Dr. Chris Show

While some of the educational theories and fundamentals of instructional design tend to endure, if not fade in and out of favor depending on your particular circle. The specific technologies tend to change at a faster rate. We've moved from Macromedia Flash to immersive VR experiences in a very short time. Heck, we've gone from cutting magnetic tape to immersive VR experiences in a very short time.

This is why it's critical for all instructional designers to take it upon ourselves to stay current. While some workplaces will coordinate quality professional development that is rare and it's even becoming rare for employers to pay to keep you current. So we need to take advantages of opportunities when they present themselves and to make our own opportunities to learn.

So which new instructional technology are you trying to learn or know you should learn but are procrastinating like I have been with VR?

I found myself having an interesting instructional design-related discussion today. The discussion surrounded on WHY we are instructional designers. Not the question of why is instructional design important or how we became instructional designers but rather what is the single best part of being an instructional designer? And it's different for everyone. Some love the systematic approach to solving problems, others love the creative expression, some love the different aspects of media development, some love working with people, and others love the constant need to learn new things.

To learn my personal reason why instructional design is the single best career ever you'll need to watch the video but I'd encourage you to share your personal reason.

The first level of the Kirkpatrick model is often the one that is most often done but is also most often done wrong. This is the level most likely to be reduced to "smile sheets" or "vanity measurements" of did my participants "like me". The reaction level of evaluation is the level where you can explore and evaluate levels of engagement and the perceived relevance of the training by your learners. It can prove invaluable for making formative adjustments to whatever the program happens to be. The big risk is when it is reduced to trying to measure enjoyment or the entertainment value of the facilitator.

The second level of the Kirkpatrick model is assessing learning. And this is an area that instructional designers have significant control over and are typically skilled in. So in this video, I share a few ideas on how we can best mix up some of our assessments because no one wants to take a test.

Today as I struggle with the oppressive heat I wanted to talk about the third level of the Kirkpatrick model which is "Behavior" and this level of evaluation has to do with what our participants DO when they return back to work. So it is important for instructional designers to remember to ask what the participants are expected to do when they get back to work and what the goals are and not just be "order takers" because this is the level of evaluation that we will most likely be judged by even if that judgment is informal and in the background. In order to be successful instructional designers need to watch for the critical behaviors, the keystone habits that make everything easier, and the drivers of these behaviors, or as Kirkpatrick refers to them as the "Required Drivers" such as rewards and consequences and management support on the job not in the classroom.

The Kirkpatric model of assessment has four levels, reaction, learning, behavior, and results. Today I'm going to share a common misunderstanding regarding the Results Level. Essentially the results level of the model is asking the question "Do your efforts contribute to the results the organization is trying to achieve?" Not did you get the results from your training that you expected or were aiming for. So what is the ultimate mission of your organization? That shouldn't be too hard to nail down, it's the sole reason for the organization to exist, and so as you start each instructional design project you should ask the question HOW does your project contribute to that end result? And if you can't find a way, if you can't show a way, then you should take a step back to see if you can't find how your project connects to that mission.

One key component of eLearning that should be assessed before a project ever sees the light of day is the project's accessibility compliance. In the United States if your project is touched by federal money chances are it's covered by Section 508 which outlines accessibility requirements, and if not then there is a good chance that your project will be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In addition to being the right thing to do both for your learners and for yourself as a practitioner of quality instructional design the consequences for not doing so can be financially costly.

The standards to aim for can be found at https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/

Today I wanted to take an opportunity to talk about cultural diversity and the responsibilities of instructional designers to take cultural diversity into consideration to remove barriers to learning. This involves both language barriers as well as other considerations. Probably the largest consideration that I forgot to mention in the video is visual representation. Every time I look at anything I tend to see a reflection of myself back at me as a middle-aged white guy. It has become clear that when your learners can see themselves in the instructional materials they are more engaged and more successful.

When developing assessments Rubrics are an excellent way to communicate expectations regarding performance as well as to assess in a fair and systematic fashion.

There are times when an automatically graded multiple-choice test won't cut it and so that's where a rubric comes in.

In broad terms, rubrics come in two flavors Holistic Rubrics which describe the performance at several levels of competency holistically or more broadly. And Analytic Rubrics which break down that expected performance into a variety of criteria.

While the holistic rubric can offer more flexibility in order to provide meaningful feedback for the learners it often needs to be accompanied with more narrative or detailed feedback. Depending on the detail and clarity in the analytic rubric the need for additional feedback can be minimized and a well written analytic rubric with enough detail can be administered by several assessors to and generate the same result.

The questions as to which rubric style to use are often dependent on the amount of flexibility needed and the amount of time there is for generating more individualized and detailed feedback.

The concept of alignment is one that is critical to a good assessment. Essentially instructional designers need to ensure that their assessment and content is aligned to the learning objectives and the learning objectives aligned to the overall goal of instruction. If any of these are out of alignment the entire project can be at risk.