Instructional Systems Design: What it's all about

by Curtis L. Broderick
http://www.jmnelson.com/studio/dance/theory/broderick/ISDallabout.htm

Instructional Design

http://library.rwu.edu/lib/learning-commons/id/services/instructional-design

About Instructional Design at Roger Williams University

What is instructional design and what does the ID team do for the University? As far as explaining
the field of Instructional Design, Curtis L. Broderick, author of Instructional Systems Design: What
It's All About defines the field this way:

"Instructional Design is the art and science of creating an instructional environment and materials
that will bring the learner from the state of not knowing, not feeling or not being able to
accomplish certain tasks to the state of knowing, feeling and being able to accomplish those tasks.
Instructional Design is based on theoretical and practical research in the areas of cognition,
educational psychology, and problem solving."

The ID team contains both Instructional designers and instructional technologists. These two types
of positions are similar in job role and function. Both are higher education professionals who have
been trained to apply the principles of instructional design to student learning and then evaluate
the appropriate technologies and solutions to facilitate specific learning outcomes.

The Instructional Design team consults with faculty to create engaging, interactive, and
instructionally sound programs. Team members work with you to find the appropriate
technologies required for your course goals and then support you and your students in using the
technologies. In order to do this, the team researchs and experiments with the latest technologies
as well as the best practices and instructional strategies for using these tools within education. The
ID team also develops and delivers workshops on teaching through technology and facilitate
Institutes and special events driven by Academic Affairs initiatives for faculty wanting to learn
more about course redesign and instructional technology.

An instructional designer can help you:

1. Apply the appropriate pedagogy for the specific learning environment whether classroom,
online, or blended
2. Assist in developing learning objectives and determining how to align those objectives
with appropriate assessment strategies to measure the desired learning outcomes
3. Assist in the implementation of e-portfolios to provide course, program or individual
student learning assessment
4. Relate effective ways of motivating and engaging students in activities designed for
learning
5. Increase student collaboration through the use of online communications tools and group
activities
6. Become familiar with some of the technology tools currently available at RWU
7. Select the technolog(ies) most suitable for the type of learning and course delivery
8. Adapt instructional materials created for one format to another such as translating
classroom instruction to online learning
9. Design and create multimedia or other supplements to support learning
"I've got an excellent idea
about how we could teach
this." This statement could
be the beginning of a
smashing training design
that learners will use with "And in the end, isn't that
joy and glee, instruction
that will have them
what we want from our
engaged and really learners? The ability to do
learning. Or, it could be the
path to instructional hell, something that they
with the trainer left
scratching his head as to couldn't do before."
why it didn't work.

Enter Instructional
Systems Design (ISD), a
research-based
methodological approach
that brings the learner from
a state of not being able to
perform a certain task or
skill, to that state of being
able to perform it. And in
the end, isn't that what we
want from our learners?
The ability to do
something that they
couldn't do before. Now,
many of you are already
squirming in your seats.
Tasks, methodology,
perform? Why, this is
naked behaviorism, you
say. All right, hold on a
second. For those of you
who have heard the term
"Instructional Design" but
were not sure if it meant
anything more than
'creating a course', read on
to inform yourself what
this long standing
instructional method is all
about. For those of you
who feel that methods that
employ behaviorism went
out with rotary dial
phones, I encourage you
re-look at this time tested
method and see if there
aren't one or two gems that
you can't pick up.

I base this article on the

founding work of Walter
Dick and Lou Carey. Their
text, which came out in the
70s, is a synthesis of
research in learning,
formulated into a
methodology for creating
instruction. The text is
currently in its fourth
edition and is considered
by most in the field to be
the basic manual of Figure 1.
Instructional Systems
** Usually done by individuals not involved in creating the
Design (ISD). The more I instructional design, this phase gives an opportunity for the
look at it, the more I am organization to do an overall evaluation and compare the new
proposed instruction to either the standard way the subject was
reminded of using taught before, or in comparison with a competing design,
methodology, or solution.
Microsoft Project. How's
that? Well, with MS
Project, you start from the
final product and work
backwards collecting and
pasting in the elements and
events you need to reach
your goal. After a couple
of hours or days, you have
this huge chart showing
each element you will need
to get to your final product.

