instructional design > sample lesson plan
the context
Instructional Design is a course that is focused on preparing technical communication graduate students to develop and design instructional materials that can be used in a variety of settings--the classroom, private sector corporations, or non-profit organizations. The class walks the students through the process of identifying learning needs and objectives, designing instructional materials to meet those needs, and developing assessment tools to evaluate student learning.
Because the course covers so much material in such a short period of time, it was important to help students understand early in the semester the complexity of the instructional design process and the importance of moving through each step of the process slowly and carefully. This in-class activity, which I used on the first day of class, succeeds in illustrating this process to students.
the lesson
To begin this activity, I ask students fold a paper airplane from a regular sheet of notebook paper. As they work, I ask them to think about the process they are using to create the airplane. Once they have finished (and tried to fly their airplanes), I ask students to take out another piece of paper, and write down the instructions another person would have to follow in order to create a paper airplane exactly the same as the one they made.
Students work through the process of writing out the instructions, and then they exchange their instructions with another student sitting nearby. I then instruct the students to follow their partners' instructions to the letter to try to recreate the airplane. The instruction-writer watches as his/her partner follows the instructions, and I ask instruction-writers not to interrupt, clarify, or correct the airplane-makers as they work. I also ask the airplane-makers to take note of places in the instructions that were confusing or that impeded their airplane-construction process.
Once both partners have tried to replicate the other's airplane, I invite the students to discuss as a group the processes involved in this activity--writing the instructions, watching their partners try to enact those instructions, and trying to follow someone else's instructions. This conversation then leads in to a larger discussion of the considerations an instructional designer and/or technical writer has to consider when producing instructional materials.
reflections
This is one of my favorite activities to do with students, because it illustrates (sometimes to students' great frustration) the way that instruction can influence a student's ability to complete a task or learn new information. The activity puts students in the position of both student and teacher, and as a result, the students learn a variety of lessons from the activity. First, they begin to learn that a student's ability to learn and perform a task is only as good as the instructional materials designed to guide them. Instruction-writers will think that they have written clear directions, only to find the opposite when their partner gets stuck on the first step. Students also see that testing instructional materials with volunteer students is a crucial step in the instructional design process, as it helps to illustrate the holes in the instruction that the designer herself might not be aware of. Finally, the activity illustrates the ways that asynchronous instruction (instruction that occurs when the teacher is not present with the student) introduces a variety of challenges that must be addressed in the design of the instructional materials.
I like using this activity on the first day of class, as well, because it does several things that set the tone for the semester: first, it creates an environment with a lot of good-natured laughter as students struggle to work through each other's instructions for a task that seems so simple. Second, it shows the complexity of the instructional design process and lets the students know that they will be expected to be detailed and precise in the work they will complete for the class. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the paper airplane activity gets the students engaging with each other, which is a crucial part of a course that relies heavily on peer review and practice to help students think through the technical and pedagogical aspects of the instruction they will develop throughout the semester.