There are many factors to take into consideration when selecting a design model. I have chosen to highlight the following 3 factors:
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- Instructional Designers personal opinions
- Learning Objectives and outcomes
- Learners’ needs
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“Technology is created with the developers’ world views, values, beliefs, and assumptions embedded into its design. These worldviews are revealed through the activities supported and encouraged by the technology” (Veletsianos, 2016, p. 253). Past experiences of learning designers has the potential to form biases and preferential tendencies of certain design models. Some instructional designers may continue to utilise a particular design model because of comfort level or avoid others because of negative past experiences. By doing so, they may not be selecting the most suitable design model to address the needs of the instructional design project. According to Dousay (2018), “…popularity serves as a form of validation for these design models, but a wise instructional designer knows when to use, adapt, or create a new model of instructional design to fit their purposes” (para. 10).
Learning objectives, goals and outcomes should be taken into consideration when selecting a design model. One of the most recognised and utilised design models is ADDIE. Bates (2015), attributes the success of ADDIE to “…good quality design, with clear learning objectives, carefully structured content,…and assessment strongly tied to desired learning outcomes” (para. 11). Within the Analyse and Design phases of the ADDIE model, the learning objectives, goals and outcomes are identified and addressed, then incorporated into the Develop phase. For anyone entering the field of instructional design, ADDIE’s linear and step by step method will ensure the desired end outcomes or the results and feedback from the Evaluation phase will feed into the next iteration of the project.
Learners’ needs and preferences will influence which design model to use. In a quickly changing world, learners’ need to quickly adapt and learn the necessary skills or information for school or for work. Bates (2015) points out that the agile design model has the capability to help students develop the necessary specific skills needed in the digital age while maintaining a focus on preparing students for the rapidly changing world. Whereas the ADDIE model known for working best with large and complex projects may not be able to adapt as quickly to learners’ needs. Therefore some design models may be better able to accommodate learners’ needs.
At this time, I have not had experience with making these design model decisions. However, upon learning more design models and the variety that exists, I may want to gravitate towards the industry standard and use the ADDIE model while keeping in mind its limitations.
References:
Bates, T. (2015). Chapter 4.3 The ADDIE Model and Chapter 4.7 ‘Agile’ Design: flexible designs for learning. In Teaching in the digital age. BCcampus.
Dousay. T. A. (2017). Chapter 22. Instructional Design Models. In R. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology (1st ed.).
Veletsianos, G. (2016). Digital learning environments. In N. Rushby & D. Surry (Eds), Handbook of Learning Technologies (pp. 242-260). UK: John Wiley & Sons.
I’m inclined to agree that given the popularity of ADDIE, it seems imperative to at least understand and put the model to practice. As for knowing when to “when to use, adapt, or create a new model of instructional design” – that will come with experience, taking risks, and accepting a few failed attempts along the way (Dousay, 2018).
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for you comments. After doing the readings for this week, I have come to a better understanding of ADDIE and can see how beginners/novice instructional designers would gravitate towards following this tried and true method. Thank you for the Dousay quote and yes, i agree with it. There are so many other design models that experienced instructional designers should consider. I would like to think beyond the “one size fits all” approach.
Thanks, Gail
Hi Gail,
Thank you for your post. I appreciate that you highlighted these three considerations, in particular the importance of examining the designer’s own personal opinions and potential biases. We all have varying degrees of comfort when it comes to taking risks and trying something new. In general, has the pandemic experience pushed instructional designers away from their comfortable go-to models? Or, has the pandemic pushed designers more towards the tried and true? Or, pandemic or not, is this question instructional designer and situation specific? I would be curious to hear your thoughts!
Amber
Hi Amber,
Great question. I’d like to believe that this pandemic has forced us to look at new ways of doing things and pushed us out of our comfort zone. So, for those more experienced designers, they may have been pushed to re-examine design models. For the beginners/novice designers, they may have stuck with the tried and true just to manage the changes brought on by the pandemic.
I also see some similarities with dental hygiene. There are some hygienists who stick in their comfort zone and continue to provide the same service to different clients with varying needs. Then, there are other hygienists who individualise treatment for each and every client. Both hygienists may have the same number of years of experience but the difference is one is prepared to consider a multitude of factors about each client when providing treatment.
Any thoughts?
Gail
Hi Gail,
Great post here. In reply to your question in the comment section, a thought comes to mind from my work experience.
Teachers and educators (dental hygienists) have a lot on their plate. They are interacting with the paying customer, the student or the patient. As a result, their primary responsibility is delivery. Alternatively, the vice-principal or manager is responsible for pairing the personality traits and capacities of the staff with the customer. Perhaps then it is the managers and vice-principals who need to 1) match staff with customers, 2) provide support and direction with regards to educational design, and 3) use a gap analysis to assess staff strengths and weaknesses to help the team grow year upon year.
This idea would also suggest that people in managerial positions should also have come from the customer service side, like experienced teachers who move into administration. There are many studies from the business community where ‘professional managers’ are hired, instead of promoting lower-tier staff, and business results have suffered as a result.
Do you see this in your field? Are staff being upgraded over time? Or if they are, are they inundated with administrative tasks and lose contact with the day-to-day interactions their team is having with customers?
Hi Ben,
Thank you for your comments and questions. I have seen situations where dental staff are trained to become the office manager. In these situations, the office managers have a better understanding of what is happening in the “back end” vs. an office manager who is not dental trained. In many dental offices, teams are small enough that office managers know what everyone is doing and some offices have a morning huddle to run through the day sheet and exchange information to team members.
Thanks,
Hi, Gail,
The ADDIE model is certainly a strong place to start as an instructional designer, though your post made us think about how other learning design strategies and approaches can be used within the components of ADDIE. Do you see opportunities for models to converge or work together? And we also wondered if you considered that although ADDIE is designed at first glance as a “linear and step by step method” that it can actually be quite flexible, for example, different steps in the ADDIE process can be iterative and cyclic, supporting reflection on action. Consider diving deeper into ADDIE and the possibilities for intersecting other models.
Thanks for sharing,
Lisa & Leeann