My Instructional Model

My Instructional Model

Instructional Design! Why should I use one? I am a teacher, a really good one. I know my subject, I have been teaching it for a long time, I am a master of it. These could be the thoughts or may be the voice of a typical teacher, but in today's world, the profession of teaching has evolved big folds. Traditionally, the role of the teacher is to deliver content and in doing so, he builds rapport with his students which help him deliver the knowledge. For a better understanding of a novel concept, an instructional design would present a better resolution. In the real world, it is not the content you deliver as an instructor, it all matters how you deliver the knowledge to your students.

As compared to a teacher’s lesson plan, an instructional design can be defined as the creation of instructional materials, modules or lessons. Instructional design is a technology for the development of learning experiences and environments which promote the acquisition of specific knowledge and skill by students (Merrill, Drake, Lacy & Pratt, 1996). In general terms, the instructional design process consists of determining the needs of the learners, defining the end goals and objectives of instruction, designing and planning assessment tasks, and designing teaching and learning activities to ensure the quality of instruction.

In my previous class of Instructional Design, I came across multiple learning theories and different instructional design systems. Among many instructional designs being used in the educational world today, the ADDIE ID model has been my favorite. ADDIE is one of the leading ID systems being used in the industry. After reviewing the article “Newby, Stepich, Lehman, and Russell (PIE Model) and ADDIE “ by Gutierez (2013), I found that the era of eLearning could be benefitted better with this model of instructional design. The PIE ID primarily was designed in the year 2000 for teachers, especially to implement technology in their classrooms. This model focuses “on classroom instruction created and delivered by the same individual…with an emphasis on using media and technology to assist them” (Gustafson and Branch, 2002). The use of instructional media is stressed in this model in order to assist in student-centered learning.

As compared to ADDIE’s model which is comprised of five phases; Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation & Evaluation, the PIE model is identified by three main segments, which are Plan, Implement, and Evaluate. The Analysis, Design, and Development phases of ADDIE could be compared with PIE’s planning phase. In this phase, the ID designer plans and prepares the lesson/course, which includes reviewing of all the resources and analyzing the environment of learning. Whereas, Implementation and Evaluation phases could be considered the same in the two models. The Implementation phase is used to build up the learning experiences and combines methods/media. Teachers evaluate student learning and overall effectiveness of their lesson in the Evaluation phase. The PIE model has “general rules that it can be adapted to fit each situation, rather than a rigid procedure that must be followed in the same way every time” (Newby, 2001). The great thing about this model is that although it introduces each phase in a particular order, they do not force a particular process, which makes it very useful for teachers, as they can adjust their instruction according to the interaction they receive from the students.

With a comprehensive shift to the student-centered learning, the use of technology has undermined the work of Lev Vygotsky’s social constructivism theory of learning. Social constructivism theory places emphasis on the collaborative nature of learning, with the underlying assumption that knowledge is constructed through the interaction of others. Research on the online environment shows that interaction among students and between the instructor and students is critically important for student satisfaction and retention (Thompson, 2017). As a result, Ludwig-Hardman and Dunlap (2003) state that some students in distance learning programs and courses report feelings of isolation, lack of self-direction, and management, and eventually decrease in motivation levels. It is very much possible that improper application of the PIE’s ID model in lesson development may promote isolation in the student-centered learning paradigm.

In conclusion, I would say that the use of the PIE model in my ID system with more blended instructions. This model would definitely be pleasing to my client since it offers the same advantages as the ADDIE’s model and it synchronizes technology in knowledge delivery. Technology use definitely helps the learners to gain knowledge with the completion of a lesson. The inventiveness of technology use in the PIE model makes the learners stay focused throughout the course with the same zeal and apprehension and that’s what every client is yearning for.

References:

Gustafson, K. L., & Branch, R. M. (2002). Survey of instructional development models (4th ed.). Syracuse, NY: Eric Clearinghouse on Information.

Gutierrez, G. (2013, July 13). Newby, Stepich, Lehman, and Russell (PIE Model) and ADDIE.

Newby, T. J., Stepich, D. A., Lehman, J. D., & Russell, J. D. (2000). Educational Technology for Teaching and Learning (2nd ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice-Hall.

Youngman, T. (2017, April 6). ADDIE's great but give other instructional design models a look. In CAVIO Learning: Corporate Strategy and Learning Center. Retrieved September 22, 2018, from https://www.caveolearning.com/blog/addies-great-but-give-other-instructional-design-models-a-look

Feedbacks! Do We Really Need Them?

