Instructional Design Models

Overview of the ADDIE Model: The ADDIE model is a step-by-step framework used to design effective learning experiences. It consists of five phases: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.

• Analysis is the foundation, where instructional designers identify the learning needs and gather data on the audience, context, and performance gaps.
• Design involves planning the learning experience by setting objectives, choosing instructional methods, and organizing content.
• Development is the construction phase, where designers create the actual materials and learning activities.
• Implementation is the delivery phase, where the instruction is rolled out to learners and facilitators are prepared.
• Evaluation assesses the effectiveness of the learning experience, both during the process (formative) and after it is delivered (summative).

Implications for Instructional Design: The ADDIE model provides a clear and structured path for designing instructional materials, helping designers stay focused and purposeful. Its iterative nature encourages continuous reflection and improvement, ensuring that learning experiences are tailored to the needs of the learners. It also ensures strong alignment between goals, content, and assessments.

Strengths and Limitations of the ADDIE Model (as applied to my minicourse): One strength of ADDIE is its structured approach, which supports thoughtful planning of each element of the minicourse. For example, if applied to my own minicourse design, I could use the Analysis phase to identify the need for integrating art and global education for young learners. During the Design phase, I could work toward aligning creative art prompts with specific SDGs to ensure each project meets clear learning outcomes. During the Design phase, I could create prompts that encourage students to use creative processes as a way to embody sustainable practices. These projects would emphasize experimentation and process over polished outcomes, guiding learners to explore how creativity itself can contribute to environmental sustainability.

The Development phase would be when I could produce downloadable guides, sample artworks, and optional video demonstrations to support student learning. These resources would be created with accessibility and engagement in mind, ensuring that students of all abilities can participate meaningfully.

The Implementation phase would provide students with access to the course through an online platform, complete with simple navigation, opportunities for asynchronous sharing, and weekly interactive reflection prompts. Parents or teachers could also support facilitation depending on the learning environment.

The Evaluation phase would lastly include both formative elements (such as peer feedback during class discussions or critique activities) and summative elements, including a final digital exhibition where students present one of their completed projects and write a short artist statement connecting their work to the SDGs.

It should be noted that ADDIE can be time-consuming, and its linear structure may feel restrictive for a creative course like mine. The flexibility of artistic exploration can be difficult to plan in detail during early phases. Additionally, rapid iterations may be needed, especially when testing which art techniques resonate best with students. Still, the Evaluation phase of ADDIE would allow for ongoing reflection and revision, which supports the evolving nature of creative learning.

Overall, ADDIE can help me stay grounded in a strong instructional framework while allowing space for adaptation. It will ensure that my minicourse maintains a balance between artistic freedom and structured learning goals, making it both impactful and manageable.

Overview of the Dick and Carey Model:

The Dick and Carey model is a systematic and learner-centered instructional design framework that emphasizes alignment between learning goals, instructional strategies, and assessment. It breaks the instructional process into ten interconnected steps:

• Identify Instructional Goals – Define what learners should achieve by the end of the course.
• Conduct Instructional Analysis – Determine the key skills and knowledge required to achieve the goal.
• Identify Entry Behaviors and Learner Characteristics – Analyze what learners already know and can do, and identify their motivations and preferences.
• Write Performance Objectives – Develop clear, measurable objectives that align with the instructional goals.
• Develop Assessment Instruments – Create tools to measure whether learners meet the performance objectives.
• Develop Instructional Strategy – Plan how instruction will be delivered, including sequencing, engagement methods, and content organization.
• Develop and Select Instructional Materials – Create or gather materials that support the strategy and learning goals.
• Design and Conduct Formative Evaluation – Test parts of the instruction with a sample audience and revise as needed.
• Revise Instruction – Make changes based on feedback from the formative evaluation.
• Conduct Summative Evaluation – Evaluate the overall effectiveness of the instruction once implemented.

Implications for Instructional Design

The Dick and Carey model encourages instructional designers to approach course creation holistically, aligning every step of the design process with clearly defined learning objectives. Its emphasis on detailed analysis before development ensures that instruction is responsive to learner needs, grounded in appropriate pedagogy, and measurable through targeted assessments. For designers, this model offers a blueprint that reduces ambiguity and supports intentional decision-making throughout the course development cycle.

Strengths and Limitations of the Dick and Carey Model (as applied to my minicourse)

For my minicourse—an online art course for high school EFL students exploring the SDGs—the Dick and Carey model offers valuable structure. Its clear alignment between objectives, strategies, and assessments is especially helpful in ensuring that learners understand both the artistic techniques and the sustainability concepts being introduced.

