SPECIAL NOTICE
U -- Development, Maintenance, Revision, and Update of Acquisition Courses and Other Training Support Services - Attachment 3 - Response Cover Page - Attachment 5 - Labor Template - Attachment 4 - Sample Course Content - Attachment 1 - List of HSAI Acquisition Courses - Attachment 2 - Courseware Levels of Interactivity
- Notice Date
- 3/3/2017
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 611430
— Professional and Management Development Training
- Contracting Office
- Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Washington, District of Columbia, 20528, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20528
- Solicitation Number
- DHS-17-001
- Archive Date
- 4/1/2017
- Point of Contact
- Nikolai C. Matoka, Phone: (202) 447-5426
- E-Mail Address
-
nikolai.matoka@hq.dhs.gov
(nikolai.matoka@hq.dhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Attachment 2 - Courseware Levels of Interactivity Attachment 1 - List of HSAI Acquisition Courses Attachment 4 - Sample Course Content Attachment 5 - Labor Template Attachment 3 - Response Cover Page Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) Homeland Security Acquisition Institute (HSAI) Request for Information (RFI) Title: Development, Maintenance, Revision, and Update of Acquisition Courses and Other Training Support Services SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE & REQUEST FOR INFORMATION. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is for planning purposes only and shall not be construed as an obligation on the part of the Government. This is NOT a Request for Quotation (RFQ) or Proposal (RFP). No solicitation documents exist, and a formal solicitation may or may not be issued by the Government as a result of the responses received to this RFI. If there is a formal solicitation, this RFI will help determine which GSA Schedule (if applicable) will be used to post the requirement. The Government will not pay for any response or demonstration expenses. Any information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The purpose of this RFI is to collect information from industry on specific training support services for the capabilities as delineated in Section II, Scope. HSAI's background is provided in Section I to give industry a frame of reference to help in the development of responses. I. BACKGROUND Since its inception in 2007, the Homeland Security Acquisition Institute (HSAI), under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), has undertaken extensive course development efforts to support training and certification programs for the Department's acquisition workforce. The catalog of HSAI-owned content is comprised of over fifty (50) instructor-led (ILT), virtual instructor-led (vILT), and web-based training (WBT) courses. WBT courses are Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) based and developed to be compatible with the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) learning management system known as Atlas, and with the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) learning management system (LMS) based on the Moodle learning platform. In addition, ILT courses for the acquisition workforce are offered at a centralized HSAI training center in Washington, D.C., at DHS Component facilities across the country, and delivered in vILT format to the Department's workforce nationwide. New training and continuous learning requirements occur intermittingly, thus requiring HSAI to look strategically at investments in the acquisition workforce to ensure the critical capabilities needed to enable mission success are acquired. HSAI is responsible for development and delivery of training related to the following acquisition disciplines: 1. Contracting Officer Warranting 2. Cost Estimating (CE) 3. Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representative (FAC-COR) 4. Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C) 5. Life Cycle Logistics (LCL) 6. Ordering Official (OO) 7. Project and Program Management (P/PM) 8. Program Financial Management (PFM) 9. Systems Engineering (SE) 10. Test and Evaluation (TEV) 11. Joint Requirements Development and Evaluation A sample list of HSAI acquisition courses that currently exist or are under development to support these disciplines is provided in Attachment 1: List of HSAI Acquisition Courses. II. SCOPE In order to successfully execute the HSAI training mission, support for the following are the types of capabilities required: 1. Maintenance, revision, and update of existing instructor-led (classroom and/or vILT), and web-based courses and materials. 2. Development and pilot of new courses in instructor-led (classroom and/or vILT), and web-based courses and materials. 3. Delivery of instructor-led courses (classroom and/or vILT). 4. Development of self-instructional materials such as job aids and desk guides. 5. Evaluation of transfer of learning to the job as well as other levels of the Kirkpatrick training evaluation model. 6. Subject matter expertise support in the acquisition workforce certification disciplines cited above. 