Education helps to bring into focus things that are hidden in plain sight. This rings true as I begin to learn about instructional design models. With countless upskilling and more formal courses and programs completed throughout my higher education and professional life, I have never considered the science behind creating and teaching the learning content – until now. Since my goal is to create digital learning artifacts and environments for parents and early childhood educators, exploring design models that could be well suited for this context is critical to my MALAT learning outcomes. According to Heaster-Ekholm (2017),
“Instructional Design Models (IDMs) are frameworks that offer steps and activities to create effective, efficient, and engaging learning experiences (Merrill, 2013). They are more than simply popular or successful practices, a fact that is often overlooked. IDMs emerge from rigorous scientific research on how learning happens and what conditions lead to better learning” (p. 61).
Each instructional design model has unique strengths and weaknesses and is underpinned by different learning theories (Dousay, 2017; Heaster-Ekholm, 2020; Parchoma et al., 2020). It then seems essential that designers and teachers be well-versed in various models to find the best fit for different contexts, learning content, and related outcomes. In addition, finding innovative ways to layer or integrate design models from various learning theories could provide a unique combination of approaches or strategies that complement one another, leveraging strengths and supporting weaknesses. As learning contexts become more diverse and complex, finding creative ways to augment the effectiveness of learning strategies and environments is vital. Combining models that focus more on content or learning artifacts, such as ADDIE or Bloom’s Taxonomy, with models that focus more on learners and the learning environment, such as UDL or The Medicine Wheel, can perhaps ensure the creation of outcomes, content and learning environments that successfully engage and motivate a more diverse learner group.
The emergence of more inclusive, holistic, and integrated, evidence-based practices for greater impact is not unique to learning environments. As an example from another discipline, our child mental health and family wellness practice implements various strategies underpinned by different theories or psychological, social, and neuroscientific constructs, such as polyvagal, attachment, social learning and indigenous theories. We co-create care plans that best suit clients’ needs, beliefs, values, or circumstances. Without practical application in learning design, I imagine the process has some similarities. I look forward to digging deeper into instructional design thinking and practical application.
References:
Dousay, T. A. (2018). Instructional Design Models. In R. E. West (Ed.), Foundations of Learning and Instructional Design Technology. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/lidtfoundations/instructional_design_models
Heaster-Ekholm, K. L. (2020). Popular Instructional Design Models: Their Theoretical Roots and Cultural Considerations. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 16(3), 50-65.
Parchoma, G., Koole, M., Morrison, D., Nelson, D., & Dreaver-Charles, K. (2020). Designing for learning in the yellow house: a comparison of instructional and learning design origins and practices. Higher Education Research & Development, 39(5), 997–1012. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1704693