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Full-Text Articles in Education
Learning Experience Design As An Orienting Guide For Practice: Insights From Designing For Expertise, Jason K. Mcdonald, Tyler J. Westerberg
Learning Experience Design As An Orienting Guide For Practice: Insights From Designing For Expertise, Jason K. Mcdonald, Tyler J. Westerberg
Faculty Publications
In this paper we consider how learning experience design (LXD) improves designers’ capacities to influence learning. We do this by exploring what LXD offers the design of learning environments that help develop learners’ expertise. We discuss how LXD (a) attunes designers to different learning affordances than are emphasized in traditional ID; (b) challenges the universal applicability of common ID techniques; and (c) expands designers’ views of the outcomes for which they can design. These insights suggest that LXD is useful because it refocuses and reframes designers' work around flexible design approaches that are often deemphasized in traditional ID.
The Everydayness Of Instructional Design And The Pursuit Of Quality In Online Courses, Jason K. Mcdonald
The Everydayness Of Instructional Design And The Pursuit Of Quality In Online Courses, Jason K. Mcdonald
Faculty Publications
This article reports research into the everydayness of instructional design (meaning designers’ daily routines, run-of-the-mill interactions with colleagues, and other, prosaic forms of social contact), and how everydayness relates to their pursuit of quality in online course design. These issues were investigated through an ethnographic case study, centered on a team of instructional designers at a university in the United States. Designers were observed spending significant amounts of time engaged in practices of course refinement, meaning mundane, workaday tasks like revising, updating, fine-tuning, or fixing the courses to which they were assigned. Refining practices were interrelated with, but also experienced …
“Are These People Real?”: Designing And Playtesting An Alternative Reality, Educational Simulation, Jason K. Mcdonald, Jonathan Balzotti, Melissa Franklin, Jessica Haws, Jamin Rowan
“Are These People Real?”: Designing And Playtesting An Alternative Reality, Educational Simulation, Jason K. Mcdonald, Jonathan Balzotti, Melissa Franklin, Jessica Haws, Jamin Rowan
Faculty Publications
In this design case, we report our design and playtest of a form of alternative reality, educational simulation that we call a playable case study (PCS). One of the features that make our simulations unique is how they are designed to implement a principle called This Is Not a Game, or TINAG, meaning that the affordances we design into the simulation suggest to students that the experience they are having is real, in contrast to the way the artificial nature of the experience is highlighted in many computer games. In this case, we describe some challenges we encountered in designing …
“I Can Do Things Because I Feel Valuable”: Authentic Project Experiences And How They Matter To Instructional Design Students, Jason K. Mcdonald, Amy A. Rogers
“I Can Do Things Because I Feel Valuable”: Authentic Project Experiences And How They Matter To Instructional Design Students, Jason K. Mcdonald, Amy A. Rogers
Faculty Publications
This paper examines how authentic project experiences matter to instructional design students. We explored this through a single case study of an instructional design student (referred to as Abby) who participated as a member of an educational simulation design team at a university in the western United States. Our data consisted of interviews with Abby that we analyzed to understand how she depicted her participation in this authentic project. In general, Abby found her project involvement to open up both possibilities and constraints. Early in her involvement, when she encountered limitations she did not expect, those constraints showed up as …
The Invisible Message, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii, Elizabeth Boling
The Invisible Message, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii, Elizabeth Boling
Faculty Publications
The number and variety of messages conveyed by an instructional experience is astonishing, but most designers are unaware of their number, subtlety, and impact. Many of those messages they would not choose to send if they recognized their existence in practice. The design of invisible and abstract message structures receives less attention from designers today than those parts of the design given to more vivid, colorful, and showy surface structures. Invisible message structures work behind the scenes to produce the smooth surface performances in front of the curtain; they are seldom seen directly, but their power is indisputable. The purpose …
Conversational Forms Of Instruction And Message Layer Design, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii, Elizabeth Boling
Conversational Forms Of Instruction And Message Layer Design, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii, Elizabeth Boling
Faculty Publications
This research provides a second point of validation for an architectural theory of instructional design (Gibbons, 2014) by demonstrating a robust theory-layer relationship for the Message layer. Previous research validated the theory-layer correspondence for the Control layer, a companion channel used for conversational exchange between learner and instructional system. This research identifies specific theoretical contributions to message layer design from fields as diverse as dialogic systems, recommender systems, social network software, intelligent tutoring systems, conversation theory, learning sciences, interface design, user experience design, computer software design, and education. An unexpected finding is that analysis at the message level, about which …
Preparing The Next Generation Of Instructional Designers: A Cross-Institution Faculty Collaboration, Patricia J. Slagter Van Tryon, Jason K. Mcdonald, Atsusi Hirumi
Preparing The Next Generation Of Instructional Designers: A Cross-Institution Faculty Collaboration, Patricia J. Slagter Van Tryon, Jason K. Mcdonald, Atsusi Hirumi
Faculty Publications
The ability of novice instructional designers to become skilled problem-solvers, who select and apply appropriate instructional design (ID) models in their work environments, are key competencies generally sought after in introductory ID courses. Yet, the proliferation of ID models, coupled with varied philosophies and practices about how ID is taught may pose challenges for ID educators seeking to prepare the next generation of leaders in the field. With little empirical research or documented best practices, ID educators are left to their own judgment about to how to navigate the practical challenges that can arise in the pursuit of their teaching …
Reconsidering Design And Evaluation, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii, David D. Williams
Reconsidering Design And Evaluation, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii, David D. Williams
Faculty Publications
In this paper we have put design and evaluation as it were under a microscope with multiple lenses. We use four different snapshots of design, each at a different level of resolution, to reveal new perspectives on the design-evaluation relationship. We believe that the disparate views of designers and evaluators can be resolved by resorting to the middle ground described by Klir. We believe also that the disparate views of educational technologists and learning scientists can be similarly resolved by appealing to the similar principle of Edelson.
