Instructional Design Team Research Articles

A Systematic Review of the Challenges of e-Learning Implementation in Sub-Saharan African Countries: 2016-2022

Even a cursory review of the research literature over the past two decades will reveal many e-learning implementation challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa Higher Education Institutions. The last available systematic review of these challenges was conducted in 2017. To address this gap and by following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, our systematic review aimed to find answers to the following two research questions: (a) What e-learning challenges were identified in research conducted in Higher Education Institutions in sub-Saharan Africa from 2016, and (b) Which e-learning challenges identified before 2016 remain and which are new? Using search terms and synonyms associated with e-learning challenges, three reviewers performed a Boolean search in Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus. After duplicates (113) were removed, a total of 353 potential articles were imported into a collaboration platform and filtered using the following inclusion criteria: (1) Higher Education Institutions in sub-Saharan Africa (2) English articles from 2016 to 2022 (3) user data on real-world e-learning implementations are available (4) use of a computer/mobile device excluding m-learning approaches and (5) blended or fully online courses. After a selection process where article sets were reviewed, rotated, and conflicts resolved, 25 articles that met the inclusion criteria formed the primary evidence base. After a data collection process and using selected Grounded Theory techniques, a total of 48 challenges, synthesised in 25 challenge categories, were identified across six themes: university-related (36 citations), instructor-related (20), access-related (14), LMS-related (10), student-related (9) and computer literacy-related (9). The main challenges categories were ICT infrastructure (14 citations), technical support (10) and student bandwidth (8), while the secondary challenges were mainly related to the instructor: commitment and capacity (7), capacity (6), LMS training (6) and instructional design and support (5). Suggestions are offered to address key challenges related to ICT infrastructure, technical support, and student bandwidth. Secondary challenges, which are mainly related to the instructor, are proposed to be resolved by a skilled and energetic instructional design and support team. Although many challenges identified before 2016 were reinforced in this investigation, no new challenges were identified. Overall, the number of citations for specific challenges shows that most challenges are context-specific, that is, limited to single HEIs. However, when combined in challenge categories and reflected as themes, the review reveals many challenges to remain persistent. To ensure that an institution, its instructors, and its students are geared and supported stepwise, a holistic top-down approach that considers all challenges is required. To achieve this, a recommendation for further research is the development of an updated SSA-specific checklist that can be used to rate e-learning readiness in terms of importance and context. The research aims to provide active researchers in the field with an update on the status of research on e-learning challenges in SSA, as well as to make decision-makers aware of potential challenges when implementing e-learning in the SSA context. This may result in better institutional strategies to support e-learning practitioners, as well as to ensure the effective development and implementation of e-learning management systems.

The Everydayness of Instructional Design and the Pursuit of Quality in Online Courses

This article reports research into the everydayness of instructional design (meaning designers’ daily routines, run-of-the-mill interactions with colleagues, and other, prosaic forms of social contact), and how everydayness relates to their pursuit of quality in online course design. These issues were investigated through an ethnographic case study, centered on a team of instructional designers at a university in the United States. Designers were observed spending significant amounts of time engaged in practices of course refinement, meaning mundane, workaday tasks like revising, updating, fine-tuning, or fixing the courses to which they were assigned. Refining practices were interrelated with, but also experienced as distinct from, the specialized processes of instructional design or innovation that the designers also applied. Refining played a meaningful role in designers’ pursuit of course quality, both to help them achieve quality, as well as to understand what the ideal of quality meant in specific instances. The article concludes by exploring what implications these findings have for the study and practice of instructional design in the context of online course development.

Learning Failure and the Importance of Subject Matter Experts

For many instructional designers (ID), subject matter experts (SMEs) are viewed as a necessary evil. Depending upon their day job, SMEs can be challenging to work with due to their schedules and responsibilities outside the ID’s project. They can be unaware of the eLearning process, learning models and theories, and expensive—a SME can easily add thousands of dollars to an already stretched budget. However, if the ID does not have the “expert” knowledge of the content for students to achieve the learning outcomes successfully, it is improbable that the learning event will be meaningful. This paper explores students’ learning outcomes in a case-based simulated learning event before and after the inclusion of a SME on an instructional design team.

