Step 1: Analyse (Rapid Prototyping - 4 Step Instructional Design Model)

In essence, the first step of the Rapid Prototype process is to conduct a focused and structured analysis of the students and their needs and requirements. The following elements should be considered.

Learning Needs
An assessment of student needs and the identification of any potential problems at this stage will allow you to make some general goal statements. Any analysis should consider:

• The task and conditions
• Current performance levels
• Potential problems/s or potential causes
• Desired performance outcomes and the associated expectation of your learning episode as related to the outcomes

This analysis is vital in order to identify the best way to achieve those needs and check your interpretation.

Student Audience
Students will not buy in to you tutorial unless it suits their needs, interests and motivations. Without this information it would be possible to end up with a learning episode that is either too easy or difficult. Five categories of audience characteristics can be considered including:

• Instructional preference - The type of presentation, the need for practice, the type and amount of feedback, the time available and the likely location when reviewing content
• General characteristics – Student demographics, IT skills
• Affective characteristics – Motivation, self-concept, attitudes, interests
• Entry skills – Existing knowledge, skills and abilities
• Personal/Physical characteristics – Geographic location, sensory, motor or mental conditions

Resources
When choosing the right delivery system – or combination, you must consider your students resources such as financial, time, facilities, equipment, materials, institutional characteristics and existing instructional resources.

This is also an opportunity to expose your students to new media and methodologies and to demystify technology; however, do not assume too much prior knowledge. At this point you should be able to:

Identify the delivery methods most conducive to learning and any associated learning constraints
Check accessibility elements
Use self-study materials and distance learning methodologies that allow learners to study independent of time and space (however, it is important that learners do not feel isolated)

Content
Essentially, what the learning episode should contain in order to achieve the instructional goal/s. Content analysis considers what learners need to do to perform and what learners need to know to perform. Your analysis should discover:

• What the lesson should contain in order to achieve the instructional goal
• How you will organise and sequence the content in easily completed chunks
• How you will balance self-direction carefully with more structured learning
• What level of learning each piece of content represents (e.g. does the content require the simple recall or recognition of facts, or more abstract mental processes and intellectual activity?) This is crucial because it determines how you will write your performance objectives, and how you will assess performance based on those objectives

Learning Outcomes
These will describe what students will be able to do upon completion of the instruction and should be stated in terms of precise, measurable, and observable actions. Conducting an analysis of learning outcomes allows you to formulate a general aim and establish the associated objectives. At this stage a statement of objectives is simply the definition of a plan for the design and as a plan, it serves two functions:

1. To communicate to everyone involved the purpose of instruction
2. To delineate tasks the learner will pursue

Establish Learning Objectives
Clearly defined learning objectives lead the learner into the learning episode. They drive the lesson and inform learners of what they will be able to do upon completion of the lesson. Improperly stated objectives are frustrating to the learner and will ultimately mislead. It is important to explain up-front why the learner should bother.Having already established through your content analysis the level of learning your lesson represents, Bloom’s Taxonomy and corresponding list of verbs may be helpful at this stage (Table 1).

Level of Learning	Associated Verbs
Knowledge	Arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce, state
Comprehension	Classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review, select, translate
Application	Apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write
Analysis	Analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticise, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test
Synthesis	Arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set-up, write
Evaluation	Appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose, compare, defend, estimate, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value, evaluate

Table 1: Bloom’s level of learning taxonomy

Once you are happy with the analysis you have conducted and are ready to move forward and develop your prototype, please talk through your session requirements with one of the e-learning team. This way we can establish:

What multimedia you may need to use
What graphics, illustrations, animations etc… you require
Answer any questions and offer advice and guidance on best practice

Click here for more information on Step 2 – Construct Prototype.

Rapid Prototyping: 4 Step Instructional Design Model

The rapid prototyping instructional design model offers a systematic approach to aid you in the creation of learning materials for the web. It allows you to develop a prototype, which gives you and others the opportunity to visualise and evaluate your lesson design early in the process, ultimately saving you time and costly revisions.

The design model itself is a four step process. The overlapping boxes represent the fact that the various processes do not occur in a linear fashion. In other words, the analysis of students and their needs, content requirements and resources depends in part upon the knowledge that is gained by actually building and using your prototype.

Step 1 Analyse
In essence, the first step of the process is to conduct a focused and structured analysis of the students, their needs and requirements.

Learning Needs
Assessing student needs and any potential problems allows you to make general goal statements. Analysis is needed of the task and conditions as well as the current and desired performance outcome requirements.

Student Audience
Students will not buy in to you tutorial unless it suits their needs, interests and motivations. Without this information it would be possible to end up with a learning episode that is either too easy or difficult.

Resources
When choosing the right delivery system – or combination, you must consider your students resources, constraints, facilities, materials, equipment, institutional characteristics and time availability.

