Analysis of Current Research Literature in the Field of Instructional Design

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My latest assignment requires students to critically examine current research literature in the field of instructional design to determine research-based instructional design techniques and approaches. Each student will read at least six current research articles based on instructional design issues, models, and contexts of interest to the student. All students will contribute to a single, shared meta-analysis spreadsheet to share notes and thoughts about the readings. Based on the shared notes, each student will construct a blog post to discuss trends, implications, and recommendations for instructional design from the whole class review of literature conducted by the entire class.


Trends:
Creativity, explicit instruction, and engagement of students are several trends related to Online Instructional Design.  Creativity in online instruction requires a slightly different methodology than traditional instruction.  The teacher is unable to use some of the  traditional methods to engage and excite students about learning (body language, tone, and/or emotions).  Therefore, they must be creative in their design and implementation of course material.  Explicit instruction and engagement of students go hand-in-hand with each other.  Students can become frustrated with the course if assignments are not properly explained and communication is sporadic.  Online instruction has many of the same tenets as traditional instruction, however, more attention to detail is required because of the lack of individual and/or group face-time.

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The most cited research models in this study were the ADDIE model, Universal Design for Instruction (UDL), and Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction.  These models have many similarities and differences.  Please see the pictures below for a brief description of each model.

ADDIE Model

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Most of the research in this study regarding the ADDIE model were a result of "best practices" in the educational field.

UDL
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Most of the research in this study regarding the UDL model were the results of studies focused on special education.

Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction

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Most of the research in this study regarding Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction were through artifact analysis.

Three words that came up quite often when looking for trends in the shared database were: creativity, engagement, and games.  This is pleasantly surprising because I feel that these are very important components to successful implementation of online courses.  Using game applications in online learning is relatively new to the educational field.  It has the potential to add some excitement and immediate satisfaction to learning.

Implications:
While research into the field of online learning is growing, there is still so much to be learned.  Educators today are still learning as they go, which can be very frustrating to teachers and students.  It is time consuming and there is not a guarantee that a newly designed course will be effective.  However, studies show that if a course is effectively and efficiently designed, mastery of the content should be expected.  The UDL model is often focused on learners with special needs because it offers options to those with different learning needs.  Several articles in this study demonstrated how the model can be just as effective in online learning.  This makes sense because one of the main concepts of online learning is choice.  Creativity, explicit instruction, engagement of students, options, and availability of resources should be priorities when designing an online course.  


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Recommendations:
Research!  More in depth studies need to be conducted to make designing an online course more streamlined.  This will not take away from the creativity that each individual teacher brings to his or her class.  Instead, it will provide more time for each teacher to expand and improve their courses.  Most of the models designed for learning can be applied to online learning in one way or another.  Reviewing past literature and applying it to today's learning can be informational, however, actual studies are the only way to definitively prove the effectiveness of a design model.  Expanded research could provide a combination of models that will make the process more effective.
Teachers need to ensure that their syllabus contains all the information the student will need.  Each assignment should be explained in detail.  Resources and examples of successfully completed assignments can also aid in student success.  Communication and availability should be another focus of online educators.