Using a Theory-Driven Approach to Design a Professional Development Workshop

The objective of this study was to show how a theory-driven approach to program planning was used to design and evaluate a professional development workshop. Our method was to demonstrate modeling of theory use as a teaching strategy. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used to structure all components of a 6-hour workshop. This workshop significantly increased participants' intention to use theory in designing programs (P < .0001). Educators can apply the methods demonstrated here to systematically use theory in the development, implementation, and evaluation of their workshops, staff trainings, and curricular materials for professionals and consumers.