Instructional Design Model Review

Abstract

With regards to instructional design, there are many different models which have been developed. When searching for ID models that I felt best related to my career field, education, I found the Dick, Carey and Carey model as well as Blooms Taxonomy. Both of these instructional design models are made with the students interests ultimately in mind. Dick, Carey and Carey sought out to first find an instructional goal through the needs assessment; once that assessment is conducted it allows the designer to chose one area of weakness which is found through the data. The Blooms Taxonomy model is used as a way to improve student learning through higher level questioning. The model provides key words which educators use as a guide to create these questions which take student learning from basic memorization of content to analyzing and evaluation.

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Instructional Design Model Review

Bloom’s Taxonomy and Dick, Carey and Carey’s Instructional Design Models

Cassie D. Bell

University of Florida

Abstract

With regards to instructional design, there are many different models which have been developed. When searching for ID models that I felt best related to my career field, education, I found the Dick, Carey and Carey model as well as Blooms Taxonomy. Both of these instructional design models are made with the students interests ultimately in mind. Dick, Carey and Carey sought out to first find an instructional goal through the needs assessment; once that assessment is conducted it allows the designer to chose one area of weakness which is found through the data. The Blooms Taxonomy model is used as a way to improve student learning through higher level questioning. The model provides key words which educators use as a guide to create these questions which take student learning from basic memorization of content to analyzing and evaluation.

Dick and Carey’s Systematic Design of Instruction Model

Just before our holiday break my third grade students took three “benchmark” assessments, which tested them in the following subject areas: math, reading and science. They were tested on all the content they have learned (and some that has not yet been covered) thus far in the 2013-2014 school year. Once we returned to school the teachers were required to analyze the student tests from which we have began to create a new plan for teaching various strategies and skills which the students are still having difficulty with.

After researching some of the ID models available, I felt that the Dick and Carey model relates best to what my teammates and I are currently working through. In my research I learned that this particular model holds the connection to all of the various parts (such as the delivery system, instructional activities and the learners) at the utmost importance, which is something that directly relates to my profession and the effectiveness of my instruction.

The Dick, Carey and Carey model allows designers to create instructional products with limited focus. Because the process begins with a needs assessment, the focus of each step is limited to those few areas of weakness, which are determined by the initial assessment. Once the needs assessment has taken place, the assessment of learners and context occurs. It is now that the students are analyzed. Other models of instructional design, such as ADDIE, start out by first assessing the group of learners, the content and the connectivity between these two. It then moves into the design process in which goals and objectives are created as a way to solve the needs.

The best way to describe the ID strategy in my opinion is to relate the strategy to how I can apply it in my teaching life. As I go through each of the steps I have explained what I visualize it to be as well as the application of the step in my classroom.

Identify Instructional Goals

The first step to the Dick, Carey and Carey model is to identify instructional goal(s). The instructional goals for our students derive from the states standards (in Texas these are called TEKS) these standards tell the teachers, parents and students what skills the students are expected to grasp by the end of their current school year. The skill I am focusing on is that of inferencing. TEK (Texas Essential Knowledge) 3.8 (or state standard) states that students can make inferences and draw conclusions about structure and elements of fiction; use textual evidence to support.

Conduct Instructional Analysis

The second step of the model, conduct instructional analysis, requires the designers decide on what they expect learners to be able to recall or do in order to meet the goal of the ID process. This information derives from the lesson objectives which we are either given in online lessons created by the districts, in textbook lessons given by the districts, or created by educators who form new lessons in order to teach the students how to grasp the skills which are found in the states standards.

Analyze Learners and Contexts

In the third step of Dick, Carey and Carey’s model, the designers must take into account their audience. This requires them to gather information about previous experiences, demographics and prior skills. When focusing in on the goal skill itself, characteristics related to that skill must be known as well. Designers must take into environment in which the learners are working in. As a teacher is it our job to know and learn all that we can about our students throughout the year. We must learn about their backgrounds, previous performance in lower grades, and experiences they have outside of school among other things. All of this knowledge allows us to have a grasp on our target audience. To increase our knowledge in these areas we do things like student and parent surveys, go through students school records, and have discussions with the students to get know them as best as we can.