The Application Of Layer Theory To Design: The Control Layer, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii, Matt Langton
The Application Of Layer Theory To Design: The Control Layer, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii, Matt Langton
Faculty Publications
Validation of an architectural theory of instructional design layering is accomplished for one of the proposed layers by verifying the theory’s claim that for every layer there exists a body of design theory from outside the field of instructional design that is capable of informing design within that layer.
Evolving Into Studio, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii
Evolving Into Studio, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii
Faculty Publications
Instructional design is practiced in a real-world setting; it should be learned in a setting like the one where it is practiced. As the practices themselves change, it becomes more natural for this to happen. This study of one design instructor’s experience over nearly 50 years demonstrates a path of evolution out of teaching design in a standard classroom, in which practice is secondary to didactics, into a studio setting, where didactics tend to occur after the student has experienced a need.
Embracing The Danger: Accepting The Implications Of Innovation, Jason K. Mcdonald
Embracing The Danger: Accepting The Implications Of Innovation, Jason K. Mcdonald
Faculty Publications
Instructional designers are increasingly looking beyond the field’s mainstream approaches to achieve desired outcomes. They seek more creative forms of design to help them invent more imaginative experiences that better reflect their vision and ideals. This essay is addressed to designers who are attracted to these expanded visions of their profession. Innovative approaches to design can be considered dangerous, at least to the status quo. The author first discusses why this is so, and then explains how embracing the danger—accepting the risks that accompany originality and innovation—might also be what allows designers to develop experiences consistent with the high-levels of …
Some Big Questions About Design In Educational Technology, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii
Some Big Questions About Design In Educational Technology, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii
Faculty Publications
This article asks five questions that lead us to the foundations of design practice. Design processes structure time, space, place, activity, role, goal and resource. For educational technology to advance in its understanding of design practice, it must question whether we have clear conceptions of how abstract conceptions are turned into physical artifacts capable of inspiring the intellect and the emotions to facilitate learning. These five questions hopefully supply topics for design conversations.
Design-Driven Innovation As Seen In A Worldwide, Values-Based Curriculum, Camey Andersen Hadlock, Jason K. Mcdonald
Design-Driven Innovation As Seen In A Worldwide, Values-Based Curriculum, Camey Andersen Hadlock, Jason K. Mcdonald
Faculty Publications
While instructional design’s technological roots have given it many approaches for process and product improvement, in most cases designers still rely on instructional forms that do not allow them to develop instruction of a quality consistent with that expressed by the field’s visionary leaders. As a result, often the teachers and students using instructional products remain confined by equally limiting views of instruction and learning that cannot help them achieve the outcomes the designer originally envisioned. In this paper we discuss how a relatively new design approach, design-driven innovation, can give instructional designers additional tools to shape the meaning …
White Paper Model-Centered Analysis Process (Mcap): A Pre-Design Analysis Methodology, Andrew S. Gibbons, Jon S. Nelson, Robert E. Richards
White Paper Model-Centered Analysis Process (Mcap): A Pre-Design Analysis Methodology, Andrew S. Gibbons, Jon S. Nelson, Robert E. Richards
Faculty Publications
This paper defines a Model-Centered Analysis Process (MCAP) for pre-design analysis (PDA) to be used in the development of instruction that is problem-based, model-centered, and situated. The methodology we describe is based on theoretical principles for analysis described in a separate paper titled "Theoretical and Practical Requirements for a System of Pre-Design Analysis", which is also in this archive.
