Instructional Design: Analyze

Analyze This is your first step for designing your course. In this phase you will simply think through what you want to do. This is the "big picture" of the complete instructional design process, so all you're doing for now is THINKING about your students and course. Don't get hung up on any particular item, and don't worry if you don't understand something. We'll discuss everything later.
Design of Course Why are you doing this course? What is your timeline for developing this course? How will you schedule your time to work on this course? Scheduled times to work on the course What days/times? Scheduled consultations with an Instructional Designer at CET Scheduled time for Vista training at ETC Will anyone else be involved with the design of the course? Other instructors Student assistants
Audience Who are your students? How many students will you have? Why do they need this course? prerequisite? elective? course in major? What do they need to learn? What do they already know? Is there a "gap" between what they know and where they need to go with this instruction? What do you need to teach? Do you need to do a pre-test to see "where they are" and "where you need to begin?" Will you need to do a review with the students? What types of learning need to happen? (See Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning for domains of learning.) Knowledge Skills Attitudes
Goal What is the big picture for this course? In general terms, what is going to happen?
Objectives What are the specific learning objectives (outcomes) for this course? Are the objectives based on accreditation agency, program, or university mission requirements? What will the students be able to do, or how will they demonstrate that learning has taken place? What is ESSENTIAL to know? What is just nice to know or worth being familiar with? How much emphasis needs to be placed on "nice to know" and "worth being familiar with?" How will you handle that? What LEVEL of learning will you target for learning outcomes? (See Writing Goals and Objectives.) Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation (creative thinking)
Identify Content What text books or workbooks will you use? When will you order them? Have you requested a teacher's copy? Do you need to reserve material in the library? Do you need copyright clearances? (text, images, audio/video) Regents Guide to Understanding Copyright & Educational Fair Use Guide to the TEACH Act What content already exists? What content needs to be created? Syllabus Policies Grading Student handbook/plagiarism Course schedule/calendar assignments Study guides/Rubrics Illustrations PowerPoints Scanning text or images Convert content to Adobe Acrobat (pdf) Audio or video conversion Audio/video lectures Lecture outlines (Print) Study guides Instructions, procedures Reading assignments Exercises (individual or group) Assignments Quizzes or practice tests CD or DVDs Locate Web resources (Links) Due dates for assignments, group work, quizzes, etc. Fees (Supplies for students, etc.)
Identify Environment & Delivery Face-to-face Completely online Hybrid (how much online?; how much face-to-face?) CD/DVD Labs Proctored exams Vista Course Management System Assessments - Quizzes Assessments - Self-Tests Assessments - Survey Assignment Tool Chat Room Discussion Area URL for Links to External Sites Grade Book Columns
Instructional Strategies Instructional strategies provide us ways to enhance teaching and learning. The Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses is a good framework for thinking about instructional strategies and course design. The items listed below support the seven principles. How will you structure the learning events? What instructional strategies will you use? Provide examples or model expectations for students Organization of learning activities Chunk learning activities into smaller pieces Sequence content in logical order Scaffold the learning experience Use relevant, real-world learning experiences Interaction Class Discussions (Guidelines, rubrics) Study Groups (Participation expectations, Guidelines, rubrics) Peer Evaluation (for group work, guidelines, rubrics) Provide feedback on regular, frequent basis Individual feedback when appropriate Discussion summaries for time management Use chat for small group brainstorming Lecture Address Learning Styles (aural, visual, kinesthetic) What are your students' learning styles? What are the implications for instruction? Lecture notes or outlines Rubrics, checklists, or guidelines to guide learning PowerPoint with images Short audio/video lectures (Chunk into small segments less than 10 minutes each) PowerPoint and Impatica (Audio with slideshow) Camtasia for live screen shots (Good for teaching software) Demonstration videos Documentary videos Audio only using RealProducer (free software) Practice exercises Use online quizzes as a teaching strategy (self-test, practice test) Draft paper due dates Evaluation/critique of peers' work Games created with StudyMate Assignments (Use rubrics, checklists, or study guidelines when appropriate) State assignment due dates Group Projects Case Studies/Analysis Discussions or Discussion Groups Problem-Based Learning Examination of Assumptions Compare/contrast Critical Reviews Construction of Meaning Student Portfolio Student products (based on Roles, Process Verbs & Products from Bloom’s Taxonomy, Bloom's Wheel) Journals to encourage student reflection Promote divergent thinking Promote convergent thinking Summary Provided for Learning Experience Formative Feedback from Students (See below) Explore other resources for teaching/learning strategies: Gagné's 9 events of instruction Gagné's 9 events of instruction applied to online courses Online Teaching Activity Index Instructional Strategies for Online Courses Instructional Strategies Online Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology Adult Learning Theory Online Teaching: Have you got what it takes? Teaching Styles Key Elements for Online Teaching Tips and Strategies for Online Teaching Sample Web-based Active Learning Activities
Assessment Strategies This is largely based on the instructional strategies identified above How will you assess the students? Quizzes Practice quizzes / Games with StudyMate Critical thinking questions (Writing test questions based on Bloom's Taxonomy) Assignments (with rubrics as study guides) Projects/Products Journals/Reflections Discussions Knowledge surveys based on Bloom for course improvement Other
Formative Evaluation While you are teaching the course, will you ask for student feedback, i.e., "How's it going?" to catch potential problems with course content or strategies? What will you ask? Open ended questions get the best results. What do you like best about this learning unit? What do you like least about this learning unit? How would you improve this learning unit? At what points during the course will you ask for feedback? 2nd week, other weeks?
Constraints What possible limitations might there be in this course's delivery? Low bandwidth for some of the students How will you handle this? DVD, CD, course requirement to have high bandwidth? Technology issues Software incompatibilities (Students don't have Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SPSS, etc.) Plug-ins (audio/video, Flash, etc.) Time zone differences? (If you require chats) Do any of your students have disabilities that would render accessing content in your course difficult? How will you accommodate this? Others?
Quality Assurance of Course Design All throughout the design and development process, you will be making decisions, rethinking content, instructional strategies, etc. What you identify in the design phase might not be what actually evolves. At some point, you will want to step back and have a look at the course to see that content, strategies, and instructions are congruent, and that the course interface is functional. External review by peers and instructional designers is important at this point. Things of consideration follow. Is the user interface easy to understand and follow? Are the learning modules consistent in form and function? Are the overview pages professional looking? Is all the content in place? Do all the links work? Are the objectives signaling what the students will be able to do? Do the assignments support the objectives? Do the assessments measure the objectives? Are the instructions concise and clear? Is there sufficient opportunity for interaction between students and instructor? Is there a means for the student to give feedback on how the learning experience is going?