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A Designer’s Log

Case Studies in Instructional Design

A Designer’s Log

Case Studies in Instructional Design

by Michael Power

© 2009 Power, Michael

Published by AU Press, Athabasca University

1200, 10011 – 109 Street

Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8

A volume in the Issues in Distance Education series,

edited by Terry Anderson, Ph.D.

ISSN 1919-4382 Issues in Distance Education Series (Print)

ISSN 1919-4390 Issues in Distance Education Series (Online)

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Power, Michael

A designer's log : case studies in instructional design / by Michael Power.

Translation of: Le conseiller pédagogique réflexif.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-897425-61-9 (Print)

ISBN 978-1-897425-46-6 (Electronic)

1. Universities and colleges--Curricula--Planning. 2. Instructional

systems--Design. 3. Curriculum planning. 4. Universities and

colleges--Curricula--Planning--Case studies. 5. Distance education.

I. Title.

LB2361.P6813 2009 378.1'99 C2009-904552-4

Printed and bound in Canada by Marquis Book Printing

This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons License,

see www.creativecommons.org. The text may be reproduced for

non-commercial purposes, provided that credit is given to the

original author.

Please contact AU Press, Athabasca University at [email protected] for

permission beyond the usage outlined in the Creative Commons license.

I wish to thank Dr. Claire Lapointe, Université Laval, for her unwavering

support and her critical appraisal of this project as it evolved from a need,

to a desire, to an idea and finally to an actual book. I’d also like to recognize

Professor Bernard Nadeau from Université de Moncton who, over the years,

has been a stalwart friend in need/indeed and an educator with a flair

for intuition. Finally, this book would have never seen print without the

unconditional support from my friend and colleague Dr. David Kaufman of

Simon Fraser University.

- Michael Power

Contents

Foreword IX

Preface XI

Introduction 1

The Case Studies 7

Introduction to the Case Studies 7

1: Walking the Walk 11

2: Beating the Clock 27

3: Experiencing a Eureka! Moment 47

4: Getting Off to a Good Start 75

5: Getting from A to B 103

6: I Did It My Way 119

7: Let's Shake to That! 147

8: Managing Volume 165

9: I and Thou 179

10: Integrating Technology 197

Synthesis and final prototype 211

Conclusion 215

Epilogue 217

Bibliography 225

Appendices 235

FOREWORD IX

Foreword

The transformation of a traditional learning institution into a dual-mode

institution offering courses on-campus as well as online is not a task

for the faint at heart. What has to be appreciated is that subject matter

experts, used to teaching in a classroom, face a daunting challenge when

requested to teach at a distance or online. Indeed, only a few have ever

systematically planned their courses. Yet systematic planning is just

what is needed to be a successful teacher.

To implement online learning in a traditional institution, we have to

adopt a design model which is both easy to understand and easy to use,

namely because faculty generally do not have a lot of time to dedicate to

this task. In this book, the course design model proposed by Dr. Power is

flexible and represents an important step in making course design both

doable and affordable.

There are a lot of course design models out there but I have to admit

that there are very few that are as easy to use as that presented by the

author. What makes this model truly original is that it involves close

interaction between the subject matter expert (professor) and the

instructional designer (ID). What I find of particular interest is that it

involves the ID planning a course directly online with the professor at

his/her side and implementing existing and relevant elements of the

professor’s on-campus course. The ten case studies presented in Dr.

X A DESIGNER'S LOG

Power’s book amply demonstrate this “faculty-based practices” approach

indicative of his model.

Books dealing with instructional design usually propose a theoretical

model and include a few examples to demonstrate applicability. Dr.

Power, however, has chosen to present actual case studies demonstrating

practices that work, and then adds theoretical underpinnings. That is,

I believe, what is of greatest interest in this book. The cases presented,

being very detailed, actually walk us through just what happened and

how it happened. That is why I think that this book will be exceptionally

useful to anyone working in this area. In this regard, the contribution the

author has made to the general field of instructional design is important.

Instructional designer culture is not limited to theoretical knowledge

or design-related skills alone. They must acquire and demonstrate

mastery of specific and requisite interpersonal skills and attitudes that

many of us tend to gloss over. This is yet another strong point of this

book; I am particularly impressed by the flexibility shown by the author

in dealing with the various professors he encountered. Possessing such

skills and attitudes or not can often make all the difference between

the success of the failure of an instructional design project for online

learning. By reading this book, I’m confident that both practicing and

future instructional designers will understand the importance of tact and

attitudes de tolerance and tenacity, attributes which are so important

when dealing with subject matter experts.

Moreover, I’m convinced that these case studies presented by Dr.

Power will not only be useful to instructional designers who use his model

to design online courses but to all instructional designers in whatever

they design. As a matter of fact, I observed that several of the cases

described by the author refer to many frequently encountered problems

in instructional design.

It is therefore with great pleasure that I recommend Dr. Power’s book

to all those who are interested in course design and, particularly, in online

course design in dual-mode universities.

Dr. Robert Brien

Laval University

Quebec City

PREFACE XI

Preface

“The first was never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly

know to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and

prejudice, and to comprise nothing more in my judgement than what

was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all

ground of doubt.”

Excerpt from Discours sur la méthode by René Descartes

I first read the Discours sur la méthode when I was a community college

student and I have to admit that, at the time, it did not have much of

an effect. But over time, in the way a constant drip can erode even the

hardest granite, it came to permeate my thinking. What Descartes said,

in just a few words, seems to me to be the core of the scientific method,

as it is based on the surest of foundations, the personal observation of

phenomena. To my mind, Descartes lays the responsibility of seeing with

our own eyes and hearing with our own ears, each and every one of us. To

doubt is a reflex, the lack of which would imperil any scientific pursuit.