Resisting Technological Gravity: Using Guiding Principles For Instructional Design, Jason K. Mcdonald
Resisting Technological Gravity: Using Guiding Principles For Instructional Design, Jason K. Mcdonald
Faculty Publications
Instructional designers face tremendous pressure to abandon the essential characteristics of educational approaches, and settle instead for routine practices that do not preserve the level of quality those approaches originally expressed. Because this pressure can be strong enough to affect designers almost as gravity affects objects in the physical world, the metaphor of technological gravity has been proposed to describe why designers choose one type of practice over another. In this essay, I discuss how designers can develop guiding principles to help them resist technological gravity. I describe three types of principles, in the areas of what instruction is, …
Imaginative Instruction: What Master Storytellers Can Teach Instructional Designers, Jason K. Mcdonald
Imaginative Instruction: What Master Storytellers Can Teach Instructional Designers, Jason K. Mcdonald
Faculty Publications
Good instructional storytelling engages students’ attention and cognitive abilities to the end of more effective learning, and instructional researchers have discussed whether the principles of storytelling could lead to the same or similar results if applied to educational situations beyond only telling traditional stories. But despite this potential, the principles of storytelling are seemingly underutilized by today’s instructional designers. This study investigates what instructional designers might learn from another design field that is more experienced in the art of storytelling, specifically that of film production. Eight filmmakers who have successfully produced films that motivate, inspire, and educate were interviewed to …
Model-Centered Instruction, The Design, And The Designer, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii
Model-Centered Instruction, The Design, And The Designer, Andrew S. Gibbons Iii
Faculty Publications
A model of instruction described by Wenger (1987) identifies three elements that are active during instruction: the mental model the instructor wishes to share with the learner, the external experience used to communicate the mental model, and the evolving mental model of the learner. Gibbons (2003a), writing in response to Seel (2003), noted this three-part description as a bridge concept relating learning and instruction. This view has important practical implications for designers of instruction. For example, Gibbons and Rogers (in press) propose that there exists a natural layered architecture within instructional designs that corresponds with instructional functions. Among these layers …
Faculty Perceptions Of Technology Projects, Whitney Ransom Mcgowan, Charles R. Graham, Jon Mott
Faculty Perceptions Of Technology Projects, Whitney Ransom Mcgowan, Charles R. Graham, Jon Mott
Faculty Publications
Significant investments in time, money, and effort go into developing and applying technology to improve teaching and learning. As universities pursue such projects, they must determine the impact and value of technology for student learning. During the past decade, funds spent on technology for educational purposes have tripled throughout the United States. Determining a hard return on investment (ROI) for the time and money spent to improve education is difficult, however. Institutions should also measure the value on investment (VOI) that their funds and efforts yield. In the study of faculty and their technology projects at Brigham Young University (BYU) …
Participatory Prototyping: Improving Faculty Participation In Technology-Mediated Instruction, Jason K. Mcdonald
Participatory Prototyping: Improving Faculty Participation In Technology-Mediated Instruction, Jason K. Mcdonald
Faculty Publications
This paper reports the results of a trial to help university faculty members better participate in the devel- opment of technology-mediated instruction, as well as to develop methods for faculty to create their own media that maintains an acceptable level of instructional quality. Using low-cost technology development tools and software templates, faculty members produced a technology-mediated lesson for a university statistics course. While the quality of their attempt was not acceptable to help facilitate student learning, this trial ultimately acted as a prototype of different instructional strategies for the course, which later were produced using higher-quality media. We called this …
Using Low-Threshold Applications And Software Templates To Improve Efficiency In An Introductory Statistics Course, Jason K. Mcdonald
Using Low-Threshold Applications And Software Templates To Improve Efficiency In An Introductory Statistics Course, Jason K. Mcdonald
Faculty Publications
This study was an exploratory study in improving efficiency in university courses by using low-cost methods of design and development that can be easily managed by university faculty. To explore this issue, we developed a lesson for the Statistics department at Brigham Young University using low-threshold applications (uses of technology that are low-cost and easy to learn) and software templates. We evaluated the lesson as a possible method to decrease the number of hours instructors were required to spend teaching in class. We discovered that students responded positively to the lesson, and that the methods of lesson design and development …
A Non-Authoritative Educational Metadata Ontology For Filtering And Recommending Learning Objects, David Wiley, Mimi M. Recker
A Non-Authoritative Educational Metadata Ontology For Filtering And Recommending Learning Objects, David Wiley, Mimi M. Recker
Faculty Publications
Digital libraries populated with learning objects are becoming popular tools in the creation of instructional technologies. Many current efforts to create standard metadata structures that facilitate the discovery and instructional use of learning objects recommend a single, authoritative metadata record per version of the learning object. However, as we argue in this paper, a single metadata record -- particularly one with fields that emphasize knowledge management and technology, while evading instructional issues -- provides information insufficient to support instructional utilization decisions. To put learning objects to instructional use, users must examine the individual objects, forfeiting the supposed benefits of the …