Instructional Media Design Commons^™

How Much Work To Assign In Our Courses?, Jesse Fuhrman

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

No matter what type of course we are designing, we have to keep in mind how much time we are expecting learners to spend. When thinking about time expectations, there are a number of things to consider, beginning with the expectation set by those who are asking for the course or training module.

Graduate Assistant Experience At The Institute - An Interview With Amie Tope, Amie Tope

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Amie Tope, 2018 graduate of Franklin University’s Master of Science in Instructional Design & Learning Technology (IDLT) program, recently sat down for an interview with the IDLT program chair, Dr. Yi Yang. Amie not only graduated with a 4.0 GPA and gave a speech at the Winter 2018 Commencement—she also accepted a job offer before she graduated from the program! During this interview, she talks about her experience working as a graduate assistant for the International Institute for Innovative Instruction (the Institute), and offers suggestions for future graduate assistants.

Bridging Learners And Clients: Challenges And Strategies, Xiaopeng Ni

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

As discussed in my previous post, “Clients as an Instructional Resource,” integrating clients into the curriculum is promising and potentially innovative. A client-based course emphasizes a pedagogical orientation to gain real-word experience through meeting the “expressed needs” from the outside of the classroom. Students create impactful work, collaborate with clients, and sense professional culture. During the past several months, by collaborating with other faculty members, I had opportunities to implement some of these ideas in two graduate courses: Marketing Communication Planning and Instructional Design Capstone. The results, based on students’ feedback, are positive and well demonstrate its pedagogical values.

Do You Apply Learning Theories To Your Online Course?, Jessie Kong

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Emerging technology is changing almost every aspect of our lives. As a result, we should not be surprised that new technology has an impact on how people learn. The development of online learning has rapidly increased through the advancement of technology. Indeed, technology is a powerful tool for instruction—it helps students actively engage in class activities, collaborate with their peers, and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Of course, technology can also save time and money by delivering online instruction anytime and anywhere. Therefore, we cannot ignore the use of technology that can create many instructional strategies and activities.

The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Getting Stuff Done, Kevin Stoker

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Getting things done is both daunting and empowering…and sometimes overwhelming. It’s likely rare that you have too little to do. Every day you look at that pile of work on your desk or the 500 emails that you need to respond to and you wonder how you’ll get through it. When you look at the totality of the things you need to accomplish it can sometimes feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

What International Teaching Has Taught Me About Instructional Design, Niccole Hyatt

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

As instructional designers, we rarely get an opportunity to interact with the learners who actually experience what we develop. We typically rely on learner evaluations, input from teaching faculty, or future enrollment numbers as evidence of positive instructional design interventions. However, there are many reasons why learning events succeed or fail. If a course is well designed, but the instructor is not up to par, can we blame the development of the course? What if the designer of a particular course is also the individual who teaches it? Taking it a step (or a flight) further, what if the class …

Applying Project Management Strategies In A Large Curriculum Conversion Project In Higher Education, Joel Gardner, Patrick A. Bennet, Niccole Hyatt, Kevin Stoker

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Higher education is undergoing great changes that require universities to adapt quickly, and making these changes can be difficult. One discipline that can aid in executing change is project management, which has developed a set of clear processes and strategies for completing initiatives quickly and effectively. Several authors have identified project management competencies as key in the practice of instructional design. However, in our experience it can be difficult to operationalize project management, particularly in instructional design projects that are large in scope and require a quick turnaround.

Mind Maps Allow Our Students To Paint A Picture!, Barbara Carder

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

When Fred Barnard said that “a picture is worth a thousand words” back in 1927, odds are that he wasn’t thinking about mind maps in higher education, but his idiom was true then and it remains true today.

Five Challenges For New Online Instructors, Constance Wanstreet

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

A boot camp for new online instructors focused on five challenges related to transitioning to online teaching, building spaces for learning, preparing students for the work of online learning, managing the classroom & assessing learner outcomes.

