Instructional Systems Design

Instructional Systems Design - ISD

04/27/09

Instructional Strategy
Topic: 8- Instructional Strategy

Instructional Strategy involves a huge variety of teaching/learning activities (microstrategies) such as:

group discussions
independent reading
case studies
lectures
computer simulations
worksheets
cooperative group projects

Microstrategies: they are pieces of an overall macrostrategy that must take learners from a motivational introduction to a topic learners' through mastery of objectives.

A textbook is a microstrategy that serves primarily as a source of information (and is incomplete instruction).

Macroinstructional strategy: is the complete instruction created by an instructor and involves:

defining objectives
writing lesson plan and tests
motivating learners
presenting content
engaging students as active participants in learning process
administering and scoring assessments (providing feedback)

A well-designed set of instructional materials contains many strategies and procedures.

Three of the major components in the learning process that facilitate learning: (according to psychologists)

motivation
prerequisite and subordinate skills
practice & feedback

Psychologists whose work influences approaches to instructional design:

Behaviorists (30 to 40 years ago)
Cognitivists (who later modified behaviorists' views)
Constructivists (more recent; they suggested new approaches)

HOW to TEACH
The term Instructional Strategy covers the following:

selection of a delivery system
sequencing and grouping content
describing learning components that will be included in instruction
specifying how students will be grouped during instruction
establishing lesson structures
selecting media for delivering instruction

1- Selection of a delivery system: (instruction) (p.184)

The delivery system is the general methodology used for managing and delivering the teaching and learning activities called "instruction."

A delivery system is only part of an overall instructional strategy. Here are some examples of some common delivery systems:

traditional model
correspondence
large-group lecture with small-group Q&A follow-up
telecourse by broadcast or videotape
two-way, interactive videoconference
computer-based instruction
Internet or intranet web-based instruction
self-paced programs
combinations and unique, custom systems

In an ideal instructional design process, one would consider the following:

goal
learner characteristics
learning and performance contexts
objectives
assessment requirements

Ideal path for choosing a delivery system:

review instructional analysis and identify logical clusters of objectives that will be taught in appropriate sequences
plan the learning components that will be used in the instruction
choose most effective student groupings
specify effective media and materials that are within the range of cost, convenience, and practicality for the learning context
assign objectives to lessons and consolidate media selections
select or develop a relevant delivery system

However, in real life, things do not really happen this way. Then, the designer must be flexible and get everything out of the system that it is capable of delivering. The designer must make appropriate adaptations or propose an alternative system.

2- Sequencing and grouping content: (p.186)

A- Sequencing content
What sequence should we follow in presenting content? We should follow our instructional analysis, beginning with the lower-level skills. The instructional sequence tends to be a combination of bottom to top and left to right.
B- Clustering content
We may decide to present information
- on an objective-by-objective basis with intervening activities or
- on several objectives prior to any kind of learner activities
5 factors need to be considered when determining the amount of information to be presented:
age level
complexity of material
type of learning
if the activity can be varied
time required

3- Describing Gagne's 9 learning components that will be included in instruction: (p.189)

Nine events represent external teaching activities that support mental processes of learning (cognitive psychology):

gaining attention
informing learner of objective
stimulating recall of prerequisite learning
presenting stimulus material
providing learning guidance
eliciting performance
providing feedback
assessing performance
enhancing retention and transfer

The purpose for developing an instructional strategy is planning how to guide learners' intellectual processing through the mental states and activities that psychologists have shown will foster learning.

Here are Gagne's events of instruction re-organized into 5 major learning components that are part of an overall instructional strategy:

a- Preinstructional activities
b- Content presentation
c- Learner participation
d- Assessment
e- Follow-through activities
____________________________
a- Preinstructional activities: 3 factors to consider prior to beginning instruction:
- Motivating learners: John Keller (1987)- ARCS model
Attention: gaining and sustaining attention (by using emotional or personal information, asking questions, creating mental challenges, using human-interest examples)
Relevance: learners must perceive the instruction as relevant to them; instruction must be related to important goals in their lives > there should be congruence between learners' expectations and the instruction.
Confidence: learners must be confident that they can master the objectives for the instruction. If the learners
lack confidence > less motivated
are overconfident > they will see no need to attend to the instruction

