EDLD+5368+Instructional+Design

Lamar EDLD 5368 Instructional Design Reflection and Coursework
__ **EDLD 5368 Reflection** __ I found the EDLD 5368 Instructional Design course very enlightening. I not only learned how to design instruction to foster understanding and how to assess understanding, but also learned a lot about myself. While studying learning styles, I took an assessment on my own “teaching” or directing style. On my Teaching Style Inventory, I learned that I fall firmly in the Abstract/Understanding region of the Teaching Goals Matrix, and under the Enactive/Cognitive Groups on the Teaching Methods Matrix (which I attribute to my learning on the benefits of group instruction at Lamar). I am not surprised that I placed well into the Understanding zone as I never liked rote learning in my own school career, but I am somewhat concerned that the final analysis states that I do not focus on practical applications, which could be very challenging for my students and staff. When I assessed the learning styles of my coworkers, I was surprised to find an even split; some were significantly stronger auditory learners, while the others were significantly stronger visual learners. As a leader, I tend to deliver instructions and guidance primarily by verbal means, but now realize I will have to make a deliberate effort to provide more information in a visual format as well, including written information, charts and graphs if I want to maximize understanding for my staff.

I discovered additional compelling evidence that education is no longer primarily about procedural learning and recall; as Wiggins (2010) tells us, “The ultimate goal of education is to help students apply or ‘transfer’ what they learn to new and unfamiliar situations.” Discovering the importance of designing instruction to achieve understanding, and learning new methods to best assess student understanding, is an enduring highlight of this class. In order to assess understanding, performance-based assessment provides the best evidence that a student truly possesses internalized knowledge and can transfer it appropriately and accurately to solve a real-world problem they have not previously encountered. In the Kennedy Center online periodical, ArtsEdge, John Brown offers a vivid illustration of how we demonstrate this internalized knowledge transfer through real-world performance activities in his article titled “[|The Importance of Understanding]”. Brown states that “[When performing]… you can observe yourself engaged in a wide range of behaviors, including (1) actively applying what you were learning to authentic problems and real-world decisions; (2) interpreting your world using this internalized knowledge; (3) explaining your experiences in verbal and non-verbal forms so that others can relate to and understand them…” Based on my new knowledge, I will now champion utilizing Understanding by Design and Backward Design concepts to design instruction using technology to teach for understanding, using embedded performance-based assessment to assess understanding, and designing the assessments before any instructional activities are planned.

Finally, through the use of Schoology I created an online professional development course and gained hands-on experience with a modern Web-based online learning system combining the best features of social networking with the capabilities of a learning management system. Schoology was easy to learn and use, and development of the content and assessments, including configuring grading, due dates, etc., was very intuitive. I feel Schoology will serve as an ideal stepping stone to get teachers to try e-learning and e-portfolios, and to prepare them for more sophisticated systems such as TEA’s Project Share. References:

Wiggins, Grant (2010). //eArticle: Understanding by Design//. Retrieved April 23, 2010 from []

Brown, John L. The Importance of Understanding. //ArtsEdge: The Kennedy Center Online Periodical//. Retrieved April 23, 2010 from []

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