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Create - Ensure Impact

Create: Ensure Impact

The University of Missouri Extension must weigh the investment of time, labor, and resources to develop and provide a program or product against the value it offers Missourians.

Here, you'll find resources to help you:

Know your learner icon

Know Your Learners

The only way to develop engaging learning experiences is to start with a deep knowledge of the learners as they are now. Without such knowledge, it is difficult to know what they need, why they need it, why they may want it, and how to design an effective learning experience. Best practices do not rely on your assumptions about what your learners need. Best practices recommend you find potential learners, ask what they need and listen deeply to their responses.

  • Who is your learner and what do they look like now? Here are Guiding Questions for:
    • Listening sessions
    • Pilot studies
    • Targeted surveys
Define value icon

Define Your Program's Value

What are you trying to accomplish?

  • Are you trying to get director support to develop a new program?
  • Are you writing a grant to fund a new program?
  • Are you outsourcing program development?
  • Are you making plans to market your program?

All these questions require deep and thoughtful consideration of your program from multiple perspectives. We've developed a guide to help you think through the many interests and perspectives that comes to bear on a single program.

Define program value

How does your program align with organizational goals? Explore MU Extension's plans of work to determine if, and how, your program aligns.

Carefully consider the financial implications related to designing, developing, implementing and evaluating your program. What are the total costs: faculty and support time, development of educational resources, training costs, program delivery costs, etc.?

You might consider the 30 percent rule. Development will cost 30 percent more and take 30 percent longer than you think.

Soon, we will provide a few simple tools to help you explore the development, training and delivery costs associated with a program.

Support with Evidence icon

Support with Evidence

How large is your audience? How urgent is the need? How do you know? Provide evidence to support your audiences' needs.