Models of Learning: Instructional Design
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Overview
Instructional Design supports learners' progressive acquisition of component skills or concepts, through sequenced routines of organised activity with feedback. It is a strongly teacher-directed approach, with the teacher taking the role of guide, lecturer or instructor. It is also associated with the term "drill and practice" and lies at the heart of many computer-based training programs.
Instructional Design is characterised by:
- Routines of organised activity
- Analysis of content into appropriate units through hierarchical analysis of the domain into concepts or tasks, and identification of a separate instructional technique for each component
- Opportunities for learners to articulate their own conceptions
- Adaptation to learners' prior conceptions
- Clear goals and feedback
- Progression from unit to unit
- Assessment tasks closely mapped to learning outcomes
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Guidelines for planning a learning design
- Break down the topic of the session into component units (content and/or skills).
- For each component:
- Determine the success criteria.
- Create (or obtain) the resources you need in order to describe/explain it to the students.
- Decide what activity (or activities) the students will do.
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Generic sequence of activities
+ denotes activities which take place concurrently.
| 1. Orientation | ||
| Teacher: | Give an overview of the whole topic to the students. | |
| 2. Learning activities For each component of the topic: | ||
| Teacher: | Describe/explain the content or skill to the students. | |
| + | Students: | Carry out an activity to practise the skill or recall the content. e.g. comprehension tasks (visualise, define, summarise), tests (MCQ, drill, problem, short answer) or remedial tasks. |
| + | Teacher: | Support the students (individually and/or collectively) with appropriate hints and advice while they are doing the activity. |
| Teacher: | Give feedback when the activity is completed. If the success criteria have not been met, give remediation (incl. reinforcement activities) before moving on to the next component. | |
| 3. Assessment activity Assess students' performance on the whole topic | ||
| Teacher: | Describe/explain the assessment activity | |
| Students: | Carry out the assessment activity. e.g. MCQ, problems, short answers, essay | |
| Teacher: | Provide feedback and take any remedial action required until the success criteria are met. |
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Examples and case studies
The repository of learning objects hosted by the Universities' Collaboration in eLearning ( UCEL) has a number of online learning objects developed along Instructional Design principles for healthcare education. However, many of them are easy for non-medics to understand.
Look also at Internet Detective, a tutorial in online search skills developed as part of the Intute Virtual Training Suite and LearnHigher project. This also appears to be influenced by Instructional Design.
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Further information
Stephen Bostock of Keele University has written a succinct overview of the ideas of Robert Gagné which lie behind much Instructional Design practice.
aclearn.net has produced some pages on applying Instructional Design to e-learning and creating content. Written for practitioners in the Adult & Community Learning sector, the guidance may also be of interest if you are in FE or HE.
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