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Instructional Design Theories 

  1. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives

  2. Cognitive Overload

  3. Human's Memory Process

  4. Individualized Instruction

  5. Inquiry-based Learning

  6. Micro Learning

  7. Storyboard

  8. Universal Design of Learning

1. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives

ensory input→ Sensory register→ Short-term memory→ Long-term memory

Bloom's taxonomy.jpeg

2. Prevent Cognitive Overload

  • Bite-size learning (chunking) 分块

  • Simplify learning objectives

  • Use different instructional methods (multiple means of representation)

  • Avoid splitting focus

  • Organize the content in a way that supports schema construction 以支持架构构建的方式组织内容

  • Step into learner’s shoe, find out what are their real needs.

  • Focus on real world needs

  • Keep in mind the learners don’t have a great deal of time, the goal is not to make learners become experts.

  • Suggest using knowledge provoking questions instead of knowledge presentation.

3. Human's Memory Process

ensory input→ Sensory register→ Short-term memory→ Long-term memory

Human Memory Process.png

4. Individualized Instruction

This Instructional Design method is all about personalization. Learners are encouraged to proceed if they fully understand the ideas. However, those who struggle with the subject matter can slow down and take their time to absorb the information. There are 4 core principles involved:

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  • Learners should be able to complete the work autonomously. As a result, they have the opportunity to focus on their own strengths and areas for improvement.

  • Each lesson should be followed by an assessment to gauge learner progress.

  • Written learning materials are preferred over presentations.

  • Facilitators support learners and add a level of social interactivity to the experience.

5. Inquiry-based Learning

The Inquiry-based Learning Model emerged in the 1960s, during the “discovery learning” movement and relies upon the idea that individuals are able to learn by investigating scenarios and problems, and through social experiences. Rather than having to memorize information from printed materials, instructors encouraged their students to conduct investigations that would satisfy their curiosity, help them broaden their knowledge base and develop their skills and mental frames.

 

  • Principle 1

Learners are in the center of the entire process, while instructors, resources and technology are adequately organized to support them.

  • Principle 2

All learning activities revolve around information-processing skills.

  • Principle 3

Instructors facilitate the learning process, but also seek to learn more about their students and the process of inquiry-based learning.

  • Principle 4

Emphasis should be placed on evaluating the development of information-processing skills and conceptual understanding, and not on the actual content of the field.

6. Micro Learning

Courses that engage/connect audience/learners while meeting the performance goals in a short amount of time.                

The key about the short time length is that it feels short and manageable to the audience/learners. So it doesn’t matter it’s 1-5 minutes long or 10 minutes long, as long as it’s perfectly short for audience/ learners.

Micro learning=Short Courses=Chunk Learning=Bursts=Bites=Snacks

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Micro eLearning tends to be very focused on what information reaches the performance goals and what doesn’t, it means we want a presentation method that

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  • rapidly presents information

  • encourages understanding

  • less overwhelming without information overload

  • Raises retention

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All leads to performance goals and keep in mind that it’s not always feasible to meet the objectives of a course or a curriculum with micro eLearning.

Why Micro eLearning:

Employees are no different in their desire and need for information. More and more, however, they see long training sessions, workshops, and huge manuals to read as outdated and tedious.

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Consider how members of a workforce get their information outside of work. They get it in little chunks and snippets. They watch a video, access an Instagram or Facebook post; they search for a retailer; they check their emails many times a day, along with all of their social media accounts. Everything comes into the brain quickly, and it comes in small pieces.

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Tech users’ brains are trained to focus for short periods of time, absorb quickly, and move on to the next bit of information or entertainment. Workplace Learning & Development must take advantage of this.

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The cost is the development of the micro-learning modules and/or the time that it takes to send out an update. No down-time while large numbers of employees sit in boring seminars, where they tune out rather quickly and move on to their devices.

How to Micro the eLearning:

The whole point of micro eLearning is flexibility for the learner. That flexibility means that all modules and all updates must be mobile-friendly. People do not go home and get on their desktops. They use their phones and gadgets and should have easy access to their learning with fast loads and 5-10 minute chunks [1].

