SOURCES SOUGHT
U -- CAPE Innovative Learning Modules/Activities
- Notice Date
- 3/31/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 611430
— Professional and Management Development Training
- Contracting Office
- General Services Administration, Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Assisted Acquisitions Services (WQA), 301 7th St SW Rm 6109, Washington, District of Columbia, 20407, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20407
- Solicitation Number
- RFICAPE0001
- Archive Date
- 5/2/2017
- Point of Contact
- JULIO PERDOMO, Phone: 202-431-8576
- E-Mail Address
-
julio.perdomo@gsa.gov
(julio.perdomo@gsa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY for planning and information purposes. It shall not be considered as a request for proposal or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of responses to this notice or the Government's use of such information. No contract will be awarded as a result of this notice. Data submitted in response to this notice will not be returned. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. The information provided in this notice is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. 1.PURPOSE The General Services Administration is issuing this Sources Sought Notice on behalf of the Center for Acquisition Professional Excellence (CAPE) to identify potential acquisition training content providers -- who specialize in innovative learning modules/activities -- to support CAPE's new skill-building tool for acquisition professionals. 1.1.CAPE Program Background The Center for Acquisition Professional Excellence (CAPE) is a new acquisition workforce professional development program, as part of the Office of Acquisition Police, Office of Governmentwide Policy at the General Services Administration (GSA). GSA's goal is to provide best value and superior performance in acquisition services. GSA is the acquisition arm of the Federal government and over 80% of GSA employees are part of the acquisition workforce. In the manner of continual improvement, GSA is planning to improve on traditional acquisition professional development strategies. CAPE will assist in: (1) building the bench for long-term success and (2) being more competitive with programs offered at other agencies. Therefore, GSA's Senior Procurement Executive and the Director of GSA Acquisition Policy, Integrity & Workforce sponsored the development of this CAPE program. CAPE's vision is to raise the bar for federal acquisition professional excellence. CAPE's mission is to make GSA the federal government's premier employer for acquisition professionals by recruiting, developing, and retaining a community of strategic business partners with exceptional acquisition competencies. 1.2.CAPE Tool Product Vision While GSA's acquisition workforce has access to a variety of traditional training (e.g., classroom training, online training, webinars), the acquisition workforce would benefit from additional opportunities to practice new skills in a safe environment before they have to perform them on the job. This is where the CAPE will add value -- by providing an innovative, virtual environment for employees to build their skills. The desired CAPE tool is a virtual learning platform that allows GSA's acquisition workforce (starting with the 1102 series) to demonstrably grow targeted competencies through deliberate practice with feedback and reporting functionality of desired metrics to administrators. Users will be able to track their progress and earn Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) for successfully completing the practice. The tool will grow to guide the acquisition workforce to existing resources (e.g., trainings, Acquisition Gateway, policies, etc.) and activities (e.g., events, mentorships, rotations, etc.) that will help them build targeted competencies, provide recognition of expertise in specific competencies or activities (e.g., badges), and help develop peer networks for advice and expertise. The CAPE tool is a virtual lab for experiential activities to improve skill development, rather than a classroom-based training program focused on acquiring knowledge. These activities will be GSA-centric and will address hot topics, emerging issues, and critical skill gaps. The tool will increase the confidence and competence of the workforce while improving acquisition outcomes. 1.3.CAPE Tool Requirements (1) a Learning Management System (LMS) to serve as the platform and (2) Innovative Learning Modules/Activities (content) that are housed in the LMS. This sources sought notice is for the Innovative Learning Modules/Activities (content). 2.CRITERIA Information is being requested to identify potential vendors who can provide content that meets the following criteria: 2.1.GSA-Specific Skills, Competencies, and Examples A challenge GSA has faced is that much of the existing training content has a Department of Defense focus on large military systems, which is very different from the focus of Civilian contracts. Therefore, it is challenging for the GSA acquisition workforce to relate their classroom learning experiences to their contracts. As such, the CAPE content must: 2.1.1.Develop the learner's job-related skills, not just build the learner's knowledge base. 2.1.2.Provide experiential learning beyond what is currently available through Defense Acquisition University (DAU) and Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) training. 2.1.3.Be customized to meet the needs of GSA's various specialized acquisition communities (e.g., construction, leasing, Federal Supply Schedules (FSS) tasks, Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), etc.). 2.1.4.Improve specific competencies or skills that are identified by GSA as areas of the greatest need. ●GSA would like to focus first on learning activities related to Cost & Price Analysis (C&PA). The content should include three versions to include examples of C&PA for the Construction community, the Schedules community, and the Services community at GSA. Examples include but are not limited to: ○Cost and pricing data - Construction ○Price Reasonableness Determinations - Open market vs FSS ○Other than price and costing data ●Other topics GSA may consider include, but are not limited to: ○Establishing Technical Evaluation Factors ○Source Selection Evaluations ○Conducting Negotiations ○Contingency Contracting Procedures ○Conducting and Evaluating Oral Proposal Presentations ○Utilizing the Small Business Socioeconomic Programs 2.2.Reusability and Cost Effectiveness GSA would like to identify cost-effective learning activities that will provide an engaging experience for users. As such, innovative learning activities for the CAPE Tool must: 2.2.1.Be built around re-usable "backbone" or primary content framework or structure. 2.2.2.Allow for easy insertion (plug-and-play) of multiple scenarios into the primary content framework. 2.2.3.Allow for easy content refreshes (e.g., updated examples) on a regular basis (cadence to be determined), or as regulations are changed/modified. 