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1. What is Instructional Design?

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Training versus Education

• Instructional design is a system of procedures for developing education and training curricula in a consistent and reliable fashion.

• A system is an integrated set of elements that interact with each other.

• General Systems Theory was an early approach to accomplishing learning tasks and solving instructional problems.

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Early Instructional Design

• Behaviorism• Cognitive Psychology• General Systems Concept

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Behaviorism

• Practically all early instructional design models were based in behaviorism.

• Although behaviorism is commonly associated with B. F. Skinner and Stimulus-Response theory, many early behaviorists held far more encompassing theoretical and philosophical perspectives.

• Behaviorism is regarded as the philosophy and values associated with the measurement and study of human behavior.

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Cognitive Psychology

• Cognitive psychologists, particularly from the perspective of information processing, such as Gagne have also made major contributions to the underlying theories of instructional design.

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General Systems Concept

• The general systems concept is characterized as being systematic, systemic, responsive, interdependent, redundant, dynamic, cybernetic, synergistic and creative.

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A System

· Facilitates the complexities of a context· Responds to multiple

· situations· interactions within context• interactions between contexts

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General Systems Concepts

• Systematic– Follows rules– follows procedures

• Systemic– Stresses the application of creative problem-

solving methods– All components respond when a single component

is stimulated

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General Systems Concepts

• Founded upon cybernetics– Intended to steer, govern or guide– theory associated with automated control systems

• Promotes redundancy– intended to prevent failure of an entire system– procedures that duplicate

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General Systems Concepts

· Responsive· Interdependent· Dynamic· Creative

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A System

. . . is synergistic . . .

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

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Complexities of Instruction

• The characteristics previously described allow a systems approach to facilitate the complexities of an educational situation.

• A system responds to the interactions within a system, and the interactions that occur between different systems.

• Different learning outcomes often require different applications to the general systems concept.

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Training

• Training is often characterized as prescribing a narrow set of skills that are to be mastered within a specific situation.

• However, training is often appropriate for many complex situations where the consequences of failure can be catastrophic.

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Training Example

• An example of training might be developing training for engineers who will drive high-speed trains for the country’s new coast-to-coast rail transportation system.

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Education

• Education is regarded as providing the support and opportunity for learning knowledge and skills beyond those that might be prescribed to complete a specific tasks.

• Education is often associated with the acquisition of some type of trade, such as the ability to coach, guide, enlighten, indoctrinate and empower others to accomplish goals and objectives.

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Education Example

• Education is teaching a new university student how to learn in an environment that is very different from secondary school.

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The New Classroom

• Emerging philosophies about instruction, education and theories of learning have re-focused the “classroom” concept to include a broader array of contexts.

• While classrooms are defined as “a place where classes meet,” classrooms are typically shaped by the prevailing societal paradigm.

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Information Age Classroom

• Classrooms of the information age can be situated at remote sites, accessed at convenient times, and personalized to match the capability of individual learners.

• While students may still “meet” to study the same subject, the location, time and pace are now dynamic.

• Educators and trainers should regard a classroom as any intentional learning space.

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Learning Space

• Episodes of intentional learning are characterized by several participating entities which are themselves complex: the learner, the content, the media, the teacher, peers and the context, all interacting within a discrete period of time while moving toward a common goal.

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Student-centered

• Student-centered spaces, wherever they are located, represent an epistemological shift from regarding students as the occupants of learning spaces, to regarding the actions of students during guided learning as the motivation for the design of instruction.

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Intentional Learning is ComplexComplex because each of the following complicated

entities is part of every lesson• Student• Content• Media• Teacher• Peers• Context• Time• Goals

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Intentional Learning

• Prefers goal-oriented strategies rather than incidental-oriented strategies.

• Promotes self-regulatedness in students.

• Providesan opportunity for a student to be reflective.

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Tentional Learning

• Results from everyday natural occurrences.

• Can happen in a variety of ways, such as through conversations, observations, impressions and any unintended stimuli that occur within a context.

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Genuine student-centeredness

• Typically designed at both macro and micro levels to ensure that every component of the instruction is aligned in a way that facilitates a student’s progress from being teacher dependent to becoming teacher independent.

• Understanding the evolving nature of teacher and student roles is particularly important in order to manage a class that is student-centered.

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Teacher Dependent Teacher Independent

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History

• The specific term "instructional design” as meaning a systematic process for improving instruction appears to have its origins in a project conducted at Michigan State University from 1961-1965.

• The final report entitled "Instructional Systems Development: A Demonstration and Evaluation Project" is available as ERIC document ED 020673.

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1950’s and 1960’s

• In the 1950’s and 1960’s one of the most influential instructional design model builders was L. C. Silvern.

• His work with the military and aerospace industry resulted in an extremely complex and detailed model (with multiple variations) that drew heavily on general systems theory.

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Late 1960’s

• A model developed by Hamreus in the late 1960’s, while at the Teaching Research Division of the Oregon State System of Higher Education, is another instructional design classic.

• One of his significant contributions was to present "maxi" and "mini" versions of his model.

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Since the 1990’s• The last few years have seen a rather dramatic

shift in thinking about how instructional can be practiced.

• The shift represents an extension of our thinking about instructional design rather than a replacement of past models and practice.

• Despite the rather exaggerated claims of some recent authors that classic instructional design is no longer valid, there remains considerable interest in and enthusiasm for its application in today’s applications of training and education.

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Overview of Instructional Design

1. Student-centered2. Goal oriented3. Focuses on meaningful performance4. Assumes outcomes can be measured5. Empirical, interactive, and self-correcting6. Typically a team effort

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Student-centered

• Students and their performance are the focal point

• Teaching is a means to the end of learner performance

• Students actively participate in determining– Objectives– Instructional methods

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Goal Oriented

• Goals are central to the instructional design process

• Goals should reflect the expectations of the primary stakeholders– Student– Teacher– Client

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Focuses on Meaningful Performance

• Instructional design avoids tasks that are– Trivial– Contrived– Overly simplified

• Focus is on – Performing authentic tasks– Complex situations– Genuine problems

• Promotes high congruence between learning environment and job settings

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Measurable Outcomes

• Assessment instruments should be– Reliable– Valid

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Empirical, Iterative, and Self-Correcting

• A data-referenced process• Data collection– Begins during initial analysis phase– Continues through implementation

• Feedback during the process ensures accuracy and relevance

• Data may be not always being good news, they are only “friendly”

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Team Effort

• Due to size, scope, and technical complexity of instructional design projects.

• Need for knowledge and skills that are– Specialized– Diverse

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Confirm the Need

• Many requests to develop instruction are unnecessary.

• Other factors influence performance, some of which have nothing to do with complete instructional modules.

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Alternatives

• Alternatives to instructional design include– Better information– Accurate documentation– Distribution of job Aids– Timely feedback– Granting permission– Reengineering a product or process– Reorganization of a functional unit– Explanation of the consequences

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Conclusion

• Many advances in– Learning theory– Technology of development– Delivery systems– Skills sets for instructional designers

• Several constants remain– Systematic process– A collaborative approach– Multiple solutions possible– Instructional design process is based on empirical support