Seems logical, no? Write

down precisely what your "The designer will
goal is, then work
backwards to what sub
also breakdown the
items are needed to make goal into 5 - 15 main
it, and what sub-sub-items
are needed to make those, steps to get a picture
etc., etc. So, if our final
product is instruction, why of the major elements
should we sit down and
start creating the materials
it comprises."
without analyzing
carefully what it is that we
need to get there. The
instructional content is the
end product, not the
starting place.

Assuming that the

stakeholders of the
organization agree then
that instruction is indeed
the solution to the given
problem, we can begin
designing. We will employ
the ISD method. See figure
1.

Step 1 - Write the

instructional goal(s)
This is an overall statement
the designer will write
about what he or she
expects the learner to be
able to do at the end of
your instruction. If you
say, "The learner will
know how to fill out a tax
form", this only tells us
what he or she knows, not
what they are capable of
doing. The goal needs to
state demonstrable actions
(see, it is behavior we are
after). As you refine your
statements about what the
learner will do, ask
yourself "If someone was
doing those actions, would
you agree that they have
achieved the learning
goal?" Here is an example.

"The learner will be

able to explain each
item of the tax form
in simple English and
be able to fill out
the XB1 form by
referencing the
appropriate tax
documents, and giving
themselves the most
favorable tax
relief."

Step 2 - Goal statement

analysis
What the designer does
next is to classify the
instructional goal as either
a verbal skill (being able to
recall factual information),
an intellectual skill (such
as calculating paint
coverage for a house), a
psychomotor skill (such as
conducting a train), or an
attitudinal goal (such as
choosing environmentally
friendly camping
practices). By doing this,
the designer will use
different strategies (which
I will not be able to address
in this article) in the design
process. The designer will
also breakdown the goal
into 5 - 15 main steps to get
a picture of the major
elements it comprises.

Step 3 - Subordinate
skills analysis
This task is where the
designer spends many
hours dissecting and
breaking down the main
steps into subskills. Each
of the subskills required
for each step will in turn be
broken down into subskills
needed for them. This
backward stepping
breakdown process is
extremely important and
continues until the
designer comes to a set of
very basic skills. You will
do best if you completely
remove the question,
"How am I going to teach
this?" At this phase of the
design, you are a scientist,
dissecting the performance
of someone 'doing' the
instructional goal. You
will ask yourself, what
subskills are necessary to
perform this certain step
without which it would be
impossible to perform it.
The product of this work
will be a large hierarchical
diagram displaying all the
required subskills. See
example 1 below.
Step 4 - Identify Entry
Behaviors and
Characteristics
You now need to identify
the learners' entry
behaviors. That is, what is
it that the learners are
already capable of doing?
Asking a few questions to
individuals in your target
group will certainly be
better than relying on
guesses or stereotypes.
You will make horizontal
dotted lines on your
diagram which say,
students will have to come
to the instruction being
able to perform all the
skills up to this mark. That
is, "My instruction will
assume certain
proficiencies and start
from that skill set." Not
only do you want to make
sure that they are ready for
the instruction, but you
must also determine if they
already have some of the
skills you have identified
for instruction.

Step 5 - Write
performance objectives
In this phase, you will go
through each subskill box
of your instructional
analysis diagram and write
a clear and precise
statement about what
behavior the learner will
exhibit, under what
conditions, and on what
criteria it will be judged
successful. Here is an
example. Given a shelf of
clearly labeled standard
chemicals required for film
development, the learner
will select chemical x and
chemical y and create a
mixture that will develop
the entire quantity of film
and which is not more than
30% off from a 1:1 mix
ratio. Let's now ask the
defining question, "Would
someone be able to
determine if the learner has
indeed performed this
skill?" The answer is
clearly yes. These
performance objectives are
important statements about
what demonstrable
behavior the learner should
be able to do to indicate
that he or she 'knows' it.