Content
What the learning episode should contain in order to achieve the instructional goal/s. Content analysis should consider what learners need to do to perform and what learners need to know to perform.

Learning Outcomes
These will describe what students will be able to do upon completion of the instruction and should be stated in terms of precise, measurable, and observable actions.

Establishing Learning Objectives
Clearly defined learning objectives lead the learner into the learning episode. They drive the lesson and inform learners of what they will be able to do upon completion of the lesson.

Click here for more information on Step 1 – Analysis.

Step 2 – Construct Prototype
The rapid prototyping process continues with the parallel processes of design and review, or construction and utilization. It involves:

Incorporating your chosen pedagogical approach such as problem-based, collaboration, self instruction
Deciding what content should be contained and how it should be structured and sequenced
Preparing review and/or assessment questions, learner assignments
Deciding what multimedia you require
Deciding what is the proper ratio of text to audio, graphics, and interactivity

Click here for more information on Constructing your prototype.

Step 3 – Utilise Prototype
A crucial part of the prototyping process is the utilization of the design with peers and potential learners. During utilization, the strengths and weaknesses of the prototype can be discovered. However, this needs to be done in a structured and timely way. Ideally you should gain feedback on the following elements:

• Content
• Sequence, layout and navigation
• Media chosen
• Graphics/animations
• Assessments
• Objectives and Outcomes
• Overall comments

Click here for more information of utilizing your prototype.

Step 4 – Install, Maintain and Develop
Once you have implemented your amendments, the learning episode should be installed and appropriately maintained.

Your evaluation should continue as part of an iterative process, in particular feedback from students. This will allow you to improve the effectiveness of your tutorial.

Click here for more information on installing, maintaining and developing your prototype.

Selecting an Instructional Design Model

Effective instruction, whether occurring via conventional face-to-face methods or e-Learning should be the result of careful planning that follows a transparent process. Instructional Design (ID) models aim to provide conceptual and communication tools that can be used to visualize, direct and manage processes for generating episodes of guided learning. The better the instruction is planned and developed, the better learning experiences and outcomes it will bring to learners. There are numerous instructional design models which can be broadly incorporated into two main theoretical approaches:

The systematic approach – has a behaviourist foundation, ID is viewed as a process consisting inputs, processes and outputs, very precisely predicted and predetermined prior to instruction
The constructivist approach – is based on epistemological and psychological aspects of constructivist learning views. Here, there is no emphasis on predetermined design steps, just principles (e.g. to include learning in related and authentic contexts)

The application and value of a particular model is dependent on the instructional situation, problem or task and the true value of a model can only be determined within the context of its use. A taxonomy of ID models can help clarify the underlying assumptions of each model, and help identify the conditions under which each might be most appropriately applied. For example, Gustafson’s taxonomy is based on a set of assumptions that each creator of an ID model has made about the conditions under which the development and delivery of the instruction will take place. While many of the models are similar, each take a slightly different approach to the design of instruction. Some are more systematic and/or prescriptive than others, some are a step-by-step process, while others are more open-ended and allow the designer to take a looser path through the model. Most of them have some sort of graphical representation of the model to make following it relatively easy and they vary in the amount of expertise required by individuals to apply the model.

Research tends to suggests that at the root of many popular ID models is a systematic process to the design task, that breaks it down into discrete and manageable units. This encourages the setting of a design objective and provides a way to know when that objective has been met. It also emphasizes the idea of the process being an interdependent group of items that form a unified whole. In this case the outcomes of each component directly or indirectly impact on every other component of the ID process to some degree.


ADDIE
Most models today tend to be a variation of the basic ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation). Developed for engineering projects in the 1950′s, ADDIE provides a mainstream approach for designing and developing e-Learning resources. The phases sometimes overlap and can be interrelated. ADDIE provides a dynamic, flexible guideline for developing effective instruction; however, a key criticism often leveled at the approach is that it was never designed to take into account today’s rapid application tools.

Rapid Prototyping
Tripp and Bichelmeyer’s Rapid Prototyping model originated in manufacturing with a focus primarily on development. A variation of the ADDIE model, rapid prototyping borrows from the most valuable aspects of the systemic approach. Learners, subject matter experts and peers interact with prototypes in a continuous review and revision process. It is a four stage process. The overlapping boxes represent the fact that the various processes do not occur in a linear fashion. In other words, the analysis of students and their needs, content requirements and resources depends in part upon the knowledge that is gained by actually building and using your prototype. Developing a prototype so early in the design phase, enables all those who have invested in it to visualize and evaluate what the final product truly needs to resemble. This approach helps by developing a possible product while not investing a large amount of time and money. More emphasis can then be placed on the evaluations of the prototypes to help ensure good sound instructional content.

Click here for more information on each of the rapid prototyping steps.