Study 6: Title Gathering validity evidence for a new instructional design model at a military academy: A study among officer cadets.

This study describes the further collection of validity evidence for the integrated instructional design model (i.e. TrEd ID model) from officer cadets of the Gendarmerie Corps at the Netherlands Defence Academy through a mixed methods study, involving surveys and focus group sessions. Integrating skills training with academic education presents a significant challenge across various professional sectors. For instance, at a military academy, officer cadets of a Gendarmerie Corps develop skills and strategic thinking through separate military training and academic educational frameworks, which are often delivered in a fragmented manner.

This disconnection may hinder the officer cadets' ability to effectively combine these elements during real-world operations. To address this issue, an innovative integrated instructional design model was developed to meet the needs of both military training and academic education. To obtain validity evidence (for explanation, see summary of chapter 6) for this so-called TrEd ID model, we conducted a mixed methods study, involving surveys and focus group sessions with officer cadets of the Gendarmerie Corps from the Netherlands Defence Academy.

The findings of this study indicate that the TrEd ID model successfully fulfills the requirements of both military training and academic education, and provide insights for its potential implementation. Future research could focus on gathering validity evidence within other professional fields, such as police and medical education, where bridging the gap between skills training and academic education is likewise essential for effective professional development.

Software SPSS (v28.0.0.0). ATLAS.ti (v24).

Methods

Survey: Means and standard deviation. Focus group sessions: Thematic analysis.

Data description

Demographic characteristics of participants and Quantitative survey data. Audio recording and transcript Officer education (Officer cadets).