Cross‐Cultural Instructional Design: Using the Cultural Expert to Formatively Evaluate Process and Product

Abstract

Instructional design models prescribe the use of experts, both to develop materials and during formative evaluation, to provide data to inform the revision process. The kinds of expert that are most frequently cited are subject matter, presentation and user, although others are also cited: gatekeepers, sponsors, former students. The intention of this paper is to focus on a particular kind of expert, one who can be essential to the design process in cross-cultural settings: the cultural expert. The cultural expert might be seen as a specific instance of a gatekeeper: someone who makes judgements regarding social, moral, and ethical issues relating to the design and delivery of instruction. Strategies for working with the cultural expert are described.