Mary Miller EDIT 6170 June 19, 2002 ID reflection :  My view of the design process I

My view of instructional design at this point in my career is still somewhat fuzzy, but one thing is becoming clear: the title for this assignment, "ID Reflection," is very appropriate.  I see instructional design as a multi-phased process, with each phase having some similarities and some differences.  A significant similarity is reflection, which should be an integral aspect of each phase of this process.
 

The instructional designer may be a specialist, or he or she may wear many or all of the hats that correspond to the various phases and aspects of the instructional design process.  In either case, before beginning any instructional design, the designer should think about the attributes the targeted learners will bring to the process and should also reflect upon the skills he or she has as a designer.

 

The initial experience of an instructional designer may be a rather giddy one. The idea that one can analyze a problem and devise a solution for it is very appealing. The designer must reflect on his or her assessment of the problem very carefully. Inspiration could lead to great things, or it could spell trouble.

 

Innovation for its own sake should be avoided during the design phase. Creativity is appealing and enjoyable, but not every old idea is bad or new idea good. The good designer reflects: why am I doing this? The wise designer may try to conduct qualitative or quantitative analysis of the instruction during the development phase, but initial success can be misleading. Again, reflection is called for: will this work on the scale for which it is intended? What consequences beyond the achievement of the immediate instructional goal might this approach have?

 

The implementation phase is bound to be an exciting one. As the designer sees his or her instructional plan being put into action, he or she can reflect on the way that hypothetical approaches translate into real world events.  As this phase progresses, subjects receive instruction and demonstrate their learning. Through observing this process, the designer can determine whether the initial task analysis was sufficiently detailed and whether the learning objectives were appropriately specified.

 

If the designer has been insufficiently reflective, the shortcomings of his/her design might not become evident until the evaluation phase. This is when the designer will know whether his or her answer to the planning question "How will we know when we get there?" was a good one. In a real world environment, the steps required to ameliorate the effects of poor instructional design can be expensive and complex.

Modification of any instructional design will likely occur after the first round of implementation and analysis have occurred. If the designer has reflected upon her decisions at each phase of the process, she will be more likely, after looking back over all phases of the process, to be able to reflect on a job well done.

Last update: June 19, 2002 Comments to: Mary Miller mlmiller@arches.uga.edu Created for Dr. Janette Hill's & Dr. Joi Moore's' UGA class EDIT 6170, Summer 2002 URL=http://arches.uga.edu/~mlmiller/idr1.html