Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. The Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Crisis Line Training section provides 24/7 crisis support services connecting callers with qualified VA counselors. The Instructional Systems Specialist develops, evaluates, and improves training programs and curricula for the Veterans Crisis Line, Peer Support Outreach Center, and external stakeholders, while advising leadership and supporting other training subject-matter authorities.
Responsibilities
- Accomplishes broad and complex assignments associated with conceiving, developing, implementing and evaluating VCL/PSOC (Peer Support Outreach Center) training programs and curriculum for VCL external stakeholders
- Applies principles of organizational development to help build the capacity to design and develop training programs and curriculum focused on improving employee knowledge and understanding of evidence-based and best practice crisis intervention skills and agency processes and protocols
- Provides independent, critical reviews of entire courses or specific lessons, focusing especially on the inherent logic, completeness and efficiency of teaching strategies and methodologies, finalizes changes with the course developer and submits them for final quality review in accordance with prescribed completion dates
- Constructs/develops practical exercises and examinations to meet and measure the specified training objectives
- Recommends course structural changes to provide the proper sequencing of objectives, adequate spacing of practice and reinforcement exercises and an overall instructional design whose learning outcomes are logically consistent with the teaching purposes
- Analyzes organizational performance problems, new requirements and taskings to employees that are or may become training issues and recommends appropriate actions
- Develops and delivers presentations to executive leadership and department leads to introduce and seek approval of new or enhance external training initiatives
- Reviews job and task analyses; task inventories; job and target population data; course participant's feedback and recommendations; existing course materials to identify training shortfalls and redundancies
- Determines appropriate strategies to correct problems identified and makes recommendations to senior leadership
- Serves as a subject-matter authority in the methodologies of adult learning, Interactive Multimedia instruction, Instructional Systems Design, Criterion-Referenced instruction, Competency Based instruction and/or Experiential Learning Model instruction in the area of providing specialized training, e.g., curriculum development, instructional media, multimedia delivery systems and audiovisual training aids, training devices, programmed instruction, testing and outcomes measurement, etc
- Assists in developing training and education strategies and products for the VCL program
- Conducts comprehensive literature reviews and performs professional research in order to identify innovative techniques and tools that will facilitate the tailoring of training content to meet the needs of the Veteran's Crisis Line, Peer Support Outreach Center and its external stakeholders
- Provides ongoing pedagogical training, guidance, and assistance to other subject-matter authorities who are analyzing, designing and developing training programs and products
Skills
- U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S
- You must possess a Bachelor's Degree (Transcript Required) that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours appropriate to the work of the position to be filled
- The course work must have included study in at least four of the following five areas:
- 1) Learning theory, psychology of learning, educational psychology: Study of learning theories as they relate to the systematic design, development and validation of instructional material
- 2) Instructional design practices: Study of the principles and techniques used in designing training programs, developing design strategy and models and applying design methods to the improvement of instructional effectiveness
- 3) Educational evaluation: Study of the techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of instructional/educational programs, including developing written and performance tests and survey instruments and determining reliability and validity of evaluation instruments
- 4) Instructional product development: Study of the techniques appropriate for developing training materials, including identifying learner characteristics, specifying objectives, applying training strategy, validating training materials and evaluating training
- 5) Computers in education and training: Study of the application of computers in education and training, including selecting appropriate computer software
- You must possess one (1) full year of specialized experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled
- To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-9) in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization
- Specialized experience includes utilizing learning theories, principles, methods, practices and techniques of education and training in order to evaluate, design and develop education and training program needs; utilizing Interactive Multimedia Instruction in the design and development of mobile applications, web-based and CD-ROM instructional delivery platforms; performing subject-matter research, evaluating and developing educational materials, standards, guides, methods and aids; advising on, designing, developing and providing educational and training services in formal education and/or training programs
- You must possess three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree or Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree that is directly related to the specialization of the position to be filled
- You must possess equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school graduate level education and qualifying specialized experience to meet the total qualification requirements at the GS-11 level
- The work is typically sedentary and is performed while sitting at a desk, in conferences, briefings, meetings, etc. There may be occasional brief visits to other staff offices to observe employees at work. The employee may occasionally be required to operate a motor vehicle
Benefits
- A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package.
- Federal employees and their families have access to a range of benefits.
- Remote position; selectees will work 100% of the time in a non-VA-owned space outside of the local commuting area of a parent station.
- Federal employees earn annual leave at a rate of 4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee.
- Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual based on prior work experience or military service experience; such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
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