These are my notes from a session with Allison Rossett “Falling in Love All Over Again—With ISD” at ASTD ICE in Orlando, May 24, 2011. Forgive typos and incoherence…
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ISD got its start in WWII – when the country was preparing soldiers for war. 400 + films – taught standards. Observations in classes to see that standards were met.
From the war, these trainer types went into industry – telecom (ATT)
Walter Dick – “ISD is applied educational psychology”
Instructional design is all abut theory.
Behaviorism – incentives and consequences. what it looks like when you can do it. Get drill and practice, with knowledge of results. Practice, practice, practice. Great for pronunciation and vocab (Rosetta stone)
Cognitivism – what’s going on inside. Motivation. The mind and belly stuff. Do they GET IT? Think alouds, scenarios, checklists.
Constructivism – bred of cognitivism. Discovery learning. Find the key messages yourself. Your own way of being better with customers. When people find their own way, they really get it. Webquests. Emphasize the process of engaging with others – where there’s no one agreed upon outcome. John Dewey, Bruno, Vgotsky, Brent Wilson…
Connectivism – from know-how to know-where. Find it yourself through networks and community. Downes, Siemens. Personal knowledge management.
Motivation Theory – John Keller, ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction)
“Adult Learning Theory” – she doesn’t believe in it. Good learning theory is good learning theory. Difference is that kids want to talk about dinosaurs.
Connectivism & ARCS: US Navy’s Project MMOWGLI – thousands of players participate to work with pirate attacks off of Somalia. This is a gnarly problem. Don’t know what the protocol or policy is – not teaching to objectives – but we’re trying to figure it out.
ID Basics:
- begin with the end in mind, data drives decisions, classroom is good but often not sufficient
- ID is how we make good decisions
ADDIE – the problem with this…
ID Greatness:
They can see it is all about them their tasks, their priorities. The WIIFM.
The experience is vivid and authentic – full of worked examples, with opps to think about and DO something. “So that’s how it works” – with commentary and progressive building checklists that explains how it works.
Success and stretch. (If it’s all success, then it feels like a waste of time).
The ID brings order to chaos. Make choices to extend lessons, information, etc. Don’t let the learner just flop about.
Evidence-Based Instructional Design
- just serving up a tasty buffet isn’t enough.
- people learn best with worked examples, repeated practice on stretch tasks
Greatness emerges from positive deviance!
Example of sales training in pharma:
- Find the lesson or message you want them to know. Have a really clear way – not a spreadsheet! – where we clearly communicate what greatness will look like.
- Then have classes, simulation. etc.
- On demand support
Great ID for CPR Training?
(www.articulate.com showcase example). You find a person and you have 3 minutes to save the person. “You are walking down the street when a man falls to the ground…” The conditions are real. It’s scary.
You don’t need stuff until you need it – performance support “Adult CPR app” – American Heart Association app.
Will you have it in the moment of stress?
Great ID touches minds and hearts.
Assure that employees experience some success as they grow. Build in success. Don’t start with a test that brings them to their knees. Not good for confidence.
Reveal your sources – why are they credible? – tell stories
Use two side arguments. Approaches that admit multiple views are more convincing than one-sided litany. Assume they are smart. People learn better from controversy.
Prepare them for the barriers you discovered when you did the analysis. Share the issues to come and the workarounds.
Encourage reflection. Provide some structure.
Use role modeling and conversations.
Use stories – show emotions and reactions.
Engage people in examination of examples.
Touch minds and hearts with stories that ring TRUE.
Deliver smarts – shifting it closer to where it’s needed.
Moving Forward
Always: practice, feedback, examples
Today: scenarios, commentary, checklists, coaching, problem solving, aided (mobile support) and unaided performance (learning)
Tomorrow: organization knowledge, community, social networks, performance support, choice!
Giving learners choices – is too much freedom too much?
Sometimes the learner doesn’t know enough to make a good choice. Need good scaffolding. The ID picks the right spots for choices. Help the learner make a good choice – structure. Don’t want to give them so much freedom that they fail or lose confidence.
Great ID:
- delivers solution systems
- delivers in rooms and into the workplace
- it is influential
