escalate to the right person. Content earns its place by serving one of those performances. Everything else is enrichment or reference.

Say what the course will not qualify learners to do. For high-stakes subjects the typical ceiling is: understand the concepts and duties, recognise when a situation needs action, and know whom to involve.

Content disposition

Nothing researched disappears silently. Exclusion reasons are specific ("step-by-step decontamination procedure exceeds the awareness boundary").

Objectives

• 4–6 terminal objectives for a 60–120 minute course; one observable performance each.
• Verbs that can be observed and assessed: identify, explain, distinguish, compare, classify, interpret, select, evaluate, justify, sequence, determine, apply, document, escalate. Avoid know, understand, learn, appreciate, be aware of, be familiar with.
• Match the verb to the intended level, and the level to the assessment: "distinguish hazard from risk in a described task" (analyse) needs a scenario item, not a definition item.
• Each objective rests on specific claims from the dossier. If you cannot name them, the objective is not yet teachable.
• Never imply certification or legal competence.

Sequencing

A default that works for most workplace subjects:

1. Relevance: why this matters to these learners, in their context.
2. Vocabulary and prerequisite concepts, familiar to unfamiliar.
3. A simple mental model or process overview that later detail hangs on.
4. Components, stages, methods or options, one at a time.
5. Benefits, limits, risks and evidence quality.
6. Applied decisions and scenarios.
7. Review by objective, and transfer to the learner's work.

Change it when the subject has its own logic (chronological, regulatory hierarchy, lifecycle), and say why. Never place a decision before the concepts it depends on.

Cognitive load

• One idea or decision per chunk. Introduce a term, use it, then build on it.
• Roughly 3–6 genuinely new terms per module. Define acronyms at first use.
• Put a mental model before details; use worked examples before independent practice.
• Split dense regulatory passages with application ("what this means when…").
• Progressive disclosure: essential explanation first, optional depth clearly marked.
• Prefer a diagram where the idea is structural (process, hierarchy, comparison, cycle, decision path); prose where it is argument or nuance.
• Analogies must be accurate and bounded, followed by the literal explanation.

Practice and retrieval

• Formative practice follows the teaching it practises, at a level approaching the graded level.
• Space retrieval: later modules include items that revisit earlier ones.
• Feedback explains the reasoning for both correct and incorrect answers, and cites evidence.
• 2–4 formative items per topic module, or one substantial scenario.

Scenarios

• Neutral, realistic situations from the learners' context; no real organisations, people, incidents or statistics presented as fact.
• A continuing case across modules helps transfer: introduce it early, return to it with new knowledge.
• Scenarios pose a genuine decision with enough information to make it. "We do not have enough information yet; escalate" can be the right answer when the evidence supports it.
• Consequences and feedback teach the principle, not just right or wrong.

Duration

Estimate reading at roughly 150–200 words per minute for plain learner text, plus time for each practice item (about 1 minute for simple items, 2–4 minutes for scenarios) and figures. A focused awareness course is often 60–90 minutes. If the evidence needs more, recommend more or a series; never cut safety-relevant qualifications to fit.

Reading level

Learner-facing language around Grade 9–11 for educated non-specialists: short sentences, common words where they are exact, technical terms kept where precision demands and defined. Simplify explanations, never the evidence.

Design quality checklist

• Every research topic has a disposition.
• Every objective is taught, practised and assessed at its level.
• Every module has one purpose and specific content points tied to claims.
• Misconceptions are named for each module.
• Scope and escalation boundaries are placed at the decisions where they matter.
• The duration is realistic.