503 Reading Quiz

Allison Shaffer

Table of ContentsSlide 3 and 4 – History of Instructional DesignSlide 5 and 6 – Definition of Instructional DesignSlide 7 and 8 – Notion of SystematicSlide 9 and 10 – Guiding modelsSlide 11 and 12 – ConstructivismSlide 13 and 14 – EmpiricismSlide 15 and 16 – BehaviorismSlide 17 and 18 – Information Processing TheorySlide 19 and 20 – Educational TechnologySlide 21 – Citations

History of Instructional Design• Instructional design has evolved over the last 40 years from studies done during World War II.

Beginning with a group of researchers, tasked to “conduct research and develop training materials for military services” (Resier, 2001, p. 58), the first models were developed. After the war research and subsequent movements “flourished in a variety of sectors” (Reiser, 2001, p. 61). Over the years each new movement built upon or worked off of the previous movements. A systems approach was introduced in the 1970’s launching a series of new models that persist into the current. Instructional design is used in many different applications and continues to evolve.

• The medieval castle with surrounding village speaks to the expanding and building nature of instructional design. Each idea builds on the last and creates foundation for the next, just as the castle expands over time as space is needed and creates opportunity for the village to grow.

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Definition of Instructional Design• Instructional design is the thoughtful process of analyzing and then designing learning

experiences that are centered around the learner. According to Smith and Ragan (2005) instructional design is a “systematic and reflective process” (p. 4). The process is generically formatted analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation, though different models present this in different ways. The reflective nature is shown in the iterative process. It is not possible to just sit down and design a learning experience, it takes working forward and backward, re-analyzing and making changes throughout each stage.

• The illuminated spider web illustrates both the systematic and reflective nature of the instructional design process. A spider web is create one strand at a time with a perfect plan in mind. The web is also designed to be sticky. When instructional design is done well it helps the learning to stick with the learner.

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Notion of Systematic• The notion of systematic relates to the care and planning that must take place in good

instructional design. The definition of systematic includes the key ideas of step-by-step procedures and methodical nature (“Systematic,” n.d.). These ideas go to the heart of creating learning materials and experiences that are organized and learner centered. Relying on materials or teaching that just “wings” it will not allow for the best opportunities for learning to occur. It is the use of a systematic process that truly makes it instructional design.

• The subway is an intricate system that must function well and be easy for users to understand and access. There was thought and planning that went into the original construction and expansion of subway systems around the world. If this had not been the case, at best trains would run erratic schedules that did not allow patrons to get places efficiently, but at worst would create the potential for disaster after disaster.

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Guiding Models• Models guide the instructional designer in the systematic planning and development process.

There are many different models, developed over the last 40 years but they all exist to help a designer work through the “three major activities: analysis, strategy development, and evaluation” (Smith & Ragan, 2005, p. 10). Models assist the instructional designer to work through a process that will create well analyzed, thought out, and evaluated learning experiences. No model is perfect and each may be suited to a particular situation and it is important for the instructional designer to be fluent in a few in order to suit the needs of the project.

• Creating a new key is like the guiding models in instructional design. The models are there to give a framework and assist in the thought process but in the end they don’t solve the problems. Just like cutting a new key. The old key works as the pattern, but the new key will never be exactly like the old one. In the end, both keys work, but it is the old “model” that helps create the new.

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Constructivism• Constructivism is the supposition that knowledge is created by the learner through personal

experience and personal interpretation. The ideas of constructivism started with Piaget and the assumption that “knowledge is not transmitted: it is constructed” (Smith & Ragan, 2005, p. 19). While there are different flavors of constructivism including individual and social, overall the concept places responsibility for learning either totally or in majority with the learner. It suggests that each person brings a distinct and unique set of previous experiences that shape all current learning and that collaborative learning should be used to draw on these perspectives.

• Termites are constantly constructing and reinforcing their mounds to ensure the safety of the colony, which means the shape is forever changing. This is just like the idea of constructivism which is forever building on the experiences of the past and the shape of knowledge is always changing.

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Empiricism• Empiricism has been a prevalent theory for hundreds of years. John Locke is well known for

his belief that “little, if any, knowledge or ability comes ‘wired’ in an individual” (Smith & Ragan, 2005, p. 22). The theory suggests that experience is a sensory one, and discounts the experience that may come from personal reflection and interpretation within the mind.

• A roller coaster must be experienced to be understood. While it is possible to observe and try to postulate what it would feel like, the only way to know is to experience. The reality of the roller coaster is then known to the individual. This parallels the ideas of empiricism.

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Behaviorism• The learning theories of behaviorism espouse that “the only things about human learning

worth studying are those that can be observed” (Smith & Ragan, 2005, p. 25). Unlike other theories the behaviorists do not complete disregard that mental activity and reflective processes occur, they simply realized that these cannot be observed, and thus they ignore them when discussing learning. It appears that the instructional design practice of writing objectives comes in part from this ideas of behaviorism.

• The prison tower is a place of observation. The prisoners can be seen but they cannot be heard and their thoughts cannot be unlocked. This is like the concepts of behaviorism, where it is the outward behavior that is the focus.

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Information Processing Theory• Information processing theory rests within the brain. Information is processed in a series of

structures within the brain, that have not been identified by science, but which are used to discuss learning. Information processing theory includes several different individual theories but consists of “three main components, sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory” (Schraw & McCrudden, para. 1, n.d.). How information moves from one memory to the next should be considered during the design of learning to make it stick.

• The life cycle of the frog represents the transformation of information as proposed in information processing theory. Just as the frog transforms over time so does the learner’s brain with the addition and synthesizing of information. The move from one stage to the other characterizes the way information moves from one memory to the next.

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Educational Technology• Instructional design relates to educational technology because it will allow the learner to

reach even further into the technology. The instructional design models that focus on the experience and behaviors are especially important. As technology becomes more and more hands-on, incorporating learning that is also hands-on will be important. The learner often comes to the experience with some knowledge of the technology and a vocabulary that can be utilized to enrich the overall experience. There is a learning curve specifically for the piece of educational technology as well as the subject matter being learned. When the learning experience is well designed, the neither piece of the learning experience has a learning curve that is too steep. In this way, the learner becomes more and more a part of the “teaching process”, taking on and self developing much of their own experience. Only good design can do this.

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Citations• Molenda, Michael. (2003). The ADDIE Model. Educational Technology: An Encyclopedia. • Reiser, Robert A. (2001). A history of instructional design and technology. Educational

Technology Research and Development, volume 49 (issue 2), pages 57 – 67. • Schraw, Gregory, & Mc Crudden, Matthew. Information Processing Theory. Education.com.

Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/information-processing-theory/• Smith, Patricia L. & Ragan, Tillman J. (2005). Instructional design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &

Sons, Inc. • Systematic. (n.d.). In The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language online.

Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/systematic