2.3.Vary in cost/complexity (i.e., low, medium, and high complexity). See Section 4.3.6. Multiple and Innovative Learning ActivitiesGSA seeks "innovative learning activities" to provide experiential learning methods focused on skill-building, rather than traditional knowledge-building activities like classroom, webinar, or online "training". Additionally, to accommodate differences in learners' learning styles, levels of proficiency, and needs, GSA seeks a variety of delivery methods. As such, the contractor will be responsible for providing a variety of innovative learning activities that engage the acquisition workforce and better promote learning outcomes. For example, GSA is interested in the capabilities of vendors to provide: 2.3.1.Digital simulation activities ●In these activities, the learner enters into a virtual role-play and is presented with all the information and resources required to make a decision. ●The individual would have already received learning on the topic, so the simulation would be an opportunity for the user to practice the skill in a safe environment, without putting real contracts at risk. ●The learner would would make choices throughout the simulation and receive immediate feedback on how well he or she was doing along with pointers or links to additional resources. 2.3.2.Gamified learning experiences ●Activities in which one individual could play and test his/her knowledge (e.g., Jeopardy-style game show format, interactive timelines, matching concepts, crossword puzzles). ●Activities in which two or more individuals can play against each other. (This might be a good approach for a learning activity on Negotiations, with one person playing the role of buyer/government and the other of seller/industry.) ●Individuals could play to be the high scorer or the fastest to complete the activity, and the top players could be listed similar to top players in electronic games. 2.3.3.Other experiential and collaborative delivery methods. 2.3.4.Other methods that provide real time user feedback. 2.3.5.Other innovative learning delivery methods as identified by industry. 2.3.6.Multiple delivery methods for a single competency Using the example of cost-price analysis, GSA could acquire multiple learning activities in support of the C&PA competency: ●One or more activities that test a learner's knowledge of C&PA (e.g., games, puzzles, quizzes) ●One or more activities in which the learner is able to independently practice his/her C&PA skills in a safe, sand-box type environment (e.g., individual simulation) ●One or more activities in which a learner works with others to complete a complex C&PA (e.g., collaborative simulation). 2.4.Immediate Feedback to Learner To enhance the learning experience of the learner, each activity in the CAPE Tool must provide the learner with meaningful and immediate feedback on his/her performance. Information provided in this feedback should include, but is not limited to: 2.4.1.Evaluation of performance (e.g., "right vs wrong," "good answer, better answer, best answer") 2.4.2.Explanations of why answers/decisions are correct or incorrect, complete or incomplete, etc. 2.4.3.Links to references for additional learning 2.5.Evaluation Methodology GSA is interested in being able to evaluate the effectiveness of the CAPE Tool using a method such as Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Training Evaluation Model. As such, the contractor will be responsible for building an evaluation mechanism into every learning activity that assesses: 2.5.1.How learners react to the learning activity (mandatory) 2.5.2.How much learners' skills have developed from the activity or if learning objectives were met (mandatory) 2.5.3.To what extent learners apply concepts from the learning activity to their job (optional) 2.5.4.To what extent acquisition outcomes have improved (optional) 3.DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES The following is a high level overview of the services to be provided: 3.1.Develop Content Contractor will develop learning activities that: 3.1.1.Are related to GSA-specific acquisition contracts and functions (e.g., schedules, construction, services). 3.1.2.Have discrete learning objectives that align to acquisition competencies and are supported by Subject Matter Experts. 3.1.3.Utilize multiple types of delivery methods (e.g., simulations, games, other innovative activities) for GSA-specific acquisition content. 3.1.4.Provide multiple levels of complexity, to provide value to a range of skill levels. 3.2.Refresh Content Contractor will provide content updates (e.g., new scenarios for existing activities) on a schedule to be determined. 3.3.Integrate Content into LMS Contractor will work with GSA to integrate content into the LMS. Content must meet SCORM or Tin Can/ API standards for LMS. GSA has not yet identified the platform on which this tool will be hosted. 4.INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING TO THIS Notice This is an information gathering exercise to identify potential sources and to help develop the requirements and the acquisition strategy for the CAPE Tool Content. CONFIDENTIALITY: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). Response Format/Page Limitations: The overall total page limit for responses to this notice is five (5) double-sided pages; or a total of ten (10) single-sided pages. Font size shall be no smaller than Times New Roman 12. Responses should be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format. Responses should be complete and sufficiently detailed. Please do not submit marketing material. Responses should include the following information: 4.1.General Information 4.1.1.Company Name/Address/Contact Information and DUNS number 4.1.2.Business size/classification 4.1.3.Identify any GSA schedules or other existing contract vehicles your firm holds that supports the work described in this notice 4.2.Capability and Experience Information 4.2.1.Describe your firm's level of experience and qualifications, or potential to acquire capability, to support the CAPE Tool's content needs. 4.2.2.Describe your firm's ability to meet the criteria in Section 2 above. 4.2.3.Provide examples of your firm's similar experience. 4.3.Comments and Feedback 4.3.1.Identify small business contracting and subcontracting opportunities. 4.3.2.Would you be considering a Contractor Teaming Arrangement (CTA)? 4.3.3.Based on your review of this notice, what contract type do you recommend and why? How would you recommend pricing? 4.3.4.Provide comments/suggestions and/or insights you may want the government to consider. 4.3.5.Beyond simulations, what other interactive and innovative learning activities could you provide? Please provide links to examples. 4.3.6.How would you define (a) low complexity, (b) medium complexity, and (c) high complexity learning activities? What are some examples you could provide of each? 4.3.7.Provide information on how various delivery methods could provide feedback, checkpoints, or data regarding learning outcomes and skill progression. All contractors please submit your response to this Notice via email to Julio Perdomo Contract Specialist at julio.perdomo@gsa.gov by 9AM on April 17, 2017.
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