Motivation In Instructional Design, Kimberly Craig

Doctorate in Education

Colleges and universities are being held to a new standard of accountability and performance while at the same time are pressured to increase enrollment and graduation rates. Many institutions have turned to online education as a way to bolster enrollment. However, retention of online students is a challenge. As institutions look for creative ways to engage, retain, and motivate students to persist, motivational design models are being discussed as a retention strategy. The purpose of this quantitative study is to identify principles of instructional design that online undergraduate business students find most motivating at one small private university in the …

Acclimating To The Mayhem: Field Training Officer's Perspectives Of New Police Recruits From A Problem Based Learning Academy, Steven Amey

Wayne State University Dissertations

Field Training Officers (FTO) are the first line of observation when a new police recruit enters the work force from a training academy setting. Interviews into this area of research with FTO’s is minimal at best, specifically if any differences are noticed by FTO’s between problem-based learning trained academy recruits and those that are from a non-problem based learning training academy environment. This research study focuses on the perceptions that FTO’s observed with training new police officers and specifically what was exemplar and what was non-exemplar when it came to observations from FTO’s of new police officers. A qualitative approach …

Determinants Related To Faculty Members’ Intention To Use Webinars For Professional Development Purposes, Ali Mohammed Saghir

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Professional development helps employees improve their skills and competencies for performing work-related tasks. It entails equipping workers with technical skills to enable them to use a new technology. However, institutions are still faced with challenges when integrating new technologies into their systems. It is important for the management of various institutions to inquire about employees’ readiness to adopt a change before implementing it to determine the level of possible resistance.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the behavioral intention of faculty members on the use of webinars as a tool to receive professional development content at the …

Learner Responsibility: Questions And Implications, Jesse Fuhrman

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Recently, I was discussing the issue of personal responsibility with a colleague. Specifically, we were discussing the responsibility of students to know where certain kinds of information is found within a course, or how a certain type of action is accomplished within a given learning management system. At what point is it no longer the responsibility of the course designer to create learning objects to convey this information? When does the student bear the responsibility to either already know or to learn this information on their own?

My Reflections On The Association For Educational Communications And Technology (Aect) 2017 International Convention, Lewis Chongwony

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

From November 6 – 11, 2017, the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront in Jacksonville, Florida was a beehive of activity, as members of the AECT, one of the oldest professional organizations, passionate about uncovering better ways of helping people learn, congregated for the 2017 convention. With close to 400 concurrent sessions, several workshops, and more than 1,000 attendees, the place was beaming and brimming with excitement and an aura of freshness as attendees imbibed from pots of research, best practices, and experiences of speakers and peers both in sessions and during breaks. Looking around, I could easily tell that the 2017 …

O Designer, Look In The Mirror, Matthew Barclay

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

What chef ever made a meal that he or she would not be happy to eat or was doubtful the paying customer would relish? It may happen but it is likely rare. People in the profession of cooking and creating excellent meals take pride in their work to satisfy their customers. They strive for the joy of those they serve.

Looking Back, Looking Forward: Instructional Design Reflections, Rob Wood

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Franklin University graduate student Amie Tope is preparing to enter the instructional design field in early 2018. Dr. Rob Wood has been practicing instructional design since 1988 and serves as a faculty member at Franklin University. Amie and Rob recently sat down for an informal, collegial discussion to talk about their perspectives. While Amie looks forward to stepping across the threshold and formally beginning her instructional design career, Rob is looking back over nearly 30 years as an instructional designer and considering what eventual retirement might look like.

Clients As An Instructional Resource, Xiaopeng Ni

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Higher education is under pressure to change from both within and outside (Christensen & Eyring, 2011). One such pressure is from future employers. According to the survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education (Supiano, 2013), most employers significantly value students’ authentic experience over their classroom activities or grades. Authentic learning experience is a direction for teaching and learning innovations. As I discussed in my previous blog post (“Let’s Get Real about Learning”), authentic learning facilitates the transfer of learning and provides students contextual knowledge and skills. Students who learned decontextualized knowledge can answer items on a test but may …

Human Resource Development For Learning And Performance Improvement, Jessie Kong

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Having studied Human Resource Development (HRD) in my Ph.D. program, I have received many questions from students, colleagues, and others about what HRD is. Therefore, this post briefly discusses the definition and functions of HRD as they relate to the role of an instructional design leader

7 Skills Of Knowledge Work, Joel Gardner

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

We are now working in the knowledge society, in which information and knowledge are the primary commodity. The majority of employees in this society are knowledge workers, which means their primary function is to gather and create new knowledge. The nature of work in the knowledge society is cross-disciplinary, complex, varied, and ambiguous, and knowledge workers must be able to access and use broad knowledge in flexible yet disciplined manner.

