Define Your Destination

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If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.

Lewis Carroll
(Alice in Wonderland)

Instructional system design begins with an analysis and this is a principle we can apply to more than just designing effective learning solutions. You can use these questions to define a plan of action to achieve your goals. It is futile to attempt solving a problem if we don’t know what the problem is. A good prescription comes as a result of a good diagnosis. We can’t suggest a solution without understanding the need first.Defined problems are easier to solve than undefined ones. The analysis phase is like detective work. We ask questions:

  • Where are you now?
  • Where do you want to go?
  • What do you want to accomplish?
  • Why? What is motivating you to go there?
  • How do you get there?

The answers to these questions are going to help draw a roadmap. Imagine that you are using a GPS device. Identify your current situation. Define your destination. In order to determine the best route to take you need those two pieces of information. Certainly with no destination we can arrive anywhere. Leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in case you get lost is not effective. Just ‘ok’ is not enough. There are many more questions we can ask here depending on the situation in order to form a plan of action.

In the analysis we can’t forget about affective factors that are motivating the change. The attitude towards change can define the willingness to change and how much effort would be directed towards reaching the destination. Knowing where you are going is not enough. The affective domain includes values, beliefs, feelings and emotions. This is important to build a bridge between the current and the optimal desired situation because the affective domain gives ‘color’ to behavior by setting the mindset of the process.

The last question would be answer by synthesizing the answers from the previous questions. Once you have a map, the current and the desired destination, and the motivational factors, a plan of action can be designed. Through the process of designing the plan it is important to return to these questions and the answers and determine if necessary alternative routes as time and the plan progresses. Knowing where you want to go is a step to get there. You just have to start walking towards the vision you already have.

Like Singing in the Shower

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blog writingWriting a blog is like singing in the shower. You sing like no one is listening because most probably that’s the truth. Even if people are listening you don’t care. That’s your time to flex your pipes and let it out even if you don’t know how to sing. There is no program either. You don’t plan the songs you are going to sing in the shower ahead of time. Whatever song comes to mind you go with it. If you don’t remember the lyrics it doesn’t matter either. You make them up as you go. You mix up songs just for fun. It is your own private concert where you are performer and audience.

I began writing this blog two months ago because my wife suggested the idea. I didn’t know people actually read this stuff. I just began writing. To my surprise people are actually reading. I am very thankful for almost 10,000 views in two months to this website. I truly appreciate that. It is great to see the comments not only here but also in the social media sites. The e-mail messages are very encouraging and inspiring as well. I never received such good feedback from singing in the shower. I am sure that no matter how bad I write it is way better than my singing. Believe me when I say that you don’t want to hear me sing. It actually hurts people.

What’s the plan? What is this blog thing all about? This blog is a way to communicate the relationship between art, cognitive psychology, instructional design, and life. Which one is my favorite subject? I’ll say ‘experience’. I share what I live, know, and learn in these areas. I also like to write about all the things I don’t know. That makes it easier because I don’t know a lot. Like singing in the shower the plan is to enjoy the process of writing and do it from the heart, and sometimes from the brain. Since there is more hope for my writing than it is for my singing (no hope there) I would like to get better at it. It is a challenge to myself. By the one year milestone, for which I am not even close to almost halfway there, I would like to put together a book. Who knows? Maybe people still read books too.

What is Instructional Design?

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Instructional design or instructional system design is the systematic decision-making process and design of how instruction is going to be delivered. Instructional design draws knowledge from different sciences like psychology and neurology to develop an understanding of how to effectively use teaching strategies and methods. It is the formal process to design training.

instructional designWhile most people know me as an artist, I am also an instructional designer. In my research I contend that in order to provide effective learning solutions it is necessary to perform a learners analysis beyond the knowledge pre-assessment alone. Yes, understanding what people know before entering a specific learning endeavor is very important, but most important is to know the aptitudes and attitudes towards the new experience.

In many of my posts I talk about self-efficacy beliefs or the self-perceptions of skills to achieve a specific goal. This is a learning psychology concept in social cognitive theory developed by psychologist Albert Bandura. People conceive the likelihood of success based on perception of  their skills and past experiences. These perceptions then determine their motivation to pursue a goal. This information facilitates the instructional design process and helps develop strategies not only for learning but for improvement of self-efficacy.

Instructional design also takes in consideration the objective of the instruction and the conditions in which the learning content is intended for delivery to ensure it is effective. This includes instructional time, delivery methods, teaching tools, materials, et cetera. The instructional designer takes all this elements to design a learning solution for a specific learning need. Instructional design is much more than just providing training or teaching a class.

If We Only Knew We Could Predict Behavior

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Learning and teaching are complicated endeavors. Every component of a purposeful learning process is important to achieve results. However, there are so many factors and variables to consider that it is almost impossible to count them all. As educator and instructional designer I aim to provide effective learning solutions. Some people might think that an effective learning solution is to provide all the possible answers to a given problem. I prefer to think that guiding people to find the answers for themselves is a better approach.

How can we accomplish this? We must draw knowledge and tools from other disciplines. Psychology for example provides information to facilitate learning, or as Howard Gardner suggested, it provides an understanding of the conditions where education takes place and of the recipients and practitioners of knowledge. If we only knew how people would behave in a specific learning environment, won’t we make sure to be ready to suit the needs accordingly? Understanding what people think of themselves and their skills to succeed in specific learning endeavors can provide instructional designers with direction to design learning goals and instructional strategies that aim not only for the acquisition of knowledge but also providing for a transformative learning experience. Knowing how learners perceived their likelihood to achieve success also provides for a better understanding of the constraints and opportunities of a proposed learning solution.

In my research, I explore self-efficacy beliefs as entry behaviors. Self-efficacy beliefs are personal perceptions of the skills to achieve a goal. If we only knew that self-efficacy beliefs could provide hints not only in how people will approach a learning situation, but to us to be prepared to teach or guide accordingly, won’t we take time to know our students better? According to the results of the study, people not only approach a task according to their self-efficacy, but they also behave as predicted. This provides a better idea of opportunities and constrains in proposed learning solutions.

Confronting new challenges brings consciously or unconsciously the need to assess and balance skills with requirements. Individuals consider what is required to achieve a goal and examine if they have the skills to achieve it. They also consider if they have the skill to learn the skills required to achieve the goal. Task engagement, performance, anxiety, stress, persistence, and coping skills are also affected by self-efficacy. Knowing this before hand prepares instructional designers to create learning solutions accordingly and to provide a transformative experience through the learning process.

In order to provide learning solutions of transformation it is necessary to know what needs to change. This is another way to measure success. Let’s call it “base line”. Assessing previous knowledge is important. However, knowing how people feel about the knowledge and skills they possess can make a great difference in how they approach a task. The act of teaching and guidance could be designed and approached based on learning strategies design to fit the specific needs. We could also be changing lives. Instructional designers could be helping to improve self-efficacy along with providing effective learning solutions.