In our school district, students are given a benchmark test two times each year, once in the fall and once in the spring before they take the state assessment (ours is called the STAAR test) in April. The benchmark tests allow students to demonstrate their mastery of the subjects taught from the beginning of the school year up until the tests are administered. Once students have taken these tests, teachers must analyze the data based on the whole class, and the individuals’ strengths and weaknesses. As the analysis is carried out we teachers must take into account the following; what skills have been taught, how thoroughly the skills were taught, what background knowledge the students brought with them to the classroom, and what experiences the students have had with the content. As analysis takes place, a graphic organizer is completed as a way to document the students strengths which allows us to see areas in which a minimal amount of review is required. We also document the students weaknesses by writing down what we observe on their tests (based on the work they show) as well as what we have and have not taught in depth. 36% of the students in my class correctly answered the question related to the inferencing skill, the expectation is that 100% of the students are able to correctly answer the question.  Students were not showing the work they were originally taught to as they did these problems with the class (in whole group), and in small group (with guidance from the teacher). Students were not reading carefully and digging into the deeper meaning of the story, but rather looking at the surface information as their way to find answers the questions.

Write Performance Objectives

It is at this stage in the model that designers must create a description of the desired behavior, including the specific behavior, condition and criterion. It is these objectives which will allow the designers to be able to create their instruction and keep in mind the skills which will drive it. After analysis was complete, I decided to create my objectives based on the skill of inferencing, because it was an area of great weakness for a large majority of my class. Below are my written objectives;

-Students will be able to infer the meaning of a story based on the given story structure by correctly answering a multiple-choice question.  

-Students will be able to infer the meaning of a story based on the given story elements by correctly answering a multiple-choice question.

-Students will correctly draw conclusions based on their background knowledge and text clues when given a related multiple-choice question.

Develop Assessment Instruments

During this phase of the model, the designer must set the purpose for pre and post testing which will assist in the creation of the instructional instruments, activities and the formal and informal assessments to be carried out throughout the next few steps. When a pretest has been created, the designers will be able to assess where the students are in terms of what areas need a stronger focus, and which areas the students seem to have grasped. The post test will allow designers to create an assessment as a way of monitoring students progress once they have gone through the model at least once; if results aren’t achieved, revisions can be made and the process starts again. The goal is to achieve success, so this can continue as many times as necessary.

Teachers in each grade level work together as a way to be sure that what is being created will correlate with the weaknesses found in the analysis. Teachers in my specific grade level also meet with our curriculum specialists and administration to look over the data once again. As we meet we discuss the key concerns that will need to be integrated into our pre and post tests.

Develop Instructional Strategy

Designers must decide what activities will be set as a method of instruction for meeting the objectives set. Throughout the current unit the skills of inferring and drawing conclusions will be taught. As a whole group, the strategy of inferring and drawing conclusions will be retaught. Instruction will focus in on the reasoning for and the steps on how to use the strategy of inferring and drawing conclusions. Unless students are able to make a connection to the concept or find a reason for using the strategy it is more likely that they will not use it. In small groups, students will be given their tests to refer back to as we go through the inferencing questions they have missed. We will go over questions they have missed and discuss why they chose the answers they did, then focus on why the correct answer is in fact correct. Independently, students will practice inferencing and drawing conclusions multiple choice questions created by the teacher to go with their core reading stories for each week.  Students will also be given reading assessments at the end of each week consisting of one passage and multiple choice questions to go along with it. At least one of these questions will relate to inferencing and drawing conclusions. Each week I will be able to gauge the students progress with the skill based on these assessments.

