Chapter 1 Introduction to Instructional Design Summary

Chapter 1 asserts that instruction should be planned so as to maximize on both the internal and external condition that affect learning. To do so, it is possible to use a systematic approach that helps bring these factors into play, while allowing for differences that occur in terms of the learners and the content to be taught. In order to account for learner differences, the students or target audience should be understood before instruction is designed.

Second, objectives should be formulated; with the emphasis on determining precisely what type of learning will take place. The type of learning, like the type of learner, has a direct impact on the type of instruction to be delivered.

Next, the systematic design process should begin to take into account the internal processes that are assumed to take place during learning. To affect these internal activities, the instruction should be structured, and activities devised, which reflect the various external events of instruction.

Learning must also be traced back so that prerequisites are defined, either so they can be taught or so they can be reviewed and brought to the forefront of the learner's awareness before new learning takes place. This sequence is especially important for intellectual skills, which were discussed in their own section of the text. The hierarchical relation-ship of these various skills requires that they be learned in a precise order and the instruction must take this into account. Once this sequencing has been completed, learner assessment must be provided for and it should follow directly along the lines of the instructional objectives. In addition, assessment of the instruction is a critical factor.

Because of the number of variables already mentioned, there is room for error in designing instruction. Therefore, a good systematic approach will provide for a way to evaluate the course before, during, and after it is implemented with its target audience, and make revisions based on the evaluation. The use of a systematic approach guides the designer in dealing with these various issues and, hopefully, results in highly effective instruction.