Case Study
Training Acquisition Professionals
Developing hundreds of training courses for the Defense Acquisition University (DAU), educating 155,000 procurement professionals annually with learning experiences that deliver positive feedback.
Introduction
The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) is a critical component of the Department of Defense, dedicated to providing training and development to ensure the success of the defense acquisition workforce. DAU’s mission is to provide a global learning environment to support a mission-ready workforce that develops, delivers and sustains effective and affordable warfighting capabilities. With over 600 faculty staff, spread out among five regional campuses, DAU helps approximately 155,000 members develop and manage acquisition programs, projects and systems that continue to make our nation’s warfighters the best-equipped armed forces in the world.
Challenge
DAU faced significant challenges in modernizing its training programs to keep pace with the demands of educating military and Federal civilian staff and Federal contractors. DAU relied heavily on external contractors for developing learning assets, which often resulted in longer turnaround times and less cohesive training programs. In order to expedite the development of new learning assets, DAU sought to bring asset creation in-house to ensure greater control, faster deployment and higher quality training materials. DAU also needed to ensure new materials could be easily updated and maintained over time.
Solution
CTEC was awarded the contract to provide instructional design services for DAU’s 100+ classroom certifications, 1,200 annual course offerings and 200 self-paced online trainings. Our team supported DAU in creating a wide range of educational content, including online courses, graphics, videos and micro-learning assets. CTEC also introduced a user-centered design approach to deliver a more immersive and effective learning environment. Our product support breakdown at DAU consisted of 24% classroom learning, 70% online learning, and 6% games, simulations and job support tools, with 60% of learning assets produced as videos with various levels of interactivity.
Results
CTEC tripled the number of training assets developed and deployed over a three-year period, with more than 135 courses released in a single year. This exponential increase in the quantity and quality of instruction materials led to higher student satisfaction, improved feedback scores and better learning retention among DAU’s workforce members. As demand increased within the university for more instructional design support, DAU requested additional headcount for CTEC to provide experts in learning science, experiential learning and user-centered design to develop new learning assets, increase student engagement and accelerate speed to market.
Results
135
courses
300%
more assets
155K
members
Solution
- Human-Centered Design
- Curriculum Development
- User Experience Design
- Instructor Facilitation
- Simulation-Based Training
Testimonials
“The significant increase in online training we’ve been able to deploy with CTEC’s assistance has been exponential. Their approach to course revisions greatly enhanced the quality of our learning assets.”
DAU POC
“The modernization of DAU’s training programs has significantly improved their personnel’s readiness and capability.”
CTEC Account Lead, DAU
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