Introduction to Instructional Design

1. 1/14/2016
1
Instructional Design
Unit 2: Instructional Design
What is Instructional Design?
 Instructional Design means more than literally
creating instruction.
 It is associated with the broader concept of analyzing
human performance problems systematically,
identifying the root causes of those problems,
considering various solutions to address root causes,
and implementing the solutions in ways designed to
minimize the unintended consequences of corrective
action.
What is Instructional Design?
 It can be considered to be a systematic way of
thinking about, planning and creating instructional
opportunities.
 It takes into consideration:
 Content characteristics
 Learners’ needs and preferences
 Features of the classroom and institutional environment
 Availability of resources

2. 1/14/2016
2
What is Instructional Design?
 So what is the real definition of Instructional Design?
There are three common definitions that are utilized,
these are:
 Dick and Carey (1989) describes instructional design as “a process
used primarily to develop a wide range of instructional materials,
printed, computer-assisted and/or television.”
 Smith and Ragan (1993) describes instructional design as “The
systematic process of transplanting principles of learning and
instruction into plans for instructional materials and activities.”
 Association for Educational Communications and Technology(1994)
describes instructional design as “An organizational procedure for
developing instructional materials or programs which include the
steps of analysis, designing, developing, implementing and
evaluating.”
What is Instructional Design?
 Instructional Design is seen as a:
 Process: The analysis of learning needs and goals and the
development of a system to meet those needs.
 Discipline: That branch of knowledge concerned with research
and theory about instructional strategies and the process for
developing and implementation those strategies.
What is an Instructional Design Theory?
 Merrill (1996, p.30) describes instructional design
theory as a set of prescriptions for determining
appropriate instructional strategies to enable
learners to acquire instructional goals. It is founded
in learning theories and related disciplines.
 The theory is about what works rather than the steps
to be taken to carry out the design and development
process.

3. 1/14/2016
3
What is an Instructional Design Theory?
 Gagné’s assumption that there are different kinds of
instructional goals and that different instructional
strategies are required for the learner to attain given
kinds of instructional goals most effectively and
efficiently form the basis of Merrill's description of
instructional design theory. This assumption consists
of three components:
 A descriptive theory of the knowledge and skill to be learned
 A descriptive theory of instructional strategies required to
promote this learning
 A prescriptive theory that relates to knowledge and strategies
What is an Instructional Design Theory?
 According to Reigeluth (1999: 6 – 7), Instructional
Design Theory is:
 Design Oriented (focusing on means to attain given goals for
learning and development)
 Identifies Methods of instruction (ways to support and
facilitate learning) and the situation in which these methods
should and should not be used.
 Methods of instruction can be broken down into more detailed
component methods.
 Methods are probabilistic, rather than deterministic
What is an Instructional Design Theory?
 Elements of Instructional-design theory include:
 Instructional outcomes,
 Conditions
 Methods and values
 Instructional values are an individual group’s
philosophy or belief’s about instruction.
 Instructional design theories ought to inform
possible users of the values about learning and
instruction with which theory has constructed, for
they are the values that users and students must hold
in order for the theory to work well.

4. 1/14/2016
4
What is an Instructional Design Model
 An instructional design model represents a class of a
pedagogical design, i.e. How to teach, how to bring
people to learn.
 An instructional design model is a method, i.e. A
general design rule on how to teach/bring to learn.
Usually restricted to a given class of subjects and
contexts.
What is an Instructional Design Model
 Instructional Design models usually have a stronger
focus on learning theory than instructional design
methods.
 According to Braxton et.al. (1995) models can be
described as “Models for instructional design provide
procedural frameworks for the systematic
production of instruction. They incorporate
fundamental elements of the instructional design
process including analysis of the intended audience
or determining goals and objectives.”
What is an Instructional Design Model
 An instructional design model gives structure and
meaning to an Instructional Design problem,
enabling the would be designers to negotiate their
design task with semblance and conscious
understanding.
 They help visualize the problem, to break it down
into discrete, manageable units.