7. Course and curriculum analyses, to include an analysis of how well courses meet certification requirements and any curriculum gaps. 8. Competency and curriculum mapping for the acquisition workforce certification disciplines cited above. III. REQUIREMENTS The HSAI requirement for Development, Maintenance, Revision, and Update of Acquisition Courses and Other Training Support Services is comprised of the following tasks: 1. Development, Maintenance, Revision, and Update of Courseware; 2. Conversion of Paper-Based Student Materials to Electronic Formats and Making Electronic Materials 508 Conformant; 3. Training Analysis and Evaluation; and 4. Training Delivery Support. III.A. TASK A - Development, Maintenance, Revision, and Update of Courseware including WBT, ILT, and vILT. The Contractor shall assist the government with design, development, and maintenance of WBT and instructor-led (classroom and vILT format) courses required for DHS acquisition workforce training and certification. For each project, this may entail course and curriculum analysis; implementation of Government-defined and Contractor-recommended maintenance, revisions, and updates; course configuration control; and/or new course development to effectively deliver content pertaining to concepts, principles, facts, procedures, practices, and policies that meet DHS acquisition program competencies and training requirements. The Contractor shall revise and develop courses using industry or academia accepted standards for classroom, web-based or virtual instructor-led instructional design, such as the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) or similar model. New content development, changes, and revisions must fill gaps in existing courses as well as expand and enhance them. Therefore, the Contractor shall provide access to subject matter experts (SMEs) beyond those provided by the Government to support these DHS acquisition disciplines cited in Section I. For WBT and vILT courseware revision/update, conversion from ILT, and new development efforts, the Contractor shall produce e-learning level 2 (or higher) interactive courseware that meets the learning objectives and expected outcomes of the original course content, but may contain additional learning objectives and knowledge checks to better facilitate learning and assessment (see Attachment 2 - Courseware Levels of Interactivity for information regarding e-learning levels). Modules or lessons may be designed with different levels of interactivity within the same course based on the complexity of the content and key learning points to be conveyed. Direct conversion of existing instructor-led course content to web-based or vILT content, without modifying the content and/or flow for at least e-level 2 online delivery format (adding popup definitions, adding knowledge checks, etc.), is unacceptable. Course materials such as supplementary self-instructional desk guides, job aids, tutorials, handouts, assessments, grading rubrics, and facilitator guides shall be developed to be used in electronic formats vs. paper-based where possible and appropriate. Design requirements regarding paper vs. electronic format shall be determined as part of the course design process. Materials shall be readable by students and editable by HSAI staff, using standard Microsoft Office applications, Adobe Acrobat, or browser-based means. All electronic materials shall be fully accessible and 508 conformant. The Contractor shall develop WBT courseware using non-proprietary development tools and software applications in a manner to facilitate expansions and updates. The courseware shall be packaged in SCORM 2004 format compatible with the DAU Atlas system and with the FAI LMS based on the Moodle platform. Courseware and other training products shall be developed and tested in accordance with the DHS Office of Accessible Systems & Technology (OAST) standards and test process guidelines, available from https://www.dhs.gov/compliance-test-processes. These include: • DHS Section 508 Compliance Test Process for Applications • Microsoft Word 2010 - 508 Conformance Test Process • DHS Section 508 PDF Document Accessibility Test Process Contractors shall provide OAST-certified Trusted Testers to facilitate this requirement. Contractors shall provide the Trusted Testers and not use government resources to accomplish 508 conformance. Trusted Tester training and certification involves completion of several courses and final certification exam, a process that may take approximately 4-6 weeks to complete. More information can be obtained by sending an email to accessibility@hq.dhs.gov. Instructor-led, vILT, and WBT course revisions/updates and new development efforts shall be implemented with a course pilot, or equivalent, with the goal of making necessary changes to the final version of the courseware. Contractors are encouraged to submit their course development and revision/update process, to include pilot delivery procedures. III.B. TASK B - Conversion of Paper-Based Student Materials to Electronic Formats and Making Electronic Materials 508 Conformant. HSAI is transitioning to electronic student materials for classroom ILT and vILT courses. The Contractor shall assist the government with conversion of existing student and instructor materials to 508-conformant "eBook" formats (see OAST standards cited for Task A above). The Contractor shall develop a prototype or concept presentation for their definition of "eBook" interactive student materials. Source files for existing student and instructor materials (lesson content, handouts, exercises and supplemental documentation, quizzes and exams) shall be provided in Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe Acrobat formats. Acceptable electronic file formats for final eBooks include any or all of the following: HTML or XML viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 11 or greater; Microsoft Office Suite products; and Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat DC. Source files and materials will be provided by the government. Additional Task B Requirements: • Editorial design and analysis: Contractor shall create a sample chapter or lesson that serves as a blueprint for building the remainder of the student eBook from training content provided by the government in the form of modules, lessons, and course resources. Contractor will consult with government and contractor-provided SMEs to enrich or expand content for interactivity