Instructional Design

After spending time in this course, I have learned so much about instructional design. Good instructional design is making sure that trainings are designed with the learners in mind and designer has taken into account the effectiveness of the different methods, materials, and technology. When choosing a topic, the designer should be sure to choose a topic that is relevant and necessary for the audience. To begin designing, there are various helpful models to walk you through the design process; such as, the ADDIE Model, The SAM Model, Learning Circle Framework, etc. These are new to me and something I learned about in this class. Having a model is extremely helpful!

There are also many components that should be considered to make sure that the best learning is taking place. Components like color, slide arrangement, text and font use, visuals, etc. Reynolds (n.d.) gives several very helpful tips for good instructional design. The first is to keep it simple; the slides in your presentation should not be cluttered and distracting, but simply display text, data, visuals, etc. to support your instruction. Another tip is to keep it visual; people tend to remember pictures are better than words. Do not create what Reynolds (n.d.) called "sliduments"; this is when slides are turned into documents that contain entirely too much information. Using short video or audio clips can also be helpful; it changes the pace and breaks up the presentation a bit which can help keep the attention of the audience. Brown and Green (2024) said, "Visual design is both an art and a science, and there are trends and fashions in the world of visual design that are worth keeping up with" (p. 247). Doing some research and keeping up with the latest trends can be helpful in creating good instructional design.

To develop the training I designed for this course, I used the ADDIE model that is explained in the graphic below. I will have to wait to finish the implementation and evaluation piece once I get a chance to present my training.

The training is about using success criteria in the classroom along with the current learning targets that we are already using as a school. The training was designed for our faculty. Success criteria will be a school wide focus this year as we work towards helping students understand why they are learning the things that they are learning. Which was the start of a good instructional design process because I know that this training is something that our faculty need to learn about and will benefit the students in our school. Our students are so focused on the grade that is attached to assignments and we would like to shift their thinking to working towards achieving goals. While creating my slides, I was sure to keep it simple and make sure that they were not cluttered and contained beneficial information. I want the slides to support what I am discussing in the training and not be overstimulating to the point that they are a distraction. I also used a consistent color scheme, font, and design throughout the entire presentation. When looking back through my presentation, I think in the future I will try to incorporate more visuals and data but still be sure to keep the design aesthetic.

Link to my training materials - https://sites.google.com/shelbyed.org/successcriteriapd/home

References

Brown, A., & Green, T.D. (2024). Essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice. Routledge.

Reynolds, G. (n.d.). Design tips. Presentation Zen Design Tips. https://www.garrreynolds.com/design-tips

Instructional Strategies for Professional Development

Professional development, or training for teachers, is much like teaching a group of students. It is important to think about the different types of learners and incorporate instructional strategies that meet their needs as well as help everyone understand the content that is being taught. One strategy that can be used is reciprocal teaching and another is think-pair-share. Both strategies encourage participants to engage in discussions with their peers to help further understand the material being taught or discussed. There are times that both students and teachers alike learn better from each other than they do from direct instruction.

Reciprocal teaching can improve reading comprehension. Group participants each have a job; the summarizer, the questioner, the clarifier, and the predictor. This allows participants to take turns leading the discussion and actively engage in the content. Participants start by reading the passage and highlighting or taking notes that help prepare them for their part in the discussion. The summarizer will then highlight key points that are important for understanding the passage. The questioner will then ask questions that may be unclear or help make connections to other content. The clarifier will then help answer questions that were asked. Finally, the predictor will then make predictions about what will happen next in the passage (Anonymous, n.d.). According to McCallum (2014), “Reciprocal teaching is inclusive and enables teachers to use evidence gained through the reciprocal conversations to continually adjust and target teaching to meet the needs of diverse students” (p. 32).

Below is a video showing an example of this strategy being used in a classroom.  

Another strategy that is great to use is think-pair-share. Using this strategy, participants will work together to either solve a problem or answer questions about a lecture, whole group discussion, or a passage. Think-pair-share can help participants engage with the content and better understand what is being taught. Participants spend some time thinking about a topic on their own and also spend time discussing it with a partner; this can help expand their learning and sometimes even help them better understand when discussing it with a peer (Kerley et. al., n.d.). According to Yusef et. al. (2018), “Students taught using Think-Pair-Share strategy performed better than those taught using traditional (lecture) strategy” (p. 57). I have used think-pair-share many times when teaching students. We will discuss a topic and I usually ask them a question to think about on their own for a short amount of time and then have them turn and talk to a neighbor and compare their thoughts. 

References

Kerley, B., Rumford, J., & Shulevitz, U. (n.d.). Think-pair-share. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/classroom-strategies/think-pair-share#:~:text=Think%2Dpair%2Dshare%20is%20a%20collaborative%20learning%20strategy%20where%20students,2)%20share%20ideas%20with%20classmates. 

McAllum, R. (2014). Reciprocal teaching: Critical reflection on practice. Kairaranga, 15(1), 26–35. https://doi.org/10.54322/kairaranga.v15i1.183 

Reciprocal teaching. Reading Rockets. (n.d.). https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/classroom-strategies/reciprocal-teaching#:~:text=Reciprocal%20teaching%20is%20a%20cooperative,the%20comprehension%20of%20a%20text. 

Yusuf, A., Owede, V. C., & Bello, M. B. (2018). Effect of think-pair-share instructional strategy on students’ achievement in Civic Education in Bayelsa, Nigeria. Anatolian Journal of Education, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.29333/aje.2018.325a