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IDT200x Instructional Design and Technology: Instructional Design Models

Course Syllabus

October 17, 2023, to December 11, 2023   

About the Course

Welcome to IDT200x - Instructional Design Models, the second course in the UMGC edX MicroMasters program in Instructional Design and Technology! This course is your next step toward mastering the intricacies of instructional design and the essential components that will set you on the path to becoming an instructional designer. Over the next eight weeks, you will explore the fascinating world of instructional design models and the art of crafting a well-structured Instructional Design Document (IDD), which will serve as the blueprint for a minicourse you will create in the Capstone course (IDT400x). 

In this course, you'll explore a rich array of instructional design models, each with its own unique strengths and applications. Throughout the eight weeks, you will learn about these models and discover how to identify the best model for your minicourse. Together, we will explore instructional design models like ADDIE, Dick and Carey, Understanding by Design (UbD), Rapid Instructional Design, and the Successive Approximation Model (SAM). You will also venture into the world of crafting course learning outcomes, learning objectives, learning activities, and assessments. The journey culminates with your signature assignment, where you'll have the opportunity to apply your newfound knowledge to create the essential components of an IDD.

By the end of this course, you'll have the skills to architect powerful learning experiences. Welcome to the second step in the instructional design journey!

Course Facilitators

Instructor: Andrew Pron, Ed.D. | LinkedIn

Dr. Andrew Pron is an Instructional Design Manager at Penn State University. He’s worked in the instructional design sector for 20 years, including both teaching and instructional design in the K-12 and higher education sectors. Andrew is currently leading a team of instructional designers focused on a portfolio of online graduate programs at Penn State University. He earned his Bachelor's in Technological Studies from The College of New Jersey, a Master's in Instructional Design from Thomas Jefferson University, and his EdD in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. He can be reached at Andrew.Pron@faculty.umgc.edu.    

Teaching Assistant: Darcy Goshorn |LinkedIn 

Darcy Goshorn is the Senior Manager/VP of Digital Learning Design and Development at Citibank. His mission is to help people see, feel and change. He’s worked in learning design and technology for 19 years, including both teaching and faculty development roles across domestic and international K-12, community college, and university institutions. More recently, Darcy has focused on instructional design in global corporate spaces that include hospitality, cybersecurity and now leads a team evolving global financial training using AI-powered adaptive learning. Darcy earned an M.S. in Classroom Technology from Wilkes University and a B.A. in English with Secondary Certification from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at Darcy.Goshorn@umgc.edu

Prerequisites

While there are no enforced prerequisites, it is strongly recommended that learners complete IDT100x (Learning Theories) prior to enrolling in IDT200x. The program content and course projects are sequential, allowing the learner to build on subsequent work. Completing the courses in order is essential to be successful in the coursework. The final capstone course builds on the first three courses in the program. It is strongly recommended that you complete these three prerequisites before enrolling in the last class, IDT400x Course Evaluation and Capstone Project.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

    • Describe fundamental principles of instructional design models, including ADDIE, Dick and Carey, Understanding by Design (UbD), Rapid Instructional Design, and SAM
    • Differentiate between instructional design models and their implications for instructional design
    • Analyze the strengths and limitations of instructional design models
    • Apply instructional design models to a variety of contexts
    • Build an Instructional Design portfolio to showcase knowledge of instructional design models and various instructional design components
    • Create an Instructional Design Document (IDD) for an identified minicourse

Course Schedule

The course will begin on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, and run for eight weeks. Each week, new content will be released. You can view all material and take any knowledge checks at any time after the content is released. To be awarded a certificate, you must have completed all learning activities by 23:59 UTC on Monday, December 11, 2023, when the course closes. The Weeks 1 - 7 Peer Reviewed Open Response Assessments (ORA) close at the end of Week 7, December 4, 2023.

Important note about time zones & due dates: edX learners are located around the globe, necessitating the need to select one time zone for due dates. The chosen time zone for courses in the Learning Design and Technology program is UTC - Coordinated Universal Time. Use WorldTimeBuddy to help you compare your time zone to UTC. For example, 23:59 UTC is 7:59 PM Eastern Time in the United States, but varies by season. 

Students typically spend 10-12 hours each week to fully complete the following weekly modules. 