Strengths:

• Learner-Centered Focus: By analyzing learner characteristics early in the process, I can better support the needs of EFL students, such as by integrating visual instructions and contextual vocabulary support.
• Alignment: The model’s emphasis on aligning content, assessment, and objectives ensures that creative tasks (like poster design or digital collages) connect directly to specific sustainability themes and skills.
• Iterative Development: The formative evaluation step gives me a chance to gather feedback before fully implementing the course—important in a course that blends visual arts with global topics, which may not always be interpreted as intended.

Limitations:

• Time-Intensive: For a short-format minicourse, the full Dick and Carey process may be more extensive than necessary. For example, creating detailed assessments for each performance objective might take more time than the course’s scope realistically allows.
• Less Flexibility for Open-Ended Work: Because the model emphasizes measurable objectives, it may be challenging to accommodate the more open-ended and subjective nature of creative work. For example, assessing a student’s emotional interpretation of a sustainability theme through abstract art may not fit neatly into a rubric.

Despite these challenges, the Dick and Carey model provides a solid foundation for my course. By adapting the more structured steps (like goal analysis and assessment development) while allowing room for creative exploration, I can use this model to strengthen the clarity and intentionality of the learning experience without limiting artistic expression.

Overview of the UbD Model:

Understanding by Design (UbD) is a concept-driven instructional design framework developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. It is known for its backward design process, which begins by identifying the desired learning outcomes and then works in reverse to determine acceptable evidence and plan instructional activities. UbD encourages educators to prioritize deep understanding and the transfer of knowledge, moving beyond surface-level learning.

The UbD model is structured into three stages:

• Identify Desired Results – This stage begins with defining what students should know, understand, and be able to do by the end of the course. It includes articulating enduring understandings and essential questions to frame the unit.
• Determine Acceptable Evidence – In this stage, educators decide how to measure whether students have achieved the desired learning outcomes. This includes designing assessments such as performance tasks, projects, or reflections.
• Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction – The final stage involves developing instructional activities that align with the outcomes and assessments. The focus is on active, engaging, and authentic learning experiences that build toward the identified goals.

Implications for Instructional Design

UbD offers instructional designers a powerful framework for ensuring coherence across learning goals, assessments, and instructional plans. Its backward design model helps educators avoid designing activities in isolation by grounding all instructional decisions in clearly defined outcomes. By prompting instructors to ask, “What should students understand and be able to do?” first, UbD keeps the focus on purposeful, meaningful learning.

In practice, this approach fosters alignment throughout the design process and encourages the development of assessments that reflect real-world application, not just recall. UbD also promotes inclusivity by prioritizing transfer and understanding—outcomes that are accessible to learners from diverse backgrounds when supported through differentiated instructional strategies.

Strengths and Limitations of UbD (as applied to my minicourse)

For my online art minicourse focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UbD model offers both advantages and disadvantages:

Strengths:

• Backward Design Promotes Clarity: Starting with the desired learning outcomes ensures that each project or activity in the course serves a meaningful purpose. For example, if an enduring understanding is that “art can be used to communicate messages about global challenges,” each assignment is designed to reinforce that concept.
• Support for Deep Understanding: The emphasis on essential questions (e.g., “How can art inspire change?”) fosters reflective thinking and encourages students to draw connections between artistic technique and global themes.
• Alignment with Assessments: UbD’s focus on determining acceptable evidence ensures that student work (such as a final digital collage) is assessed according to clearly defined criteria related to both creative expression and conceptual understanding.

Limitations:

• Time and Planning Demands: UbD can be intensive to implement, particularly when creating rubrics or designing authentic assessments that evaluate both technical and conceptual dimensions of student work.
• Less Prescriptive for Delivery Methods: While UbD excels at guiding high-level planning, it provides limited guidance for how to deliver instruction—especially in asynchronous environments. This requires supplemental planning to ensure EFL learners can navigate the course independently.

Despite these limitations, UbD is a strong fit for my course. Its emphasis on meaningful learning, transfer, and alignment supports both the artistic and advocacy-oriented goals of the minicourse. With careful adaptation, the model helps ensure that learners engage deeply with the content and walk away with skills that extend beyond the classroom.

