Content Development, Instructional Design Concepts, and Random
Outcomes!
Vidyotama had tried everything. She
had gone through the successful courses that her organization
had developed in the past, then she had memorized the Standards
and Guidelines for effective content development, and as if that
weren’t enough, she had also attended two different training
programs on content development. The first one had introduced
her to Bloom’s Taxonomy and ARCS and showered her with examples
and exercises; and the second had taken her through the nuances
of Grammar and beaten her naturally flowing language into the
hard lines of Active Voice!
Yet, today, she sits glum, her eyes
glued to the CDR or the Customer Delight Rating of 3.5 on 10!
Her course, the one she had pinned her hopes on, had once again
flunked! For Vidyotama, failure of her courses is becoming a random
event. Why did the course fail? She asks herself.
Let’s try to answer Vidyotama’s question.
From an instructional designer’s perspective, the content
development process included the following broad steps.
- Analyzing the Audience and the Task
- Structuring the Objectives on the basis of the Goal
- Designing the Course/Training
- Developing the Content for Implementation
Note: The process of fixing the documents is a part of all the
four processes given above, and so there isn’t a need to mention
it separately.
Analyzing the Audience and the Task
Audience Analysis:
This step includes a careful analysis of the audience’s
skills, traits, expectations, and apprehensions. This can be successfully
accomplished only when we are skilled in applying certain theories
that help us understand traits and behavior of humans, and that
allow us to measure the existing knowledge or skill of the learner.
Some such concepts are Maslow’s Hierarchy, Bloom’s
Taxonomy, Learning Styles etc.
Task Analysis:
This step includes a serious contemplation of the tasks that the
learner will be required to perform, after completing the training.
In the case of corporate trainings, it includes a careful review
of the role requirements; and the trainers, training managers,
or instructional designers do it. This review tells them about
the expected skills and knowledge that is required from the prospective
learner, so that he or she may perform the said role effectively.
This step requires ample use of Bloom’s and other taxonomies,
and also the application of Goal Analysis methods.
Unfortunately, this step is often not given the attention it
deserves. The data is collected, however, it isn’t used
appropriately.
Structuring the Objectives on the basis of the Goal:
This step can baffle even some of the senior designers, and, I assure
you that the fault isn’t theirs alone. Somewhere in their
past, when they were green – someone told them that all that
they needed to do with objectives was – write them using measurable
action verbs! And so, they did that…sometimes it worked, sometimes
it didn’t. The review-fix cycle became their daily reality,
and they didn’t have the time to think otherwise. There’s
nothing wrong with the measurable verb diktat…what’s
wrong is that this is one of the many things that an ID should be
comfortable “using” for analyzing a goal into strong,
workable objectives!
The Instructional Designer has to be composer who can put together
the outcome of the audience analysis and the content with a strong
glue of ID concepts such as Bloom’s Taxonomy, Mager’s
Objectives, and the different techniques of writing good objectives!
Remember that writing good objectives isn’t about putting
some measurable verbs at the beginning of some cute looking sentences.
It is about ensuring that the sum total of the skills developed
through those objectives will make the learner reach the goal that
the course promises.
Designing the Course/Training:
Designing a good course stretches an Instructional Designer’s
skills, imagination, and knowledge to its limits. Design is the
phase, which brings out the difference between greatness and mediocrity
in Instructional Design – for it is here that the jargon-spouting,
apparently knowledgeable individuals share the platform with the
practical, application-oriented individuals. Unfortunately, both
end up with courses that don’t have the spunk!
Why?
Well.
- The Jargon-Spewing Individual (JSI) doesn’t bother to
figure out how the theories and models that he/she talks about
should be “used” to provide a strong conceptual base
to his/her courses.
- The Practical Hands-On Individual (PHI) is too busy with rework
to figure out how the theories and models could reduce effort
and build a strong foundation for his/her courses.
So, Cognitivism, Constructivism, Behaviorism, Stimulus, Conditioning,
ARCS, Gagne’s Events, Bloom’s taxonomy (Oh yes! There’s
much more to this overused but underutilized theory, than their
ability to make the objectives look cool!)…and other such
beautiful concepts never reach their true potential. They continue
to exist in their ornamental avatars…and the cynics continue
to exclaim “instructional design? Anyone with common sense
can do it.” Ever wonder why we have so many unhappy learners
around us? Is it due to a lack of common sense?
Developing the Course/Training:
Finally during the Development phase, where the learning styles
of the learner, the Gestalt principles, and other concepts such
as cognitive dissonance and suspension-of-disbelief should be guiding
us and helping us infuse life in our content…the theories
and models are completely forgotten! The autocratic rule of Grammar,
Templates, and Duplication of the so-called interesting interaction
(without paying heed to the context,) send the effectiveness of
learning to the guillotine!
Vidyotama?
She’s is an unintended victim of the unintended lethargy
that pervades our content development processes, and which forces
us to move through our lives as robots. We want to finish our
8 (or 10 or 12) hours-day and rush home – forgetting that
when our productive years have flown past…we’d have
spent one-third of our life wondering where we went wrong…and
why those hours didn’t fill us with pride, hope, and confidence.
Of course, it never happened to you…it
happened to Vidyotama. And didn’t I tell you that Vidyotama
is only a figment of my overworked imagination?
…
…is she?
Author: Shafali R. Anand
(Read other articles by the author in Wavelength's
Articles Section
Visit the author's blog - The
Zen of Learning )
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons License.
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