    • Week 1 (October 17, 2023): Introduction, History, Ethics, Accessibility, & Artificial Intelligence
    • Week 2 (October 24, 2023): ADDIE Design Model
    • Week 3 (October 31, 2023): Dick and Carey Design Model
    • Week 4 (November 7, 2023): Understanding by Design (UbD) Model
    • Week 5 (November 14, 2023): Rapid Instructional Design
    • Week 6 (November 21, 2023): Successive Approximation Model (SAM)
    • Week 7 (November 28, 2023): Learning Objectives, Bloom's Taxonomy, & Resources
    • Week 8 (December 5, 2023): Sequencing, Assessment, & Alignment

Topics Covered in Each Weekly Module

    • Week 1: Introduction, History, Ethics, Accessibility, & Artificial Intelligence - Introduction to the course, instructional design models, and an overview of timely topics such as accessibility and artificial intelligence. On the Instructional Design Document (IDD), learners will identify a learning gap that can be solved through the creation of a learning experience.
    • Week 2: ADDIE Design Model - Exploration of the ADDIE instructional design model. On the IDD, learners will identify a target audience and learner profile for their minicourse.
    • Week 3: Dick and Carey Design Model - Exploration of the Dick and Carey Model. On the IDD, learners will identify a course type and learner profile for their minicourse.
    • Week 4: Understanding by Design (UbD) Model -  Exploration of the Understanding by Design (UbD) Model, also known as Backward Design. On the IDD, learners will draft course learning outcomes for their minicourse.
    • Week 5: Rapid Instructional Design - Exploration of the rapid instructional design approach. On the IDD, learners will identify potential learning activities for their minicourse.
    • Week 6: Learning Theory: Successive Approximation Model (SAM) - Exploration of SAM and its components. On the IDD, learners will identify an instructional design model for their minicourse.
    • Week 7: Learning Objectives, Bloom's Taxonomy, & Resources - Exploration of topics related to the creation of course learning outcomes and learning objectives. Bloom's Taxonomy and the role of the Subject Matter Expert (SME) will be reviewed. On the IDD, learners will identify learning objectives and subject matter resource materials
    • Week 8: Sequencing, Assessment, & Alignment  - Exploration of topics related to sequencing, assessing, and aligning courses. The signature assignment, a completed IDD, is submitted for instructional team review by the last day of class.

Grading Policy

As stated earlier, new content will be released each week. You can view all material and take any knowledge checks at any time after the content is released. To be awarded a certificate, you must have completed all learning activities by 23:59 UTC on Monday, December 11, 2023, when the course closes. The Weeks 1 - 7 Peer Reviewed Open Response Assessments (ORA) close at the end of Week 7, December 4, 2023.

Certification

If you have not selected the course certification option, the verification upgrade deadline is approximately four weeks after the course begins – November 13, 2023, 11:59 pm UTC. Verified students must meet the 80% cut-off to earn a certificate. Grades are calculated as explained below.

Overall Grade

Grades for verified learners will be based on: Peer Review Open Response Assessments (30%), Knowledge Checks (20%), and the Signature Assignment (50%).

    • Peer Review Open Response Assessments 

You will continue the design and development of a portfolio demonstrating an understanding of course content during IDT200x. Many portfolio components are developed weekly, allowing feedback and updates to improve content acquisition through the discussion boards. The Peer Review Open Response Assessments (ORAs) is a chance for you to get incremental feedback on your portfolio sections and IDD (the Signature Assignment for this course) from your peers. You will submit ORAs in Weeks 1 through 7. All Peer Review Open Response Assessments must be submitted by the end of Week 7, December 4, 2023, which is when they will all close. These are graded components and are worth 30% of your grade.

    • Knowledge Checks

Knowledge Checks have been developed to reinforce your understanding of specific content throughout the course. These are graded components worth 20% of your grade and must be completed by the last day of the course.

    • Portfolio Signature Assignment

During the course, you will add to a personal portfolio demonstrating your knowledge and skill in applying course content to the design of learning experiences. As you progress through the four courses in this program, you will continue adding content and artifacts to your portfolio, demonstrating your Learning/Instructional Designer abilities. Completion of the portfolio is required for all candidates enrolled in the MicroMasters certificate program. You will build the components for the Signature Assignment in the weekly activities (IDT200x and IDD sections), culminating with activities required in Week 8. Please see the Signature Assignment Rubric for a list of assignment requirements. This is a graded component worth 50% of your grade and must be submitted by the last day of the course.

