Coming into the course LRNT524 – Innovation, Design and Learning Environments, I had my apprehensions as someone who had no experience with instructional design. As a researcher by day (and sometimes at night), I dealt with more of the evaluative piece at the end of a course. I’ve had little contact with the instructional designers who develop said courses. I suppose I’m at the E stage (Evaluate) for the ADDIE model as described by Bates (2014).
It’s definitely interesting to see the whole process from beginning to end. While I had known that there were a multitude of methods in designing instruction, the sheer of amount of theories and approaches have been overwhelming. The ADDIE model seems straightforward enough, where you Analyze what’s needed, Design learning objectives to meet the needs, Develop content that achieve the learning objectives, Implement the delivery of the content, and finally Evaluate whether the design is successful or not. The methodology is simple, but may not apply to every situation. Thomas (2010) introduces other methods such as the universal systems model, rapid prototyping, Gagné’s nine events of instruction, the Dick and Carey model, Smith and Ragan’s model, Merill’s Models of Instructional Design, and the Dynamic ID model among others. All of these models have some form of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation, but vary in the way and order that these processes are enacted.
The universal systems model has an iterative process which gathers feedback from the output and continues to allow altered input. Gagné’s nine events of instruction splits up different events (e.g., stimulation of past learning, providing opportunity for students to show learning, etc.) into pre-instructional, instructional, and post-instructional phases. These methods very greatly in specificity and only the designer can determine which method would work best for their design challenge. I believe a challenge for myself will be to see what are the advantages to each model and under what scenario would each work best. As Bates (2014) points out, ADDIE “does not provide guidelines or procedures for deciding how to choose between different technologies, or what assessment strategies to use”. I would ask a question from one step back and wonder what are the guidelines or procedures for deciding how to choose an instructional design model? Luckily we are at the beginning of the course, so hopefully as we progress (and with more reading) the answer will become clearer.
References
Bates, T. (2014, September 9). Is the ADDIE model appropriate for teaching in a digital age? [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.tonybates.ca/2014/09/09/is-the-addie-model-appropriate-for-teaching-in-a-digital-age/
Thomas, P. Y. (2010). Learning and instructional systems design. In Towards developing a web-based blended learning environment (Doctoral dissertation, University of Botswana). Retrieved from http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/4245/04Chap%203_Learning%20and%20instructional%20systems%20design.pdf
You said, “All of these models have some form of analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation, but vary in the way and order that these processes are enacted.” I think your summary sentence was right on the mark, and will serve you well for the remainder of the course. It’s the method I have come to rely on over the years, although I don’t usually question the order of the processes as much as the focus. For example, you can’t implement something that hasn’t been developed or designed. On the other hand, you may have something implemented, find out from users that x isn’t of sufficient value, leading you to loop back to the design/develop phase again.
Thanks Donna, you definitely have a knack for helping to clarify things. Lately I feel all the readings have been jumbled up in my mind. Like you said, what we perceive as a logical order may not be the best method and looping might be a better option (like in universal systems model). My only qualm with that is you have students potentially become guinea pigs until you get the ‘right’ design and I don’t believe that is quite fair. I suppose that happens most of the time anyway when programs undergo review and content/delivery changes based on the evaluation. There are no easy answers, huh?