Instructional designers at work: A study of how designers design
Popularity Report
 |
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Rank
URL Tag Cloud
Bookmark History
Saved by 7 people (0 private), first by anonymouse user on 2009-03-25
- Barittersolberg on 2009-10-01 - Tags no_tag
- Shanta on 2009-04-12 - Tags dennis_dicks , cindy_ives , CJLT , instructional_design , behaviourism , systems_thinking , theory_of_mind
- Weanders on 2009-04-06 - Tags Instructional Design , education , instructional strategies
- Td84101 on 2009-04-05 - Tags ID
- Sheri42 on 2009-03-31 - Tags no_tag
Public Sticky notes
Our analysis suggests that instructional designers employ a set of social skills and cognitive tools that enable them to act as a pedagogical “conscience” in the design process. We interpret these skills in terms of “theory of mind” in the context of instructional design.
Highlighted by sheri42
Kenny, Zhang, Schwier and Campbell (2004) were able to find only ten papers dealing with the topic six surveys, one interview and three case studies examining how instructional designers view their work. All these studies focused on very broad roles and tasks, such as those outlined in a standard ADDIE model: Analyse, Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate (e.g., Seels & Glasgow (1998); or very general skills (e.g. communicate with the client). No study discovered designers following a theory-based approach, and none investigated the cognitive processes underlying design activities.
Highlighted by whmj22work
we adopted a grounded theory approach (Glaser, 1992), with a modified “contextual inquiry” methodology.
Highlighted by whmj22work
Our study focused on instructional design practitioners working in an instructional technology support unit at an urban Medical-Doctoral University.
Highlighted by whmj22work
Our purposive sample (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) consisted of a group of eight professional instructional designers responsible for helping university faculty members shift some of their instruction to an online Learning Management System (WebCT Vista, in this case) or other web-based environments.
Highlighted by whmj22work
we did not observe our participants at work, but rather we collected their reflections on how they go about doing their work. We used a lightly structured protocol to interview the participants, beginning with the questions that follow, which asked them to focus on events drawn from experience, and the actions they generated: “Can you recall encountering a specific problem in designing instruction for a client?” We followed this up with: “What did you do about it?” and “Can you show us by reconstructing what you did?”
Highlighted by whmj22work
activity sequencing, information flows, attitudinal issues, artifact manipulations and physical conditions
Highlighted by whmj22work
We interpreted these actions as interventions directed towards two types of goals: building relationships through the use of social skills; and building sense through the use of cognitive tools.
Highlighted by whmj22work
Table 2 lists the set of cognitive skills we distilled from what our designers reported using as they shaped the design concept in discussions with their clients.
Highlighted by whmj22work
instructional conscience
Highlighted by whmj22work
who must deploy her own abilities to shape the expertise of the client into a sound pedagogical structure.
Highlighted by whmj22work
nstructional designers do not do their work by following established models, nor by basing actions on theory. Instead, our designers’ tactics suggest they view design as an “ill-structured problem” (Jonassen, 2002; Schön, 1987) or “wicked problem” (Becker, 2007) with many possible solutions, which they pursue with a large repertoire of social and cognitive skills.
Highlighted by whmj22work
Our interviews appear to confirm the findings of Kenny, Zhang, Schwier, and Campbell (2004) that instructional designers do not do their work by following established models, nor by basing actions on theory. Instead, our designers’ tactics suggest they view design as an “ill-structured problem” (Jonassen, 2002; Schön, 1987) or “wicked problem” (Becker, 2007) with many possible solutions, which they pursue with a large repertoire of social and cognitive skills.
Highlighted by shanta
Public Comment