Of course this does not mean that one should automatically reject what

someone is telling us. Certainly not. But it does not mean we should

accept it at face value either. A state of wariness is, I believe, permanently

XII A DESIGNER'S LOG

warranted, the duty to question one’s understanding of a phenomenon,

as well as that of others, is a ceaseless task.

Now that I have brazenly attempted to associate myself with one of

science’s brightest lights, please allow me to explain how this modest

manuscript has the least to do with the monumental work of our

august predecessor. When I began the research study on developing an

appropriate dual-mode design model documented in the present log, I

thought I had the world by the tail. I had over 12 years’ experience in

the field of instructional design in higher education, plus excellent

instruction during my studies toward a Master’s degree, as well as all the

resources I thought I needed to complete the project at hand. I really

could not see any difficulty, not a cloud on my horizon. It was thus, head￾first and with a mind full of misplaced certitude, I undertook this journey

of designing courses, first for distance education and subsequently for

online learning.

It was not long before I started to see that all was not right with my

world. Actually applying the instructional design theories I had diligently

learned in graduate school when I began working with subject matter

experts (SMEs) was harder than I could have imagined. In the field, I

was confronted with design challenges of the like I had never before

experienced. I found myself asking “What (on earth) can I base this or

that design-related decision on?” The illustrious ADDIE approach, upon

which is based a huge segment of design literature (Gustafson & Branch,

1997) was, surprisingly, of little or no use to me. I felt like I had just landed

on a new planet without a map and without knowing the language of the

inhabitants. Man, what a surprise! It was precisely then that Descartes’

famous words started ringing in my ears and it seemed that I truly

understood them for the first time: “de ne recevoir jamais aucune chose pour

vraie que je ne la connusse évidemment être telle” (never to accept anything

for true which I did not clearly know to be such).

Another author, more of a contemporary, came to mind to console

me: Donald Schön. In a passage from his celebrated book Educating

the Reflexive Practitioner quoted below, “The Crisis of Confidence in

Professional Knowledge,” he uses the analogy of solid versus swampy

ground, that is, ground where we feel confident in what is under our feet

in contrast to ground where we feel decidedly queasy.

PREFACE XIII

In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard

ground overlooking a swamp. On the high ground, manageable problems

lend themselves to solution through the application of research-based

theory and technique. In the swampy lowland, messy, confusing problems

defy technical solution. The irony of this situation is that the problems

of the high ground tend to be relatively unimportant to individuals or

society at large, however great their technical interest may be, while in the

swamp lie the problems of greatest human concern. The practitioner must

choose. Shall he remain on the high ground where he can solve relatively

unimportant problems according to the prevailing standards of rigor, or

shall he descend to the swamp of important problems and nonrigorous

inquiry?

He is, of course, alluding to the comfort of our carefully-nursed certitudes

and well-ensconced traditions, as opposed to the swamp where problems

are hard to define but oh so important for society. Then, he asks the

million-dollar question: should a practitioner remain on the safe “high

ground” or dare to venture below? That choice really hit me. During my

research study, I felt rather lonely in the swamp. In a field of practice

where there was little lighting and few guideposts, the idea of this book

began to come together. Without the time needed for a thorough job,

I felt I should at least attempt to chart a course for others to follow,

without being overly self-critical of my accuracy in drawing the map. I

consoled myself by thinking that, for anyone starting out on a journey, a

rough map is better than no map at all.

Contrary to my preconceptions, there was not much in the literature to

guide me in developing an appropriate design model for faculty moving

from an on-campus teaching paradigm to an online learning paradigm.

Anne-Marie Armstrong’s thoroughly enjoyable edited collection about

the experiences of designers in the corporate world wasn’t yet available

when I started this project. So that is how this book got started, as a real￾life response to a problem I was experiencing. In essence, it is composed

of notes I took while I working with subject matter experts who were

intent on offering their courses at a distance and/or online.

Finally, I wish to recognize Valerie Clifford (2004) for an inspiring

book review in which she addresses the question “Why should we keep a

logbook?” She explains the necessity of documenting our life experiences

XIV A DESIGNER'S LOG

as a guide to others: “When we tell stories, we express ourselves and learn

from discussing our experience with others who may raise alternative

views, suggest imaginative possibilities, and ask stimulating questions”

(p. 63).

It is my sincere hope that my story as an ID (instructional designer)

coming to terms with new and difficult problems and seeking solutions

for them through a process of reflection, induction and deduction will be

useful to other instructional designers, educational developers, faculty

and administrators who are involved in distance education and online

learning.

Dr. Michael Power

Quebec City

November 28, 2008

Introduction

This book deals with the design of distance education at an emerging

dual-mode university, that is, a university offering courses both on￾campus and via distance education or online in a variety of manners.

It was written from the point of view of an instructional designer (ID)

working alongside university professors in designing their courses

for distance delivery.¹ It originated as my logbook, which I kept over a

period of three years and in which I relate the ups and downs as well as

the dos and don’ts of designing learning materials for students studying

at a distance. It introduces you to ten faculty members with whom I

shared this experience and lifts the veil on a seldom-reported, essentially

undocumented, working environment.

Before presenting the cases, I will outline the underlying research

study as well as introduce the design model that served as my original

design prototype.

The Instructional Design Model Prototype

When I began a new mandate as instructional designer-researcher at an

emerging dual-mode university, my main task was to accompany faculty

members in readying their courses for distance delivery. Coming from

a professional background of distance education in the single-mode

tradition (such as The Open University in the United Kingdom), I was