Table 1 Overview of the PKT course structure and delivery

Content presentation

• Delivered over 6 months and included a 3-day in-person workshop and 11 synchronous webinars hosted on WebEx, an online meeting platform.

• Instructors used interactive, large-group lectures to present KT theories, models, frameworks, and how to apply these in practice.

• Instructors engaged participants in discussion about how the course content related to their own projects.

• Workshop and webinar formats were informed by evidence reviews of continuing education meetings and workshops [39] and internet-based learning in health professions [40].

• Interactive large-group learning components such as enabling participants to add new knowledge to existing knowledge and connect concepts to their own work were informed by transformative adult learning [33] and experiential learning [35] concepts.

Activities

• Individuals were asked to identify their KT learning goals.

• Real-time activities during the workshop and webinars were used to encourage individual exploration of KT content.

• Some activities were designed as small group work on a common problem and other activities focused on having participants apply content to their own projects.

• Self-reflection activities encouraged participants to reflect on progress towards their learning goals.

• Activities provided participants with opportunities to apply and reinforce learning [32].

• Activities were designed based on andragogy principles to enable self-directed learning and increase engagement, understanding, and application of new content [53].

Assignments and feedback

• Participants were asked to complete assignments after each webinar.

• Assignments included a knowledge-testing component and an applied component (i.e., participants were asked to apply course content to their projects).

• Instructors provided tailored feedback on each assignment to facilitate higher order thinking and application of KT concepts. Assignment assessment and feedback was used to encourage participants to revisit, reflect, and revise their learning.

• Assignments were designed based on concepts of transformative [33] and experiential learning [35]. Feedback was provided based on principles of effective feedback to facilitate adult learning [54].

Implementation facilitator

• Each participant was assigned an implementation facilitator to provide one-on-one support in applying course content to their own work.

• The implementation facilitator was available to participants by email and through 3 to 5 h of scheduled one-on-one telephone calls.

• The implementation facilitator provided feedback on activities, assignments, and organizational capacity building plans.

• One-on-one learning support was used to facilitate an individualized, supportive learning environment to enhance learner engagement and relevance of course content and increase motivation in applying content [55, 56].

Access to resources

• Participants received a resource package and workbook that included assigned readings, KT resources, and copies of the presented slides.

• Canvas [57], an online learning management system, was used to share KT resources, literature, and course content with participants over the 6-month course.

• Easy access to a wide variety of KT resources [40] was used to encourage autonomous and independent learning and continued application of KT content [51, 52].

Social learning opportunities

• In-person and online group discussions facilitated social interaction among participants.

• Canvas was used to establish a virtual community to facilitate learner-to-learner and learner-to-instructor engagement and continued communication.

• Canvas enabled participants and instructors to post questions, discuss KT topics, and share challenges, successes, and lessons learned.

• Online and in-person discussion and social networking opportunities were informed by social learning theory [58], and best practices in facilitating learner engagement [36, 37].