Below are the steps in developing a lesson or a series of lessons as recommended by a instructional designer.

• Step 1: NEEDS ASSESSMENT
  • Generate goal(s) using standards, existing curricula, personal knowledge of topics, textbooks, student requests and the like
  • Rank the goals if more than one
  • Determine the extent to which goal(s) may have already been met
  • Prioritize what needs to be done

• Step 2: LEARNER ANALYSIS
  Determine way to ascertain learning style preferences and whether are not there are special needs to be accommodated.

• STEP 3: INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
  Restate goals as smaller tasks by specifying observable, measureable objectives to be accomplished.

• STEP 4: ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE
  Using the objectives as criteria, determine how student performance will be measures, e.g., test, paper, project, presentation, observation of behavior, and the like.

• STEP 5: STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES DEVELOPMENT
  Based on learner analysis plan best instuctional method(s), grouping of students, activities of students.

• STEP 6: MATERIALS SELECTION
  Based on learner analysis choose best supporting materials (readings, slides, film, videotapes, URL pages, transparencies, handbooks, etc.) and how these will be acquired, produced or otherwise made available to students or used by teacher.

• STEP 7: IMPLEMENTATION
  Prepare specific lesson plan for each class session. One technique is as follows:
  • State primary instructional objective
    Example: Given three diagrams of earth layers, 90% of the students will choose digram showing the correct relative thickness of the layers. At least 90% of the students will label the layers correctly and write the approximate temperature of the layer on the diagram.

  • State enabling objectives
    What do students have to know in order to be able to perform the primary instructional objective. Use Bloom's taxonomy to specify necessary prior learnings.

  • Learner Group
    Specification of anticipated learning styles, needs.

  • Pretest Results for Enabling Objectives
    Each identified learning objective is pretested to determine which need to be emphasized and which might be omitted.

  • Motivating Activity
    What is the hook to grab students' attention at the outset of the lesson?

  • Description of Presentation
    Lecture overview, use of visuals or handouts, review.

  • Provisions for Participation
    What the students will do and when.

  • Posttest
    Some use pre-test to see whether there has been improvement and whether the criteria point has been reached or exceeded.

  • Results
    Post-mortem description of the lesson -- what the teacher actually did, what the students did, what the results were.

• STEP 8: EVALUATION
  Analysis of what worked, what didn't, and why. Recommendations for change.