Instructional Design
The process of designing contextually appropriate, learner-centered instructional plans is a core educational task. This section of the portfolio explores a model representing my understanding of the instructional design (ID) process, and also provides an example of my own work in instructional design.
ID Model
The visual model of instructional design represented here is intended to align with Palmer’s (1998) emphasis on subject-centered instruction (as opposed to the possible errors of either excessively student-centered or teacher-centered approaches). This does not mean that the instructional design process is driven by content. Rather, instructional design starts with a recognition of the powerful influence of a “grand idea” in some domain of knowledge and practice, and it aims to invite learners to become part of a community of practice around that grand idea, moving toward increasing levels of expertise. This framework can therefore be considered a model of “subject-centered instructional design.” (Obviously some sense of scale and scope is important here. The concepts of a grand idea and a community of practice are certainly going to be more relevant to nuclear physics than they are to tying one’s shoes, but the essential framework of instructional design can remain the same regardless.)
After recognizing the grand subject, the instructional designer must analyze the various elements of the instructional process. What is the context in which we want learners to learn about this important theme? What are the characteristics of those learners? What is the nature of the “grand subject” and the learning tasks that move learners toward increasing expertise in that domain? Each of these forms of analysis – context analysis, learner analysis, and task analysis – takes place with conscious reference to the subject-matter domain which drives the instructional process.
Flowing out of this analysis will come the development of instructional goals and objectives. This will include both higher-order course goals and specific learning objectives. The instructional objectives will then form the basis of the development of learning assessments and instructional strategies. The model sets the development of these two elements in parallel, based on my (very limited) experience in which the development of one intrinsically seemed to influence the other. Thus, in this model, these elements are shown as mutually informing and influencing.
Based on this instruction and assessment plan, specific instructional materials will be developed and then those materials will be implemented with both formative and summative evaluation. The results of these formative/summative evaluations will then lead to possible revision of the instructional elements previously identified.
ID Example
This section of the portfolio provides an example of the instructional design process through the development of course material for a training process on "Principles of Effective Leadership." A general proposal document provides an overview of the entire instructional design process and the rationale for implementing this particular instructional design in the specified context.
In addition, the complete course material (including facilitator's guide, learner handouts, presentation slides, and learning assessment) is available for one sample session, Session 1-2 on Leadership Authority and Influence. That material is available online as part of this portfolio, accessible from this page.
