Instructional Design and Powerful Learning

Abstract

Instructional Design and Powerful LearningI (the fi rst author) have been teaching instructional design (ID) for a decade, and I often start by focusing students' attention on their own learningon what has been very eff ective, what has not, and why. In one exercise, I ask students to refl ect on the nature and causes of their very best and very worst learn ing experiences. In doing this exer cise, I've grown more and more curi ous about the fact that I have been unable in ten years to see a direct link between what any single stu dent identifi ed as a best learning experience and a designer or teacher's preparation of that experi ence using a formal method such as instructional systems development.In a recent semester, I used a simi lar activity with 25 graduate stu dents and asked them to refl ect on the most powerful learning experiences they had ever had. Th e experiences were varied, but again no link to formal designing could be made. What struck me most, and what prompted the present study, was the over whelming support given to a single factor-the importance of a personal relationship with a mentor. Th e fi eld of instructional design was founded at least in part on the belief that such personal relationships with a mentor or subject matter expert were costly and ineffi cient. Technology-based in struction was given equal footing, if not preference, and this has in creased with the proliferation of microcomputing and the construc tion of the Internet. For example, try to fi nd a current position advertise ment for an instructional designer that does not refer to authoring dis tance learning courseware.Skillfully executed, instructional design can result in eff ective and effi cient means to meet learning goals. However, more powerful learning ex periences seem to go beyond eff ective ness, efficiency, appeal, and even pre determined goals. This study sought to identify the key features of instruc tional design, to determine the nature of powerful learning experiences, and to explore how the two might relate. A survey of experts and a series of inter views with adult learners revealed overlap in some areas, for example, in the perceived importance of active en gagement in authentic situations, and clear diff erences in others, most sig nifi cantly the importance placed by learners on continual face-toface per sonal interaction with a mentor/ expert teacher. Speculations are off ered on what similar results from additional studies might imply with regard to de sign actions and choices, and questions for further research are posed."Instructional Design and Powerful Learning" by G. Rowland and T. DiVasto is reprinted from Performance Improvement Quarterly, 14(2), 2001Quarterly, 14(2), , pp. 7-36. doi:10.1111Quarterly, 14(2), /j.1937Quarterly, 14(2), -8327.2001 10 DOI: 10.1002/piqPerformance Improvement QuarterlyAre learners saying that techno logical solutions are inherently less powerful? Are our current concep tions of ID hindering designers who try to eff ect powerful learning? In this study, we essent...

Development of Design Judgment in Instructional Design: Perspectives from Instructors, Students, and Instructional Designers

“…Students in this study feel that their instructors who do not have such experience do not always model good ID practice. This fi nding is consistent with the fi nding of Rowland and Divasto's ( 2001 ) study on powerful learning experiences of adult learners. These researchers found that personal interaction with an expert teacher who has a high level of expertise in the domain and who also participates actively in the learning process as a role model is believed to be a powerful learning experience.…”

Powerful Learning Experiences within Coherent Learner Groups

“…This is understandable given the younger age group. Factors emphasized here are consistent with those identified in Study 1 (Rowland & DiVasto, 2001): active engagement in authentic settings; personal interaction with mentor/expert teacher; teacher cares about student learning; learner pushed outside comfort zone within safe and supportive environment; support from a peer group; visual reinforcement of points that are spoken; and independence and ability to control one's own learning. Areas where this is not the case include: opportunity for reflection in and on action; motivation to learn; and informal low-pressure environment.…”

“…In our first study (Rowland & DiVasto, 2001), we conducted a series of interviews with a group of eight adult learners. Themes that emerged in terms of factors that were perceived to influence powerful learning included active engagement in authentic settings (i.e., in settings that either represent or approximate environments where knowledge and skill is typically applied), personal interaction with mentor/expert teacher (i.e., with someone who serves as a mentor and who is also an expert teacher), and opportunity for reflection in and on action.…”

“…How might an educator, trainer, or instructional designer be able to influence this? In a series of studies we have explored the nature of powerful learning experiences, that is, those experiences that stand out in memory because of their high quality, impact on one's thoughts and actions over time, and transfer to a wide range of contexts and circumstances (Rowland & DiVasto, 2001;Rowland, Hetherington, & Raasch, 2002). We hope to gain an understanding of the nature of such experiences and the factors that are involved, and to describe these in such a way that results might be used to advantage in creating and testing learning systems.…”

An Instructional Design Model for Better Refugee and IDP Education

“…Since they were conducted primarily in academic and business settings, previous research studies have not indicated the needs for instructional materials (Albi, 2007;Kay, 2011;Pérez, 2011;Smith, 2009). Some studies, however, have reported financial challenges in the implementation of sound instructional design theories (Parsons, 2008;Rowland & DiVasto, 2001).…”