Chapter 1 Introduction to Instructional Design Questions and Answers

Question 1: Define instruction, teaching, and intentional learning and discuss their differences. Learning is aimed at individuals. Instruction is oriented toward the individual even though it may be presented in group settings. Teaching is generally associated with lecture or tutoring, activities performed by the teacher. Instruction is generally considered broader than teaching and includes the arrangement of learning activities (events) that facilitate learning. These learning activities may be presented by a teacher or they may be mediated. Intentional learning is the function of any educational system, in order to accomplish many goals that would take much longer without instruction. In summary, teaching is one mode of instruction.

Question 2: What differentiates planned from unplanned instruction?  Planned instruction will be more effective than unplanned instruction. Planned instruction considers the whole range of instructional events that facilitates learning. It is a guide for replicable (reliable) instruction, including learning aids, media, live instruction, and evaluation.

Question 3: What is meant by the "systematic design" of instruction?  The systematic design of instruction involves a number of steps including the definition of desired learning outcomes, a strategy for obtaining those outcomes and evaluation to measure their attainment. The systematic design of instruction requires consideration of the type of learning outcome desired and the skills possessed by the learner.

Question 4: What is the socio-cultural context of learning? The socio-cultural context of learning has to do with the student’s social and cultural environment. Variables like rate of instruction, use of illustrations, and mode of presentation are no longer isolated in an attempt to determine how they are affecting the learning situation. Recent research suggests that the social-cultural context of learning may be as important a factor as other more discrete components of the learning situation. The inclusion of socio-cultural principles in ISD attends to the multidimensional nature of learning.

Question 5: What is meant by “situated cognition”? Situated cognition is one example of a principle that might be derived from socio-cultural models. With socio-cultural models, learned capabilities are acquired in a particular context and the perceived utility of that context has implications for later retrieval and evaluation.

Question 6: What is meant by the term "conditions of learning” The conditions of learning are all events, internal and external to the learner that affects learning. Different types of learning require different conditions or events.