I have been asked by the student association for the Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology department at the University of Georgia to discuss the instructional technology program at a luncheon tomorrow. Our department is so huge, encompassing so many different graduate departments, that students often are not aware of what the other programs are about, and what types of courses they offer or what their students do for research. They asked me to kind of give an "introduction to my field" for the benefit of the other students.
Well that’s kind of daunting of course! But here is my best stab at trying to simmer down the field of Instructional Technology to a 10 minute discussion. I’m posting it here in case anyone has any comments, changes, or suggestions! Please give them in the comments.
Diversity: The list of AECT divisions shows our diversity as a field:
Design & Development
Distance Learning
International
Management
Multimedia Production
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Research & Theory
School Media & Technology
Systemic Change
Teacher Education
Training & Performance
So what unifies us?
We are distinguished from other fields because we are technologists, not scientists.
Gibbons ("The Practice of Instructional Technology", 2003)
"* The goal of science is explanation, and the method of science is analysis
* The goal of technology is design and artifice, and the method of technology is synthesis
* Scientists are in search of descriptive knowledge; technologists are in search of generative knowledge
* Despite a symbiotic relationship between science and technology, there is benefit to distinguishing technology as a knowledge-producing activity, with its unique process, culture, and knowledge criteria
* As individuals and collectively we alternate between scientific and technological modes of thinking as the problem demands
* The nature of knowledge produced by technological activity should be examined in order to provide guidelines and standards for certifying knowledge claims"
Osguthorpe, in his AECT presentation in 2006, explained well what the work of an instructional designer is. To paraphrase him, he explained that instructional designers are like gardeners who design the environment most conducive to learning. This implies an understanding of the science of learning, and actually getting your hands dirty.
Training: How do you become an instructional designer?
David Merrill (my personal memory from Dr. Merrill’s presentation to BYU IP&T department in 2004) has argued that every ID grad should:
1. Develop a theory
2. Build a project using that theory
3. Conduct research or evaluation into the success/failure of that theory and product
Our department focuses on that as well, with a big emphasis on the theoretical frameworks underpinning a research study. Most of the project building is done in the master’s level, whereas at the phD level we are taught how to evaluate and research the impacts from designed projects. Because of the diversity of research/projects done in our field, there is a lot of freedom in our program in creating your program of study. The only requirements are the three 1-credit courses designed to mentor you into the field, two IT seminars of your choosing, and three research classes (at least one each of both statistics and qualitative research).
How do instructional designers do research?
Design-based research, which iterates back and forth between creating something, and then studying the impact. The procedures might be statistical or qualitative, and usually both over the long run. The focus is the difference–instead of trying to discover a construct pre-existing in an environment, instructional designers try to create a significant difference and understand why that creation of theirs worked or didn’t work.
Major contributions of the field:
• Gagne’s 9 events of instruction and conditions for learning
• Instructional design models and processes
• The development of design-based research methods
• contributions to the development of the theories and technologies of computer-based learning and web-based learning.
• systemic change initiatives to K-16 educational systems
• Meta-analyses and collections of instructional, design, and learning theories (see Charles Reigeluth’s "green" books; David Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction; etc.)
Tags: AECT, instructional design, instructional technology
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