An eLearning series for staff working in Title X-funded settings: An effort to disseminate national family planning recommendations

ObjectivesA team of trainers and instructional designers who develop federally funded training for staff working in Title X-funded settings developed an eLearning series of seven modules to support dissemination of Providing Quality Family Planning Services: Recommendations from CDC and the US Office of Population Affairs. QFP outlines how to provide services related preventing and achieving pregnancy. Study designWe evaluated participant reactions and intention to apply what they learned from the eLearning modules. ResultsIn 2021, 6132 unique individuals completed 12,102 modules, and of those, 5324 unique individuals completed 10,460 evaluations (86% evaluation response rate). Nearly all respondents agreed that the modules were useful (97%), that they would recommend the training to others (96%), and that they were confident in their ability to apply what they learned (97%). More than half (60%) of respondents intended to share information and tools with colleagues and with clients; one in ten (10%) intended to change program practices. ConclusionseLearning modules can be an efficient way to disseminate recommendations.

Higher education leaders’ perspectives of accessible and inclusive online learning

Online learning can potentially meet increasingly diverse students’ needs in higher education, including disabled students. However, institutions have historically struggled in providing accessible and inclusive online learning. Higher education online learning leaders, those who manage instructional designers, are in a unique position to help institutions strategize and create accessible and inclusive online courses. In this qualitative study, we interviewed nine higher education online learning leaders to understand leaders’ perceptions about how institutions provide accessible and inclusive online learning. Results demonstrated that despite varying conceptualizations of accessibility and inclusivity, online learning leaders perceive an insufficient but growing emphasis in higher education. Overall, participants described instructional designers as the most knowledgeable and skilled in this area. Participants described a lack of agency for instructional design teams and a need to advocate for buy-in from senior leadership. They also described strategies (e.g., faculty development, quality standards, and accessibility checkers) to support faculty.

Emergency support for faculty: Adherence to best practices in designing, developing, and implementing virtual training during a pandemic

COVID-19 disrupted face-to-face instruction across university campuses world-wide. As universities struggled, instructional design teams stepped in to assist. At one southeastern university in the US, an instructional design team, with support from instructional systems analysts, responded by creating online instruction for faculty and facilitating training during the summer months in 2020. Literature outlining multiple perspectives and best practices for online instruction prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is robust; however, provides little to no guidance for implementing empirically based practice during a time of worldwide crisis. Many educational institutions recognised the need to provide a timely response to ensure continuity and quality of education yet lacked a framework or model from which to follow. This mixed methods study reviews best practices for designing and implementing virtual training for faculty and determines to what extent best practices were followed for this shift during a time of crisis. The use of a survey and semi-structured interviews with the instructional design team and instructional systems analysts resulted in four themes: prioritising faculty needs, responsiveness to faculty, lack of time, and difficulties collaborating across departments. Alignment to pre-pandemic best practice literature is provided to demonstrate the response of one university to the pandemic. Implications for instructional design teams and future research directions are presented.

“Behind the curtain”: exploring how instructional design teams function to complete design and development

“Behind the curtain”: exploring how instructional design teams function to complete design and development

Considering What Faculty Value When Working with Instructional Designers and Instructional Design Teams

The purpose of this research was to study what university faculty valued when working with instructional designers and instructional design teams to develop educational simulations. We did this through a case study of three faculty, where we analyzed what they discussed among themselves or communicated to other team members about what mattered to them about their team relationships or the design processes they employed. We structured our case report around three thematic issues that expressed how our participants depicted good relationships and processes. Our report concludes with a discussion of how instructional designers could use our findings in their practice.

Considering What Faculty Value When Working with Instructional Designers and Instructional Design Teams

The purpose of this research was to study what university faculty valued when working with instructional designers and instructional design teams to develop educational simulations. We did this through a case study of three faculty, where we analyzed what they discussed among themselves or communicated to other team members about what mattered to them about their team relationships or the design processes they employed. We structured our case report around three thematic issues that expressed how our participants depicted good relationships and processes. Our report concludes with a discussion of how instructional designers could use our findings in their practice.

Introducing Undergraduates to Instructional Design in a Graduate Studio: An Experiential, Model-Centered Approach

This case study describes a combined graduate and undergraduate instructional design studio that introduced undergraduate students to instructional design in a multifaceted, holistic, and applied way. Reviewing the experience of the undergraduates in the course, this design case describes four learning interventions used to create this applied experience: (1) instructional design team projects—one non-profit and the other in higher education, (2) weekly seminars and biweekly training sessions from field experts, (3) an experiential out-of-state trip, and (4) weekly reflection journals. These studio-based learning interventions are presented within the context of the Experiential Learning Theory and Model-Centered Instruction. Overall, the course introduced the undergraduate students to the field of instructional design in an applied and experiential format.

