A Day in the Life of an
Instructional Designer

Introduction

Your Task

The Process

Evaluation

Conclusion

Resources

Full Web Quest

Teacher's Notes

The Forum

The instructional strategies we use are, in part, determined by our ideas about how people learn. Your job is to look at the learning theories behind the instructional models. They are as varied as the design models, but your job is to look at the three primary views that support most of our learning theories: behaviorism, constructivism and cognitivism (cognitive information processing). Should we switch the order of the above paragraph with the next? What can we say here that ultimately ties the student's activity here to the group think task? In other words, something for them to keep in the back of their mind as they work on these activities here.

Phase 1:

Your job as the Philosopher and truth-seeker is to sift through the volumes of information about learning theories and refine and refocus that information into manageable portions that relate to instructional design.

We have three primary views, behaviorism, constructivism and cognitivism. What distinguishes one theory from another? In an article written by Peggy Ertmer and Timothy Newby, they used Schunk's five definitive questions plus two more of their own to identify the characteristics of each theory. Let's answer those questions for each of our theories in the following matrix.

You might find these web sites helpful:

• Learning and Instruction: Theory into Practice Database
• Instructional Design & Learning Theories

Now, using these same resources, discuss the fundamental differences in the role of the student in the learning process that each of these perspectives proposes.

Phase 2:

Now that you are the resident expert in learning theory, let’s take a look at the design philosophy your team will present to the Board. Look at the following web site:

• The ADDIE Model of Instructional Design

Answer the following questions:

• Which learning theory or theories best support the ADDIE model? Why?
• How is this philosophy an advantage over the other viewpoints?
• Are learning theories mutually exclusive or can they be combined or blended to meet individual project needs? Why or why not?