Step 6 - Develop
criterion-referenced test
items
Here we create our test
items. "Already?" you ask.
Well, why should we
create content if we don't
yet know what we will
expect of the learners?
Using the criteria created
for each performance
objective, you will create
questions that would show
whether or not the learner
can perform the skill. The
type of test item, be it
multiple choice, fill in the
blank, essay, or other,
should be dictated by the
verbiage of the
performance objective.
Questions, such as essay
types will need special
evaluation instruments
such as a checklist to
verify that each key
element of the answer has
been addressed. The most
important thing a designer
does in this phase is to
create a number of clearly
phrased questions that give
the learner the opportunity
to demonstrate that he or
she can perform a given
skill. Questions that trick,
confuse, or test skills other
than that of the
performance objective are
useless.

Step 7 - Develop
instructional strategy
Although you are probably
very anxious to get in there
and start creating the actual
instructional materials,
you must first create your
instructional strategy. This
step, along with the next, is
where you should really let
your creativity run loose.
This phase forces you to
answer important
questions about how you
will implement your
learning plan. The five
major components of an
instructional strategy are
preinstructional activities,
information presentation,
student participation,
testing, and follow-
through. Using the
products of the previous
design phases, you will
sequence and cluster
objectives, plan
preinstructional, testing,
and follow-up activities,
write out the information
presentation and student
participation strategies,
and then finally, allocate
activities for each learning
session. While doing this,
you will take into account
audience characteristics
and include elements to
motivate them and hold
their attention.

Step 8 - Develop
instructional materials
Here, you finally get to
develop (or program) the
materials. Because your
instructional material will
certainly be revised before
final production, you
should construct them on
paper using text, sketches,
and storyboards. The
development should
include a student manual,
the instruction, tests, and
an instructor's manual.
Choices of multimedia
should be made upon the
congruence between the
skill and the media type.
Practice and feedback
should be as close to the
real world situation as
possible.

Step 9 - Conduct
formative evaluation
Formative evaluation is the
beta testing that takes place
to help you smooth out
your instruction. Even with
all of your tedious and
careful analysis, planning,
and reviewing, you have
only created instruction
that will theoretically
work. It is now time to test
these assumptions
empirically. If done with
the instructional design
itself as a framework, you
will be able to pinpoint the
exact areas that will need
the improvements. Ideally
you will conduct three
rounds of evaluation. First,
with three to five students
on a one-to-one basis,
second, with eight to
twenty randomly selected
target students, and third, a
field trial with about thirty
students. Each of these
evaluations will give you
the different products you
will need to re-evaluate all
parts of your instructional
intervention.

Step 10 - Revise
instruction accordingly
This step is cycled with
step 9 three times, once for
each of the evaluation
types. In this phase, you
will revise the instruction
itself or the procedures of
how the instruction is used.
Your summaries from the
formative evaluation will
include learners' remarks,
scores on pretests,
embedded tests, post tests,
your attitude
questionnaire, and your
debriefing notes. Using
tables that show both
individual and group score
results categorized by
learning objectives, you
should first analyze the
inter-objective responses
to find if there are
problematic test items that
need to be thrown out. The
point is to focus on which
objectives need revision.
The designer will typically
create a revision table that
includes the instructional
component, the problem
encountered, the suggested
change, and the evidence
and source for the
problem. Your revision
could involve changing
any of the many design
steps up to this point.

Conclusion
I have only given you very
brief notes about what a
designer does in each of
the steps of the ISD model.
A book or course in ISD
will fill in the gaps and is
well worth the time,
especially if it is a hands on
course. I hope you have
seen that each step serves
an important purpose, and
without which, leaves you
with a design that only
'hopefully' catches
everything.

Nobody said this was

going to be three easy steps
to awesome instruction.
This process of creating
instruction is research
based and empirically
tested. It does require a
level of rigor and time that
many people are not
willing to expend.
Although it takes into
account all the necessary
items needed to create
effective instruction, it
should not be followed so
strictly that it impedes your
creative expression, which
in the end, draws the
learner into the material.
Whether or not the
instruction is truly
effective, interesting, and
engaging, depends on your
ability to put on the
scientist's lab coat when
analyzing the instructional
goals, and putting on the
artist's smock when
creating engaging and
enjoyable ways to present
the information to the
learner and provide him or
her with meaningful
practice and feedback.