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Systematic Instructional Design

Gagné’s events of instruction and learning hierarchies have been widely used to develop systematic instructional design principles and are used extensively in planning lessons for instructional software. Lessons are designed carefully by breaking down the knowledge, skill or process into small, well-described components. The learning process is initiated by carefully crafted objectives which are stated in measurable terms. The component parts are taught sequentially, each building on the previous one and students must master activity A before they can go on to activity B. etc. Learning activities are followed by some form of assessment that demonstrates that the objective has been achieved.

While teachers today are concerned with ensuring students develop skills in problem solving, thinking, reflection, and approaches for introducing information in indirect ways and therefore tend to frequently use constructivist approaches in their practice, there are numerous occasions where direct, guided instruction is required. For example, directed instructed may be needed in:

Medical procedures.
Techniques for handling dangerous living things such as bacteria, viruses, and poisonous plants or animals.
Specific maintenance procedures.

This sort of instruction can be useful for:

Individual pacing and remediation, especially when teacher time is limited
Making learning paths more efficient, especially for instruction in skills that are prerequisite to higher-level skills
Performing time-consuming and labor-intensive tasks (e.g., skill practice), freeing teaching time for other, more complex student needs
Supplying self-instructional sequences, especially when teachers are not available, teacher time for structured review is limited, and/or students are already highly motivated to learn skills (Roblyer & Edwards 2000, p. 51)

Cognitive science began to influence instructional design from the late 1970s. Design models based on behaviourist theories were adapted to include more emphasis on task and learner analysis but the goal of instruction was still the communication or transfer of knowledge to learners. The development of constructivist theories of learning where each of us is individually responsible for our own knowledge construction initially presented instructional designers with problems regarding the systematic design of instruction. However instructional design today is adopting many of the principles of constructivist theories and integrating them in the design of learning materials. David Merrill, for example, illustrates many constructivist strategies in a short video on the elements of effective instructional design.

http://www.id2.usu.edu/5Star/5starins.ram (15 minutes, requires RealPlayer plugin, works over 56K modem)

NSW HSC Online Professional Development Node

Systematic Instructional Design

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