March 23, 2016
Using Critical Incidents of Instructional Design and Multimedia Production Activities to Investigate Instructional Designers’ Current Practices and Roles
Drs. William Sugar and Ken Luterbach recently published the following article, Using critical incidents of instructional design and multimedia production activities to investigate instructional designers’ current practices and roles, in Educational Technology Research and Development. The full citation is below.
Using Flanagan’s (1954) Critical Incident Technique, this study analyzed 106 effective, ineffective and extraordinary instructional design and multimedia production activities discussed by 36 instructional design professionals. This evaluation provided insights into these professionals’ best and not so best practices during the past six months. Prevalent themes emerged from the data analysis with regards to these activities. Six themes emerged from the effective incidents, namely: (a) creating instructional products, (b) providing examples, (c) differentiating instruction, (d) establishing social presence, (e) providing resources, and (f) collaborating with stakeholders. Four themes emerged from the extraordinary incidents, namely: (a) matching methods and media to content and learners, (b) providing organized content, (c) managing a complex ID project, and (d) using theory to inform practice. Six themes emerged from the ineffective incidents, namely: (a) not matching methods and media to content and learners, (b) not supporting student interaction (c) selecting inadequate instructional strategies, (d) not using ID processes, (e) not collaborating with stakeholders, and (f) coping with inadequate technical infrastructure. Results from this study offer an understanding on the interrelationship between instructional design and multimedia production activities and positive (both effective and extraordinary) outcomes in instructional design activities. A comparison of existing instructional design success factors and best practices studies and this study’s results also takes place. Future research directions espouse the value of analyzing little known phenomena in instructional design-related activities and further explore negative or ineffective instructional design practices.
Sugar, W. & Luterbach, K. J. (2016). Using critical incidents of instructional design and multimedia production activities to investigate instructional designers’ current practices and roles. Educational Technology Research and Development, 64(2), 285-312.