Instructional Design
(http://www.cudenver.edu/~bwilson/training.html)

The Dick and Carey model of instructional design is based on a linear progression of steps in the design process. Designers determine the goals and objectives of the learning, design the instruction, then select or create the instructional materials. After the instruction occurs, designers may gather the available data and use it to evaluate and revise the program. This model and its multitude of variations have been quite effective in designing successful programs, and the Instructional Systems Design has become somewhat of an industry standard.

ISD continues to be a valid model for instructional design, as it is logical and systematic. However, as distance educators increasingly look to the Internet and other computer networks to deliver information, there is opportunity to employ a nonlinear means of instruction. Multimedia instruction can be very elaborate and multilayered, and it is helpful to consider alternative models of design that address this particular method of instruction.

Procedural Model: Rapid Prototyping http://www.mscs.mu.edu/~georgec/Classes/158/Notes/prototyping.html http://www.seas.gwu.edu/student/sbraxton/ISD/rp_design.html

The Rapid Prototyping model addresses the cost and time inherent in developing complex materials. Rather than create the entire instructional program, then test and evaluate it, designers using a Rapid Prototyping model create a small-scale prototype then test and revise it before the entire system is created.

This model is based on computer system design, and is effective as an instructional design model for computer-based instruction. Computer-based programs can be quite sophisticated and layered, and it is much more cost and time effective to catch weaknesses in a reduced version of the program before launching into a full scale model. Successive iterations of the program can be field tested and revised based on learner feedback.

Conceptual Model: Landamatics
http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/educ/tip/11.htm

Lev N. Landa has developed a learning theory based on identifying the mental processes of expert performers. He starts with the presumption that there are definitive differences in the ways that expert and novice performers process information. Expert performers employ both algorithmic and heuristic processes when solving problems, and Landa asserts that both (algo-heuristics) can be broken down and taught to the novice learner. Using this model, instructional designers break a complex task into its components, including the ambiguous and unobservable cognitive processes. The ambiguous processes are broken into observable, unambiguous behaviors, and the unobservable cognitive processes are broken into explicit, elementary steps.

Landamatic instruction involves the "snowball method," in which the multiple steps in a process are taught singly, but always as an addition to the prior steps. Therefore, each step is layered and mastered in connection with the preceding steps before the next step is presented. Through practice and application, all of the steps in the process eventually become automatic, and lead to an expert level of performance. The key to this model is teaching students how to discover these processes independently, so that they are able to apply algo-heuristics to original situations.

This model can be especially useful for teaching complex tasks through computer-based instruction. Procedures that may at first seem too involved and complicated for computer-based instruction can be broken down into elementary steps, including the unconscious processes that expert performers often employ. Once the process has been separated into its components, a computer offers an excellent means for practicing the snowball method, in which students progressively practice and build on the steps in the procedure.

Instructional Design as Applied to a Distance Education Course http://www.colorado.edu/cewww/econ2020/course/about.html

In Chapter 6, Moore and Kearsley provide 12 design principles that can be applied to distance education. I used these principles to evaluate an online course called Principles of Macroeconomics. The University of Colorado at Boulder offers Principles of Macroeconomics as an independent study via the World Wide Web. Students have 12 months to complete the course at their own pace.

1.   1. Good structure. Students are encouraged to move sequentially through the course material, from unit 1 to 16. Following most units is a written assignment that includes multiple choice as well as short answer questions.
2.   2. Clear objectives. The objectives are not explicitly stated in the online materials, but the written assignments (really tests) could be considered a means by which students know what is expected of them.
3.   3. Small units. Since there is no text for this course, each of the 16 units is presented in a text format online.
4.   4. Planned participation. Students must complete each written assignment and submit it for grading using software called CourseBuilder.
5.   5. Completeness. The unit presentations contain a moderate number of practical examples using contemporary subjects (e.g., Michael Jordan, Dell computers, and the United Nation's Conferences on Population and Women).
6.   6. Repetition. Each unit begins with a review of key points from the previous unit(s), then continues with new information.
7.   7. Synthesis. Since all of the course material is already produced, no student contributions are incorporated. Formal summaries are not included, but various applications of economic principles are woven into the text.
8.   8. Stimulation. Though the text format is not stimulating, the content itself is interesting, and the writing style is informal enough to keep the reader engaged.
9.   9. Variety. All of the information is presented through text, with an occasional chart or graph.
10. 10. Open-ended. Students must complete two web research assignments, and have the option of doing two more in lieu of two of the written assignments.
11. 11. Feedback. Students are instructed to allow 10 to 14 days for graded assignments to be returned. The instructor will comment on the work, as well as other students. Practice tests and answers are available at the end of each unit, for more immediate feedback.
12. 12. Continuous evaluation. Although the online materials do not explicitly mention an evaluation process, they do offer a "What's New" page for announcements, and encourage students to use this area to post messages and comments. Some of these messages may be used for evaluative purposes.