The challenge is to create the appropriate level of expectation for success (> zone of proximal development)
Satisfaction: learners must derive satisfaction (extrinsic rewards or intrinsic feelings of accomplishment?) from the learning experience
- Informing learners of the objectives > so that they know what to memorize, solve, or interpret.
Providing learners with the objectives helps them to
focus their study strategies on these outcomes
use more efficient study strategies
determine the relevance of the instruction
- Informing learners of prerequisite skills: this will prepare them for the instruction to follow. Two purposes for this component:
make sure learners view the relationship between new content and what they already know (can be done through brief test of entry behaviors or by providing learners with a brief description of required entry behaviors)
promote learners' active recall of relevant mental contexts in which the new content can be integrated.
b- Content presentation: we should determine what information, concepts, rules, and principles need to be presented. (Avoid presenting too much information, especially that unrelated to the objective)
It is important to
define new concepts
explain their interrelationship with other concepts
We also need to determine the types and numbers of both examples and nonexamples (deliberate attempt to point out why an example is wrong).
Forms of examples and nonexamples:
illustrations
diagrams
demonstrations
model solutions
scenarios
case studies
sample performances
c- Learner participation: Practice with feedback! Learners should be provided an opportunity to practice what we want them to be able to do + they should be provided feedback about their performance.
d- Assessment:
Entry behavior tests
Pretests
Practice tests
Posttests
Refer to the following page: http://www.nadasisland.com/isd/index.blog?topic_id=1112721
e- Follow-through activities:
Memory aids for retention (job aids such as checklists are very useful)
Transfer of learning: research indicates that learners transfer only some of what they learn to new contexts. The designer must be aware of thatand use every means possible to promote the transfer of learning.
Instruction is effective if learners can use it to further their study of more advance topics or to perform skills on the job that make a difference in their organization's effectiveness.

4- Specifying how students will be grouped during instruction: (p.207)

The type of student grouping (individual pairs, small group, large group) depends on specific social interaction requirements and is often mixed within and among the learning components in a lesson or unit.

5- Establishing lesson structures: (pp.198-199)

Matching learning components with the amount of guidance needed by the intended learners.

Check Moore & Kearsley's Theory of Transactional Distance (1996)

Level of course structure: flexible vs. rigid
Level of course dialogue: little interactive communication vs. lots of it
Transactional distance: greater vs. lesser
Suitability for learner autonomy level: highly autonomous learner vs. less autonomous learner who has not learned how to learn

6- Selecting media for delivering instruction: (p.209)

Media are useful to the extent that they effectively carry required learning components of an instructional strategy.

According to Clark (1983), it is the design of instruction, rather than the medium used to deliver instruction, that determines student learning.

Detailed Outline for an Instructional Strategy: (p.197)

a- Preinstructional activities
Gain attention and motivate
Describe objectives
Describe and promote recall of prerequisite skills
b- Content presentation
Content
Examples
c- Learner participation
Practice
Feedback
d- Assessment
Entry behavior test
Pretest
Posttest
e- Follow-through activities
Memory aids for retention
Transfer considerations

Educational Activities (Dr. Ryan Watkins)

When you have selected the appropriate instructional strategies for your objectives, it is now the time in the ID process for the designer to consider the educational activities that will be included in the lesson. Each of the activities should promote learner interactions as discussed in last week's readings. A cursory list of potential educational experiences offered by Atsusi Hirumi at the University of Houston Clearlake includes:

listen to a lecture read a journal article
conduct a survey complete handouts
conduct library research participate in a debate
assess the work of other students handle manipulatives
watch a film create a presentation
analyze current events participate in a panel discussion
interview others conduct experiments
visit community resource interact with laserdisc
participate in a panel discussion participate in a simulation
create or make a graphical presentation write research, concept, or position paper
write a reflective paper watch a demonstration

Active participation of students is essential for the learning process. One challenge, however, is that active learning is not always the easiest instruction to design or implement. Most current education and training programs are based primarily on relatively passive forms of education. And while passive instructional events are appropriate to accomplish some objectives, you will also want to consider some active learning events as well.

Graf and Albright (1994) characterize active learning as:

students who are involved in more than listening;
less emphasis on transmitting information and more emphasis on developing skills;
involvement in higher order thinking skills;
engagement in activities;
the exploration of learners prior skills, knowledge, attitudes, and abilities.

In creating active learning in your instruction you may want to consider:

the development of learning communities;
InterActivities (Internet-based activities, webquest, etc.);
information gathering activities (information searches, electronic appearances, electronic mentoring, electronic publishing, database creation, etc.);
information sharing (keypals, sequential creations, discussion groups, impersonations, generating websites, brainstorming, site surveys, etc.);
collaborative problem solving (polled data analysis, parallel problem-solving, simulations, social action plans).

Different Strategies + Lesson Plans (Worth considering, but disregard typing-- mainly punctuation-- mistakes)

Community Language Learning + Lesson Plan

Direct Instruction Model + Lesson Plan (pdf)

Inductive Model + Lesson Plan (pdf)

Inquiry Model + Lesson Plan (pdf)

Cooperative Learning + Lesson Plan

Reading- Lesson Plan (under construction)

Relevant Links:

Example of Instructional Strategy based on ISD

Keller’s ARCS model of motivation

Instructional Design Knowledge Base: Models/Theories

Instructional Design Knowledge Base: Instructional Strategies & Tactics