Dictionary.com defines “crunch time” as “a period when the pressure to succeed is great, often toward the end of an undertaking.” For my instructional design project, the arrival of November signals that the end is in sight. I am therefore officially in crunch time. Believe me when I say that the pressure is great.
My to-do list…
So what is left to do? An uninformative yet truthful answer would be, “much.” My goal is for my course to flow from start-to-finish with the magic of the “next” button. To make that happen, I am tediously working my way through my large collection of assignments and activities and adding directions and narrative. In essence, I am transcribing any instructions I would give to the learners if they were in front of me face-to-face. I want my learners to always know what is expected of them and how to accomplish it. They should never be confused.
I also still need to storyboard and record a variety of instructional videos that I’ve slated for incorporation. Although I do have some raw ingredients for these videos in place, I know from previous experience that they do not necessarily come together quickly. I will need to consciously set aside time for that particular endeavor. Along those lines, I still have some quizzes to create in Google Forms and assessments to transfer to Canvas.
If this course were designed at the level expected by my employer, my job would be complete with the items mentioned above. Since I am undertaking this project as a true instructional design piece, however, I will additionally need to create a job aid for the instructor and a course evaluation piece to allow for ongoing course improvement. Both of these items currently exist only in the planning stages.
Accomplishments
Although it may sound as if I have little progress to show for my efforts, I have, in reality, accomplished and overcome much. One monumental challenge that I have been bravely fighting is the interference of my daytime job with this project. When I applied to my graduate program more than a year ago, I had no idea how my job requirements as a high school science teacher would change during a global pandemic. Carving out time for this project design has been extremely difficult. However, with the encouragement of my husband, my classmates, and my professor, I have plodded forward in my course design and now see increasing potential for success. In my mind, that view of the goal line is my greatest accomplishment.
Other challenges have been hurdled, as well. I began this project with the intention of constructing it to parallel the instructional “model” prescribed my employer (synchronous instruction of face-to-face and remote learners). But with the suggestion of my professor, I transitioned my original plan to a more instructionally-sound asynchronous design.
Cinderella and midnight
So will I be able to meet my timeline for completion, or will my coach turn into a pumpkin pulled by mice? Honestly, that story will need to unfold. I do believe that I will wrap up my instructional design in time for submission to this graduate course, but I am not 100% positive that I will be able to complete my plan to the standard that resides in my head and in my heart. My day job is still sapping away my time and strength.
I do know, however, that I will not be given the luxury of implementing this course during the timeframe of my graduate class. Implementation and the subsequent evaluation will occur instead during the Spring semester when my Environmental Systems students will reach this point in their course’s scope and sequence. Given what I have gone through this Fall semester, I look forward to reaping the benefits of my hard work – – – a full grading quarter of deliverable instruction.
Grrowing Ideas 