Instructional Design PrinciplesLindsay PraterGCUTEC 571

The Three E’s of Learning

•Learning in any form: traditional, hybrid, or distance education, needs to meet all three E’s▫Effective – Did I make my students learn

about what I intended for them to learn?▫Efficient – Have I done everything that

could be done in effort to get my students to learn?

▫Engaging – Did my students enjoy or find the information interesting during the lesson?

What are Instructional Design Principles?• A method for

professionals to create blueprints for effective, efficient, engaging instruction

• There are five principles: activation, application, demonstration, integration, and task-centered

Activation Principle

•“Learning is promoted when learners activate relevant cognitive structures” or activate multiple mental processes by recalling or organizing ideas

•Activating the brain!

Application Principle•“Learning is

promoted when learners engage in application of new knowledge” or put to use the knowledge that is learned in class through corrective feedback and coaching

•Applying new skills!

Demonstration Principle

•“Learning is promoted when learners observe demonstration of new knowledge” or students watch the leader perform the expected objective performed

•Show me how to do it!

Integration Principle

•“Learning is promoted when learners integrate new knowledge into everyday by creating inventing”, and/or estimating by publicly observing the performance.

•Watch me do it!

Task-Centered Principle

•“Learning is promoted when learners demonstrate or apply a component of the lesson by progressing of collecting tasks towards a whole goal”

•Give me a checklist!

Distance Education and the Principles

•Distance Education relies on mature, independent, motivated students to be successful

•Mainly activation principle and task-centered principle applied in distance education principles

Distance Education: What Changes Could Be Made?• Students should show more than just recall of

knowledge (activation principle)• Students should be accounted for more than a

series of tasks (task-centered principle)• Students should be accounted for demonstrating

knowledge in real-time (demonstration principle)• Students should receive coaching in more forms

than writing (application principle)• Students should integrate knowledge into their

real-world and document this integration (integration principle)

Top 3 Changes: Why the Application Principle?• A teacher utilizing

distance learning (DL) is more of a facilitator than a teacher.

• Even though DL students are independent learners, some students need a “face to face” interaction.

• Students may need support not only across the world wide web, but possibly in the same room.

How?• Students could utilize

video conferencing.• Students could have one

“mentor” for the entire journey, in addition to individual course teachers.

• Students could document how they have applied their learning in their chosen environment.

Top 3 Changes:Why the Demonstration Principle? • Teachers utilizing DL do

not observe the student demonstrating the new knowledge.

• Students should be responsible for demonstrating in real-time using technology.

• If demonstration isn’t observed, how does the teacher know that the student is utilizing the knowledge?

Top 3 Changes: Why the Integration Principle?• Teachers utilizing DL do

not observe the student integrating the knowledge into everyday life.

• Students should be held responsible for using the knowledge to better / improve themselves.

• Students need to have some form of documentation of the integration.

How?• Students could keep video

journals using a form of videography to show demonstration / integration in real-time.

• Students could also “broadcast” their classroom for observation(s) of demonstration / integration.

• If the mentor concept is utilized, the mentor can document his or her viewing of the mentee’s demonstration / integration.

Works Cited

Author Unknown. 2011. Instructional Design Principles at about-elearning.com. Retrieved 5 July 2011 from http://www.about-elearning.com/instructional-design-principles.html.

Spector, Michael J. (2007). Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology: 3rd Edition (AECT series). New York: Routledge.