Teachers’ Personal Models of Instructional Design

Abstract

Different images of teacher knowledge and of teaching are described using the conceptual structure of Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999a), in which knowledge and practice are viewed as either formal, practical, or transformative. Instructional design (ID) represents a formal image of knowledge and frames the teacher as a problem-solver. Teachers, however, have been resistant to the use of ID. In a graduate ID course, students were given the task of drawing their own representation of the ID process. Two research questions framed the study, including How might these models be categorized? and What views of teaching were found in the models? From 13 deliveries of the course, 123 models and explanatory narratives were analyzed from students who were teachers. The course and ID model task are described. A recursive cycle of categorization and theme-building were used. Types of models included those characterized by Human Activity (51 models), Components (23), Artifacts (20), Organic (15), and Flow Charts (14). Views of teaching included Teacher-centered (47 models), Designer-centered (36 models), Co-centered (18), Learner-centered (16), and De-centered (6). Analysis revealed that for teachers ID activity is a human activity and the principal focus for design activity is teacher needs. Implications are summarized in terms of teacher knowledge and expertise, as well as limitations to our methodology.

Citation

Magliaro, S.G. and Neal Shambaugh, R. (2005), "Teachers’ Personal Models of Instructional Design", Brophy, J. and Pinnegar, S. (Ed.) Learning from Research on Teaching: Perspective, Methodology, and Representation (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 101-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3687(05)11004-9