The stated
objective of the LDT 502 course was that students would be able to “use the
systemic process of instructional design to design and develop an
instructional module.” Although the
course included many informal assessment strategies (such as discussion posts),
the primary method of assessing this objective was a materials mockup—a hypothetical
module created for a hypothetical course with the intent of effectively
instructing hypothetical students. My
group’s final product can be found at this link for reference as I discuss
aspects of this assignment.
Immediately
after hearing the explanation of the course’s end goal (during the first live
session), my team created the website as a blank canvas. Although we were seven weeks away from
needing to submit this as a product, having the beginnings of what would
eventually be our “Big Grade” already started helped me, at least, to feel as
if there was more structure. Then,
during the following smaller steps (the Task and Content Analysis, the
Instructional Objectives, and the Detailed Design Document) we occasionally
went back to that blank site to discuss how our ideas would eventually be used
in context.
Of these
smaller steps, I believe that the Detailed Design Document (DDD) provided the
most benefit overall. We certainly used
information from the previous steps to create this. However, this was the crucial moment when
everything really came together, particularly when building out the “Instructional
Content” section. This part of the
assignment put us to the test to determine if we really were prepared to create
something essentially from scratch. It
also allowed us, as a group, to spot issues such as miscommunication
over the preferred teaching/learning style, consistency with styles and formats, and to also analyze how many steps our learners would need to know to be able to meet their
objective easily. The great thing about
having all of these conversations while preparing the DDD was that, once we
submitted this item (and received such amazing feedback on it—thank you so
much, Dr. Spicer!), we were able to cut and paste large swathes of text
directly into the website that was waiting for our “paint”. It left us with a very clear direction for
what still needed to be created before finalizing the product.
Our target
learners for this mockup were hypothetical faculty at a postsecondary
educational institution. We designed
with them in mind—a variety of adults who have access to technology and almost
certainly can understand English via written or spoken word. These adults, we anticipated, would need a
course that was flexible, easy to navigate, and could be completed on their own
schedule and with their own resources. Considering
this audience, I feel strongly that our product was indeed aligned with the
needs of our target learners.
After reviewing the goals outlined in the Design Case, I feel that my team successfully met all of the objectives. These are:
- Conduct a needs assessment to establish an instructional, training or performance need. My team did this both within a discussion prompt and when reviewing the hypothetical scenario presented by the Design Case, which included a description of learner needs.
- Develop a learner and content analysis. My team completed and submitted this item, including all parts of the stated rubric.
- Develop learning goals and/or terminal objectives for an instructional module. My team submitted this individually and compared our work during the development of our DDD.
- Develop well-written instructional objectives. This was also submitted individually and used for the DDD.
- Develop a learning assessment aligned with instructional objectives. My team discussed this and chose an assessment while developing our DDD.
- Select instructional strategies to be applied in the instructional module. My team discussed this and chose strategies while developing our DDD.
- Design and sequence learning activities to be applied in the learning module. My team discussed this and created a learning sequence while developing the DDD.
- Develop instructional materials for learners and instructors or facilitators. My team collaborated to create these materials while developing the DDD and also later while finishing the mockup website.
- Develop an evaluation plan for an instructional module. We referred to our design and planned assessment when deciding this item.
I am incredibly happy with and proud of
the great work that my team created. If
I had to make changes to our process, however, I would address some of the
communication issues. We originally
began with four members. After nearly
all work was complete (we were in the sixth week, making changes to the actual mockup site at the
time), one of our members said she had decided to drop the course because it
was too demanding and stressful. I feel that
this is because she felt the workload was overwhelming. Prior to this, while developing the DDD, I
had spoken to this team member about how her work was not very well aligned
with the overall style and design of the rest of the team and may be confusing
for learners. Because of this, she may
have felt that she was doing additional work or struggling to understand the expectations. I feel that if we had communicated more
effectively earlier in that step (developing the DDD) we may have avoided that
pitfall.
As a whole, this course, this
project, and this product were all incredibly enriching for me. I had the opportunity to explore new
technology, to implement theories in new ways and determine if they were
effective or not (with the help of great feedback) and I had a chance to work
with a team of unique individuals who offered thoughtful insight at every stage
of our collaboration. I appreciate the effort that the instructors have put into
creating this experience.
