Designing Interactive Multimedia Instruction to Address Soldiers' Learning Needs

This report is the second in a series of three, focusing on applying instructional design and tailored training techniques to address the Army Learning Model (ALM) point of need concept. The point of need concept focuses both on the accessibility of information to support the learning process as well as designing learning materials to address individual differences in learners experiences, background knowledge, and job-specific requirements. Here, we describe the process used and rationale for our approach to developing six IMI exemplars focused on point of need training, including three variations of needs-focused designs: familiarization, core, and tailored training. The IMI were developed for two topics Adjust Indirect Fire and Conduct a Defense by a Squad specifically targeting content to the needs of new squad or team leaders. We present our recommendations for developing needs-focused IMI for specific Army audiences. A previous report surveyed existing Army IMI for Combat Arms (Blankenbeckler, Graves, & Wampler, 2013); the final report in this series will present the findings of an experiment testing different IMI variations. Prepared in collaboration with Northrop Grumman Technical Services, Columbus, GA.