Have you ever heard of this one process called Instructional Design or commonly known and called ID? If you are a teacher or is a student preparing to be one, you will know what it is. However, fret not; even if you are not majoring in Education or not educators, you will still encounter ID if your job seeks you to design storyboards, produce any designing tasks or even carry out any task analysis. Those tasks are usually prepared for large corporations, while ID in small organisations may be accountable for developing e-learning, managing and supporting webinars, or providing performance support. We can see here that the purpose and role of ID might vary depending on where it will be used. For example, in educational institutions, small and large corporations, or any professional and corporate settings!
That is quite enough of an introduction; let us dive right into the basic definition of ID to clear the air and provide enough clarification of what ID truly is. ID, in simple terms, is a procedure needed in designing one's instructional materials for any lessons, software, and products. It is also a process by which learning products and experiences are designed, developed, and delivered to all target audiences. Some of the learning products used are online courses, instructional manuals, video tutorials, learning simulations and many more! Instructional design started with research based on the existing inspiration, followed by vision and ideas, continued with thinking and brainstorming, and ended up with the design. That is how usually all the creative processes go by.
If you think there is only one fixed type of ID for everyone to use, you are definitely wrong as some of the popular ID is the ADDIE model, ASSURE model, Gagne's 9 Events of Instructional Design, and ID4T (Instructional Design for Teachers). As a student majoring in Education, I will mainly discuss the primary advantages and downsides for both ADDIE and ID4T models and the similarities and contrasts for both models in my writing. I chose those two models due to their high popularity, resulting in many people using them when they designed their educational lessons or achieved their targets.
Without further ado, let us dig and discuss the details of the first model, which is the ADDIE model. ADDIE, just like there are five alphabets in it, signify that there are five steps to follow if the users were to use ADDIE as their ID model. According to the alphabets, all five steps in the ADDIE model are, firstly, A as in Analysis Phase. Secondly, D as in Design Phase. Thirdly, the second D as in Development Phase. Fourthly, I as in Implementation Phase and lastly, E as in Evaluation Phase.
The first step in the ADDIE model, the Analysis Phase, indicates that all instructional designers (educators) should analyse three main aspects: the instructional goals, target audience characteristics, and required resources. First up, the instructional goals need them to respond to competency gaps caused by the lack of knowledge and skills. They must also state desired outcomes of successful course completion. Next, as for target audience characteristics, educators must be aware of their existing knowledge and skills, experience levels, language proficiency, and driven motivation and inform the decisions throughout the ADDIE process. Furthermore, for the required resources, educators must take note of the content, technology, facilities, and students' conditions. Potential delivery methods are determined at this level.
A few thorough analyses need to be made for further investigation during the analysis phase. The first analysis is learning environment analysis. Educators have to figure out if all of their students have gadgets or if the schools provide projectors if they were to use them during school hours. They also need to be on their toes all the time as there will come the time where they will be asked to teach students from a rural area, and the students might not be familiar with English or not proficient in it at all. How will they design the lessons and courseware for them if that situation happens? Educators also have to understand and master the learning needs analysis. Some questions they might ask themselves regarding this topic are "Why do we need this instruction?", "Are they any instructional packages that will help to cater for this need?", "Do I need to build computer-based instruction or interned based instruction?" and "What will happen if this lesson 'fails'?".
Next, learner analysis. One of the things that need to be considered is their entry behaviour and age. Are they SPM leavers, Diploma or Degree graduates, young learners, or adult learners? Moreover, what are their attitudes like genders, computer skills, technology comfort, and learning orientation? Learning orientation might vary for all students, so knowing what works best for them is crucial. Some students have different abilities as they come from first classes until last classes. Different classes here prove that students have different backgrounds; therefore, they must have different abilities and interests in certain subjects. If they do, how far do they know about particular topics? Educators can only cater to students' needs after analysing those questions.
As for the content and task analysis, educators also have to make sure the goals and objectives of the study materials are aligned with theirs'. For the instructional task analysis, they also need to make sure that their learners have all of the lower-level skills they need to learn what they want to teach the learners successfully. For example, if they are going to teach the students some theories, there should be some pre-requisite subjects that they need to pass for the lectures to benefit them. Educators should also define the subject's scope and imply what they want their students to learn. Some of the things they need to clarify are the major topics, instructional goals, information and skills that need to be mastered and the activities that will be used for learners to demonstrate their mastery skills. Educators might consider using Bloom Taxonomy's levels of learning to figure out skills they expected from their students.
