Instructional Design-

Conduit Bending in Solar Panel Installers

By: Gallant, Goff, Hitt, and Lee

The Organization

Sunny Side Solar (pseudonym) is a solar panel sales and installation company that focuses on residential solar panel sales and installation.

Background

Solar energy was once a rarely used form of renewable energy, now it is the leader, producing billions of dollars annually in the US. As the industry has grown, jobs have flourished.

Sunny Side Solar is seeking ways to leverage their products over their competitors. They are also bracing for a tariff that may increase costs and cause revenues to decline. In order to maintain profitability, the company must maintain a high quality of work in terms of productivity (completing panel installations on schedule), quality, and safety (zero accidents).

Sunny Side Solar currently uses 5-person installation crews. Each installation crew (Crew Lead, Roof Lead, Installer (3)) is expected to install at least 170KW per month to assist the company in achieving its business objectives. The company also encourages installation crews to increase production above 170KW per month while maintaining quality and safety.

Opportunity

Management has noticed that some crews produce above average monthly KW installation rates, while others only produce average, or below average, amounts of KW. The organization is eager to increase productivity and "understand why some people aren't doing their job correctly".

The client has asked for assistance in the identification of behaviors that are contributing to inconsistent installation output from crews and propose interventions to address these behaviors.

Rationale

In order to better understand the client’s request, it was necessary to determine the performance problem, understand the differences between the below average, average, and above average performers, identify the root cause of the performance problem, and determine the appropriate intervention to address the KW production problem. The Bronco ID Model was selected as the overarching framework to systematically define the performance problem and propose solutions that are aligned with FF Solar’s installation quotas and larger organizational objectives.

The Bronco ID Model provides a framework for ensuring that proposed human performance interventions are both systematic and systemic in nature. Although this framework is organized and primarily intended for instructional interventions, the Analysis Phase of this model allows an HPT to determine if an instructional intervention is required. The initial scope of this project involved the completion of the Analysis and Design Phases of the Bronco ID Model for our client organization. Instructional material development and program implementation were outside of the scope of this project.

Analysis

Performance Analysis

Interviews with Human Resources

Phone and email communication were conducted with FF Solar’s HR Director and HR Generalist. This provided information about the organizational structure, hiring processes, business objectives, time estimates for each type of installation, crew installation performance data, and explanations for data irregularities.

Interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs)

Phone interview with SMEs (Artie, Roger) provided explanations of how crews are organized, qualitative analysis of the skills possessed by newly hired installers, insight into how skill development for installers occurs within installation teams, and an explanation of how the lack of conduit bending skills contribute to sub-optimal performance in installation teams

Chevalier's Updated Behavior Engineering Model

Chevalier’s updated Behavior Engineering Model. (Chevalier, 2003) was used to organize the collected data and determine the root cause of the performance problem. Determined the issue most likely to increase crew performance, if addressed, is a lack of knowledge and skill regarding conduit bending by solar installers.

Job Aid/ EPSS Analysis

This revealed that the amount of skill required, coaching and feedback, safety concerns while learning, rate of performance required on the job, task environment variability, and the culture of the industry make the likelihood of Job Aid effectiveness low.

Task Analysis

YouTube videos on solar panel installation and conduit bending

Klein Tools Conduit Bender Guide

Planning permit and installation design drawings

Phone interviews with SMEs to confirm process understanding

Learner Analysis

Online survey

An online survey was delivered to all installation teams. A response rate of 0% was received.

Installer interviews

Four interviews were conducted (2 exemplary performers, 2 average performers). Information collected from these interviews identified a variance in conduit bending knowledge and skill level among installers. Some installers have received training from previous employers, some have learned on-the-job from their peers, crew leads, or roof leads, some have no training at all.

Design

Instructional Objectives

Performance Assessment

Product and Process Based Assessment

Product and Process based assessments were developed for verification of each objective.

Skill Performance Checklist

Skill performance checklists were developed to ensure accurate and consistent skill verification from all evaluators.

Criteria-referenced Learning Assessments

Criteria-referenced learning assessments were developed; assessments were aligned with the Performance, Conditions, and Criteria identified in the Learning Objectives.

Remediation and Additional Practice

Remediation checklists and additional practice requirements were identified for learners who fail to successfully complete an assessment to standard.

Instructional Plan

Keller's ARCS (Keller, 1987 )

Click on the image above for additional information.

Previous Data

All previous data collection was used in the development of the Instructional Plan.

Merrill’s Corollaries (Merrill, 2002)

Click on the image above for additional information.

Content and unit length

Content and unit length appropriateness were confirmed independently by two SMEs.

Results

Following the Analysis phase of the Bronco ID Model, we determined that the scope of the project needed to be narrowed and an instructional intervention was required to address the skill and knowledge deficiencies associated with conduit bending in solar installers employed by FF Solar.

To address this deficiency, the findings of interviews with Installers, Roof Leads, and Crew Leads were used to complete Chevalier’s updated Behavior Engineering Model, Job Aid/ EPSS Analysis, and the Task Analyses necessary to design a proposed instructional intervention that addresses the skill deficiencies of the installers, contributes to the overarching KW production goals, and is supported by the culture of the organization (Chevalier, 2003).

Although the project ended following the Design Phase of the Bronco ID Model, we reached out to the organization to continue work related to the development, implementation, and evaluation of the effectiveness of the recommended intervention. We received no response from the organization regarding a continued partnership and were informed that some of the staff members who assisted with this project had left the organization.

Since the Analysis and Design work was not developed into training, I believe this project failed to produce positive results for FF Solar. However, this project was submitted for the Nova Southwestern 2019 Award for Outstanding Practice by a Graduate Student in Instructional Design where it received Honorable Mention recognition.

Appendices

Appendix A – OPWL Portfolio Worksheets

References

Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy. New York. Longman Publishing.

Chevalier, R. (2003). Updating the behavior engineering model. Performance Improvement, 42(5), 8-14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pfi.4930420504

Keller, J. M. (1987). The systematic process of motivational design. Performance & Instruction, 26(9/10), 1-8.

Klein Tools Conduit Bender Guide. Retrieved February 8, 2017 from https://www.kleintools.com/sites/kleintools/files/instructions/Conduit%20Bender%20Guide.pdf

Mager, R. F. (1997). Preparing instructional objectives (third edition). Atlanta, GA: Center for Effective Performance.

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research & Development, 50(3), 43-59.

Stepich, D., Villachica, S., & Conley, Q. (2016). Project Description. Retrieved from Spring 2018 OPWL 537 Blackboard site.

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