The systematic approach has played a key role by providing a framework for the project, allowing me to break down the project into manageable steps and to ensure that each step is completed in an organized and logical manner, enabling proper execution and allowing improvement of the instruction at any time during the process. The systematic approach has also helped me to identify the key components of the project and to ensure that each component is addressed throughout the process.

Towards the end, the systematic approach provided an opportunity to evaluate the progress of my design and made sure that the project is meeting its goals and objectives.

What challenge(s) did you encounter? Please describe which step(s) from the Dick and Carey’s model, wherein you encountered the challenge(s), and how you overcame them.

Looking back, I realize that each of the steps from Dick and Carey’s model presented its own unique set of difficulties. The one that stood out the most was the analysis part. For my particular project, classifying my learners and analyzing their specific characteristics were a little hard because the subject encompasses just about everyone, making it difficult to narrow it down to what the learner knows and what they do not (I was assuming, due to the ubiquity of ChatGPT and Generative AI models these days that everyone has some working knowledge of the subject—apparently not!) Another challenge is that I had difficulty narrowing down the general subject to a slimmed down topic that will not take up a lot of time and energy in creating an instructional design. Structuring and creating the content was as challenging once I was able to determine what to come up with and how. However, doing the story board first and then going back and doing the content later was a process that felt a little off for me as, to analogize, it gave the feeling of “the carriage coming before the horse,” but I was able to overcome these through evaluation, which provided me a perspective other than mine when looking at the cohesiveness and the overall effectivity of the instructional material.

What would you do differently if you adopt Dick and Carey’s model again for a future instructional design project?

If I were to do anything different, given a chance to work on another project using the Dick and Carey method, I would pay more attention to the analysis part and make sure every vague component is addressed, and really think hard on what makes a good target audience for the type of instruction I am creating . Understanding these two elements in the analysis phase would provide a better view of what needs to be achieved in order to create an effective instructional design. I would also invest more time in storyboarding and connecting this to the performance objectives and learning goals, as well as simultaneously starting on a rough draft of the content that way I won’t forget what I have created in the storyboard and ensure continuity. Also, if possible, plan ahead for selecting evaluators as this is also a very time-consuming process. Having a clear idea of who the target audience is early on helps in determining who can provide a thorough formative and summative evaluation (for all of the one-to-one, small group, and expert evaluations), since in my experience, this was more of an afterthought.