    • Discussions

The weekly modules have discussion questions or postings associated with the weekly activity. Discussion responses will not be graded, but active participation in discussions provides us with an incredible resource of viewpoints, and we want to take full advantage of the diversity in our discussions. Course facilitators and the course TA will not reply to every discussion post. They will monitor the discussions, highlighting important posts and clarifying concepts as needed. The instructors will follow the calendar schedule for the due dates of discussions. If there is a discussion post for the week, your initial posting should be completed by 23:59 UTC on Monday. However, the earlier you post, the more likely you are to receive feedback. 

Please consider the following when you post on the discussion board:

Guidelines

    • Active participation is critical. We are all learning together, and you will get out of the discussions what you put into them.
    • Assume the best intentions from your classmates. If in doubt, please contact the instructional team about specific concerns.
    • Posts should be written in your own words. If you include a quote or reference when possible, provide a citation (book, URL, etc.).
    • Before posting, search the Discussion for similar questions or comments.
    • Use evidence instead of personal attacks when you respond to a post with which you disagree. You can choose to support good posts and ideas if you click on the green plus button to upvote a post.

Logistics

    • Please limit your posts/responses to a maximum of 400 words (by request of edX).
    • A blue star on a post means a course staff member has endorsed it.
    •  If you see an inappropriate post, flag it instead of adding your own commentary.

Certificates

Those working to obtain a MicroMasters certificate must complete all activities and discussions for the eight weeks of the course and complete all required colleague follow postings. Additionally, you will need to design, develop, and publish your signature assignment and post it to the course by the end of Week 8. 

Online students who have upgraded to verified and achieved a passing grade in Instructional Design and Technology: Instructional Design Models will earn a Verified Certificate. These verified certificates indicate that you have successfully completed the course but will include a specific grade. Many students add their certificates to resumes, CVs, or LinkedIn profiles to demonstrate mastery of a given subject area to potential employers. Certificates are issued by edX under the name UMGC and are delivered through your dashboard on edX.org.

The Verified Certificate costs $299 to administer and requires you to complete the ID Verification process. That means you must verify your identity with a webcam and a government-issued photo ID. Click Upgrade to Verified under the course name on your edX dashboard to complete this process.

If you are interested in earning a UMGC MicroMasters Credential in Instructional Design and Technology, you must successfully pass and receive a Verified Certificate in each of the four courses in the Instructional Design and Technology Micromasters program:

    • IDT100x Instructional Design and Technology: Learning Theories
    • IDT200x Instructional Design Models
    • IDT300x Instructional Design: Digital Media, New Tools, and Technology
    • IDT400x Instructional Design: Course Evaluation and Capstone Project

We urge you to consider the Verified Certificate option. You have limited time to become a Verified Certificate student. See the edX FAQ for more details on certificates.

IDT200x Instructional Design and Technology: Instructional Design Models is part of the UMGC Instructional Design and Technology MicroMasters program. The UMGC Instructional Design and Technology MicroMasters Program is a graduate-level series of courses designed to provide you with the in-depth knowledge and skills needed to be an instructional designer. This four-course online sequence is equivalent to two classes worth of work from UMGC's Learning Design and Technology program for a total cost of $1196 (subject to change).

By earning the MicroMasters credential, you will develop the knowledge and skills identified in the "what you'll learn" bullets on the program landing page and within each course. Build on your MicroMasters Credential by applying to the Learning Design and Technology program at UMGC. 

Take Your Credential To The Next Level

Learners who successfully earn the MicroMasters Credential can apply to UMGC's Learning Design and Technology program for graduate-level credential options. The MicroMasters Credential will count for 12 credits in the Learning Design and Technology program only: the Learning Design and Digital Pedagogy course (6 Credits, LDT 610) and Learning Design, Media, and Emerging Technologies course (6 Credits, LDT 620).

For more information and to enroll in other UMGC Instructional Design and Technology MicroMasters programs courses, visit edX.org.