Everyone Needs An Editor, Gregory Kurtz

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Walt Disney once said, “Everyone needs deadlines.” That statement may seem straightforward enough, but it’s important to note that the entertainment legend was referring not merely to arbitrary dates on a calendar. Rather, Disney was talking about the benchmarks to which each contributor to a project must adhere in order for a creative process to reach its ultimate goal—the delivery of a product or production on time and with a minimum of frantic, last-minute activity. Failing to recognize and meet deadlines can easily lead to ill-advised shortcuts and the resulting deliverable either falling short of its full potential or even …

How To Select An Instructional Design Master’S Program – List #1, Yi Yang

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Instructional design jobs are continuously becoming more in demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by the year 2022, jobs in instructional design are expected to increase by 15 percent. Most of these positions either require or prefer a master’s degree. Getting a master’s degree is thrilling. Searching for the best program and school that meets your needs is exciting and daunting. If you are shopping for an instructional design master’s program, first of all, consider your needs and goals. To help you out, try answering the questions in the following list, LIST #1: My Needs and Goals.

A Non-Traditional Journey To Instructional Design: An Interview With Roberta Niche, Niccole Hyatt

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow had this to say about humans: “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be.”

Maslow then followed up with this haunting quote: “If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.” In light of Maslow’s work on self-actualization and our quest to find the meaning of work in our lives, I decided to interview a colleague who has …

Cognitive Load Theory: Helping Students' Learning Systems Function More Efficiently, Jesse Fuhrman

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Cognitive load is the amount of working memory being used, like the RAM in your computer, only for the human brain. When memory usage on your computer is high, the system starts to slow down; it doesn’t function as efficiently. The same thing happens with learning. When the cognitive load is high, learning is less efficient

Why Your Course Needs An Editor, Carolyn Levally

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Instructional design is definitely an iterative process; we design courses, get feedback, make adjustments to the course, etc. But who is reviewing our courses and providing us with feedback? More than likely, the Subject Matter Expert (SME) or the instructor who will be teaching the course reviews the course design. Having SMEs review the design is excellent, as they know the content and the course objectives best. However, at the International Institute for Innovative Instruction, we also strongly recommend that all courses be reviewed by a content editor.

Critical Reflection Is More Than Just Looking In A Mirror, Barbara Fennema

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

"Magic mirror on the wall--who is the fairest of them all?" spoken by the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Looking in a mirror (and most of us don’t have a magic mirror!) provides us only with a surface reflection of how we look – not who we are or what we’ve learned. In this blog post, we’ll look at what critical reflection is and its importance in a learning experience

Caring For Lawns And University Courses: Fixing Common Problems With Deliberate Treatments For Good Growth, Matthew Barclay

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

It is springtime and that means lawns are growing. What do you do to help your lawn along in the spring? Many people just start mowing. They also rely on spring rains for water. A lawn might look okay for a while with just this treatment. However, a minimalist approach does not usually result in a green, healthy lawn for the whole season. While mowing and watering are necessary, leaving out additional intervention puts a lawn at risk for various weeds and other problems. Grass needs added nutrients, aeration, grub prevention, mowing with a proper blade, water in correct amounts …

3 Key Principles For Increasing Self-Confidence & Engagement In Online Developmental Math Courses, Jessie Kong

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Most students who enter colleges need basic math skills to succeed in college-level mathematics. Therefore, most colleges provide “a sequence of developmental mathematics courses that starts with basic arithmetic, then goes on to pre-algebra, elementary algebra, and finally intermediate algebra, all of which must be passed before a student can enroll in a transfer-level college mathematics course” (Stigler, Givvin, & Thompson, 2013, p. 1).

3 Top Leadership Competencies For Instructional Designers, Yi Yang

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

A successful instructional designer not only needs to be excelling in design and development, but also needs to be a leader, a change agent, and a strategist. Within higher education organizations, instructional design leaders are in demand because they are uniquely qualified to envision the future of education, give critical and strategic direction to others, and ultimately provide an organization with the leadership necessary to move institutions deeper into the 21st century and beyond (Shaw, 2012). However, both International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI , 2012) competency standards and the ATD (2014) competency model put strong …

Begging The Question: Strategies To Increase Student Performance, Roberta Niche

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

If you’re an instructional designer or an instructor, you undoubtedly know a lot about questions. You know that simple yes-no questions are often a dead end and that open-ended questions generally make for more interesting discussions. You know that students typically aren’t given enough think time; teachers’ average wait time is less than one second before they pick someone to answer or answer the question themselves.

Let’S Get Real About Learning, Xiaopeng Ni

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

The primary reason instructors are interested in integrating real world tasks into the classroom stems from a belief that learning that emulates real life is more likely to promote student motivation, engagement, transfer of learning, and professional development. Students who learn decontextualized knowledge are likely to be able to answer items on a test, but often struggle to apply what they have learned when attempting to solve real problems. In this post, I would like to discuss the following three questions related to real-world/authentic tasks