How to Design Development Projects

Inter-American Development Bank

About

This training is for teams involved in developing, monitoring, or evaluating projects that will improve the quality of life of a certain population. Learners will learn to describe a development problem and how to propose an appropriate solution to address it.

This training includes tools that will help teams present a project’s objectives and expected results, as well as indicators that will facilitate project monitoring during execution, and project performance evaluation at the end of the project.

The training is a tutor-led course and includes a face-to-face component, and has been delivered in English, Spanish and Portuguese for more than 3 editions.

My Role

Manage Project & Develop Learning Resources

I managed the project alongside team leaders, stakeholders and SMEs, and developed all learning resources including instructional videos, practice guides, learning templates, infographics and practice exercises.

Also, I trained tutors and was responsible for the identification and oversight of external vendors for the production of learning resources. 

Finally, I led the implementation of the course on edX platform and the delivery of face-to-face sessions.

Assets & Tools

Using a Competency-based Approach

For this course we used a competency-based approach for the design of all practice activities, putting practical experience at the heart of learning. Since this course’s goal was to promote the use of specific IDB tools and methodology, we developed experiential and guided learning exercises so learners could test their knowledge and abilities, and receive constant feedback at the face-to-face sessions, while doing so.

Learning by Doing

We developed a case study that was used as a recurrent example throughout the whole course’s learning resources and practical exercises. By creating a concrete experience through practical exercises, we made learners reflect on a real scenario, so they could easily converge theory and practice, and apply it to real projects. 

This certainly established a clear and organized pathway for learners to understand operational procedures and replicate them in their everyday work tasks.