Instructional Systems Design (ISD)

It is very important for teachers to develop instructional materials that can really help learners to acquire the learning competencies. However, there are some times that we are guilty of developing course or learning plans and instructional materials haphazardly, without taking consideration some factors that may affect the effectiveness of our instruction (e.g. learning styles of the students, learning constraints).Then the result is always frustrating, low achievement and a pack of unmotivated students. We can compare it to an unsuccessful business because the owner failed to conduct a thorough feasibility study. Likewise, a learning experience or any instructional material you desired to utilize that is unplanned is also doomed to fail. As Benjamin Franklin said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

But how can we systematically plan highly effective instructional materials, training or course? The good thing is that we have a lot of Instructional Systems Design models that we can use, we just need to become aware their features, so that we can decide which is the most appropriate to use in our particular case.  

What is Instructional Systems Design?

Instructional System Design (ISD) is the practice of creating instructional experiences which make the acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective, and appealing (Merrill, M. D., Drake, L., Lacy, M. J., Pratt, J.,1996). It involves systematic procedures of instructional materials or courses development based on learning theories.

ADDIE

There are so many ISDs but most of them are actually based on the ADDIE, which is the most popular among educators and instructional designers. It stands for: A – Analyze; D – Design; D – Develop; I – Implement; and E – Evaluate

Analysis Phase

This is the first phase of this model wherein the instructional designer identifies the instructional problem and sets the learning objectives. A background check of the learners is done to collect data about their learning styles and learning constraints.

Design Phase

This is where most of the planning occurs. After accomplishing the need analysis report of the learners, the instructional designer should now come up with the learning objectives. He should now have a clear graphical representation of the contents. A subject matter expert must also be consulted to validate the content of the material.

The instructional designer should also give attention to the user interface and learning experience and application of the graphic design principles.

Development Phase

This is the stage wherein the instructional designer should put together the ideas he planned during the design phase and develop the final product. During this phase, a formative assessment can be done through reviewing the effectiveness of the content and the instructional material or course in general.   

Implementation Phase

This is it! We are now in the actual presentation of the course or instructional material, training or course. All training materials must be in place, if we are dealing with e-learning, be sure that the learning application is functional.

Evaluation Phase

There are two kinds of assessment that can be performed in developing our instructional material:

Formative evaluation can be conducted in each stage of the ADDIE model

Summative evaluation consists of tests designed specifically for the content, and the feedback received from the end-user.

Graphical representation of ADDIE model