Instructional Design

What is Instructional Design?

Instructional design is the creation of learning experiences and materials in a manner that results in the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. A collaborative effort, instructional design allows subject matter experts and instructional designers to form a partnership to develop the best learning environment for students.

According to Aubuhassna and Alnawajha (2023), "Instructional design (ID) has played a vital role as a change agent in facilitating the pedagogical and technological transformation of educators and students." 

Abuhassna, H., & Alnawajha, S. (2023). Instructional Design Made Easy! Instructional Design Models, Categories, Frameworks, Educational Context, and Recommendations for Future Work. European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education, 13(4), 715–735. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13040054

Effective Practices for Online Instruction

  • Creating a personalized home page that welcomes students to your course is important.
  • This is the first page students see when they log in to your course and it provides a way to navigate your course seamlessly.
  • Your homepage can include a welcome message, a condensed course introduction and description, a list of course outcomes, textbook information, etc.
  • Weekly modules allow for optimal course organization.
  • Modules can be used as a one-stop-shop for students to acquire information needed to be successful in your course.
  • Keep modules organized and consistent to maintain and promote readability.
  • Clearly communicate course expectations to your students such as due dates, instructor response time/feedback process, textbook and materials, etc.
  • Don't be afraid to send out reminders!
  • Design all assessments to measure the achievement of the course learning objectives.

Diagnostic, Formative, and Summative Assessments

  • Diagnostic assessments inform the instructor what the students know prior to a unit, lesson or course. These are pre-assessments such as pre-tests, self-evaluations, and observations.
  • Formative assessments allow instructors to keep track of student learning as it happens. Practice work, reflections, peer-evaluation, and teacher feedback are all types of formative assessments.
  • Summative assessments are culminating evaluations that happen at the end of the unit, lesson or course. These assessments are used to prove that learning and retention took place. Examples of post-assessments include unit tests, final exam, midterms, and portfolios.

Feedback Cycles

Studies in the field of education have found that feedback is crucial for student success. According to John Hattie and Helen Timperley (2007), "Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement..."

  • Providing your students with timely and actionable feedback makes progress more measurable and keeps students more engaged.
  • Feedback should be purposeful and goal-oriented, specific and allow for correction.

Rubrics

  • Create rubrics for a multidimensional set of scoring guidelines that can be used to provide consistency in evaluating student work.
  • Rubrics can be saved and reused in Canvas.

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112. https://westernwyoming.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/power-feedback/docview/214113991/se-2

  • Consider using a variety of instructional materials to help keep content fresh and to engage diverse learners.
  • Content introduction can be achieved in many different ways! Traditional lectures, YouTube videos, scholarly articles, graphs, visual aides, etc.
  • Instructor presence in online courses is known to positively impact student performance by increasing motivation and engagement. 
  • Students desire learning experiences that incorporate the personality of their instructor. Students want to hear about their instructor's expertise and passion for their subject.

Here are some suggestions to insert yourself into the course:

  • Communicate regularly with your students. This can be achieved in many different ways. Emails, announcements, feedback, etc.
  • Provide students with personalized feedback to help develop meaningful connections.
  • Share your voice in instructional videos such as screencasts. If you feel comfortable, you can even share your camera in these videos so students can see you explaining the material.
  • Post a short biography page on Canvas that includes a picture of yourself, your subject-matter background, and any other information about yourself that you would like to share with your students.

Contact Alan Wendlandt in the CTL!