Course Accreditation Sessions
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      Course Design Principles

      ICAGILE PHILOSOPHY

      The ICAgile-accredited designation signifies that a course not only meets proven Learning Outcomes (LOs) but is also designed and delivered in a way that maximizes learning and helps participants flex their agile mindset. To help Member Organizations design top-quality courses, we have prepared these tips and guidelines.

      ICAgile supports tailored, relevant, and engaging learning experiences. To that end, design and delivery mechanisms can vary in terms of the number of slides, facilitated exercises, modularized delivery, etc. Courses being delivered remotely need to be designed with that remote delivery in mind to ensure they provide a top-notch learning experience.

      We accept and encourage courses delivered with minimal slides provided the LOs are adequately covered and the participant workbook enables a record of the learning experience. Also, these courses normally have more wallware to help reinforce the participants’ learning.

      DESIGN PRINCIPLES

      1. ICAgile course accreditation limits the number of participants in an accredited class. No class should exceed 30 participants for an in-person delivered class or 20 participants for a remote delivered class. If there are more than 15 participants for the in-person delivery or 10 participants for remote delivery, we strongly recommend having a second facilitator. Ideally, the participant/facilitator ratio should be less than 15 to 1 for in-person and 10 to 1 for remote.
      2. Incorporate extensive practical content and allow plenty of time for participants to explore the topics through group conversations and collaborative activities.
      3. Where possible, follow principles of adult learning and brain science, such as those provided by Training from the Back of the Room.
      4. Ensure that each activity (including icebreakers) is germane to the course LOs and maximizes learning opportunities.
      5. Create interesting slides. Use images rather than dense text. If text is needed, put it into the workbook or a handout. Carefully consider the use of slides and look for ways to integrate tools, techniques, games, and facilitated activities to cover key LOs.
      6. Limit lecture segments to no more than ~10 minutes to allow for changes in delivery modality. Please see Sharon Bowman's Micro-Courses under “Engage the Brain: 5 Ways to Create Interactive Slides” for some good examples.
      7. Include a mechanism for participants to take notes, as brain science points to a significant increase in retention when participants write rather than read material.
      8. The ICAgile Learning Outcomes are not a course design - the course designer is expected to build the course in a way that flows logically and covers the learning outcomes in a sequence that makes sense in terms of their design approach. It is quite reasonable for a single LO to be covered in multiple places in a class or for a single part of the class to cover multiple LOs.
      9. The acceptance criteria in the LOs have been written using Bloom’s Taxonomy and indicate the level of depth with which topics should be covered. 

      REMOTE LEARNING

      1. The principles of adult learning apply to remote classes as much as, or even more than, they do to in-person classes. The course is structured in short blocks with breakout sessions, interactive components, and exercises and simulations designed for remote learning.
      2. Use a tool with breakout group functionality so participants can be put into small groups for interactive activities.
      3. Provide a learning platform that allows all participants to interact with each other 10 and with the instructor.
      4. Use collaborative tools which enable participants to share ideas both synchronously and asynchronously (e.g. Slack for chat, Sococo for collaborative work).
      5. Change delivery modes regularly to keep the participant’s attention. Intersperse video and other components.
      6. Interactive quizzes, quick self-tests, simulations, and games add more richness to the online experience
      7. Think active vs. passive in remote course design. Have participants engage with material rather than simply clicking through a series of slides or listening to a long lecture.
      8. Sessions are 3 hours or less and the total duration of the remote session matches the in-person course time.
      9. Comprehensive remote facilitation guide should address tools, timings, preparation, training, exercises, and techniques used in remote delivery.