Competency 7:
apply instructional design principles
To demonstrate my ability to identify and analyze learning and performance problems, I have chosen a case study that I analyzed in the Advanced Practices in Learning Systems Design course. In this case study, Lindsey Jenkins is the lead instructional designer at the Brooks Health Science Center School of Nursing (SON). Lindsey was hired to redesign SON’s blended format learning nursing curriculum to emphasize the development of students’ critical thinking skills. The curriculum redesign became a priority for SON because critical thinking skills became the primary assessment focus of the nursing licensing exam NCLEX. Moreover, critical thinking skills development was identified as a curriculum standard by the agencies accrediting SON’s program and the overall Health Science Center. Based on the issues and constraints presented in the case study, I identified two primary problems:
1) A curriculum that focuses on the development of critical thinking skills will need to be developed, and it must be able to be delivered online using a case-based learning approach.
2) An evaluation plan will need to be developed to measure the extent to which learner improvement in the area of critical thinking skills has occurred. The results of this evaluation will then need to be used to modify the redesigned curriculum for a larger-scale rollout.
After I presented two solutions to these problems, I analyzed both by analyzing their pros and cons in which I worked through the ramifications of implementing the different components of my solutions. In the end, my analysis of both potential solutions led me to choose a more balanced, blended solution that has students work through a case study and supporting materials at their own pace while in the live-class session, students would focusing specifically on preparing for the NCLEX exam, which was a major stakeholder concern.
This case study was an interesting one for me because case-based learning was the primary pedagogy prescribed by SON’s curriculum, and the course for which I created this case study (EDCI 67200) was also designed using a case-based pedagogy. While taking this course, I was acutely aware of how challenging it can be to structure a course around case-based learning, both for teachers and students. I was thus able to incorporate my own learning experiences into this type of course to analyze the instructional design issues that Lindsey would face and to propose solutions that would support the critical thinking skills necessary for students to show improvement on the NCLEX exam. My experience with this case has inspired me to incorporate a case study into a forthcoming project I will be designing and developing.
7.1: Identifies and analyzes learning and performance problems
7.2: Design, plans, and develops instructional interventions using appropriate strategies and techniques
Artifact: Web-Enhanced Lesson-Activities and Supporting Tools - EDCI 56800
The web-enhanced lesson I created in the Partnering with Web-Based Tools for Learner Centered Environments course demonstrates my ability to design, plan, and develop instructional interventions using appropriate strategies and techniques.
I designed, planned, and developed a workshop for a language school that teaches English as a second language (ESL). Because the school had not yet opened, the owner of the school wanted to involve teachers in the planning process, particularly in the design and development of the ESL curriculum. This training activity focused on encouraging teachers to collaborate on and design the first element of curriculum development: the instructional approach that will be used in the classroom. Using a range of 21st-century skills and Web 2.0 tools, learners were to conduct sustained inquiry into a number of questions that tied in with the driving questions of the training:
Why do current language-teaching methodologies de-emphasize the role of grammar and accuracy in language learning, and how can we design a teaching approach that appeals both to the individual and collective learning needs, goals, and experiences of our diverse body of ESL students?|
Because the workshop was intended to be collaborative, I selected what I thought would be the most appropriate partnering pedagogy to position teachers to address these driving questions. I settled on project-based learning, in which learners are engaged in solving an authentic question, issue, or challenge through a process of sustained inquiry. To this end, I designed a range of instructional interventions, strategies, and techniques that promote collaboration. Specifically, lesson activities incorporate individual work, pair work, group work, and whole-class work. In all cases, learners are accountable both for producing artifacts and for contributing to discussion of the questions that structure each part of the training activity.
This project challenged my instructional design skills as I do not have extensive experience with designing live, on-the-ground training events. What I discovered to be crucial to the success of the workshop were the types of scaffolding needed to support both the workshop participants and the facilitator. One of my short-term goals is to seek out opportunities to design a similar web-enhanced workshop in a context that I am not as familiar with. I find that my best learning experiences come when I step outside my instructional design comfort zone.
The comprehensive evaluation plan I created in the Strategic Assessment and Evaluation Course for a Teaching Business English certificate program demonstrates my ability to develop an evaluation plan for a project based on stated goals and recognized standards. The plan, which I developed for a UK-based training provider of a range of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certification courses, incorporates Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s (2006) flexible four-level evaluation framework. The plan also aligns with ABC Certification’s stated goals, which are to “meet the training goals and expectations of learners by developing in them the practical knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to be effective teachers of Business English in any context, thereby fulfilling the expectations of both employers and their students.” It was also important that the evaluation plan generate vital feedback about the relevance of course content to current business-English learning needs and about the importance of possessing a Teaching Business English certificate to both course graduates and to employers, who typically align their hiring with industry standards.
In addition to a description of the evaluation goals and scope and a description of the specific processes to complete the evaluation, the plan includes evaluation instruments for Levels 1–4, data collection process and procedures, and data analysis process and procedures. I also created a range of supporting elements referenced in the plan and final versions of evaluation instruments, which will appear either in the course or as part of the evaluation process that I designed for use after the learner has completed the course. This project was both challenging and rewarding because it was the first time I had created an evaluation plan that incorporated all four Kirkpatrick levels.
One thing that I find extremely useful about the Kirkpatrick model is that it is extremely flexible and always being adapted. To stay on top of all of the applications of the Kirkpatrick model, I plan to become Kirkpatrick certified through the Kirkpatrick Partners Group (www.kirkpatrickpartners.com).
Reference
Kirkpatrick, D. L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2006). Evaluating training programs (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
7.3: Develops an evaluation plan for a project based on stated goals and recognized standards
Artifact: Evaluation Plan-Business English Course – EDCI 57700
For this competency, I have selected a series of written artifacts that demonstrate my ability to apply instructional design principles.