Develop and Select Instructional Materials

            During this step of the model it is necessary for the designers to choose what materials they will use throughout the teaching process. They will need to decide what method of delivery will be best for their target audience; small group, whole group, teacher led, learner paced, learner centered, etc. Using the objectives, the designers must either locate or create the instruments which will be used.

            In order to allow our students to improve their skill of inferencing, we have chosen to provide instruction in multiple ways; small group, whole group and individual assessments, students will also be working with others in stations on this skill as well. To begin, we will reteach the strategy of inferencing. I will read a passage to the whole group and model how I can infer the meaning of either phrases or words found in the text. As we read to infer, the students must draw from their background knowledge (BK) and use the text clues (TC) to help them discover the meaning. After reading through the first half of the text in the whole group setting, students will then be asked to discuss their thinking first in a “turn and talk” format, then they will discuss it as a class by sharing their thoughts. As they are discussing their thinking I will redirect them to use the “BK + TC= Infer” formula. Once students have had practice (on at least two occasions) through modeling and discussion in a whole group setting, they will again be exposed to the strategy in a small group setting. When students are in small group the text will be leveled to their reading ability. Again, they will practice the BK + TC= Infer strategy, as they verbally discuss their thinking throughout the reading. Once we have read the story and complete discussion together, they will be given questions related to the text which will require them to show their thinking. Once they have completed the questions, we will discuss their answers and they will have the opportunity to change their answers based on our discussion. It is during this time that any correction or justifications will be made as well. Once all students have been met with in small group, they will be given an assessment to complete independently. This will be the first formal assessment which I will use as a way to determine what steps need to be revised or what additional instruction elements should be added as a way to help students grasp the chosen skill.

Design and Conduct Formative Evaluation of Instruction

            During this stage of the ID process, a formative evaluation will take place. This will allow the designers to see the students strengths and weaknesses, and allow them a starting point for revision in their instruction.

            The students will be given a reading assessment, which will consist of one reading passage and several multiple choice questions. At least one of these questions each week will test the student skills of inferencing and drawing conclusions. These assessments will allow me to see how they are doing on an individual basis with the two focus skills, which will allow me to revise and tweak my instruction to best meet their needs.  

Revise Instruction

            This is a very important step of the process in which designers must revise their instruction based on the difficulties their students had, if there is little to no progress, much revision must be made. If students made significant gains towards meeting the objective, instruction should be tweaked only in the areas causing difficulty. It is important that the designers decide not only how but who will revise the instruction.

Each week as I grade these assessments, I will be able to see either the students growth in regards to the skills we are currently focusing in on (inferencing and drawing conclusions). If students are not showing their work and using the strategy as expected, the following weeks assessment and instruction will need to be tweaked so that they will meet expectations.  When revisions are made, I will meed with my curriculum specialists, reading specialists and teammates for advice and guidance on how to best meet the needs of my students.

Design and Conduct Summative Evaluation

            At this point in the model, designers give students their final evaluation based on all of the revisions and assessments. The goal is that students will have shown several gains towards meeting the objectives set. Questions to be asked during relate to the effectiveness of the system in its entirety, if the instruction itself was effective, and how successful the students were at achieving the results set.

At the end of the current unit (which ends January 17) students will be given an assessment (similar to their end of week reading assessments).  Which will include several skills that they have been focusing on such as inferring and drawing conclusions. The students will be given multiple questions to test their use of the strategies they have worked on in small, independent, and whole group activities.

Blooms Taxonomy

Blooms Taxonomy was created as a guide to creating higher order thinking questions as a way to steer instruction from the basic level of memorization to more complex evaluation and analysis of content. Below are the outlined steps of his taxonomy, all of which are beneficial at points of instruction, depending upon the set objectives and desired outcome for the content being taught. Though these steps are not entirely connected, there is somewhat of a hierarchy requiring some steps to be mastered before others can be acquired. For example, students learning multiplication facts can start at the basic memory phase, but then as time moves on and content is taught it is a teachers hope that they will be able to analyze the skill and understand what is happening when we multiply a number by. Students could start by learning that 2 times 4 is 8, which would only require memorization. Once they have mastered all of their 2’s facts, students should start to notice that every time a number is multiplied by 2, the other number is being doubled. If students were able to do this, (though at a very basic level) they would be demonstrating both the steps of memorization as well as analysis. In order to transfer this into the application phase, students would be able to read a word problem on a test without given numbers, and apply the practice of doubling a number.

