Course Requirements
EDUC 439/639: Instructional Design
Instructional design is the art and the practice of creating learning materials according to the principles of how people learn. As an art, the field benefits from the creativity of instructional designers who keep trying new things to improve how they work. As a practice, instructional design has a continually improving knowledge base created by practitioners who document their findings in order to advance the field and promote what works. In this course you learn about the instructional design models evolved thus far. By studying their theoretical underpinnings you develop an instinct for how you will decide to work in your chosen field and employ educational technologies for bringing your designs to life.
As you immerse yourself in this exciting journey into the world of Instructional Design, you will receive grades on three kinds of activities. First, there are communication assignments designed to create a proactively supportive relationship between you and your professor. Second, there are three graded discussions that involve you in cooperative learning activites with your fellow classmates. Third, you will create a final presentation project about an instructional design topic you feel passionate about. These three parts of the course each constitute a third of your final grade.
Participants will be expected to spend at least twelve hours per week working through the course modules, completing Instructional Design exercises in the graded discussions, and working on your final projects.
Assignment #1: Goal Statement
Your first assignment is to state the reasons why you enrolled in this course. Please tell me why you decided to take this course and state briefly what you hope to get out of it. If you have only a general idea, go ahead and describe your goals in general terms. If you have more specific goals in mind, please enumerate them. I will use this information to help advise you and guide you through the appropriate course materials.
Assignment #2: Final Presentation Idea
The major project in this course is a presentation that you make on a topic you feel passionate about. Ideally you should make your presentation live in class during one of our 5:30 PM Tuesday night class meetings, either by logging in through Zoom or coming physically present to class in Willard 205. If it is not possible for you to present live some Tuesday night, you may instead submit a video that we will view live in class. You have a lot of freedom in choosing what you want to present about. Again, the keyword is passion: choose a topic you feel truly passionate about pursuing. Here are a few ideas of things you could choose to present about.
- If you have recently created an instructional design you would like to share with your fellow classmates, this is an opportunity to present your design and get valuable feedback about it.
- While studying the course modules, if you encountered a new tool or technique that you feel excited about, you could focus on learning it and presenting it to share your passion with your fellow classmates.
- If you are planning to become a professional designer, you may choose to present one of the instructional design practices covered in module #3.
- The course concludes by exploring the instructional design trends covered in module #4. You may choose to dive in and explore one of these trends and present how it works. If you decide to focus on artificial intelligence, for example, you could present how you plan to use AI in your current or future instructional design projects.
In responding to this Presentation Idea assignment, please tell me (1) what you would like to present about, (2) whether your schedule permits you to present live in Zoom or will you need to submit a video instead of presenting live, and (3) what Tuesday evening(s) you would be able to make your live presentation or submit a video for us to view during class. If you are presenting a tool or an app, actually use it during your presentation so the attendees can experience it in action.
Assignment #3: Graded Discussion #1
This is a two-part discussion assignment that will engage you in communicating with your fellow classmates about what you all are learning about instructional design. Based on your study of the instructional design models presented in module #1, what models appeal to you? Do different models appeal to you in different contexts? Explain why you would want to use the model that appeals to you the most. As you respond, remember to cite parenthetically in APA style from the articles you have read, and for each source you cite, provide its APA style bibliographic reference at the bottom of your post. The second part of this discussion assignment requires you to respond to at least two of the posts written by your fellow classmates. In these replies, you must refer by name to at least two specific persons about what they wrote in their postings. Engaging in this kind of scholarly discussion can help hone your ideas, help your fellow classmates understand how you are thinking, and contribute to the powerful learning community this kind of scholarly dialog engenders.
Assignment #4: Graded Discussion #2
This is a two-part discussion assignment that will engage you in communicating with your fellow classmates about what you all are learning about instructional design. Module #2 presents the learning principles that inform the design of effective learning environments. How do these learning principles make you feel about the instructional design models presented in module #1? In your opinion, which model best enables you to develop instructional materials according to the principles of how people learn? As you explain your thinking about this, remember to cite parenthetically in APA style from the articles you have read, and for each source you cite, provide its APA style bibliographic reference at the bottom of your post. The second part of this discussion assignment requires you to respond to at least two of the posts written by your fellow classmates. In these replies, you must refer by name to at least two specific persons about what they wrote in their postings. Engaging in this kind of scholarly discussion can help hone your ideas, help your fellow classmates understand how you are thinking, and contribute to the powerful learning community this kind of scholarly dialog engenders.
Assignment #5: Graded Discussion #3
This is a two-part discussion assignment that will engage you in communicating with your fellow classmates about what you all are learning about instructional design. Explain what you did in one of your most recent instructional development projects. Did it follow one of the models presented in module #1? Are you satisfied with how your project turned out? Do you think it could have been improved by one of the techniques you learned about here in this course? Module #4, for example, contains videos about the use of artificial intelligence in instructional design. Do you think any of those techniques could have improved what you have designed thus far? How do you plan to use AI in the future? As you explain your thinking about this, remember to cite parenthetically in APA style from the sources you have studied, and for each source you cite, provide its APA style bibliographic reference at the bottom of your post. The second part of this discussion assignment requires you to respond to at least two of the posts written by your fellow classmates. In these replies, you must refer by name to at least two specific persons about what they wrote in their postings. Engaging in this kind of scholarly discussion can help hone your ideas, help your fellow classmates understand how you are thinking, and contribute to the powerful learning community this kind of scholarly dialog engenders.
Assignment #6: Final Presentation Delivery
This is where your instructor will grade your final presentation. Your grade will be determined as follows:
- Provides a clear description of the topic you are presenting: 10 points
- APA style citations ground your topic in the scholarly literature about instructional design: 5 points
- Is coherent, organized and professional: 5 points
- Is interactive and involves the audience: 5 points
If you are presenting about a tool or an app, actually use it during your presentation so the attendees can experience it in action. If you are presenting about a quizzing tool, for example, actually use it to quiz your fellow classmates.
In response to this Final Presentation Delivery assignment, you must submit the file(s) containing your presentation or the outline you followed while presenting it.
Assignment #7: Course Evaluation
Your final assignment in this course is to evaluate it. During the last couple weeks of the course, you will receive email at your udel.edu email address instructing you when the evaluation period begins and ends. This email tells you when the course evaluation window is open. You must log on to the course evaluation system within this window of time. The Web address of the course evaluation system is www.udel.edu/course-evals. After you complete the course evaluation, your instructor will give you credit for completing it. The responses you give are completely anonymous. While your instructor will be able to see the ratings and comments, it is impossible for your instructor to identify the person who gave a certain rating or made a given comment. Once you complete the evaluation, your grade on this assignment will be an automatic A.
