INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

Instructional Design means to design instructions in such a manner that a task can be completed.
Its genesis happened around psychological concepts like:

Cognitive-What is known and what the mind thinks.
Behavioural-All about the behaviour of a human being.
Constructive-Reframing of the mind to create new schemas.
Systems Engineering-Interaction between Man & Machine & understanding how systems work (as shown in the movie Metropolis 1927, Modern Times 1936 Charlie Chaplin).

During World War II a greater need to skill & drill the soldiers led to developments in the design & deployment of training.
Edgar Dale an American educator designed frameworks to train workers in an industry on assembly lines before the framework made its way to the education field.
In the 50s BF Skinner, Robert Mager & Benjamin Bloom were the 3 prominent people that worked on further nuances like:

BF Skinner suggested that effective instructional materials, called programmed instructional materials, should include small steps, frequent questions, and immediate feedback; and allow self-pacing.
Robert Mager popularised the use of learning objectives.
Benjamin Bloom published an influential taxonomy with three domains of learning: cognitive (what one knows or thinks), psychomotor (what one does, physically) and affective (what one feels, or what attitudes one has). These taxonomies still influence the design of instruction.

In the 60s Robert Glaser talked about Individual Contribution over Team Contribution.
In 1965, Robert Gagné described three domains of learning outcomes (cognitive, affective, psychomotor), five learning outcomes (Verbal Information, Intellectual Skills, Cognitive Strategy, Attitude, Motor Skills), and nine events of instruction which remain foundations of instructional design practices.

According to Gagné, learning occurs in a series of nine learning events, each of which is a condition for learning which must be accomplished before moving to the next order:

Gaining attention: To ensure the reception of coming instruction, the teacher gives the learners a stimulus. Before the learners can start to process any new information, the instructor must gain the attention of the learners. This might entail using abrupt changes in the instruction.
Informing learners of objectives: The teacher tells the learner what they will be able to do because of the instruction. The teacher communicates the desired outcome to the group.
Stimulating recall of prior learning: The teacher asks for recall of existing relevant knowledge.
Presenting the stimulus: The teacher gives emphasis on distinctive features.
Providing learning guidance: The teacher helps the students in understanding (semantic encoding) by providing organization and relevance.
Eliciting performance: The teacher asks the learners to respond, demonstrating learning.
Providing feedback: The teacher gives informative feedback on the learners' performance.
Assessing performance: The teacher requires more learner performance, and gives feedback, to reinforce learning.
Enhancing retention and transfer: The teacher provides varied practice to generalize the capability.

In 1967, after analyzing the failure of training material, Michael Scriven suggested the need for formative assessment – e.g., to try out instructional materials with learners (and revise accordingly) before declaring them finalized.
In the 70s David Merrill developed Component Display Theory (CDT), which concentrates on presenting instructional materials (presentation techniques).
From the 90s onwards Internet, Computers, Gadgets, the Internet of things, AI-ML,mLearning,eLearning, LMS,xAPI, LMX, Gamification, ILTs, MOOCs, AR, VR, MR, XR, Web 3.0, Metaverse etc have taken classroom learning to self-directed learning.

Some Learning Models:

ADDIE Model was initially developed by Florida State University to explain "the processes involved in the formulation of an instructional systems development (ISD) program for military interservice training that will adequately train individuals to do a particular job and which can also be applied to any interservice curriculum development activity

The five phases are listed and explained below:

Analyze – The first phase of content development is Analysis. Analysis refers to the gathering of information about one's audience, the tasks to be completed, how the learners will view the content, and the project's overall goals. The instructional designer then classifies the information to make the content more applicable and successful.
Design – The second phase is the Design phase. In this phase, instructional designers begin to create their projects. Information gathered from the analysis phase, in conjunction with the theories and models of instructional design, is meant to explain how the learning will be acquired. For example, the design phase begins with writing a learning objective. Tasks are then identified and broken down to be more manageable for the designer. The final step determines the kind of activities required for the audience in order to meet the goals identified in the Analyze phase.
Develop – The third phase, Development, involves the creation of the activities that will be implemented. It is in this stage that the blueprints of the design phase are assembled.
Implement – After the content is developed, it is then Implemented. This stage allows the instructional designer to test all materials to determine if they are functional and appropriate for the intended audience.
Evaluate – The final phase, Evaluate, ensures the materials achieved the desired goals. The evaluation phase consists of two parts: formative and summative assessment. The ADDIE model is an iterative process of instructional design, which means that at each stage the designer can assess the project's elements and revise them if necessary. This process incorporates formative assessment, while summative assessments contain tests or evaluations created for the content being implemented. This final phase is vital for the instructional design team because it provides data used to alter and enhance the design.

