Topic: 1- Introduction
Any teacher, any school, any company, any institution interested in improving learning and/or performance, interested in moving from good to great, in meeting quality and productivity goals (p.16), needs Instructional Design!
Conducting a performance analysis, a needs assessment, or a job analysis; identifying problems; listing solutions; setting goals and reaching them... all of those definitely lead to success! The key, however, is actually reaching the goals we set; and this is what this blog is about: the different steps that we need to take in order to reach our goals.
This blog -- which will always be a "Work in Progress"-- is based on Dick, Carey & Carey's book titled "Systematic Design of Instruction" and on Dr. Ryan Watkins's lectures. I created it, not only because I want all this information to be handy when I need it, but also because I know how useful it is to educators and business people alike.
If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to use the "Post Comment" link at the end of each section or to join our group on Facebook.
When is Instructional Design used?
Instructional Design is used in the development of instructional events such as:
- training units
- computer-based training
Those aforementioned events would serve to reach goals set in order to fill a gap identified through a front-end analysis.
Why are instructional events developed?
Instructional events are developed in order to provide learners with the required (SKAAs)
- Skills to accomplish a task
- Knowledge to accomplish a task
- Attitudes to accomplish a task
- Abilities to accomplish a task
How is an instructional event best measured?
An instructional event is best measured by
- its ability to assist learners in the mastery of the required SKAAs for the accomplishment of a given task +
- the application of those SKAAs and the value added to the organization by their application.
Systematic instructional design is:
- performance based
- learner focused
- data driven
=> for creating effective instructional events.
It is an effective way of facilitating and replicating the design and development of instruction that achieves results.
Components of Dick, Carey & Carey's systems approach model (p.6)
- Identifying Instructional Goals
- Conducting Instructional Analysis > step by step- how to reach the goal. Determining entry behaviors (skills, knowledge and attitudes) is required.
- Analyzing Learners & Contexts
- Writing Performance Objectives
- Developing Assessment Instruments
- Developing Instructional Strategy
- Developing and Selecting Instructional Materials
- Designing and Conducting Formative Evaluation
- Revising Instruction
- Designing and Conducting Summative Evaluation
["As you begin designing instruction, trust the model. As you grow in knowledge and experience, trust yourself." (p.5)]
[What it means to practice a discipline > To practice a discipline is to be a lifelong learner. You "never arrive"; you spend your life mastering disciplines. (Peter Senge; 1990) (p.5)]