Week Three

 As I look back through my notes and highlights from this week’s readings, the theme is pretty simple—a process is helpful for instructional designers but must not be held so high to lose the purposes behind the process. The variables associated with student learning are infinite and thus there is no perfect step by step process that can accommodate for all those variables.

There are a few big picture variables that caught my attention.

Instruction vs learning.

In Chapter 1 of Designing effective instruction, Morrison describes some of the benefits of instructional design to P-12 education, “there are numerous occasions in which the need for teacher-developed materials—drill-and-practice exercises, remedial lessons, problem-based lessons, or even full-fledged instructional units—arises” (p 4). I have previously referenced my experiences as an outdoor/experiential education facilitator and other atypical roles in education. I was also a classroom teacher for a couple years for middle school math and English. One of the reasons I started to recognize in myself a desire to be outside the role of a teacher was how much I enjoyed formatting, creating, and designing learning materials. I could see a difference in my students’ success when the printed materials (worksheets, tests, etc) had a logical visual flow and provided enough space for them to write their answers. Most of the textbooks I used in my classroom were laid out very well but the accompanying workbook and worksheets were not effective. In those materials, it seems the focus was more on instruction and than on learning.

 Training vs education.

The goals of gaining an education and receiving training overlap but are distinct. An individual is a learner and plays an active role in both forms but the knowledge one receives through training is much more specific and relevant to the individual’s situation. One of the things that are so often grated against in education is the concept of teaching to the test. Personally, I cringe a little when people talk about it but there really is great value in the concept of “beginning with the end in mind” a now well-known-phrase from Steven Covey’s popular book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It seems that in the field of instructional design this can take on many forms. A teacher may teach to the test in the sense of building the knowledge base for an individual to be successful or the teacher can essentially give the answers to the test. I often find in my position as an administrative assistant the training courses that I am required to take and the tests that I need to pass are often enough to get me started but it’s my knowledge of resources and how to find more specific information that allow me to be successful in getting things accomplished. 

Design vs development.

I’m not quite sure I grasp the distinction between instructional design and instructional development beyond the misconception that instructional design is media itself. The following quote paints an excellent picture of what I hope to do with instructional design. “Frequently, instructional development is defined as the production process, that is, the translation of the instructional design plan into the instructional materials such as print, video, multimedia, or Web-based materials” (Morrison, Designing effective instruction, p. 7).

 

 

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., & Kemp, J. E. (2007). Introduction to the instructional design process. , Designing effective instruction. (5th ed.) (pp. xviii-26). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.