Rapid prototyping- An adaptation of the ADDIE model, which is used sometimes, is a practice known as rapid prototyping. Here the emphasis is to create a prototype of the idea, this is the first time the idea is converted into a tangible prototype to test and rework the initial design to fill the gaps or voids in the design and working of the idea per se.

Dick and Carey Model-

Identify Instructional Goal(s): A goal statement describes a skill, knowledge or attitude (SKA) that a learner will be expected to acquire
Conduct Instructional Analysis: Identity what a learner must recall and identify what a learner must be able to do to perform a particular task
Analyze Learners and Contexts: Identify general characteristics of the target audience, including prior skills, prior experience, and basic demographics; identify characteristics directly related to the skill to be taught; and perform analysis of the performance and learning settings.
Write Performance Objectives: Objectives consist of a description of the behaviour, the condition and the criteria. The component of an objective that describes the criteria will be used to judge the learner's performance.
Develop Assessment Instruments: Purpose of entry behaviour testing, the purpose of pretesting, the purpose of post-testing, the purpose of practice items/practice problems
Develop Instructional Strategy: Pre-instructional activities, content presentation, Learner participation, assessment
Develop and Select Instructional Materials
Design and Conduct Formative Evaluation of Instruction: Designers try to identify areas of the instructional materials that need improvement.
Revise Instruction: To identify poor test items and identify poor instruction
Design and Conduct Summative Evaluation

Guaranteed Learning

The instructional design model, Guaranteed Learning, was formerly known as the Instructional Development Learning System (IDLS). The model was originally published in 1970 by Peter J. Esseff, PhD and Mary Sullivan Esseff, PhD in their book entitled IDLS—Pro Trainer 1: How to Design, Develop, and Validate Instructional Materials.

The components of the Guaranteed Learning Model are the following:

Design a task analysis
Develop criterion tests and performance measures
Develop interactive instructional materials
Validate the interactive instructional materials
Create simulations or performance activities (Case Studies, Role Plays, and Demonstrations)

ARCS MODEL

The ARCS Model of Motivational Design was created by John Keller while he was researching ways to supplement the learning process with motivation. The model is based on Tolman's and Lewin's expectancy-value theory, which presumes that people are motivated to learn if there is value in the knowledge presented (i.e. it fulfils personal needs) and if there is an optimistic expectation for success.

Components

Attention

The attention mentioned in this theory refers to the interest displayed by learners in taking in the concepts/ideas being taught. This component is split into three categories: perceptual arousal, using surprise or uncertain situations; inquiry arousal, offering challenging questions and/or problems to answer/solve; and variability, using a variety of resources and methods of teaching.

Relevance

Relevance, according to Keller, must be established by using language and examples that the learners are familiar with. The three major strategies Keller presents are goal-oriented, motive-matching, and familiarity.

Confidence

The confidence aspect of the ARCS model focuses on establishing positive expectations for achieving success among learners. Additionally, confidence is built when positive reinforcement for personal achievements is given through timely, relevant feedback.

Satisfaction

Finally, learners must obtain some type of satisfaction or reward from a learning experience. This satisfaction can be from a sense of achievement, praise from a higher-up, or mere entertainment. Feedback and reinforcement are important elements and when learners appreciate the results, they will be motivated to learn. Satisfaction is based upon motivation, which can be intrinsic or extrinsic. To keep learners satisfied, instruction should be designed to allow them to use their newly learned skills as soon as possible in as authentic a setting as possible.

These are certain nuances of Instructional Designing, extremely relevant for Teachers, Trainers, Mentors, Coaches, Facilitators etc

Hope you enjoyed it, lemme know your thoughts, Happy Learning :)