When you finish writing the first draft of the exercises, your data and application file will be in the same condition as a student who has just finished the class. Take a final snapshot of the data and get ready to step through the exercises again.
For this test, you must start with a ‘clean’ system. Your starting point should be the same as that of your students’. You will need to return the training software environment to the condition it was in before you started writing the exercises. This includes not only the training application and data files, but also any supporting applications and files. For example, if you use a text editor or spreadsheet in the class, you must return them to their starting configurations.
From start to finish, step through the exercises exactly as the students will be doing in the class. The goal is to re-create the same experience that the students will have. Consider doing this test with one of the subject matter experts who approved the exercise narrative. This will help to ensure that the exercises are correct, and that the goals for the exercises have been met.
During this test, you should need to make only minor corrections to the exercises. Major changes to the exercises will require you to rewrite and get buy-in on a new scenario.
At this point, you have developed:
- An audience analysis that tells you who needs to be trained
- The learning objectives, which consist mostly of tasks the students must learn
- One or more measurable criteria for success for each learning objective
- A business scenario that will give your clients a realistic experience in the classroom
- A short description of an exercise for each learning objective that will teach that objective
- The applications starting point for the class
- Step-by-step directions for each in-class exercise