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Instructional Design

Overview

Emily Boles | University of Illinois Springfield

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What is Instructional Design?

The process of designing, developing, and delivering instruction.

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Begin with the end in mind (Stephen Covey)

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Student Centered

Image from willyrenandya.com

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Focus on Continuous Improvement

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Follow a System – Intentional & Consistent

Image from nursesbond.com

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Look at the

Big Picture �& the Details

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Many Processes and Models for Instructional Design

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ADDIE

The most well-known of instructional design systems.

Image from souvenirsofcanada. CC BY-NC-SA

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Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction

Gaining attention (reception)
Informing learners of the objective (expectancy)
Stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)
Presenting the stimulus (selective perception)
Providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)
Eliciting performance (responding)
Providing feedback (reinforcement)
Assessing performance (retrieval)
Enhancing retention and transfer (generalization)

These nine events correspond to Gagne’s 5 types of learning and 8 conditions of learning. Learn more about Gagne’s learning theories.

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Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction

Learners are engaged in solving real-world problems.
Existing knowledge is activated as a foundation for new knowledge.
New knowledge is demonstrated to the learner.
New knowledge is applied by the learner.
New knowledge is integrated into the learner’s world.

Problem/Task

Activation

Integration

Application

Demonstration

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Understanding by Design - Wiggins & McTighe

Also called Backwards Design. 3 stages

Desired results
Assessment evidence
Learning plan

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Understanding by Design

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Learning Outcome:

How can we use Backwards Design to construct learning outcomes and integrate them into learning design?

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Backwards Design in a Nutshell

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Example

Goal	Final Assessment	Learning Activities
…design an OER textbook that reflects best practices in instructional design.	OER Textbook	•Instructional design, copyright, accessibility lessons •Group workshop time •Intermediate Drafts •Peer review

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Why Backwards Design?

“. . . the best designs derive backward from the learnings sought” (p. 14).

Student learning drives all course design choices.

Backwards Design = Student-Centered Design!

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Teacher-centered course design image from the Teaching Commons

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Teacher-centered course design image from the Teaching Commons

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Stages of Backward Design

What experiences will enable students to reach desired results?

Plan with the end in mind. What are the topics critical for student mastery?

How will we measure that learning took place?

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Learning Objectives are the Foundation!

For OER textbooks, learning objectives should be present for every chapter.

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The Qualities of Useful Learning Objectives

Handout based on R.F. Mager’s work for writing learning objectives.

Characteristic	Question
Performance of Learner	What should the learner do?
Conditions for Performance	Under what conditions do you want the learner to do it?
Criteria for Acceptable Performance	How well must it be done?

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Learning Outcomes

What learners will know, be able to do, or feel / value as a result of instruction.

They should be:

Learner Focused
Future Oriented
Measurable

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SMART Learning Objectives

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Result-oriented
Time-bound

Specific: Good learning objectives break down a broad topic into manageable components, and they are explicit about the desired outcomes related to these components.
Measurable: As guidelines for evaluation, learning objectives should help instructors decide how well students achieve the desired learning. Much of what students get out of a class happens on the inside or are unseen– students may adjust their perspectives, change their attitudes, and gain new knowledge. But because instructors have no way of directly observing the internal processes of a student’s’ mind, they must rely on external indicators (what the student says or does) to evaluate that student’s progress. For this reason, an instructor cannot evaluate progress based on what the student “learns,” “understands,” “knows,” or “feels.” Thus learning objectives need to deal with changes that can be observed and measured.
Achievable: Given the resources, timeframe, background, and readiness of the students, objectives should be achievable. The cognitive level of the learning objectives should be appropriate to the course level and student level ( e.g.: a freshman level course as compared to a graduate level course).
Result-oriented: Objectives should focus on the results, rather than the process or activities that students are going to complete (e.g., writing a paper or taking an exam). A good learning objective will describe the result; the knowledge, skills, or attitudes that students should have acquired within the context of the instructor’s observation.
Time-bound: Clearly state the timeline if applicable. This can help you decide how well the learners should perform to be considered competent.

Boston College CTE

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Learning Outcome Formula

Learners will be able to Action Verb what in order to why.

Let’s practice!

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How Can Bloom’s Taxonomy Assist Us?

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Creating Measurable Learning Objectives

My Growth Mindset has a PDF of great verbs for Learning Objectives

Bloom’s Verb Graphic from ThoughCo Sources

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Activity: Writing Learning Objectives

Discuss:

Not Great Example: “Students will know why checks and balances are important.”

Better Example: “Students will list how the checks and balances of the three branches of government work.”

In Breakout Rooms:

Choose a current OER textbook learning objective.
Write one learning objective using the formula
Record in the open Google Doc�bit.ly/learningobjectives24
Come back and we will review.