Lastly, for the instructional content analysis, educators need to acquire and analyse instructional content such as the time allocated during class hours, points of difficulties in the syllabus such as calculation, and students' learning level. The questions cannot be too hard or too easy, and instead, they need to be altered according to students' levels. High order thinking skills questions can be asked for students in the front class. Educators need to think about the best way to enhance and maximise all students' learning using sequencing and chunking methods. They can divide all of the lessons into digestible chunks that will help to provide a clear sequence so that learners can navigate and not be left out in the dark. They can also provide learners with information that will let them know their progress in school.
The second process for the ADDIE model is called designing. It is a learning solution that aligns objectives and strategies with instructional goals. First, educators must design their learning objectives by defining the specific and measurable actions that enable learners to fulfil the instructional goals. Educators have to design and establish clear links between course content and learning objectives regarding the instructional designs. They also have to introduce content and learning activities in a logical sequence that supports the learners' knowledge and skills. Next, they also have to design testing strategies where they provide feedback on the learners' progress in meeting the defined learning objectives. Here is also where they will assess students on what can they use to support them in educational matters and what can they use to assess what students already learnt. For example, they can ask their learners, "Have you learned the concept of past tense before?" during class hours. They can also present new materials instead to help students understand the lessons better by giving the learners notes, examples and exercises. Educators can guide students who got half of the answers wrong by explaining the concepts once more.
Designing is also a process where educators design all the methods, modes and strategies for their learners. They also need to settle upon the technology that suits their learners' ability and environment best, either soft or hard technology that can be used during class hours. The materials such as handouts, notes and quizzes are things that educators have to deal with during this phase.
We will continue with the third process of the ADDIE model, which is developing. Developing here means educators are expected to develop learning resources, validate and revise drafts together with conducting a pilot test. Learning resources are generated by integrating content and strategies with supporting media and developing guidance for instructors and learners. For example, audio, video and picture. As for validation, resources in development are performed through stakeholders' reviews and subsequent revisions. Regarding the pilot test, feedback and observations are collected after some insights into final adjustments that should be made before implementing the learning solution.
We are now going ahead to the fourth process of ADDIE, which is implementing what is being designed and developed. Implementing here can be defined as the learning solution by preparing the learning space and engaging participants. Preparation during this phase is specially made for instructor-led lectures, in which qualified individuals will be identified to take part as facilitators in a training workshop. In favour of that, participant engagement starts with the notification and enrollment accompanied by a pre-course interaction and communication with the freshly developed learning resources. In this phase, educators usually ask the learners to use the software and courseware or attend the class where they teach the learners. Implementation of the setting should be done to determine whether the course will be held online, offline or face-to-face. The schedule also needs to have a fixed timetable. Face to face classes can be divided into lecture rooms or labs. It needs to be considered if the lecture rooms are conducive enough for group work projects and if students can use the computers to access the software there. As for the labs, are they fully equipped with lab equipment? Both online and offline classes must be prepared and planned carefully for students' comfort.
The last process in the ADDIE model is called evaluation, in which the quality of learning resources and how well have educators accomplished the instructional goals. It reflects both learners' and educators' achievement in learning and designing the ID. Two major evaluations used are formative evaluation and summative evaluation. The former is conducted prior to implementation to determine if the quality of learning resources will satisfy the standards established in the Design Phase. As for the latter, it is conducted after the implementation, normally at three levels that can be identified as a perception for level 1, learning for level 2 and performance at level 3. It evaluates learners' learning, not just the teaching design. For example, how far have the learners learnt the topics taught by the educators and if out of 50 learners, 25 of them got an A, another 20 learners got a B while another five learners failed. In this case, maybe what the educators have taught them is sufficient for the class level, and the educators need to focus a little more on the not-so-well-learners. Some of the questions worth asking them are their problems in learning and the difficulty faced by them that makes it hard for them to score the subject. Educators might ask the A's scorer what makes them score, if their teaching style is easy to understand, and if the question is too easy for their levels. At the end of the evaluation, educators might reflect if the objectives and topics they want to teach are achieved at the end and if their learners had fun learning or if the questions are suitable for their learners' level.
Those are all the processes required if one is interested in using ADDIE as your ID model. We will move on to the second ID model, Instructional Design for Teachers or generally known as ID4T. ID4T is a basic ID model inspired by previously established ID models. It can be summed up with nine steps which are written instructional goals, write learning objectives, write aligned assessment or test items, analyse learner characteristics or pre-requisites, select materials and text, select and design activities, select media and technology (teachers can develop them if necessary), implement the plan as well as evaluate and revise the instruction.
