Dr. Hartman is currently assigned to the USMC Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning (CAOCL) where he supports the Regional Culture and Language Familiarization (RCLF) Program as a Senior Instructional Designer. He was previously an Instructional Designer supporting the FBI National Academy. He has also served as a formal schools instructor and school manager.

During this interview, I had a transformational experience regarding how design decisions can significantly impact learner acceptance and improved outcomes. The final paragraph of my report indicates this transformative moment: “The most surprising thing about learning this is in retrospect it seems so easy to see, yet I had been stuck in a conventional mindset of Lecture-Demonstration-PracApp.”

The button below will take you to an executive summary of the interview.

I was tasked with leading an effort to design a concept that would reinforce the existing national military service program. There was very little information given to me at the time. These slides show my logical approach to dealing with a demanding stakeholder who believes the answer lies in conducting training. Slide 2 establishes the organizational context and Slide 3 addresses the first steps of a rapid needs assessment.

In the end, this program never went beyond the assessment phase. I used these slides to organize the planning team and in the end was able to make several recommendations to the sponsor from the information I gathered.