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 problemsolving 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 highspeed trains for the country’s new coast-tocoast 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 refocused 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 Complex
Complex 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 studentcentered.
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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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Student-centered
Goal oriented
Focuses on meaningful performance
Assumes outcomes can be measured
Empirical, interactive, and self-correcting
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
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Learning theory
Technology of development
Delivery systems
Skills sets for instructional designers
• Several constants remain
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Systematic process
A collaborative approach
Multiple solutions possible
Instructional design process is based on empirical support
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