Here are a few notes on writing Goals and Objectives.

And a few more on the lecture/discussion method of teching.

We also very quickly at the end of class mentioned lesson planning. The link provides a more organized list of the steps that instructional designers would recommend be addressed in lesson planning.

Bloom's taxonomy of learning objectives was identified as a useful way of sorting out the kinds of things one may want students to learn. It is provided here for your use.

In order for instruction to accomplish its goals, careful planning and design should be invested in the very early stages. In addition to considering course content, materials, the dynamics of the learner, the instructor, and the environment, we must also consider what instructional strategies to use for delivery and how learning will be assessed.

"Learner centered" is a term you will often come across. It is intended to emphasis that all the preparation we do is intended for one primary purpose -- to assist the learner to learn. By collecting data about the learner (demographic data and learning characteristics) and evaluative data on the instruction (Is it being done well? Is the instruction at the right level? Can the learner demonstrate what he/she has learned?), we can tailor future instruction more specifically to the learner needs. If the learner's needs are meeting met, motivation to learn will follow.

Other aspects of the learning system are equally important. The instructor needs to focus on continual improvement knowing that perfection will never be and can never be reached. Still, we should strive constantly to improve communication skills, to gain futher knowledge and understanding of how best to use instructional technology and other instructional aids, to understand the impact of instructional strategies on each particular learner group.

Content is important and should be up-to-date and accurate. Use of interesting examples, factual support material, historical facts, comparisons and contrasts, and other techniques are valuable in clarifying and explaining the main ideas. In an adult classroom, only about 10% of the material is usually devoted to new ideas and material; the other 90% provides support material, examples, clarification, and time to answer questions. Instructional content should be sequenced from the known to the unknown; from simple to complex; from general to specific; and in a definite pattern of organization that is either topical, sequential, chronological, spatial, or follows another pattern that is uniform throughout.

Course materials need to be organized, of good quality reproduction, and focus on the main points. Providing material that is never referred to or is constantly critical is dismaying to the learner. Prepare a keyword outline if material is complex; attend to the quality of visual aids and other accompanying material.

The environment where learning will take place may not be totally under your control but you should be aware of what is important in the teaching-learning environment and be diligent in helping to create the best learning environment, whether a classroom or a distance education environment.

Instructional strategies refer to such things as whether the instruction is individualized or experienced in a group setting -- if the latter, whether it is a large or small group. Instruction can also require that everyone start and finish at the same time ("lock-step") or it may allow self-pacing. Some instruction requires specialized equipment; if so, the instructor needs to think about how the learner has access to it. Other strategies relate to whether the content is to be a broad but not deep survey introducing a new topic or an in-depth case-study analysis.

Instructional assessment refers to how students' learning is tested. If you begin with well-developed instructional objectives, the criterion objective(s) for the course should describe how you intend to test the learners -- what they will be tested on and how (e.g., memory of facts, ability to perform, ability to apply and evaluate, ability to synthesize information from a variety of sources). Not only should students' learning be tested in some way, the effectiveness of the course itself should be evaluated. Do students have an opportunity to evaluate and change the course as it unfolds or is there only an end-of course critique?

Please see Instruction Design -- Learner Assessment for some questions and exercises about the first step in the instruction design process.

Which of these exercises seems to be the most workable? What modifications would you make? What kind of feedback could you collect by any means (questionnaire, observation, evidence of work, etc.) that would help you measure your success?

We will also take a first look at three slightly different Instructional Development process models. After looking at these and reading some of the introductory material in the Gustafson book, what modifications would you make to these models to create a useful step by step process that you would be comfortable in following?