First, the main step to build the whole learning experience is writing instructional goals. This should be a detailed description of the instruction's central message to avoid confusion to both parties (educators and learners). What would educators like their students to understand, be capable of doing, or experience at the end of the lesson? When writing instructional goals, it is critical for the instruction to be led by a thorough grasp of learners and learning. If educators understand their target and their instruction, they will be able to predict what should be on the exam, what is significant enough to jot down, why their learners have to get this even if no one else teaches it, and how it relates to practical uses. The purpose of the instruction is to assist them in focusing on the learning and the learner and respond to the learner's demands. The usage of "and" words should not be used as it looks like educators are implying that there are two learning goals, rather than just one while avoiding the usage of confusing phrases like "understand" or "know" will help them in preparing good learning goals. Educators should not make a typical mistake as including several details in the learning goals, such as the duration or the settings where the learning will take place, will look like they are writing an objective. Next, using clear-cut and relevant verbs will be a good help. For example, if they wish to write a knowledge goal, they may put down verbs like label, define and identify, while for the application goal, they might insert verbs such as demonstrate, discover and produce. Another example for evaluation goal verbs might include determine, appraise, and justify.
Second, we will look at writing learning objectives. It is beneficial if they were to consider the learning goals as the framework with the objectives as the bricks. Objectives are also the lifeblood of the instructions, and they define and guide how lessons are conducted. The three objective components should always be condition, behaviour, and criterion in learning objectives. Educators need to specifically indicate the anticipated particular behaviour of the learners at the end of the objectives as that how things work in the ID. Although objectives seem to be straightforward to create, accuracy is required in most early stages of the process. A common problem is attempting to create objectives that consist of two, three, or more actions (compound objectives). For example, "Using a button, thread, and shirt (condition), the learners will correctly and safely cut the thread, thread the needle, position the button, and stitch the button on (behaviour) under 10 minutes (criteria)." The objective's behavioural aspect should not be more than one as it can be confusing and make learners lose focus. Educators should also avoid writing pre-requisite skills their learners need before they participate in the class. For example, "Given an understanding of basic syntax….". Moreover, saying something like "Given learners' own background and research…" is also wrong. It involves the dependence on the learners' past knowledge or performance, which can serve as a command for a basic task. Another mistake in this phase is while creating objectives, educators might leave the criterion that serves as an indicator of what constitutes as an appropriate performance or accomplishment of the goal.
Third, write an aligned assessment or test items to match the learning objectives that will evaluate if their students have achieved the learning goal and objectives written. Aligning the exam questions with the learning goal and objectives is the most crucial component in this ID process. There are plenty of concerns that come with the patterns of testing. Some of them are "what is the function of intelligence quotients (IQ) and other standardised tests in class"? Are multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank questions better? Perhaps an essay test is the best one?". The type of test depends on the objectives stated before. For example, multiple-choice questions should not be used if educators want their learners to list out the answer as the lists are laid out in the answer sections. Next, a written essay can be used when a task requires the students to compare and contrast, while an oral exam works best for discussion tasks. While IQ and other standardised tests can be beneficial, they should only be used as a snapshot of a student's ability and should not be over-emphasised. When objectives are created, it means educators have a target to kill and the best way to do it is through the right test items.
Fourth, analyse learners' characteristics or pre-requisites by conducting a pre-test or questionnaire to ensure that educators have a good grasp of their learners (how much they know, how they study, and who they are). To do that, first, educators have to dissect the information into its constituent elements. Second, proceed to separate the information into its components until they are confident that the learners fully understand that element (capable of reading, calculating numbers, measuring using a ruler etc.). Third, identify what drives the learners, how they prefer to learn, their prior experiences with the learning, and what cultural or personal characteristics may influence their knowledge. Educators should not conduct a pre-learning survey without thorough objectives learning analysis. Knowing what inspires the learners and their best learning method (through pictures or verbal words) might help educators in some ways.
Fifth, analysis of available texts in which educators should not let their texts dictate how they teach; instead, use them as resources. As much as educators can, they need to suppress their expectations regarding text, media, and activity choices. They need to keep the learning aim in mind as they choose their texts. Concentrate on the learning aim and select texts that address their most essential learning requirements. Instead of relying on the handed texts or the usually suggested texts, make an effort to explore the library, the internet and journals for the best sources of knowledge on the subject. If they are done with it, they need to evaluate their relevance with these questions; First, does the text support my instructional goal/objectives? How closely? Second, is the text accurate? Third, is the text current? Fourth, is the text in any way objectionable? Fifth, what is the "hidden curriculum" in the text? Is it acceptable? Sixth, is the text exceptionally engaging or motivating? Seventh, are there really great features that I want for my instruction?
