Case Study: UC Davis Avian Flu School Development

Contact InfoProsChallenge

The University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, was tasked with creating instructor-led training material for multiple audiences in the United States and in developing countries on how to prevent and/or contain the highly pathogenic H5N1 Avian Influenza virus.

Although prevention is the ideal response and is possible through the implementation of basic steps, the number of adequately educated trainers was grossly inadequate to disseminate this vital information to all of the at-risk communities world-wide. UCD needed a training program – an Avian Influenza Response Train-the-Trainer Program – to develop local expertise among health professionals, lab scientists, major livestock producers, wildlife managers, and government leaders.

Solution

Sample of UC Davis Avian Flu Training MaterialsUsing classic instructional design (ISD) methodology to ensure the course met the target audience’s learning requirements, and the training would be effective, useful, and usable, InfoPros assessed the audience and identified both performance and knowledge-based learning objectives. Meeting with the client’s team, InfoPros recommended a training strategy where InfoPros could work closely with the UCD subject matter experts to create effective training material using a web-based delivery platform.

Result

The School of Veterinary Medicine took the "Avian Flu School" to five countries in Africa, states in the U.S., and other locations to start training health professionals, wildlife managers, government leaders, and others on how to prevent and respond to an Avian Flu outbreak. Training was provided at three levels: Tier 1 - At the national level, training is provided to experts in-country; Tier 2 - Tier 1 trained people train people at the district level within their countries; Tier 3 - District trainers provide training to the appropriate local people. According to David Bunn, Project Manager, Wildlife Health Center, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, training has been provided in three languages: English, French and Kiswahili (the language of East Africa). They have now given 15 Tier 1 courses and are currently providing Tier 2 training courses. In a few cases, they have also provided the Tier 3 training. The program is being taken to Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Testimonial

"We had an overwhelming amount of information to put into training material. InfoPros, as the training experts, came in and helped us focus on the really important subjects that needed to be taught in the Avian Flu training. They helped us focus on which terminal objectives to teach, and helped us narrow down the important concepts. Feedback from participants in the courses showed that the people taking the course found it to be extremely engaging. Two key characteristics of the materials that InfoPros developed turned out to be critical determinants of the success of the project: 1) Making sure the materials were very interactive and 2) Understanding adult education and how to make the material engaging to that kind of audience."

Check out the course at www.avianfluschool.org.