Instructional Design

The talk about learning styles bled into some discussion of Bloom’s Taxonomy and Gagne’s 9 Events of Instruction, so it seems like a naturally progression that I discuss one of these (I’ve talked exhaustively about Bloom’s Taxonomy, so Gagne’s on my hit list).

Gagne’s 9 Events of Instruction

Instructional Designer and scholar, Robert Gagne seems to have loved numbers. He breaks everything down into them – 5 categories of learning, 8 ways to learn, but most notably, he identified nine events of instruction:

1.Gain the learners’ attention

2.Inform learners of the objective

3.Stimulate recall of prior learning

4.Present the stimulus

5.Provide guidance for the learners

6.Elicit learn performance

7.Provide feedback

8.Assess learner performance.

9.Enhance retention and transfer

Per Gagne’s original conception, each event requires at least one instructional activity, and the sequence of the instruction is a direct correlation to the efficacy of instruction.

These are great, but how do they apply?

• Gain the learners’ attention – Begin your instruction asking a thought-provoking question that will get your learners engaged in discussion (or at least some critical thinking). I usually ask my learners a few questions about their thoughts on certain topics that will be discussed in that class. This allows them to provide a self-assessment response of sorts (albeit informal), with which they can reflect on at the end of the lecture.

• Inform learners of the objective – Identify the learning objectives for the course; be as specific and measurable as you can. The learners need to know what they can expect to get out of the course/module/lesson – Check out this neat learning objective generator from easygenerator.com.

• Stimulate recall of prior learning – Your learners may engage more with the content or retain the content better if you relate the new information to things they already know. For example, in my class, there are a lot of learners who are teachers within the local school board; as such, I often relate new information with similar concepts they may have encountered within their schools. This helps facilitate deeper understanding of the concepts being discussed as they feel more tangible to the learners.

• Present the stimulus – Be creative! Within the face-to-face environment, you can vary your presentation, your pitch, your tone, your intonation…you can beat box your lesson if you want. It’s a bit trickier in the online environment. Here, you’ll need to get creative with your e-learning, crafting interactions the students can immerse themselves in, such as software simulations, click and reveal interactions, case studies, etc.

• Provide guidance for the learners – Provide support for your learners. This can be as simple as including additional resources, job aids, or navigation instructions. Don’t make them fly blind.

• Illicit learner performance – Let your learners apply their understanding.  The sooner learners can apply the newly learned information, the more likely they will be able to retain it.

• Provide feedback – Providing feedback on your learner’s performance will help them improve as they progress throughout the course. Be timely with your feedback, as this will be most effective.

• Assess learner performance – Provide learners with a formal assessment. The assessment should mimic what has been presented throughout the practice opportunities, and you will only assess learners on information they were presented – no new information.

• Enhance retention and transfer – You can help facilitate learner retention by providing them with information to take with them in the future, such as written feedback, job aids, or checklists.

After searching through my Terminology Tuesday posts, I was shocked I had yet to discuss learning styles. Oi. I recently had a great discussion with my graduate students about their thoughts on learning styles, so it seems appropriate to share some of that discussion here with you lovely folks!

Learning Styles

The idea behind the concept of learning styles is that everyone receives and processes information differently. This may be correct, but that assumption places a lot of pressure on the teacher to be able to correctly identify each student’s learning style and THEN accommodate that learning style. In classes of 20, 30, or 200…that just doesn’t seem like a feasible task.

It has not yet been proven that ”designing instruction to meet the specific learning styles of individuals increases academic achievement” (Ellis, 2005). However, awareness that learners comprehend information differently should remind anyone responsble for designing instruction to provide a number of activities that stimulate learners’ thinking in a variety of different ways.” (Brown & Green, 2016, p. 76).

The main argument against learning styles right now is that they don’t exist and are merely preferences. Every learner has individual learning preferences.

Within the Ted Talk video, below, the speaker discusses the emergence of learning styles and it seems almost conspiratorial in that we’ve been so brainwashed to believe in learning styles that the sheer suggestion they don’t exist can take some time to process and investigate further.

 

What do you think about learning styles?!

References

Brown, A. H., & Green, T. D. (2016). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Ellis, A. K. (2005). Research on educational innovations (4th ed.). Poughkeepsie, NY: Eye on Education.

