Chapter 4 of Rapid Instructional Design, How to Do It: Design, is the book’s longest chapter. Author George M. Piskurich uses this chapter to review in depth the second step of the ADDIE model: Design. Like the previous chapters, these nearly hundred pages give the reader the sense of actually working in instructional design and designing a learning experience. As I read, I could picture scenarios in which I performed each task.
To repeat all the fantastic ideas, tips, and concepts included in this chapter would mean multiple blog posts. Piskurich opens with another type of analysis, delivery analysis. In a delivery analysis, the mode of delivery is determined. There are numerous ways to deliver training and many more questions to ask to choose which one is best. When selecting a delivery method, one important consideration is how your program relates to corporate goals. How necessary corporate finds training corresponds to how much funding is set aside for the training.
Piskurich fills this book with many helpful examples of every step and sub-step within the ADDIE model. After he discusses delivery methods and a table full of considerations around delivery modes, the author pivots to objectives. Objectives let the trainee know what they should be able to do, when, and how. I found Piskurich’s advice to start with top-tier objectives and then break those down into second-tier or even third-tier objectives helpful.
The author describes a common dissonance within objectives for training. Sometimes, objectives meet the learner’s needs, not corporations, or vice versa. To avoid this, it’s helpful to differentiate course goals from objectives. Course goals are set by the teacher and used by the teacher to ensure the needs of the corporation are met through the training. Objectives are for the students. They include behaviors to be achieved, conditions under which they can be achieved, and criteria by which they will be achieved.
This chapter also contains examples of how classroom teachers’ and instructional designers’ responsibilities overlap. I found myself writing lots of notes about methods to implement in my classroom, especially in the assessment section of this chapter. For instance, Piskurich has me sold on pre-tests because they allow the trainer (or teacher) to determine how much learners already know about a subject and use that knowledge to guide training towards areas where it is most needed.
As previously mentioned, this chapter could yield many full blog posts full of insights. Some of Piskurich’s thoughts resonated with me: “You haven’t taught if they haven’t learned.” This mindset focuses on objectives and assessments, two of the core pieces of instruction. I took away many helpful tips, such as including a timeframe in objectives, using smart verbs, and getting objectives reviewed by SMEs and other instructional designers.
This chapter was a doozy length, but each page yielded an additional helpful piece of knowledge that I will carry into my instructional design career. After completing this chapter, I feel prepared to create a design document with meaningful objectives and delivery methods. Google Classroom is one technology that I think has significant potential in organizing training without a learning management system.
Google Classroom can link with all other Google tools, which themselves can be used for learning. For instance: Google Slides can be used to share information during training and can be shared with Google Classroom. Google Docs can be used to take collaborative notes and be linked both in the Slides and the Classroom. Google Forms provide a survey and assessment tool. Google Calendar can organize each step of training neatly for trainees and trainers.
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