Person:
Watkins, Ryan

Educational Technology Leadership, George Washington University
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Fields of Specialization
Needs Assessment; Instructional Design
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ORCID
0000-0003-0488-4424
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Ryan R. Watkins
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Educational Technology Leadership, George Washington University
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Last updated: January 31, 2023
Biography
Ryan Watkins, Ph.D. is an associate professor at the George Washington University in Washington DC.  His most recent publication is A Guide to Assessing Needs: Essential Tools for Collecting Information, Making Decisions, and Achieving Development Results (World Bank, 2011). He is an author of the world's top-selling text on e-learning (with more than 100,000 copies in press and a 4th edition in the works), the E-learning Companion: A learner’s guide to online success (Houghton Mifflin, 2005, 2007, 2010), along with other books including the Handbook for Improving Performance in the Workplace - Volume 2 (Pfieffer/Wiley, 2010), Performance By Design: The systematic selection, design, and development of performance technologies (HRD Press, 2006).The Handbook for Improving Performance in the Workplace won a 2011 ISPI Award of Excellence in the field of performance improvement.  In addition, he has co-authored three other books on organizational planning and more than 95 articles on instructional design, strategic planning, needs assessment, distance education, and performance technology. His articles are frequently cited in the performance improvement literature, making him the 4th most cited author of journal articles in the field.  

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Exploring Causal Links for Scaling Up Investments in Renewable Energy
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022) Rubinson, Claude; Jayawardena, Migara; Watkins, Ryan; Butscher, Joy; Berrah, Noureddine
    This paper uses Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to validate the theory of change developed for an evaluation of renewable energy strategies, identifying pathways for scaling up RE in a variety of different contexts. QCA was used to translate qualitative judgements into quantitative information, triangulating findings from other methods and helping to draw conclusions on how best to meet global energy goals established by the international community. The analysis also helped identify three specific pathways through which precondition barriers could be addressed to overcome challenges facing the successful achievement of the clean energy transition.
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    Delphi Technique: How Expert Panels Predict Emerging Opportunities and Challenges in Renewable Energy
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-01) Jayawardena, Migara; Heijndermans, Enno; West Meiers, Maurya; Watkins, Ryan; Butsscher, Joy; Shenghui, Feng; Berrah, Noureddine
    This paper describes how a panel of global experts on renewable energy (RE) was convened to anticipate the major opportunities and challenges facing the scale-up of RE to meet sustainable development and climate goals. The panelists participated in a Delphi process through which their views and perceptions were analyzed. The Delphi panel helped contextualize the future of rapidly evolving RE markets, against which the World Bank Group’s readiness to help clients could be assessed. The Delphi panel also identified critical barriers that were triangulated with results from other methods to chart a pathway for scaling up RE.
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    A Guide to Assessing Needs : Essential Tools for Collecting Information, Making Decisions, and Achieving Development Results
    (World Bank, 2012-01-06) Visser, Yusra Laila; Watkins, Ryan; West Meiers, Maurya
    This book will benefit people and teams involved in planning and decision making. On the basis of their pragmatic value in guiding decisions, needs assessments are used in various professions and settings from emergency rooms to corporate boardrooms to guide decision making. Nonetheless, although needs assessments have many different applications, in this book on needs assessments as they are applied in organizations to accomplish results, as opposed to their use in personal decisions or medical triage. This book, in turn, is guide to assessing needs and then making essential decisions about what to do next. This book filled with practical strategies, tools, and guides covers both large-scale, formal needs assessments and less-formal assessments that guide daily decisions. Included in the book is a blend of rigorous methods and realistic tools that can help make informed and reasoned decisions. Together, these methods and tools offer a comprehensive, yet realistic, approach to identifying needs and selecting among alternative ways as go forward. Sections one and two offer quick, yet full, answers to many frequently asked questions regarding how to make justifiable decisions. Next, section three examines a variety of tools and techniques that can be used for both collecting information and making decisions. Appendix A then offers a number of checklists and guides for managing the systematic assessment processes that lead to quality decisions. Finally, the reference list at the end of the book is a valuable resource to research, tools, and discussions of needs assessment.
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    The Art of Designing and Implementing Study Tours: A Guide Based on the Art of Knowledge Exchange Methodology
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017) Kumar, Shobha; Watkins, Ryan
    Designing and implementing study tours that get results can be a big undertaking. This guide, the art of designing and implementing study tours, aims to take out the guesswork by breaking down the process into simple steps. The study tour guide is written specifically for those who broker or coordinate or facilitate Study Tours between knowledge seekers and knowledge providers. A study tour is a learning journey for both the knowledge providers and seekers as it truly taps into the power and potential of peer-to-peer learning. When designing a study tour, it is useful to consider the different needs and characteristics of these two groups separately. Based on the World Bank Group’s flagship publication, the art of knowledge exchange: a results-focused planning guide for development practitioners, this study tour guide benefits greatly from the tried and tested roadmap and results-focused methodology of the art of knowledge exchange. It is an effort to delve deeper into one of the knowledge exchange instruments from the Art of Knowledge Exchange Toolbox, and provide detailed guidance on how to design and implement study tours for higher development impact. Based on the World Bank Group’s flagship publication. This study tour guide benefits greatly from the tried and tested roadmap and results-focused methodology of the art of knowledge exchange. It is an effort to delve deeper into one of the knowledge exchange instruments from the art of knowledge exchange toolbox, and provide detailed guidance on how to design and implement study tours for higher development impact. This guide uses a primary case study, study tour in Action, to illustrate the five steps in the art of knowledge exchange methodology. These five steps, anchor, define, design, implement, and evaluate, provide the roadmap for effective Study Tours that get results. The guide also highlights four additional examples to illustrate how study tours have supported development outcomes when systematically designed and integrated as a part of a larger change process.
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    The Art of Knowledge Exchange: A Results-Focused Planning Guide for Development Practitioners in the Social, Urban, Land, and Resilience Sectors
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-02-01) Kumar, Shobha; Leonard, Aaron; Watkins, Ryan; Vovides, Yianna; Kerby, Brigitte
    Based on the original Art of Knowledge Exchange: A Results-Focused Planning Guide for Development Practitioners, this guide has been customized for practitioners in the urban, social, land, and resilience sectors. It offers a practical step-by-step framework with illustrative examples on how to design, implement, and measure progress with regard to knowledge exchange initiatives. While the guide contains information that is of value to all those involved in knowledge exchange from the local to the global level, it is particularly geared to those who broker the exchange of knowledge and expertise on development challenges and solutions in the areas of urban and social development, land administration, and resilience.