Introducing Undergraduates to Instructional Design in a Graduate Studio: An Experiential, Model-Centered Approach

This case study describes a combined graduate and undergraduate instructional design studio that introduced undergraduate students to instructional design in a multifaceted, holistic, and applied way. Reviewing the experience of the undergraduates in the course, this design case describes four learning interventions used to create this applied experience: (1) instructional design team projects—one non-profit and the other in higher education, (2) weekly seminars and biweekly training sessions from field experts, (3) an experiential out-of-state trip, and (4) weekly reflection journals. These studio-based learning interventions are presented within the context of the Experiential Learning Theory and Model-Centered Instruction. Overall, the course introduced the undergraduate students to the field of instructional design in an applied and experiential format.

The Story is in the Structure: A Multi-Case Study of Instructional Design Teams

Although instructional designers are experienced and positioned to be leaders in online learning (Shaw, 2012), it was not previously known how organizational structures influenced their ability to act as leaders in their institutions. This problem warranted a deep exploration of the organizational structures for instructional design teams in higher education. This qualitative, multi-case study consisted of 3 individual universities each with a different organizational structure profile. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and document analysis with participants in 3 key roles at each institution: dedicated instructional designer, online faculty member, and online learning administrator. The research culminated in within-case analyses of each institution and a comparative case analysis of all 3 studied institutions. The results of the study revealed that the organizational structure that most positively influenced instructional design leadership was a centralized instructional design team with academic reporting lines. The results also showed that decentralized instructional designers experienced significant disempowerment, role misperception, and challenges in advocacy and leadership, while instructional designers with administrative reporting lines experienced a high level of role misperception specifically related to technology support. Positional parity between dedicated instructional designers and faculty, in conjunction with implementation of the recommended organizational structure, was found to be critical to empowering designers to be partners and leaders.

Understanding Distinctions of Worth in the Practices of Instructional Design Teams

Understanding Distinctions of Worth in the Practices of Instructional Design Teams

Transgender Healthcare: Development of an Illustrated eLearning Tool for Medical Education.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Purpose Transgender health competency among medical students and clinical providers remains poor, yet standardized curricula are lacking. Integrating the rapidly evolving teaching methods of the current technological era, a team of physicians and instructional designers created and evaluated a visual-format, interactive eLearning module to teach core competencies of transgender healthcare. Methods From September-March 2020, 416 students (MS1-MS4) from a NY-based medical school participated in the curriculum, which covered sexual development, gender affirmation surgeries, medical management, and health screening for transgender patients. Students completed pre/post surveys about their knowledge, comfort, and preparedness. Changes were assessed using the Chi-squared test. Commentaries were evaluated with thematic analysis. Results Pre-intervention, 68% of MS4s and 53% of MS3s rated the preclinical transgender curricula as "very poor," "poor," or "fair." Among the 187 students who took the module and post-survey, 79% felt "more comfortable" and 81% felt "more prepared" in providing healthcare to transgender patients after completion. Each class demonstrated statistically significant increases in comfort compared to baseline assessments. Students submitted >150 positive comments on the module's educational content, illustrations, and functionality. Conclusions As medical schools increasingly embrace virtual learning, this interactive learning tool serves as a model for expanding transgender healthcare curricula throughout the country.

The use of VR for collaborative exploration and enhancing creativity in fashion design education

ABSTRACT This paper presents the instructional design and development process for a fashion design education programme promoting creativity in a VR (Virtual Reality) environment. We designed the instructional model prototype based on the R2D2 (Recursive, Reflective, Design and Development) instructional design model and the creative thinking process model. The VR environment supported the design sessions, including the collaborative exploration in concept generation. We developed a feasible instructional model prototype using a VR environment through constant cooperative inquiry among instructional design team members. Furthermore, we conducted a multidimensional evaluation to obtain more pedagogical insights to develop an instructional model. Consequently, we could provide new insights into possibilities of using VR in collaborative exploration, promoting creativity, in future fashion design education.

Interactive Case-Based Childhood Adversity and Trauma-Informed Care Electronic Modules for Pediatric Primary Care.