 

Do your best, be creative and make sure that your LMS supports your micro eLearning regarding navigation, scoring and tracking.

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So we need to step back, think differently about what the end result might be.

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  • Scenarios/Practice before Knowledge/Skill Presentation

    • Straightly throw the learners right into an important situation or scenario get them using their brains right away in common situations, and provide feedback or additional knowledge when they need it and not if they don’t.

  • Stoplight Editing the Transcript

    • A trick for finding what information is relevant: Read through all your material and mark it green if it seems absolutely necessary to know or building a block for additional information. Yellow if it might not be needed or you are not sure. Red if it’s absolutely not important. Delete the Red then iterate, after a few times, you will significantly reduce your material. You can keep editing it, changing it around. And keep going through it again and again, using the stoplight trick.

  • Multiple Ways of Presentation

    • Don’t get stuck by the old ways to present information. Consider animating out the story or make it a game, or both (interactive video) or try the combination of pictures and audio or present instructions by audio.

  • Stick to your Time Goal

  • Split it up doesn’t Mean Delete a Lot

    • Consider that a 10 hour movie may run a little long but 10 1-hour long episodes in a mini-series is perfect. We are not literally reducing the material, we just make it into smaller chunks and smaller bites, and it can make learning much more manageable and focused.

Adapted from: Micro-eLearning and 7 Ways to Micro your Learning eLearning Locker

[1]: Adapted from: Callisen L Why Micro Learning is the Future of Training in the Workplace Feb 3, 2016 eLearning Industry

7. Storyboard

More recently the term storyboard has been used in the fields of web development, software development and instructional design to present and describe, in written, interactive events as well as audio and motion, particularly on user interfaces and electronic pages.

Benefits of Storyboard for Online Learning:

One advantage of using storyboards is that it allows the designer to experiment with changes in the sequence before production begins. It can also be a useful way to get client buy-in for linear designs (typically using storyboards for non-linear learning activities becomes too complicated to be useful to a client).

Disadvantages of Storyboarding for Online Learning

The disadvantage of using storyboarding for online learning is that they tend to limit the final product ends up being very linear. In addition, many affordances of online media cannot be easily be captured in the storyboard format.

For example if the learning experience adjusts depending on the choices of the learner (typically database driven learning applications) it can be very difficult to display in storyboard format. It is also hard to capture online learning that has social interaction between learners and experts. For these reasons many instructional designers have shifted to using rapid prototyping as a visual representations instead of storyboards.

Reference: http://www.instructionaldesign.org/concepts/storyboarding/

8. Universal Design of Learning

What is UDL?

Text:

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, that guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences.

(Rose, DH, & Meyer, A (2002) Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning Alexandria, VA: ASCD.)

      Recognizing that the way individuals learn can be unique, the UDL framework, first defined by David H. Rose, Ed.D. of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in the 1990s (Orkwis, R, & McLane, K (1998). A curriculum every student can use: Design principles for student access. ERIC/OSEP Topical Brief No. ED423654. Reston, VA: ERIC/OSEP Special Project.), calls for creating curriculum from the outset that provides:

 

  • Multiple means of representation to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge,

  • Multiple means of expression to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know, and

  • Multiple means of engagement to tap into learners' interests, challenge them appropriately, and motivate them to learn.

(Rose & Meyer, 2002, p. 75; CAST (2008) Universal design for learning guidelines 1.0. Wakefield, MA: CAST. Retrieved July 1, 2008, from "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-18. Retrieved 2008-07-02.)

     

     Curriculum, as defined in the UDL literature, has four parts: instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments (Rose & Meyer, 2002).UDL is intended to increase access to learning by reducing physical, cognitive, intellectual, and organizational barriers to learning, as well as other obstacles. UDL principles also lend themselves to implementing inclusionary practices in the classroom.

Picture:

UDL.png

(Reference:https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/02/07/universal-design-learning-arrives-campus-concerted-grassroots)

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