Abstract:

This is a proposal for a session about teaching instructional design. While there is an abundance of resources about the practice of instructional design, there are relatively few resources devoted to teaching instructional design. The purpose of this session is to share strategies for teaching instructional design that have a proven record of success. Emphasis will also be placed on tenets of the instructional design process, common instructional products, and the essential competencies of an instructional designer.

“Instructional design is a process used to generate curriculum, courses, teaching units and single episodes of guided learning” (Branch, 1999, p. 145). True instructional design is a complex endeavor. Complexity is a common phenomenon existing in bio-logical organisms, geological formations, and social constructions. Instructional design is a social construction. The systematic design of instruction is inherently complex because it involves multiple interactions, both internally and with entities external to the process itself. Instructional design interacts with the environment at the macro level. The result of the macro level interactions is the formation of a socially constructed enterprise that seeks to engage humans within the context of teaching and learning.

“Higher education is experiencing an increased demand for instructional designers who have the knowledge and skill set to help faculty members adopt new technologies and strategies in their teaching. The shift is being pushed, in part, by the growth of online learning and developments in technology. Traditionally, instructional designers have been focused on creating online courses on campuses, but their role in other aspects of instruction is expanding. They now play a bigger part in consulting with faculty members on pedagogy and on course design—as well as how to determine the best ways to use educational technology in all kinds of courses” (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2016). Linder and Dello Stritto (2017) explored the formal training of instructional designers in institutions of higher education. However, people learning instructional design for the first time typically underestimate the complexity of the instructional design process.

While “instructional designers are called to play many roles, including performance analyst, project manager, strategic and learning consultant, researcher, instructor, writer, project manager, media and web developer, trainer, evaluator and asset manager” (international Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction) https://ibstpi.org/instructional-design-competencies/), there are several essential competencies people need to possess or acquire as part of learning to become an instructional designer. A case scenario is presented as a way to provide a context by which typical instructional design procedures can be practiced by students new to the process.

References:
[1] Branch, R. (1999). Instructional design: a parallel processor for navigating learning space. In Design Approaches and Tools in Education and Training, edited by J. van den Akker, R. Branch, K. L. Gustafson, N. Nieveen, and T. Plomp, pp. 145–154. Dordecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.
[2] Linder, K. & Dello Stritto, M.E. (2017). Research Preparation and Engagement of Instructional Designers in U.S. Higher Education. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Ecampus Research Unit.

Keywords:

Instructional Design, Curriculum Development, Teaching Strategies.