Ex: Tina has eight shells that she found at the beach. Her brother Josh has twice as many as Tina. How many shells did Josh find?

Memory

This type of questioning and learning deals with the basic memorization of information. Memorization is at the basic level of the taxonomy because it is the simplest form of learning. Situations in which my students learn at this level are through memorizing multiplication and division facts and remembering the name of all planets in order.

Comprehension

This level of the model occurs when students take information given either orally or through text, and are able to explain that information in their own words correctly. Times when students do so in my classroom are when they explain information they read or they are able to restate the meaning of stories they hear in class. 

Application

When application happens, students are able to take things they have previously learned and apply that knowledge to problems given. Example of times when students use this level of taxonomy are when they learn a strategy to solve problems in math, and are able to apply that knowledge in questions similar on tests and independent practice. When the application process takes place in math, the students show they work which allows others to see their thinking take place.

Analysis

When students properly analyze, they are able to take previously learned strategies and properly apply them to questions in order to help them solve the problem. Times when this is demonstrated by my students occurs when they are able to read a passage or a question and infer what is actually happening (thinking about the hidden meaning) in the problem or story. They are they able to apply their comprehension and application skills to help them answer any given questions. The student is able to take the information they read in the problem and separate what is indeed crucial to solving the problem, and what they can “throw out.” 

Synthesis

Students who can correctly synthesis are to read a text and answer questions “outside of the box,” which connect their own thoughts, prior experiences and background knowledge to the information presented in the text. An example of a time when students must synthesize information would be during a book study which they are currently working on, two of the questions required them to figure out (through inferring) whey two events happened in the story, and what the deeper meaning could be for these instances to take place. These questions required the students to form connections between their thoughts and the text in that the answer was not given to them.

Evaluation

Students are able to make judgments based on the information they learn; this step is similar to synthesis, but it takes the idea a step further. Students have to evaluate the context in which things happen in books they read. This allows them to again form connections between what they have read and their background knowledge, but they then have to make decisions based on the content given in various questions.

 References 

Instructional design models and methods . (2012). Retrieved from http://www.instructionaldesigncentral.com/htm/IDC_instructionaldesignmodels.htm

Bloom's taxonomy of learning domains. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html

Gustafson , K. L., & Branch , R. M. (1997). Survey of instructional development models . (Third ed., p. 57). Syracuse, New York : Clearinghouse on Information & Technology DOI: Lohr, L. (1998). Using addie to design a web-based training interface Instructional Design , 1-7. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED421139.pdf

Kalman, H. K., Kemp, J. E., Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M. (2011). Designing Effective Instruction (6^th ed.). Hoboken, NJ; John Wiley and Sons Inc. 

Lohr, L. (1998). Using addie to design a web-based training interface. Instructional Design , 1-7. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED421139.pdf

Seddon, G. M. (1978). The properties of bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives for the cognitive domain .Review of Education Research , 48(2), 303-323. Retrieved from http://ocw.metu.edu.tr/pluginfile.php/9012/mod_resource/content/1/1170087.pdf

As I was researching the various models of instructional design, these articles were most beneficial in enhancing my understanding of the two chosen models for this paper. Instructional design models and methods allowed me to compare the various models to one another which led me to the conclusion that Blooms and Dick, Carey and Carey’s models would be the best for me to focus in on. Blooms taxonomy of learning domains and the journal article by Seddon gave me further insight on Blooms taxonomy and allowed me to get a better grasp on how it falls under the category of instructional design.