IntroductionTraining health professionals for the skills and capacity to respond adequately to children and adults who have been exposed to adverse childhood experiences is recognized as an essential need in health care. Accessible opportunities to educate physicians and physician-trainees are limited.MethodsFour computer-based e-modules were created focusing on addressing childhood adversity and implementing trauma-informed care in the pediatric primary care setting. These childhood adversity and trauma-informed care (CA-TIC) e-modules were designed as an individualized, self-directed experience to allow for distance learning with flexibility to be embedded into existing coursework. To foster an engaging learning environment, we narrated the modules, prioritized images, and included the opportunity for participant interaction via multiple-choice and short-answer questions. Twenty-eight pediatric residents, two medical students, four attending physicians, and one fellow at Children's National Hospital completed the e-modules.ResultsOverall, participants rated the CA-TIC e-modules 4.6 (SD = 0.5) out of 5 for design and quality. Using paired t tests and Wilcoxon signed rank tests, we found statistically significant score increases from presession to postsession for participants' knowledge, attitudes, practice, and confidence related to CA-TIC. The most commonly cited learning points and practice changes included asking about trauma in practice and the seven C's of resilience.DiscussionA trauma-informed, strengths-based approach to care can assist health care providers in mitigating the link between adversity and related poor health outcomes. The CA-TIC e-modules provide an opportunity to train health professionals using an innovative, self-directed, and low-resource mechanism.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Standardization of Forms, Templates, and Processes for Implementing an E-Learning Program with a Decentralized Instructional Design Team

The purpose of this project was to implement an e-learning program for a decentralized instructional design team. The team is decentralized by department, location, and reporting structure. Therefore, successful collaboration among the team members requires the implementation of standards and processes to ensure a consistent level of quality in the e-learning instructional content. This consistency was introduced and maintained through the ADDIE instructional design model; and development and implementation of consistent software templates, writing standards, forms, and processes.

What Models are Instructional Designers Using Today?

The rapid evolution of instructional design, its relative novelty, and trends impacting it serve to cloud understanding and complicate practice. This study sought insight into an area of instructional design practice in higher education by exploring a subset of survey data gathered in early 2018. In part, the survey asked instructional designers and leaders of instructional design teams, working in higher education settings, which design models and theoretical frameworks guided their work. Nearly two hundred individuals provided responses. Answers offered most often included models with long histories, relative to instructional design at large, such as ADDIE and Backward Design. Technology's impact on instructional design was also made apparent by the inclusion of tech-focused frameworks including TPACK and SAMR. Statistical testing failed to develop significant relationships between the quantity of models reported in use and other characteristics of designers, however some relationship may exist relating to education and time in the field. Altogether, this may suggest, as reported by a small number of subjects, that the design process can or even ought to be ill-defined and remain fluid to best respond to unique needs as presented by each subject matter expert or design project.

Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) screencasts for the resident inpatient oncology service: A pilot study evaluating feasibility and effectiveness.

11025 Background: Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) screencasts have been viewed positively in some undergraduate and graduate medical settings. JiTT screencast effectiveness has not yet been evaluated for medical trainees in the inpatient adult hematology/oncology setting. Objectives: Our pilot study’s goal was to identify relevant learning objectives, to assess feasibility of screencast development, and to optimize screencast delivery. Methods: To identify key clinical topics, a mixed methods approach first utilized institutional retrospective data (6/1/2018-6/30/2019) to determine the most common inpatient medical problems followed by qualitative interviews of teaching faculty and senior residents. The following six topics were identified for inclusion: 1. Metastatic disease to spine 2. Brain metastases 3. Oncologic emergencies 4. Cancer associated venous thromboembolism 5. Hematologic emergencies 6. Sickle cell disease: inpatient management For each topic, a literature review was performed to develop teaching points which were then refined with input from clinician experts. Each screencast went through several rounds of edits by faculty and trainees prior to submission to the instructional design team for final editing. Screencast length ranged from 13 – 25 minutes (mean of 18 minutes). Qualitative and quantitative feedback was obtained from residents by structured focus group session and online surveys. Results: All residents reported that educational content was “just right.” The series of 6 screencasts was completed within 2 months of dedicated fellow research time. Preferred screencast length was 10-20 minutes and preferred viewing speed was 1.5x original speed (7/10). All residents reported that a screencast database would be a helpful resource for future clinical rotations. All residents (n = 10) reported that screencasts improved medical oncology knowledge base and will improve care provided to cancer patients. Conclusions: Creation of a screencast series was feasible for a hematology-oncology fellow. Systematic identification of key clinical topics led to materials which were confirmed by faculty and trainees to be important for internal medicine medical education on inpatient oncology services. This pilot data indicate that JiTT screencasts may be an effective educational intervention and directly informed a randomized educational research study which is currently enrolling participants.