Instructional Design Basics – Part 1 -Theories and Principles

As the year is coming to an end, it dawned upon me that I have not written anything on my website about the basics of Instructional Designing. I will cover the basics in three parts – Part 1 – Theories and Principles, Part 2 – Instructional Design Models, and Part 3 – Instruction Design Document/Curriculum.

Instructional Design Theories

To create an effective learning instruction, it is important that the instructional strategies are connected to the instructional design theories. The instructional design theories form the basis for selecting the best instructional methods based on the leaners’ behavior, current skills, and their desired learning outcomes.

Instructional design theories provide guidelines for the ways to support learning and development better. Descriptive statements that explain, predict, or control events related to instruction and learning – Reigeluth, 1999, p. 7; Smith and Ragan, 2005.

“Instructional design is based on didactically tested learning theories, and may occur in student-only, teacher-led, learner-led, or other settings.” – Thornton, Sims, & Irlbeck, 2008.

“Since instructional design stems from learning theories (which are theories that deal with how cognition and learning takes place and are synthesized within the human mind) and instructional design theory (which proposes the strategies on how we teach or what we teach), it logically follows that instructional design is not synonymous with learning or instruction; that is to say, instructional design is not teaching (those learning experiences facilitated by an instructor), lesson planning, curriculum development, and so on. Instead, the theories that are the bases for teaching and instruction inform those that form the basis for instructional design.” – Thornton, et al., 2008; Smith & Ragan, 2005.  

Three Primary Learning Theories

The most common learning theories in the field of learning and designing any instructional program are the theories of Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. These three theories define different learning methods depending on learners’ characteristics and their learning goals.

The knowledge of learning theories helps the Instructional Designers (IDs) understand the learners’ behaviors and skills that need to be changed and accordingly define the learning goals. Furthermore, based on these well-defined learning goals, an ID can design the assessments that can assess the successful achievement of set learning goals.

Adult Learning Theory

Adult learning theory is based on the principles of andragogy and self-directed learning. Andragogy is described as an art and science of adult learning. Self-directed learning is a form of learning where the control and the direction and progress of learning is with the adult learner.

The key principle of adult learning is to take full advantage of adult learners’ experiences while designing the learning course. The other key principles of Adult Learning theory are:

1. Adult learners are capable of directing their learning at their own pace.
2. Adult learners:
   • have clearly defined personal and professional goals.
   • are self-motivated and have the mindset of problem-solving.
   • form the connection between the existing and the new learning.
   • actively participate in the learning experience.
   • are excited about the experiential learning.  

The adult learning theory, therefore, focuses on the adult learners’ initial behavior, content preference, motivation, and group learning characteristics, etc.

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT)

According to the Cognitive load theory, the learner’s cognitive make-up should be in alignment with the instructional material and the medium. The learners’ cognitive part is made up of three types of memories – sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory. Cognitive load theory suggests that learning occurs mainly in the unlimited long-term memory supported by the limited-space and limited-duration working memory.

It is in the working memory, where the information is captured first and processed. Although, the success of any learning depends on how much of the learning material is retained in the long-term memory, but the effectiveness of a learning program is assessed if the learning program was able to attract the learner’s attention in the first place. This is why “Working memory plays an important role in the success of a learning program.

The working memory consists of a processor that processes three types of cognitive load:

• Intrinsic Cognitive Load – The intrinsic difficulty of the learning material.
• Extraneous Cognitive Load – The load of the external factors that make the absorption of learning material further difficult.
• Germane Cognitive Load – The elements that make the absorption of learning material easy by breaking and slotting the learning material into schemas.

As an instructional designer, it is important to make sure that the learning material designed should not increase the cognitive load on the limited working memory and should facilitate the transfer of learning information to the long-term memory.

Key Principles of Instructional Design

The basic principle of Instruction Design is to device instructional strategies that will help the IDs develop a learning program which is easy to understand and learn. And for that, the IDs should aim at the strategies that invigorates the relevant cognitive processes in the learners’ mind and elicit better learning outcomes.

To design an effective learning instruction, an instructional designer should follow some key principles of instructional design and understand the interrelationship between these principles and how they can be used to make learning instruction relevant and compliant with today’s technology. Given below are the key principles of Instructional Design:

1. Instructional Design (ID) is a systematic process and not a chaotic or random activity.
2. ID is centered towards learners and not necessarily towards the trainers.
3. The main objective of ID is to make learning effective, efficient, and motivating.
4. ID is oriented towards problem-solving.
5. The current knowledge of the learner lays the foundation for the new knowledge to be attained.
6. The new knowledge is presented to the learner during the learning program.
7. The learner applies the newly gained knowledge into the real world.
8. The goal of ID is to have a derivative confluence between the objectives, instruction, and evaluation.
9. The outcome of each ID phase can be measured and stated either theoretically or numerically.
10. Different learning methods are adopted to accommodate different instructional strategies.

Merrill’s Principles of Instruction

Merrill’s principles of instruction was given by a noted educationalist and teacher, Mr. M. David Merrill. These principles of instruction are also known as the task-based or problem-solving instructions and are considered extremely useful for the online learners. The principles of instruction given be M. David Merrill are:

• Demonstration – To help the online learners grasp the content more accurately and effectively, the learning content is supported by a visual or practical demonstration.
• Application – To reinforce the learning, the online learners are given the instances to interact during the learning process. These instances could be clicking the buttons to navigate through the course, solving puzzles and answering questions, and collaborating with online groups.
• Activation – To help retain the knowledge gained during the training, the new knowledge should be linked to the previous knowledge or experience. This concept is also called building on their knowledge base.
• Integration – To help the online learners apply the benefits of training into their daily lives and be motivated to learn, the new knowledge should be given with the context of how it will benefit them in their personal or professional success.
• Engagement – To make sure that the learners retain the knowledge and apply this knowledge in their daily-life, the learners are given task-based exercises and they are encouraged to explore the possibilities of finding all the possible areas of application of the acquired knowledge and brainstorming about it.

Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction

Robert Gagne’s nine events of instruction provides a linear series of learning activities that when performed along with Bloom’s taxonomy will result in impactful and engaging learning experience. These nine events are:

1. Gain attention – Attract learners’ attention towards the course through some introductory activities.
2. Inform learners of the objectives – Present the objectives of the course to the learners.
3. Stimulate recall of previous experiences – Recall any previous experience that stimulates the memory of similar prior learning.
4. Present stimulus – Deliver the learning content.
5. Provide learner guidance – Guide the learners through the learning content.
6. Elicit performance – Help the learners perform tasks based on the content learned.
7. Provide feedback – Provide feedback to the learners about their learning participation.
8. Assess performance – Assess learners’ performance through assessment at the end of the training session.
9. Enhance retention and transfer – Provide learners with reference materials and Job aids to enhance retention and transfer of the knowledge.

When we understand these instructional design theories and principles, we not only create effective courses but a truly enriching and rewarding learning experience.

— End of Part 1 —