Sixth, create and specify learning activities. Educators need to select activities that are most closely related to their instructional purpose, objectives, and exam questions. Ensure that the activities are aligned, not just because it looks fun. Educators need to be cautious not to repeat the same old and outdated activities that are most comfortable, even if they are aligned with their lesson, and not to overlap activities and media. Often these ID experts believe that an instructional strategy or activity should include the next five elements: pre-instructional activities such as motivation, attention, sharing objectives with learners, and establishing pre-requisite learning; information presentation, which includes stimulus materials, where the majority of the content is shared in whichever type as well as through whatever activities make the most sense in terms of synchronisation with the instruction; student engagement. As a starting point for considering on how to best align educators' actions with their goals, objectives, and test items, they need to consider some of the following; Complex knowledge should be organised into simple forms, such as memory aids or visuals, mix the activities to maintain engagement and enthusiasm together with questions and answers are used to evaluate the learner's comprehension.
Seventh, selecting media. When it comes to choosing media, educators should not make a hasty decision. “This will be a PowerPoint lecture” or “This will be a video lesson” are not excellent choices when organising a class. Instead, educators need to focus on media that can support their instruction rather than media that can motivate students. Choose material that will help them with the activities. Some of the numerous aspects to consider include the features of the medium such as:
1. Characteristics of the media such as requires electricity or not
2. The characteristics of their learners (educators may know this from the pre-requisite skills such as learners are still learning on how to use the computer or learners have hard difficulties in approaching the chalkboard)
3. The elements of the task/learning (are learners expected to practice or are they just required to learn new content)
4. The educational environment (do they have the pleasure to use electricity freely or not)
5. The development environment (classroom, house, or labs)
6. The economy and cultures (will the society tolerate this media, or would it be unusual, potentially offensive, or even a cause of scorn for educators and the students)
7. Practical concerns such as the topics that will be addressed in the lectures, the knowledge needed by the learners to fulfil the objectives, the actions needed by the learners to participate in the learning, coworkers and management’s support of the method used in the classroom and at school, parents’ support of the educators’ decision and successful classroom experience.
Eighth, planning for implementation and putting it to the test. Educators need to prepare for failure and have a backup plan in mind. They also need to keep their options open and give it a shot to test the instruction with a small group first. The one-on-one, small group, and large group trials are three stages of attempts to see how the training works in the "actual world" in ID settings. Educators are ready for production once they have finished their testing! They also need to consider how they will put the final instruction into action and identify any potential obstacles, such as people, resources, or the entire system? For example, parents might complain that they are not fond of the new approach, and the administration might say the project is time-consuming. Many potential stumbling blocks are waiting to derail educators' well-constructed plans, so educators need to be ready for them and have a "Plan B" in place. They also need to prepare as much as possible because the unforeseen can still happen and disrupt their lesson if they are not adaptable and cautious.
Ninth, and lastly, evaluate and revise the instructions. Based on the outcomes of evaluation operations, evaluation is frequently classified into two types. The first is called formative evaluation, and it aims to improve. The second is summative evaluation, which is used to make decisions and measure effectiveness. In addition to the role of stakeholders and decision-makers in the decision-making process, an assessment plan should address both formative and summative elements. Educators need to keep in mind that they can analyse for improvement and decision-making purposes. Test item analysis, surveys, interviews, and statistical analyses are all good ways to undertake both types of evaluation. When depending on unofficial material (feelings that they know the students' feelings, what they think and what they might understand in the class) from the lesson, be cautious and strive to collect formal data (brief end-of-class surveys or test items analyses) whenever possible. Revise, revise, and revise some more to improve the educator's personal goals and their target learners might change.
Based on the explanations above between the two instructional design models, we will narrow the discussion to the advantages and disadvantages of those two models. Some of the benefits of using the ADDIE model is that it offers you clear and structured instructions. It is because ADDIE is a cycle; hence, you may discover all of the critical steps of a standard ID procedure. Next, the ADDIE model is also flexible and may be used for almost any form of learning. With something as vital as instructional design, it is critical to use a model that emphasises adaptability in the most effective way possible. That is something you will notice about ADDIE. If you need to revisit and refine something, you'll find it relatively simple. Lastly, the ADDIE model also provides you with an excellent beginning point as it can provide a rational, easy beginning stage. You can count on ADDIE to keep you on track while designing and conducting training. As for the disadvantages of ADDIE, it takes a long time to accomplish, which is the biggest downside of using it. When it comes to putting a lesson together, it is better to work quickly. Moreover, the development process is tricky. When discussing the ADDIE approach, keep in mind that we're dealing with a development process. This implies that, quite often, if one aspect of the process is harmed, you may need to be concerned about the entire model.
