My Reflection
UW-Stout’s EDUC 766, “Instructional Strategies and Assessments Methods,” led by Dr. Susan Manning, provided a practical implementation strategy for the design models studied in EDUC 765 (“Trends and Issues in Instructional Design”). The “alignment chart” provided by the instructor along with the clear explanation of “absorb,” “do” and “connect” activities in Horton’s “E-Learning by Design” [see overview on activities page] gave me the tools I needed to map out my project and make it engaging and effective.
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN PROCESS: The process I employed in designing my e-learning course was essentially one of “backwards design.” I began by fine-tuning the terminal and enabling objectives I developed for my project in EDUC 765 and then created the assessments to measure each of the enabling objectives. At first this felt unnatural to me, but as I continued the development process it was easy to see how this backwards design model actually prompted me to create activities that were more purposeful – not activities for activities’ sake, but ones that would help learners succeed on the assessments, thereby mastering the objectives for the course. As I began to flesh out the activities, I found myself being more creative and varied in my approaches than I had ever imagined possible, thanks to the ideas and examples provided in the textbook.
In my opinion, the constant focus on the “alignment chart” forced me to be more disciplined in my approach to instructional design, and I’m most grateful to Dr. Manning for including it as an integral part of this course. I’m sure it will be a useful tool for years to come.
BEST PRACTICES AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN: In the sample activities and assessments for my project that I designed as part of the course assignments, I intentionally employed best practices described in the textbook and assigned articles. For instance, for each activity and assessment I included one or more graphics/photos to increase learner retention (but not so many as to be distracting). Reading activities, such as sample absorb #2, simplified obtaining documents by including a link to the required reading [see Horton, p. 102]. I also ensured that questions were simple and feedback was immediate and significant – no “correct” and “incorrect” feedback, but meaningful teaching that would be satisfying to learners. In the story I wrote for sample absorb #1, I made sure the story was credible, that it was short and focused, and that the moral was clear [see Horton, p. 110].
Universal Design was also a consideration. I made every attempt to create activities that were varied so the greatest number of learners would be engaged in the final instructional piece. In sample absorb #1 I gave learners the option of listening to a narrated story, reading the transcript, or both, so hearing-impaired learners would still benefit from the instruction. Frequent and varied assessment activities also guarantee success for the greatest number of participants. This is an area that is fairly new to me, so I am looking forward to learning more universal design principles as I continue through my course of study at UW-Stout.
MY GROWTH AS A DESIGNER: Coming into this course, I thought I knew quite a bit about the instructional design process, but I was not confident in my skills in designing engaging activities. Thanks to this course I now feel equipped to handle almost any situation. I have ideas of my own and a valuable resource in Horton’s “E-Learning by Design” to refer to for future use. I am now able to approach an instructional design project with much more confidence thanks to the alignment chart I used continually through my course of study. The impact of this course on my growth as a designer is immeasurable. I'm light years ahead of where I was just four months ago, and I'm excited about the possibilities for the final four months.
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN PROCESS: The process I employed in designing my e-learning course was essentially one of “backwards design.” I began by fine-tuning the terminal and enabling objectives I developed for my project in EDUC 765 and then created the assessments to measure each of the enabling objectives. At first this felt unnatural to me, but as I continued the development process it was easy to see how this backwards design model actually prompted me to create activities that were more purposeful – not activities for activities’ sake, but ones that would help learners succeed on the assessments, thereby mastering the objectives for the course. As I began to flesh out the activities, I found myself being more creative and varied in my approaches than I had ever imagined possible, thanks to the ideas and examples provided in the textbook.
In my opinion, the constant focus on the “alignment chart” forced me to be more disciplined in my approach to instructional design, and I’m most grateful to Dr. Manning for including it as an integral part of this course. I’m sure it will be a useful tool for years to come.
BEST PRACTICES AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN: In the sample activities and assessments for my project that I designed as part of the course assignments, I intentionally employed best practices described in the textbook and assigned articles. For instance, for each activity and assessment I included one or more graphics/photos to increase learner retention (but not so many as to be distracting). Reading activities, such as sample absorb #2, simplified obtaining documents by including a link to the required reading [see Horton, p. 102]. I also ensured that questions were simple and feedback was immediate and significant – no “correct” and “incorrect” feedback, but meaningful teaching that would be satisfying to learners. In the story I wrote for sample absorb #1, I made sure the story was credible, that it was short and focused, and that the moral was clear [see Horton, p. 110].
Universal Design was also a consideration. I made every attempt to create activities that were varied so the greatest number of learners would be engaged in the final instructional piece. In sample absorb #1 I gave learners the option of listening to a narrated story, reading the transcript, or both, so hearing-impaired learners would still benefit from the instruction. Frequent and varied assessment activities also guarantee success for the greatest number of participants. This is an area that is fairly new to me, so I am looking forward to learning more universal design principles as I continue through my course of study at UW-Stout.
MY GROWTH AS A DESIGNER: Coming into this course, I thought I knew quite a bit about the instructional design process, but I was not confident in my skills in designing engaging activities. Thanks to this course I now feel equipped to handle almost any situation. I have ideas of my own and a valuable resource in Horton’s “E-Learning by Design” to refer to for future use. I am now able to approach an instructional design project with much more confidence thanks to the alignment chart I used continually through my course of study. The impact of this course on my growth as a designer is immeasurable. I'm light years ahead of where I was just four months ago, and I'm excited about the possibilities for the final four months.