Project: Assessing Frozen Food Donations
In this post, I summarize the instructional design project I worked on for the Idaho Food Bank, focusing on developing training and assessment tools to ensure the distribution of quality, safe food donations by enhancing the skills of their diverse volunteer workforce.
Table of Contents
Background
The Challenge
The Goal
The Approach
Analyses
Job Aids
Performance Assessment
Instructor Guide
The Results
References
Background
In the Spring of 2022, I worked alongside two other students in the OPWL program on a project with the Idaho Food Bank (IFB). The IFB helps feed, educate, and advocate for Idaho’s hungry through collaborative partnerships that develop efficient solutions that strengthen individuals, families, and communities.
One of IFB’s core values is Integrity – they hold themselves accountable for their actions and demonstrate honesty. Another is Dignity – they treat their clients, partners, volunteers, donors, and coworkers with respect, empathy, and compassion without bias or judgment. Idaho Food Bank works with volunteers to fulfill its mission while adhering to these core values.
The Challenge
A major problem that frequently arose was donors donating food items that failed to meet quality standards. Volunteers lacking proper assessment skills would subsequently distribute these subpar donations to clients. This had dual negative impacts:
- It jeopardized Idaho Food Bank’s commitment to integrity by providing items unfit for consumption, damaging trust and accountability with stakeholders.
- Distributing spoiled or unsafe food directly opposed the dignity and respect the Food Bank wanted to show toward clients in need.
Create a tool to guide both staff and volunteers in accurately assessing donated frozen food items in a way that empowers them to independently determine whether to accept or reject donations based on quality without direct supervision.
The Approach
After reviewing existing standard operating procedures, the first step involved conducting a project kickoff with the client to align on the scope and communication preferences. Subsequently, a series of stakeholder interviews were conducted, utilizing targeted questions to inform the development of four key analyses.
Findings from the Analysis
Learner Analysis
- The learners consisted of predominantly white female retirees. However, during high-volume seasons some additional employees could be pulled from other teams to assist. Learners had a range of educational backgrounds that included some with prior food industry experience.
- A key motivating factor was the desire to provide safe, quality food to recipients.
- Some design implications that stemmed from the learner analysis related to potential vision needs and accessibility considerations for the instructional materials. For example, typography and images should be selected to accommodate vision limitations.
Environmental Analysis
- Refresher training is crucial before and during peak seasons at the Idaho Food Bank to ensure skill retention and accurate application. This training is particularly important to address skill decay over time.
- Job aids would need to be printed on laminated paper or other durable materials and placed in highly visible places around the food bank to facilitate quick reference while handling actual donations.
- As a new training, the organization would need to draw attention to the job aid through training before learners could use it on their own.
Training Requirements Analysis
- An instructor would need to assess volunteers one-on-one so there was the need to provide an instructor guide.
- Images of food in good and poor condition would need to be provided (we could not use real food) so learners could master identifying food that needed to be or accepted or rejected.
- Training should be easy to access as a refresher if need be before and during peak periods.
- Learners would not be using any technology for learning apart from a QR code. The resources would be printed and distributed.
- There would be a hands-on-access resource binder present for employees at all times
Task Analysis
A key insight uncovered early on was that the scope would need to expand beyond just generally assessing “frozen foods.” Through task analysis, we realized donated items fell into three distinct categories requiring separate assessment processes:
- Frozen general foods (ice cream, vegetables, etc.)
- Frozen animal proteins
- Fresh unfrozen animal proteins
Although the project’s scope turned out to be broader than initially expected, this was discussed with the client, leading to an agreed expansion of the project’s scope.
Performance Assessment
As an alternative, we proposed using paper food images of food for performance assessment.
The initial performance assessment prototype required volunteers to document their actions on worksheet pages after each step to discourage guessing and ensure adherence to procedures.
However, testing revealed that this approach was overly burdensome for both volunteers and evaluators.
Ultimately, the decision was made to have volunteers verbally articulate their decision-making process while examining sample food images. This approach not only enables learners to demonstrate their expertise but also strengthens their learning and enhances the confidence required for effective food item assessment.
The Results
The initial feedback from key stakeholders has been favorable. They appreciated the blend of reference guides and simulated evaluation scenarios as intuitive and practical tools, effective in enhancing essential assessment skills among a broader base of volunteers.
The client was particularly impressed with the job aids’ utility and adaptability in meeting the varied needs of learners. Decision trees offer direct guidance for beginners needing structured instructions, while step lists allow for a more self-paced approach to the process, suiting the self-directed nature of experienced volunteers.
References
- Moody, R. (2012). Experiential learning – creating learning experiences with business impact. Development and Learning in Organizations, 26(3), 16- 18. http://doi.org/10.1108/14777281211225767
- Experiential learning theory. (2020, June 8). Western Governors University. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/experiential-learning-theory2006.html#close
- Instructional design course handbook (3rd ed.) OPWL. (Original work published 2019)
- Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2013). Adult learning: Linking theory and practice
(1st ed.). Jossey-Bass. - Roberts, T. G. (2003, July 31). An interpretation of Dewey’s experiential learning theory. ERIC. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED481922.
- What is constructivism? (2020, October 21). Western Governors University. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/what-constructivism2005.html
APPENDIX
Task Analysis
Job Aids
Performance Assessment Instruments
QR Code – Food Images
