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Mastering_the_Instructional_Design_Process_A_Syste..._----_Pg_36--37-2.pdf

4 Mastering the Instructional Design Process

EXHIBIT 1.1. TEN KEY ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN COMPETENCIES

• Assumption 1: Instructional designers are those persons who demonstrate design competencies on the job regardless of their job title or training.

• Assumption 2: Instructional design (ID) competencies pertain to persons working in a wide range of settings.

• Assumption 3: Instructional design is a process most commonly guided by sys- tematic design models and principles.

• Assumption 4: Instructional design is most commonly seen as resulting in transfer of training and organizational performance improvement.

• Assumption 5: Instructional design competence spans novice, experienced, and expert designers.

• Assumption 6: Few instructional designers, regardless of their levels of expertise, are able to successfully demonstrate all ID competencies.

• Assumption 7: ID competencies are generic and amenable to customization. • Assumption 8: ID competencies define the manner in which design should be

practiced. • Assumption 9: ID competencies reflect societal and disciplinary values and ethics. • Assumption 10: ID competencies should be meaningful and useful to designers

worldwide.

Source: R. Richey, D. Fields, and M. Foxon, Instructional Design Competencies: The Standards, 3rd ed. (Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology, 2001), 36–42. Copyright 1993 by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

remainder of the book. We shall also address important critiques of traditional instructional design approaches.

Instructional Design: An Emerging Profession

Instructional design is an emerging profession. People can—and do— enter jobs as instructional designers and work in that capacity for their entire careers. That is especially true when many organizations are convert- ing their training to online, blended, and e-learning-based approaches. Instructional designers are often tasked to lead or facilitate such projects.

Employment advertisements for instructional designers and closely aligned jobs frequently appear online and in print. (See, for instance, the job search websites run by the International Society for Perfor- mance Improvement at www.ispi.org and by the Association for Talent Development at www.astd.org.)

Rothwell, William J., et al. Mastering the Instructional Design Process : A Systematic Approach : A Systematic Approach, Center for Creative Leadership, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ncent-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4205818. Created from ncent-ebooks on 2021-02-27 11:23:33.

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An Overview of Instructional Design 5

Many organizations across a broad spectrum of industries employ instructional designers. Jobs bearing this title are often positioned at the entry level. They often occupy the first rung on a career ladder leading to such higher-level jobs as instructor, project supervisor of instructional design, and Chief Learning Officer (CLO). But variations of this career ladder exist. Job titles also vary. Alternative job titles may include talent developer, performance technologist, performance consultant, human performance improvement specialist, human performance enhancement professional, instructional developer, education specialist, educational technologist, employee educator, trainer, staff development specialist, instructional technologist, or instructional systems specialist. Because vari- ations exist in work duties, in modes of occupational entry, in educational preparation, and in career paths, instructional design is an emerging, rather than an established, profession. It is called a field of practice, though it has been researched (see Rothwell, Zaballero, Asino, Briskin, Swaggerty, and Bienert 2015).

However, the trend has been toward certification in the field. That trend suggests increasing professionalism. For instance, the International Society for Performance Improvement supports a program leading to the Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) designation (for a description, see www.certifiedpt.org/WhatisCPT.htm). That follows a growing trend for certification of many kinds, ranging from individual (such as the CPT) to product or process accreditation (see www.iacet.org). ATD also offers the Certified Performance and Learning Professional (CPLP) designation to certify practitioners in a broad range of areas of expertise in the field (see www.td.org/Certification).

Instructional Design: Focused on Establishing and Maintaining Efficient and Effective Human Performance

The chief aim of instructional design is to improve employee performance and to increase organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Instructional designers should be able to define such important terms as performance, efficiency, and effectiveness.

What Is Performance?

Performance is perhaps best understood as the achievement of results, the outcomes (ends) to which purposeful activities (means) are directed (see