instructional Design & Technology

Design

What is Instructional Design?

A process, or science of creating effective training in an efficient manner. It is a process because it helps you ask the right questions, make the right decisions, and produce a product that is useful and useable as your situation requires and allows. For some, it is a science because it follows a set of theories and methods, and is concerned with inputs and outputs.

It is an art because the best designs usually have a direct relationship to the creativity and talent of the designer.

Why Instructional Design (ID)?

Because ineffective learning experiences are annoying, and inneffectivity = waste of money. ID helps guard against making such mistakes by creating good, clear objectives easily mastered by trainees. ID helps develop evaluations that truly test for knowledge and skills that your objectives are based on. It reduces wasted time, money, and opportunities in developing employees/students who, with their gained information/education, increase corporate profitability.  – Cadavid, M. (2022). ETEC5440 Fall 2022 Lectures on ADDIE (personal communication).

The ADDIE Model

Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate. ADDIE

ADDIE was conceptualized and developed by the military for the military to “hasten and standardize production of training materials, often by persons having less than a thorough background in instructional design” (Reiser and Dempsey, 2018) and originally as a model, each stage of the process needed to be accomplished before going on to the next.

Analysis

  • Finding the right problem to solve (a good starting point is usually the frustration and unrest with the current situation)
  • Defining the problem (the secret to defining a problem is really about attitude)
  • Analyzing the problem (discovery of the facts, finding out what you know about the situation, and involving the right people)
  • Developing the problem (develop possibilities, gather data)
  • Selecting the best solution (operational validity)
  • Implementing (checking if the problem has been carefully defined, as well as the desired outcomes)
  • Evaluating and Learning (Did the instructional material deliver the outcomes as expected?)

Design

  • Designing Assessments ( consider Goals, Learners/Target Audience, Context, and Assessment and apply data gathered from Analysis phase)
  • Choosing course formats (Course delivery, e.g. classroom)
  • Creating an instructional strategy/lesson plan (How the lesson is to be conducted)

Develop

  • Preparing a course/lesson
  • Creating a prototype (basic, but not necessarily complete, lesson)
  • Performing Quality Assurance
  • Doing a Test Run

Implement

  • No more test runs or beta tests
  • Instructional Design group must be fully aware of and on board with what is to be done
  • Learners must be aware and possess the necessary background knowledge to complete the lesson
  • Feedback is essential

Evaluate

The main areas for guiding Formative Evaluations include:

  • Type of Learning
  • Content Quality (does it look professional?)
  • Presentation clarity
  • Motivational value (cultural relevance, teaching pedagogy)
  • Why do I want to evaluate?
  • What am I going to evaluate?
  • Whom should I involve as part of the evaluation?
  • How am I going to do the evaluation?
  • When should I do the evaluation? (evaluate to as close to the lesson as possible)

References: Piskurich, G. M. (2015). Rapid Instructional Design Learning ID Fast and Right. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley;  Reiser, R. A.  and Dempsey, J. V. (2018). Trends and issues in Instructional Design and Technology. 4th ed. New York, NY: Pearson; 

infographics designed and created by the author. 

Reflection

The ADDIE model of instructional design consists of a highly structured and systematic approach to creating effective learning experiences. Designed with an emphasis on pinpointing the specific needs and preferences of learners, ADDIE places great importance on understanding the audience and creating an effective learning plan that meets their requirements. The first stage of the ADDIE model is the Analysis stage, where designers analyze the learners, learning environment and learning goals to gain a deeper understanding of the task at hand. Next, the Design stage is all about organizing the material and creating a detailed plan for instructional interventions that can optimize the learning experience. During the Development stage, instructional materials are created and meticulously tested to ensure high standards are met. The Implementation stage sees the delivery of the materials to the learners, followed by the Evaluation stage that measures the effectiveness of the learning experience. One of the advantages of ADDIE is that it can be an iterative process, where designers continually refine their products until the final output is achieved. For beginners, ADDIE helps to hone their instructional design skills and is a perfect starting point for creating effective learning experiences.

Check out these videos to learn more about ADDIE

Videos courtesy of Youtube: J. Clark Gardner/jclarkgardner.com