In the 1950s, psychologist Abraham Maslow sought to determine what motivates people. He identified a set of needs and desires that individuals attempt to fulfil. The needs and desires have been modified over time,  but the comprehensive hierarchy includes:

• Transcendence – An altruistic means of helping others identify their own potential – this form of self-actualization is a higher form, considering not just the self, but others.
• Self-Actualization – Realizing our own potential and achieving self-fulfillment
• Aesthetic – Symmetry, order, beauty, balance
• Learning – Knowing, understanding, and mentally connecting to content
• Esteem – Achievement, competence, receiving approval, becoming independent
• Belonging – Love, family, friends, affection, community
• Security – Protection, safety, stability
• Physical – Hunger, comfort, thirst

Maslow’s needs are viewed as a hierarchy where transcendence is at the peak of the hierarchy, and physical needs are at the bottom of the hierarchy. As Maslow viewed it, you had to move from the bottom up, without moving to fulfil higher needs prior to fulfilling lower needs. Since it’s inception, research has found that individuals today fulfill needs simultaneously versus sequentially.

Without considering this hierarchy, most appeals are to the basement – the physical or psychological needs that are closer to the bottom of the hierarchy. In considering the hierarchy, you can design instruction to appeal to higher motivations, such as Learning, Self-Actualization, and potentially Transcendence.

Within Instructional Design, there are many ways that the development of training and/or instruction can appeal to most of the needs in Maslow’s hierarchy.

Physical needs are typically met before students come to the instruction, but you can appeal to physical needs by structuring the instruction in order to provide ample opportunities for students to take breaks; this is often observed with self-paced e-learning, as the student can take breaks at any point to satisfy physical needs, such as eating and drinking. Another example of appeals to the physical need include school breakfast or lunch programs.

Security needs can be appealed to by creating supportive environments that don’t trigger an individual’s need for security. You can do this within the design and development phases, supporting instruction with calm audio or imagery that allows learners to feel safe and secure. A good example of this is pixelthoughts.co, which is a 60 second meditation tool. This tool teaches individuals meditation tactics, while appealing to the security needs of individuals.

Belonging is an easy one; you can appeal to the belonging need by designing your instruction to support a community-based approach (e.g. including opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction and engagement).

Esteem – The no child left behind act is an example of education appealing to the esteem need, but it’s not necessarily the best example, and can often backfire. A better example of appealing to the esteem need is to design instruction with frequent opportunities for reflection, discovery, and frequent feedback.

Learning – Learning is also an easy one; to appeal to the learning need, instruction needs to be designed in such a way that learners can achieve knowledge, skills, or attitudes. Promoting curiosity can also help appeal to the learning need

Aesthetic – In appealing to aesthetic, you can design and develop aesthetically pleasing instruction, based on proven design principles.

Self-Actualization – To appeal to self-actualization, instruction needs to be designed to include opportunities for reflection, goal setting, check ins (on those goals), and opportunities to track progress.

Transcendence – By attempting to appeal to all other needs, your instruction can be designed in such a way to offer an opportunity for transcendence; although this is hard to come by.

For those unfamiliar, the concept of Instructional Design (ID) Models can be confusing. For those familiar, which ID model to use can seem overwhelming.

Instructional Design Models

ID models are just that – a model for ID. But what does that mean? It means that an ID model will represent different elements of an ID project, such as project management, design, development, etc. Within each phase, like items will be represented. For example, within a design phase, you may group elements such as: instructional strategies, style guides, branding, assessment plans, authoring tool to be used, etc.

They’re tricky to explain because they’re designed to make more complex concepts easier to understand by breaking them down into palatable chunks of similar items. They create a project to do list of sorts, and some team members may work in one phase or another or they may work linearly across all. The model you choose will ultimately dictate the process used throughout the project.

With ID models, the possibilities are really endless. You can create your own or you can use an existing model. One size does not always fit all, and you can adapt models as necessary based on your needs.

Examples of ID Models

Popular ID models include:

• ADDIE Model by learning-theories.com
• The Dick and Carey Model (Systems Approach Model) – Don Clark
• Successive Approximation Model by Michael Allen