opportunities. All interactivity will be accessible to users of assistive technologies and Section 508 conformant. • Software: Contractor's design will not use proprietary software or tools, ensuring that editing and future updates can be implemented by the government. The final student eBook shall be provided for students for use without proprietary software or tools (i.e., in Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF, browser-based formats, etc.) • Digital composition development: Contractor will construct and program all interactive elements based on the storyboards from the editorial and design analysis phase. • Testing and quality assurance: Contractor will conduct thorough proofreading of the digital content against the source files and the printed book to ensure that all of the appropriate content was transferred and all interactivities incorporated in the right places. A functionality test will be conducted to ensure that all links and interactivities work correctly across web platforms to include Internet Explorer 11+, Chrome (latest version) or Firefox (latest version). • 508 Conformance: Contractor will ensure all student eBooks are Section 508 conformant in accordance with applicable test standards of the DHS Office of Accessible Systems and Technologies (OAST). III.C. TASK C - Training Analysis and Evaluation. Subtask C.1: The Contractor shall assist the government with course and curriculum analysis functions and provide analysis reports. This task may require looking across related courses in a curriculum or content area to determine alignment, as well as analyzing the extent to which the training product(s) supports workforce competency requirements. • If an existing WBT course requires updates to incorporate new content, the analysis report shall provide recommendations for changes to learning objectives based on an analysis of learner needs, changes to content, and recommendations for the most effective instructional methods to present each training concept, principle, procedure, or practice. The analysis will be performed for all course content, including course exercises and job aids or supplementary materials that are part of the course. The output of the analysis process will be a thorough assessment of the current state of the course content and recommended improvements. • If a new WBT course is to be developed, or an existing ILT course is to be delivered in a web-based or vILT format, then the analysis report shall also address the Contractor's recommendations for the course including but is not limited to an analysis of learning objectives and target audience needs, preliminary ideas on course design, suggested treatment of course content, and suggested types of interactions to engage learners. • For ILT training where an existing course will be revised or a new course will be developed, comparable analyses shall be done for the instructor-led content. The purpose of the analyses includes but is not limited to effectively communicating the Contractor's understanding of the work to be performed, their understanding of the learning needs of the target audience, revisions needed to learning objectives, and the Contractor's recommendations for developing and presenting course content, and suggested treatment of that content. Subtask C.2: The Contractor shall assist the government to develop the methodology, process, and evaluation instruments required to measure the "transfer of learning to behavior" for select HSAI acquisition courses. Due to government HR limitations, formal Level 3 and 4 Kirkpatrick evaluations that involve supervisor or peer assessment cannot be conducted; however, there is still a need to determine if courses impact both individual and organizational performance. Contractors shall be tasked with coming up with innovative ways to measure these type of metrics and submit to the government for consideration. III.D. TASK D - Training Delivery Support. The Contractor shall provide qualified instructors to teach the HSAI-developed Acquisition and Contracting courses developed and owned by DHS. Classes that are ILT or vILT with a blended (classroom and remote) audience shall be delivered at Government-provided locations both inside and outside of the Washington, D.C. metro area. vILT classes may be delivered from the Contractor site. vILT classes with a blended (classroom and remote) audience shall be delivered from either a Contractor site equipped to support such delivery, or from HSAI's Washington, DC facility. Due to an occasional need to change the dates and locations of the training courses, classes may be cancelled and rescheduled by the government without penalty within fifteen (15) business days of the class delivery start date, unless otherwise specified. The Contractor shall provide copies of all course materials (paper and/or digitally) as necessary for each course offering. The Contractor shall be responsible for configuration management and version control of all training material source files modified including but not limited to: quizzes, exams, assessments, grading rubrics, handouts, exercises, appendices, instructor guides, student guides, and graphics. For classes requiring printed materials, delivery of printed materials to the training location is required no fewer than fourteen (14) calendar days before class commences. For classes requiring digital course materials, the Contractor shall provide student and instructor files to the Government no fewer than fourteen (14) calendar days prior to the class start date in order to ensure classroom servers are updated. Instructors must meet the Government-established qualifications detailed below: • Instructors must have a minimum of five years of experience conducting training for a Federal