LDT200x - Week 3 Activity: Creating a Podcast on the Dick and Carey Instructional Design Model
This week, in my LDT200x course on Instructional Design Models, I learnt about the Dick and Carey model of Instructional Design.
For this week's activity, we were all instructed to create a Podcast on the Dick and Carey model. You can find my podcast here.
So, here's a brief summary of this model.
The Dick and Carey model was developed in 1978, by James Carey, Lou Carey and Walter Dick, and, as of today, is one of the most popular Instructional Design models used to create instruction and courses in schools, colleges as well as in professional environments.
The basic Dick and Carey model is made up of ten different steps. Most of these steps are to be carried out sequentially; however, there are a few steps that can be carried out simultaneously as well.
Image Source: The Dick and Carey ID Model - Education Technology
Let us now talk about each of these steps to understand a little bit more about them. In order to make the explanation a little clearer, let us take an example problem… Let us say, I want to create a short lesson to teach group of content writers how to:
Use the Track Changes feature of the Microsoft Word software
(For those of you who are unaware of this feature, it is usually used by content reviewers, editors and subject matter experts to review textual content created by others, which helps them highlight their feedback and suggestions to the creator.)
Now, with our example problem, let us try to understand how one would go about creating instruction using the Dick and Carey ID Model.
Step 1: Identify Instructional Goals
In this step, an instructional designer tries to understand what the main “big” objective of the course/instruction is… In other words, the designer tries to understand the “Big Idea” of the course.
For example, in our particular case, the Instruction Goal would be: For learners to be able to use the Track Changes features of the Microsoft Word software…. That would be our “Main” objective.
Step 2: Conduct Instructional Analysis
In this step, an instructional designer needs to list out all the different skills and knowledge a learner should acquire, in order to reach Instructional Goal.
For example, in our case, learners would need to learn:
How to open to Microsoft Word and how to create a simple document in it?
Why the track changes feature is used and how it can help them?
How to use the track changes feature to make changes to the text, images and formatting of a document?
How to add and delete comments in a document?
How to read a document that has been edited using the Track Changes feature, in different modes, such as in the Final mode (with Mark-up), in the Final mode (without Mark-up), in the Original mode (with Mark-up), and in the Original mode (without Mark-up)?
How to accept or reject changes made in a document using the Track Changes feature?
Step 3: Identify Entry Behaviors
In this step, the instructional designer acquires information to understand the prior knowledge and skills of the intended learners, their traits and their motivation for taking the course. Additionally, the designer also gathers information about the instructional setting, such as whether it would be a classroom instruction, an online instruction, or a blended instruction. Analyzing the instructional setting goes a long way in helping instructional designers understand the type of content, activities and assessments that are to be created and the modes of submission and feedback that are to be used in the course.
In our example, this would mean gathering information such as:
The age group and maturity level of the learners
The prior knowledge and skill set of the learners (For example, if they know how to open Microsoft Word and create simple documents in it, then the first goal we listed out in our Instructional Analysis has already been met, and we do not need to go into it in detail… If, however, they do not know how to do that, we would need to include explicit instruction in our course for it.)
Why they are taking the course – do they want to learn the feature out of curiosity and interest, or is it a mandatory training for all employees of a department. (This could help create better content and assessments for the learners during later stages of instructional model.)
Step 4: Write Performance Objectives
In this step, the instructional designer comes up with clear, measurable performance objectives (or learning objectives) for the course based on the instructional goals that were created and the instructional analysis and the learner analysis that was carried out.
In our example, I would come up with performance objectives such as:
Learners will be able to:
Explain why the track changes feature is used and how it can help them.
Demonstrate how to use the track changes feature to make changes to the text, images and formatting of a document.
Add and delete comments in a document.
Read a document that has been edited using the Track Changes feature, in different modes, such as in the Final mode (with Mark-up), in the Final mode (without Mark-up), in the Original mode (with Mark-up), and in the Original mode (without Mark-up).
Accept or reject changes made in a document using the Track Changes feature.
Step 5: Develop Criterion-Referenced Tests
In this step, the instructional designer creates assessment material that would clearly assess learners on the performance objectives created before, and the grading rubric and criteria to go along with these assessments.
In our particular case, I would create assessment tasks which would test learners based on each of the performance objectives that I created. So, for example, one of the assessment tasks could be to edit the text and images in a given document using the track changes feature. Another could be to read a document edited using the Track changes feature and to present a comparison between its original and final versions.
Step 6: Develop Instructional Strategy
In this step, an instructional designer plans a sequential layout and framework of how the lesson would actually go, and what would be the different components present in it, such as some pre-instructional activities, some videos and reading material, simulations, activities, practice tests, and project work.
For our example, I would plan on some videos, a short lecture, some small activities and discussions to help learners understand the different aspects of the lesson, i.e., the Track Changes feature of Microsoft Word.
Step 7: Develop and Select Instructional Material
This is the step where the actual creation of content takes place. In this step, the instructional designer collects and creates different kinds of content material, activities and in accordance with the instructional strategy that he/she had created during the previous stage.
In our example, this would mean that I would create the videos, lectures, activities and discussion forums that I had planned on earlier.
Step 8 & Step 9: Conduct Formative Evaluation & Revise Instruction
In these stages, the instructional designer evaluates the work he/she put in during each previous stage and makes changes, wherever needed. This could also mean getting help from a third person and getting their feedback, and using this feedback to improve instruction.
In our example, I would, preferably get my work reviewed, or else would go through each step from a third-party perspective and would try to find any loopholes or bugs in my instruction that could lead to my lessons being a failure. This would mean testing the whole course from the perspective of technology and time. As per requirement, I would then revise my instruction.
Step 10: Conduct Summative Evaluation
In this stage, the instructional designer develops some feedback mechanisms such as checklists and surveys that are then used to evaluate the effectiveness of the instruction created, and glitches in it, if any. This step is usually carried after the lesson is actually executed in the instructional setting. The results of the summative evaluation are then used to improvise future versions of the course.
In our example, I would include a short, anonymous survey at the end of my course, asking learners what worked for them in the course, and what did not.
So, those were the 10 basic steps of the Dick and Carey model!
Conclusions:
In my opinion, the Dick and Carey ID model can be very useful while designing instruction, mainly because it gives a designer a clear sequence of steps to follow. The second aspect of this model that I found useful was the breaking up of the model into a number of small steps. This, I feel, would make formative evaluation of each step easier and in case there is a problem in one of the steps, at least all the steps before it would not need to be repeated.
However, there are a few steps that I would change if I were to use this model. First of all, although the Formative Evaluation stage is listed after the development stage in the Dick and Carey model, I feel it would be best if a formative evaluation is carried out after each stage is completed, in order to reduce rework and to, ultimately, get a better product at the end. Secondly, the model does not include the tasks that a designer would need to carry out before implementing the instruction in class, which is actually the “Implementation” phase of the ADDIE model. I feel this part is also important for the smooth implementation of the course, and I think would introduce it in my own strategy before the final step, i.e., the Summative Evaluation step.
Hope you all find this post useful!
