E-learning Instructional Design Guidelines - Human Factors ...

HFIDTC/WP2.1.5/2
Version 2/ 30 April 2006
Performance –
Statement of the goal in terms of behaviour that will demonstrate
learning
Conditions – Statement under which conditions the goal will be attempted
Standards –
The measurable standard (or criterion) that indicates degree of
satisfying the goal.
These 3 components of a learning objective ensure that the goal is verifiable. For
example:
‘Given ten drawings of triangles, correctly label all of them as equilateral, isosceles or
scalene.’
In this example the performance description is ‘label the triangles as equilateral, isosceles
or scalene’, the conditions of demonstration are “given ten drawings of triangles” (this in
a broader course context might be ‘in the classroom’ or ‘in the field’). The standard or
criterion in this case is ‘correctly label all of them’. This learning objective contains both
a measurable and specific goal and specifies the conditions under which the objective is
to be attempted.
2.3.2 Instructional Materials
Instructional materials have a number of principal characteristics which are discussed
later, one of the main principals that underpins the design of instructional materials is that
interaction is as important, as presentation of text, graphics, audio and video to the
learning outcome. Interaction supports ‘active learning’ (or ‘learning by doing’) an
important principle of instructional design – as interaction stimulates learner thought
processes and increases retention. The characteristics of instructional materials as
opposed to reference materials are discussed in Section 2.4 of this document.
Another key characteristic of instructional materials is that they contain a designed
sequence of events to facilitate learning – these events are referred to as the ‘events of
instruction’, and include: gaining attention, statement of objective, statement of prerequisites,
presentation of materials, learning guidance, performance/practice, feedback,
assessment and summary (including retention and transfer). While these are generally
described in the context of something that is ‘done’ to the student, it is more correct to
consider what the learner is thinking (and doing) in these phases.
2.3.3 Assessment
Without assessment we have no guarantee that the learner has benefited from the
instruction, or the quality of the instructional materials. Assessment is critical as it
enables us to assess whether the instructional materials are doing their job and whether
learners are learning. Both of these checks are important, as without it we have no way of
assessing the effectiveness of instructional materials. The components of assessment and
the broader concept of instructional evaluation are discussed in Section 7
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