MODIA (Method of Designing Instructional Alternatives) was developed to help the Air Force manage resources for formal training by systematically and explicitly relating quantitative requirements for training resources to the details of course design and course operation during the planning stage. It suggests approaches to course design not incorporated in available planning factors, and describes the effects of concise design on resource use. It has four components. The first component, descriptions of options, provides the range of choices available as they affect course operation, cost, or instructional effectiveness. The second component, User Interface (UI), is an interactive computer program which produces a course description in computer-compatible data that interrelates course content, teaching strategy, student characteristics, and resource assignment. The third component, Resource Utilization Model (RUM), simulates the way in which student progress through the course generates requirements for training resources. The last component, Cost Model (MODCOM), estimates the five-year investment and operating cost associated with a given course design. MODIA aids the course planner by structuring the design process, suggesting alternative choices, and estimating the effects of choice on course operation and cost. It allows the synthesis of alternative designs and their evaluation based on the weighing of the various performance measures. MODIA is supported by two groups of people, those expert in using MODIA and those expert in the areas of subject matter and planning particular to the course. The computer capabilities required by MODIA are presented in an appendix. An example of how MODIA would be applied is presented and an evaluation of its use in an operational setting is discussed. (Author/DAG)