This course examines the physiological, psychological, and socio/cultural factors related to learning and development of humans throughout the life cycle, as appropriate for the organization's needs. Selected theories of learning and development are critically analyzed and applied to teaching contexts. Students are expected to critically examine their own assumptions and beliefs about learning, and development and develop an appropriate approach to the task of designing learning based on the organization's workforce and needs. Attention is given to stages of cognitive growth, the development of learning goals, learning environments, and to a variety of theories of learning. Learning styles are discussed as a sub component of learning theories.

In a learning environment assessing the accomplishment of learning outcomes involves designing evaluation instruments, collecting data regarding performance, and calculating the overall impact of learning. Of equal importance is to calculate the costs for the learning program to demonstrate a return on investment to the organization. This outcome is computed through measuring the increased competencies of the learners and determining the value the learning contributes to the organization. To achieve this outcome learners will measure and grade performance for a variety of intellectual learner domains as well as assess the overall program effectiveness through interpretation of data. This is an online class only.