client. The ideal instructor shall have a rich repertoire of examples and personal experience related to Federal acquisition programs that he or she can share with students. Federal experience is preferred over Department of Defense (DoD) experience. • Instructors of vILT courses must have a minimum of three years of experience conducting training in a virtual format. • Instructors must be program management professionals who possess a thorough knowledge and understanding of federal Government program management, contracting and/or acquisition processes, practices, and procedures with particular emphasis relating to the specific course(s) they shall teach. • Instructors must have one of the following certifications, or be able to demonstrate experience commensurate to that of the following certifications, as necessary for the topic areas for which the instructor is assigned: a. Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting (FAC-C), Level III or the Department of Defense's Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) in Contracting, Level III. b. Federal Acquisition Certification for Contracting Officer's Representative (FAC-COR), Level III. IV. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION HSAI is requesting the following information to determine available sources: 1. Provide a business statement discussing your core services. 2. Identify applicable labor categories and hours for the development of a new course using an existing course shell for WBT and vILT. If different from the labor categories for WBT, identify what labor category(ies) apply to vILT new course development efforts. Reference Task A - Development, Maintenance, Revision, and Update of Courseware including WBT, ILT, and vILT. 3. Describe the process and level of effort involved for the conversion of existing student and instructor materials to 508-conformant electronic formats. Also briefly describe methodology used to address the requirement items described in Task B - Conversion of Paper-Based Student Materials to Electronic Formats and Making Electronic Materials 508 Conformant. 4. Provide an estimate labor hour mix including the number of hours and labor categories needed to convert paper-based student materials to an eBook format, and making electronic materials 508 conformant. The estimate shall be in two parts: 1) converting a 40 hour course to an eBook format, and 2) incorporating 508 accessibility standards to 100 pages of Adobe PDF materials. Sample Course Content is provided for reference (Attachment 4). 5. Identify applicable labor categories and hours for the activities described in Tasks C - Training Analysis and Evaluation and D - Training Delivery Support. The anticipated CLIN types are listed within the attached Labor Template (Attachment 5). V. RESPONSE INSTRUCTION We are requesting industry to provide a written Statement of Capability to this RFI that addresses the extent to which the requirements identified above can be met. Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Electronic files larger than 5 MB shall be broken down into multiple files with no single file exceeding 5 MB. Interested parties are requested to include the cover page (Attachment 3) with all submissions. Submissions shall not exceed 15 pages, excluding cover page. Each electronic submission shall include: • The RFI number in the subject line, RFI#: DHS-17-001 • The file number and total files being submitted (e.g., File 1 of 4, File 2 of 4, etc.); • A Point of Contact (POC), phone number and email address of the person (in the body of the email) to be contacted regarding any correspondence between the Government and the Vendor. The POC shall be capable of addressing questions or issues associated with the submission and content of the RFI; and • A brief summary of email content, vendor name, vendor GSA Schedule Contract number (including Schedule number and GSA Schedule category number), and the firm's mailing address. Your response must be delivered via email to Ronald Jean-Baptiste (Ronald.Jean-Baptiste@hq.dhs.gov) and Nikolai Matoka (Nikolai.Matoka@hq.dhs.gov). The due date of submissions is 3:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on Friday, March 17, 2017. Any information submitted determined to be proprietary or confidential shall be marked accordingly. Please be advised that all submissions become the property of the Federal Government, and will not be returned. Responses to this RFI may be reviewed by Government technical experts drawn from staff within DHS and other Federal agencies. The Government may use selected support contractor personnel to assist in the review. These support contractors will be bound by appropriate non-disclosure agreements. This action will be governed under DHS law enforcement sensitive guidelines. Questions and requests for clarifications on this RFI must be sent via email to Nikolai Matoka (Nikolai.Matoka@hq.dhs.gov) as soon as possible, but no later than 12:00 PM ET on Wednesday, March 8, 2017. Responses to questions will be posted for all to see as a modification to the FBO.gov post. NOTE: This Request for Information (RFI) is released pursuant to FAR Part 15.201(e), Exchanges with Industry, and all interested parties are encouraged to respond. This request is for information purposes only and shall not be considered as a request for proposal or as an obligation. This is not a solicitation; no award will be made as a result of this request. The government will not pay for information and materials received in response to this synopsis. Responses to this notice are not an offer and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. All responses become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter.
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