On the other side of the coin, we will also discuss the primary advantages and some drawbacks of ID4T. The first advantage of using ID4T can result in a more efficient learning session. The amount of time and effort you put into planning your classes utilising the ID4T model may dramatically improve classroom learning and preparedness. Making sure that learners understand what is expected of them can significantly impact the learning process. Research shows that ID models improve learners' engagement, achievement, and lesson planning with their various elements. Still, ID models are rarely used because previous ID models have not really fixated on relevant and straightforward methodologies. ID4T is a strong and powerful combination of how the ID model should work in classroom settings, and without hesitation, it will deliver relatively better and more effective learning outcomes. Next, ID4T is a more organised approach in learning lessons. With its emphasis on alignment, this model will assist in the achievement of the most critical stages in any instructional design process. This method of organising the data is highly practical in terms of timeline, and it will help bring order to the planning phase and the producing documents.
According to educators, the disadvantages of using the ID4T model are that it is excessively expensive. This concern can be solved when educators understand that the cost of the ID4T model lies primarily in the extra time required to study and learn how to utilise it with the additional planning time required. Other expenditures could include obtaining texts for assessment or potentially additional media usage, though, as previously said, the benefits of perfect alignment and media assessment generally outweigh the costs. The other main concern is that educators will lose all of the learning experiences and moments just because the ID4T model requires educators and learners to establish goals and defined objectives from the very start. There is a risk that the traditional way of teaching in the classroom will not happen anymore. Educators must understand that this approach will offer more freedom if they know precisely what aims and targets they are aiming for and how they will be evaluated together with what tasks they will involve in the class.
We are now heading to the last discussion regarding these two ID models, which are their similarities and differences. If you have read and carefully analysed these two ID models, you will not be surprised at how similar they are in almost all aspects. Even if the ADDIE model only has five stages of the development process compared to nine stages in ID4T, all of the steps written in ID4T can be found in ADDIE as well. The similarities between these two models can be found below:
NO | SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ADDIE AND ID4T MODELS |
1 | Writing instructional goals (ID4T) Analyse (ADDIE) |
2 | Writing learning objective (ID4T) Design instruction (ADDIE) |
3 | Writing aligned assessment or test items (ID4T) Design instruction (ADDIE) |
4 | Analyse learners’ characteristics and prerequisites (ID4T) Analyse (ADDIE) |
5 | Analysis of the available text (ID4T) Design instruction (ADDIE) |
6 | Create and specify learning activities (ID4T) Design instructions (ADDIE) |
7 | Choosing selecting media. (develop if needed) (ID4T) Design instructions and develop materials (ADDIE) |
8 | Planning for implementation and putting it to the test. (ID4T) Implement the instructions (ADDIE) |
9 | Evaluate and revise the instructions (ID4T) Evaluate and revise the instructions (ADDIE) |
It is to be remembered that even if you notice that writing instructional goals in ID4T align with the analyse section in ADDIE, it does not mean the ID4T model implements analysing as part of its ID process. ID4T will analyse the learners, but the learners’ needs will be left out as analysis has already been done and conducted in the classrooms for most schools these days with agreeable primary outcomes. There are standards within the classrooms, and those criteria are sometimes decided at a far higher level, even at a community or political level. We are all aware that there are some criteria, for instance, that we do not agree to make sense for a particular developmental stage, but they are there, and they are quite hard to change. As a result, the usage of ID4T will save the time-consuming and exhausting work of conducting a comprehensive evaluation to determine if the need is truly instructional.
Another major difference between these two models is while the ADDIE model is versatile and can be used within a lot of organisations such as educational institutions, small and large corporations or even in any professional and corporate settings to design lessons, software or product, ID4T model is made and specialised for teachers and educators for educational institutions. It is written based on the title of this model. ID4T aims to assist teachers in learning how to use the model in the classroom. Teachers may utilise these crucial ideas in their everyday experiences of teaching, instructing, lesson preparation, and activities design by applying heuristics (small rules of thumb).
To sum things up, I genuinely believe that no model is superior to the other. According to one’s goals, the only thing that will differentiate each model from the other is the usage and advantages of using them. ID serves as a tool to improve overall learning experiences, and instructional designers must grab the opportunity by choosing the suitable ID model to unleash their effectiveness in their learning places. ID might look very confusing, time-consuming and hard to deal with, but once the users get the hang of it, it can really help and guide them in practising lessons and achieving their learning goals.
Disclaimer: The photos were taken from Google.
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