It took me more than a few years to select Instructional Design as the focus of my master’s degree. During this time, I was intent upon finding a flexible career that would support my life goals when I retire from the traditional face-to-face classroom. I wanted a career that (1) used my brain, (2) could be conducted online in case I wanted to travel, and (3) offered a range of employment constructs from part-time to full-time to contract.
While I quickly ruled out many options during late-night marathon Internet research sessions, other alternatives commanded more of my time. I was even lured into a couple of semesters of undergraduate accounting coursework with the thought of becoming a CPA. My interests were too varied. However, I kept teaching high school science while I was searching. It was during this time frame that I became convinced that I should capitalize on my years of experience in education and my previous career in communications. Instructional design met all of these criteria. I was sold. And now I am invested.
Three semesters in, I am still happy with my choice. My biggest surprise has been the realization that the field of instructional design is even more wide and versatile than I had anticipated. Instructional design was already present and important in my everyday life. I have encountered various forms of instructional design everywhere from my neighborhood gas station to my current place of employment.
As a child of the late sixties and early seventies, I remember thirty-nine cent gasoline, prepaying in cash, odd-even gas rationing lines, and even gas station attendants that pumped the gas for you. Today’s modern gas stations are a different spectacle altogether with a glossy touch screen that accommodates debit cards, gas discount cards, programmable fuel additives, and car wash purchases. Oftentimes found with this technology is a very simple visual-text version of instructional design on how to utilize the gas pump. The goal of its instruction is to demonstrate to anyone — the brand-new teenage driver, the foreign visitor lacking English, the senior citizen occasional driver — how to fuel up his or her vehicle in a safe and efficient manner while successfully completing a financial transaction. Although the instruction varies from pump-to-pump since each gas distributor has its own peculiarities, I find these step-by-step menus, quick visual cues, and auditory affirmations or corrections to be very effective in getting the job done. Gas station lines flow fairly freely with instructional design easing the passage. I walk away knowing that (1) my method of payment must be secured prior to receiving fuel, (2) I must select the appropriate fuel for my vehicle before pumping, and (3) that I should not smoke near a fueling vehicle nor leave my vehicle unattended.
At work this week, I interacted with another piece of instructional design when completing my online seizure training for school personnel through the Epilepsy Foundation. The goals of the instruction were to help me recognize seizure types, understand basic seizure first aid including when a seizure becomes a medical emergency, and provide a supportive classroom environment for any students with epilepsy. The training consisted of a prior assessment, an almost hour-long video component with multiple examples, and a post test. The video training component was effective, as it improved my post test scores. More importantly, I learned (or reinforced) important concepts including (1) lay the victim in recovery mode on his or her side, (2) begin timing as the seizure starts, and (3) treat a seizure that lasts for longer than 5 minutes as a medical emergency.
When I found instructional design during my search for a future career, I felt I had uncovered something new, something cutting edge. After all, coming from a background as a traditional K-12 teacher, I had never heard of it before. However, three semesters into my master’s program, I have quickly realized that instructional design and its ADDIE framework have been around for quite some time. Bichelmeyer (2005) and Piskurich (2015) both emphasize how Analysis – Design – Development – Implementation – Evaluation have stood the test of time. Immersing myself in this field of instructional design will allow me to take a sturdy bridge from my past to my future.
Bichelmeyer, B.A. (2005). “The ADDIE model” – A model for the lack of clarity in the field of IDT. AECT 2004 IDT Futures Group Presentations, IDT Record, 1-7.
Piskurich, G. M. (2015). Rapid instructional design: Learning ID fast and right. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Grrowing Ideas 