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Common Errors

The objective is not stated in terms of what the student should be doing (correction: “Students will…”)
The objective cannot be observed or measured (correction: list items that are observable or measurable)
The objective is too general (correction: be clear and concise)
The objective is too long (correction: use simple action verbs and measurable outcomes)

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Develop Assessments that Measure Your LOs

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Assessments

For OER Textbooks

These come into play as ancillary materials, examples, and formative assessments in the OER text.

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What is Understanding?

How do we know when we know?
Knowledge that is transferred or applied
Understanding = transfer
Fact-based testing is not enough (See Freire’s Banking Model of Education)

“We cannot cover concepts and expect them thereby to be understood; we have to uncover their value—the fact that concepts are the results of inquiry and argument” (Wiggins & McTighe, p. 46)

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What is Assessment?

How do we determine if desired results are achieved?
Assessment involves providing feedback against standards so that improvements and adjustments can be made toward learning for both learner and instructor
Are your assessments varied?
Are you including self-assessment, reflection, and peer review in your curriculum?

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Create Assessments that Measure LOs

Aligning assessments to learning objectives means that your assessments are measuring what your objectives require.
Multiple choice tests are not a good fit for learning objectives at the synthesis or analysis level of Bloom’s. A project in which students can explore relationships between two topics and make comparisons might be a better fit.
A multiple choice test can be a good assessment for the understanding level of Bloom’s.

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Bloom’s for Assessment

ThoughtCo Resource

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More to Consider: The Six Facets of Understanding

What are these and why are they important?
They are manifestations of transferability
All six types of understanding should be included in your curriculum.

Image from Gosia

The six facets signal the types of performance evidence that reveal understanding/ability of your students. You can use them as a blueprint for building assessments. When the facets are combined, they become very powerful -- doing something and then explaining or reflecting (write dissertation and then defend, for example).

Explanation�Explanation asks students to tell the ‘big idea’ in their own words, make connections, show their work, explain their reaosning, and induce a theory from data.

Interpretation�Interpretation requires the student to make sense of stories, art works, data, situations, or claims. Intepretation also involves translating ideas, feelings, or work done in one medium into another.

Application�Students who understand can use their knowledge and skill in new situations (and) place emphasis on application in authentic contexts with a real or simulated audience, purpose, settings, constraints, and background noise.

Perspective�Perspective is demonstrated when the student can see things from different points of view, articulate the other side of the case, see the big picture, recognize underlying assumptions, and take a critical stance.

Empathy�Intellectual imagination is essential to understanding and it manifests itself not only in the arts and literature but more generally through the ability to appreciate people who think and act differently than us.

Self-Knowledge�…through self-assessment we gain complete insight into how sophisticated and accurate students’ views are of the tasks, crieria, and standards they are to master.

Using The 6 Facets of Understanding In Your Classroom

Unlike Bloom’s Taxonomy, the 6 Facets of Understanding is a non-hierarchical framework–meaning that there are not ‘lower levels’ and ‘higher levels’ of thinking. ‘Self-Knowledge’ isn’t prioritized over ‘Explanation,’ for example. Nor is one facet ‘superior’ over another.

Rather, Grant and Jay intended for the ‘facets’ to be used to support teachers and students by providing strategies to help assess understanding. And since traditional content areas range so dramatically–from arts and literature to language and math–the idea is to create a framework flexible enough to work in variety of contexts and needs.

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Build Learning Experiences & Instructional Content

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Content & Learning Experiences

For OER Textbooks

This is the majority of your textbook, including text, images, charts, graphics, and more.

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Concept Maps, Storyboards, and Course Outlines

Use a graphic organizer to be sure all the topics and assessments in your course are covered in your content.

UNC Concept Maps resource (Concept maps make great assessments, too!)

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W.H.E.R.E.T.O

W	Where are we going? What is expected?
H	How will we hook the students?
E	How will we equip students for expected performances?
R	How will we rethink or revise?
E	How will students self-evaluate and reflect on their learning?
T	How will we tailor learning to varied needs, interests, learning styles?
O	How will we organize the sequence of learning?

Wiggins & McTighe (2005) UbD, pg 354. See also, this great handout from Montgomery, NC Schools

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Module Structure (Chapters!)

Include module level objectives to help frame the topic and expectations. This is a metacognitive teaching strategy. You are controlling how they view and integrate the information in the module.
Chunking your materials reduces the cognitive load. Organizing materials assists students with metacognition (Stavredes 48-49)
Repetition, reorganizing to include the new info & reframing based on new information

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Module/Chapter Features

Build intro videos (4-8 minutes) for chapters or key concepts. Micro-lecture to frame the week. Learn where to start in this video guide from Kent State.
Vary your instructional content and assessment performances. Can you present ideas in charts or illustrations? Can you provide activities for instructors to include in their courses?

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Recap

Backwards Design

Identify Desired Results
Determine Assessment Evidence
Plan Learning Activities

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Three Stages of Backward Design Handout