Feedback, Uh! Is it really helpful? Consider the plight of a poor husband, who feels like hanging himself from the ceiling every day. Apart for the poor guy, feedback or criticism about a prior action could be helpful in improving or adjusting current and future actions. Feedback occurs when an environment reacts to a behavior or action. Effective negative or positive feedback is beneficial in making informed decisions. It improves performance, effective listening, motivates and helps in learning. Feedback in education with clear guidance from the instructor is an essential part of the learning process and improves understanding of the new concepts efficiently. Bellon et al. (1991)  state that academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behavior...this relationship is consistent regardless of grade, socioeconomic status, race, or school setting. At the same time, effective feedback from a teacher builds a positive bond with the students making learning direct and adequate. In a study conducted by American behavioral scientists, Emily Heaphy, and Marcial Losada, it was found that for the effective learning, the ideal ratio of praise to criticism is 5.6:1 (Zenger & Folkman, 2013), making praise as an important aspect of feedback. In case of my assignment, when I passed my Design Document for peer review, I was a bit confident that my document would be very clear and up to the mark.  I had revised my file prior to submission and after receiving feedback from my professor Dr. Robinson and hoped that I have cleared all of my mistakes. Alas! I was wrong, not 100%, but probably 20%. I had some grammatical mistakes, but this feedback was really very essential for a good course development. Luckily, my reviewer is an English teacher and she gave me a good overview of small mistakes that I overlooked. As long as the design of the document or the goals/objectives is concerned, there were no faults. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and have a good understanding of the subject of power plants, so there were no errors in the learning modules section. Beside minor English grammar issues (English is my third language), there were some formatting issues. Uploading the file via email made a few changes in the reference section, as the indentation was changed, and my reviewer caught that. I have made the suggested changes in my document and hope the end result would be a fine Design Course Document meeting the high standard of this graduate course.
In the end, I would conclude that the feedback was a clear guidance in improving my learning, making me more confident, self-aware and an enthusiastic student.

References:

Losada, M., & Heaphy, E. (2001, February 1). The role of positivity and connectivity in the performance of business beams. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(6), 740-765. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0002764203260208

Staff. Why is feedback important? Reading University Journal. Retrieved from https://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/engageinfeedback/Whyisfeedbackimportant/

Zenger, J., & Folkman, J. (2013, March 13). Giving feedback. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2013/03/the-ideal-praise-to-criticism

Instructional Design and Technology: Finding its Roots

The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill;
the willingness to learn is a choice. (Brian Herbert)

Instructional Design is defined as “a systematic process that is employed to develop education and training programs in a consistent and reliable fashion” (Reiser, Dempsey, 2007). In addition, it may be thought of as a framework for developing modules or lessons that increase the possibilities for learning, making acquisition of knowledge efficient and appealing. (Merrill, Drake, Lacy, Pratt, 1996). Dr. Merrill argues that an effective instructional design engages learners in a way that there is a deeper level of understanding and learning happens faster and competently. The authors refer to the incorporation of an instructional design as a technology found in the science of instruction. The scientific approach of IDs leads to discoveries in learning theories, research in human cognition and thought processes, identifying prescriptive & descriptive theories of learning, and empirically implying all of the variables in the instructional model. The article effectively cites that a well-balanced instructional design promotes the acquisition of specific knowledge and build skills in the students. The article further elaborates the difference between a student and a learner and emphasizes that individualized learning is better than group learning. In conclusion, the article favors the technology should be used in the instructional design and particularizes that the unnecessary use of philosophical relativism will distract the learner and delay the knowledge gain. 

As humans, we learn new things every day. Sometimes the learning does not require any cognitive and orderly associations with older concepts as we pick up new ideas with minimal attention in our daily life. But there are times when learning new concepts require fully explained instructions. This type of gaining knowledge makes our mind use our cognition and hierarchical association with the novel concepts. The article “Reclaiming Instructional Design” was written more than half a century ago and shows the vision of the authors on the delivery of knowledge as a scientific approach. They envisioned that a well-designed ID when incorporated with explicit instruction in a learning environment, students were more susceptible to learning and it was easier for them to absorb the new concepts. The learning theories discussed in this article were descriptive & prescriptive models and some disapproval was conferred on the philosophical theory of relativism. Even though no ID model was discussed in the article, but in my opinion, an ADDIE’s model could have been well presented in it. The first appearance of the ADDIE’s model did happen some 10 years after the publication of this article. After reading this article, I could see that the authors were accentuating on the Analysis Phase, like students and their needs, Instructions and Learnings methods, discussed Knowledge and Skills, and application of Strategies in the ID. This article on Instructional Design stresses the importance of the use of technology in IDs. I am sure it will definitely help me in developing quality training for my forthcoming school project for the poor students in Pakistan.

References:

Leidner, D., & Jarvenpaa, S. (1995, September). The use of information technology to enhance the management of school education: A theoretical review. MIS Quarterly, 265-291.

Merrill, M., Drake, L., Lacy, M., & Pratt, J. (1966). Reclaiming instructional design. Education Technology, 3(5), 5-7. Retrieved from http://mdavidmerrill.com/Papers/Reclaiming.PDF