Instructional Design

Challenge

The Iowa Gravel Series (IGS) is an organization that organizes endurance cycling races on roads and trails across Iowa state. Chris McQueen, the current Director of IGS, established the organization in 2021 after organizing a race the previous year called the “Glenwood Gravel Grinder.”

Since its inception, IGS has experienced steady organizational growth. Over the course of a racing season, IGS organizes seven bike races on open roads and trails. Each race is designed for a 50-100k biking race and 10k running race option. A board of directors, consisting of five members, oversee the organization and volunteers help set up the course, register participants, staff the aid tents, and photograph the event. The organization’s mission is to connect people and communities through its events.

The broader cycling industry includes events at different levels, including professional races, amateur/grassroots races, fun rides/fundraising/social rides, and community events (USA Cycling, 2025). IGS would be considered a grassroots organization, because it is regional, volunteer run, low budget, and focused on community, rather than competition.

Board members are responsible for training volunteers prior to each race. While these volunteers are dedicated, many lack direct experience in endurance events, potentially leading to gaps in understanding racer needs and duties, though they are responsible for logistical tasks and may need to address medical or mechanical issues during the races. The races are conducted in remote locations, often under hot conditions lacking shade, and there are no medical personnel available on-site. While no significant issues have occured thus far, improper onboarding poses reputational risks for IGS and could jeopardize participant safety.

IGS is expanding to host more events with more participants. Since the organization’s beginning, volunteers have been trained individually, via one-hour phone calls. IGS sought the expertise of an Instructional Design (ID) Team because they needed help scaling their training efforts. They also indicated that they wanted to provide better service and safety for their riders.

The (ID) Team comprised three members: Maryam Hussain, Karyna Mangusheva, and Raul Rodriguez. All three members were current students within the OPWL program.

Goals

The board members of IGS have a desire to expand and improve the IGS races. Streamlining and improving their onboarding training will enable them to scale operations more sustainably and provide the participants a better experience, leading to more participant recruitment. Improving the performance of volunteers is another goal. Well-trained volunteers can respond to rider needs more quickly, maintain safety standards, and represent the organization professionally. Ultimately, these improvements align with IGS’s mission of connecting communities through cycling by creating a safe, organized, and welcoming environment that encourages repeat participation and word-of-mouth growth.

Solutions

Through meetings with the Director and board members, the ID Team was able to determine that developing training is the most appropriate way to address the scalability issue of the current onboarding process. New volunteers have skills gaps that need to be closed through training, but the current training modality is impeding scaling efforts. The ID Team discussed elearning and instructor-led training as possible solutions with the client. Initially, the client requested elearning, because it would create the least amount of burden on the board members. However, instructor-led training was chosen because it was important to deliver the training within the race course setting, and this could not be replicated because the race location was not available until race day. Additionally, the ID Team learned that new volunteers asked a lot of questions, which would be better answered in an instructor-led setting. The final factor was the time constraint of the project, which had to be completed within an academic semester. As a compromise, the client request the ID Team to also make a slide deck with a voice over for volunteers who are not able to attend the live training.

Solutions

The Leaning and Performance Support (LeaPS) instructional design model was used as a framework to guide the project (Giacumo et al., 2024).

Figure 1. Learning and Performance Support (LeaPS) ID Model (Giacumo et al., 2024, pg 33)

The LeaPS model is a systematic and systemic framework comprised of three iterative stages: empathize & analyze, design & develop, and implement & evaluate (Giacumo et al., 2024). The framework distinguishes itself from other instructional design frameworks by considering environmental influences, such as government, economy and cultures, and emphasizing involvement of stakeholders at all levels of the design process.

Data was collected through interviews with the Director and one of the board members, who acted as our Subject Matter Expert (SME). The ID Team requested to interview a race volunteer, but none were available to participate. After analysis, the ID Team developed the instructional materials, seeking feedback from stakeholders throughout the process. Finally, the ID Team requested that IGS pilot the materials and provide feedback prior to final deliverable handoff.

Results

The main volunteers at the races are aid station workers, sweeper(s), registration assistants and a photographer. The critical volunteers are aid station workers and sweeper(s), so the ID Team focused on these two roles.

IGS volunteers vary in their experience levels – some have experience volunteering for other races, some have experience racing or cycling, while others have no related experience at all. Volunteers comprise a diverse range of individuals aged 18 to 65. Volunteers tend to be male – about 75% male – because cyclists tend to be male as well. Volunteers typically have a high school diploma and may have some college education. Finally, volunteers are highly motivated and cooperative.

Then, the ID Team conducted task analysis for the aid station and sweeper.

Tasks Analyses

Aid station:

1.1 Pick up supplies at start/finish line.

1.1.1 Travel to aid station at a certain mile marker. Prerequisite: How to drive on country roads.

2.1 Set up tent, table, chairs, snacks, food.

3.1 Watch for riders

3.1.1 Refill water as riders pass and take.

3.1.2 Refill food/snacks as riders pass and take.

4.1 Provide mechanical assistance to racers. Prerequisite: How to do bike maintenance

5.1 Provide medical assistance to racers. Prerequisite: How to identify and provide first aid for dehydration, heat exhaustion and other illnesses

6.1 Tear down station once all racers have passed through/or sweeper passes through.

7.1 Travel to finish line

7.1.1 Deliver supplies back to start/finish line.

Sweepers:

1.1 Drive the route. Prerequisite: how to drive on country roads, how to use a Garmin or similar divide to load map, how to read course map

2.1. Pick up signs along the way. (avoid picking up signs on routes that double back)

3.1 Locate racers / bikes on course.

3.1.1. Provide mechanical assistance, as needed. Prerequisite: How to do bike maintenance

3.1.2 Pick up racers and bikes, as needed. Prerequisite: How to load bike onto pick-up truck or attach it to vehicle.

3.1.3 Provide medical support, as needed. Prerequisite: How to identify and provide first aid for dehydration, heat exhaustion and other illnesses

4.1. Return signs, bikes, racers to start / finish line.

See Appendix A for the full learner and environmental analysis, task analysis, and learning requirements analysis.

Instructional Materials

As a result of the task analysis, the ID Team decided to develop an instructor led three instructor-led training modules: one for the aid station tasks, one for the sweeper tasks, and one for providing basic medical assistance. Finally, we decided to support the volunteers with two job aids, one for the aid station tasks and one for the medical tasks.

Lesson Plan:

See full lesson plan in Appendix B.

Instructor-Led Training Slide Deck:

See full instructor-led training slide deck in Appendix C. The self-paced slide deck is available in Appendix D.

Instructor Guide:

See full instructor guide in Appendix E.

Job Aids:

IGS was able to use the materials in the next racing season, and continues to expand its offerings, participation, and volunteer pool.

References

Giacumo, L. A., Villachica, S. W., & Stepich, D. A. (2024). Instructional design for organizational justice: a guide to equitable learning, training, and performance in professional education and workforce settings. Routledge.

USA Cycling. (2025, July 10). Get started racing. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://usacycling.org/get-started-racing