Overview of Rapid Instructional Design Approach:

Rapid Instructional Design (RID), often referred to as “Rapid eLearning” or “Rapid Prototyping,” is an agile approach to instructional design that emphasizes speed, efficiency, and adaptability. Unlike traditional models like ADDIE, which follow a linear sequence, RID is iterative and flexible, allowing for quick development and deployment of instructional materials. This approach is particularly useful in situations where timely training is critical, such as compliance updates, software training, or addressing immediate performance gaps.​

The typical stages of the Rapid Instructional Design approach include:​

• Analysis and Needs Assessment: Identify the critical learning needs, objectives, and characteristics of the target audience.
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• Design and Planning: Develop a high-level design plan that outlines content structure, delivery methods, and assessment strategies, focusing on simplicity and alignment with learning objectives.
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• Content Development: Quickly create engaging and relevant learning materials, leveraging existing resources and authoring tools to expedite the process.
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• Prototype and Testing: Develop a prototype of the instructional materials to gather feedback from learners and stakeholders, allowing for rapid adjustments.
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• Deployment and Iteration: Deploy the learning materials to the target audience and continuously collect feedback to refine and improve the content.
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• Evaluation and Maintenance: Assess the effectiveness of the learning materials and make ongoing updates to ensure they remain current and effective.

Implications for Instructional Design

The Rapid Instructional Design approach has several implications for instructional design:​

• Agility and Responsiveness: RID allows instructional designers to respond rapidly to changing needs and emerging requirements, making it ideal for dynamic learning environments.​

• Time-Efficiency: By streamlining the design process and reducing development time, RID enables the creation and delivery of learning solutions within shorter timeframes.​

• Leveraging Existing Resources: RID often involves repurposing existing materials, templates, and resources, which can lead to cost savings and faster development cycles.​

• Quick Iterative Feedback: The iterative nature of RID emphasizes collecting rapid feedback from learners and stakeholders, promoting continuous improvement of instructional materials.

   

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Strengths and Limitations (as applied to my minicourse)

In the context of my minicourse focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Rapid Instructional Design approach offers both advantages and disadvantages:​

Strengths:

• Efficiency: RID allows for the swift development of course materials, which is beneficial for timely topics related to the SDGs.​

• Flexibility: The approach is easily adaptable to different learner needs and contexts, enabling quick updates to content as global sustainability challenges evolve.​

• Cost-Effectiveness: By utilizing existing resources and templates, RID can reduce development costs, making it feasible to produce high-quality content with limited resources.​

Limitations:

• Depth of Learning: The accelerated development timeline may limit the depth and breadth of content coverage, potentially oversimplifying complex sustainability issues.​

• Engagement: The reliance on standardized templates may restrict the inclusion of highly interactive elements, which could affect learner engagement.​

• Assessment Challenges: Rapid design may prioritize content delivery over the development of robust assessment methods, potentially impacting the evaluation of learner understanding.​

Overview of the Successive Approximation Model (SAM)

The Successive Approximation Model (SAM) is an agile instructional design framework that organizes the design process into three overlapping, iterative phases.

• Preparation: Instructional designers, subject-matter experts, and stakeholders collaborate to define high‑priority learning objectives, analyze learner needs, and draft a concise project blueprint.
• Iterative Design: A rough “Alpha” prototype is rapidly developed—often focusing on core content and basic functionality—and reviewed with users and sponsors in multiple mini‑cycles, refining structure and strategy before investing in appearance.
• Iterative Development: The prototype evolves through “Beta” (expanded content and interactivity) and “Gold” (polished delivery with multimedia), with continuous testing and feedback, until the final solution is ready for full rollout.

Implications for Instructional Design

SAM’s cyclical approach shifts emphasis from exhaustive upfront planning to early prototyping and stakeholder engagement. By validating ideas with real users at each iteration, designers can quickly correct misaligned assumptions, prioritize essential features, and maintain flexibility as content or requirements change. This responsiveness reduces the risk of late‑stage rework and ensures the final learning experience remains closely tied to both learner needs and organizational goals.

Strengths and Limitations (as applied to my minicourse)

Strengths:

• Rapid Feedback Loops: Early zine mock‑ups and installation prototypes (e.g., energy displays) can be tested with students, ensuring clarity and relevance before full development.
• Flexibility: As sustainability topics evolve, modules can be adjusted on the fly without derailing the entire course.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Teachers, community partners, and student representatives can shape the design iteratively, boosting buy‑in.

Limitations:

• Resource Intensity: Frequent reviews and refinements of multimedia content (videos, interactive maps) require ongoing coordination and time.
• Scope Creep: Without strict iteration goals, community projects may expand beyond course constraints.
• Learning Curve: Applying agile principles may challenge team members accustomed to linear workflows.

Course Learning Outcomes vs. Learning Objectives

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) are broad, terminal statements that describe what learners should achieve by the end of an entire course. They guide the overarching design and set the destination for all learning activities and assessments.

Learning Objectives (often called enabling objectives) break these broad outcomes into specific, measurable steps that learners must accomplish in a particular module or week.

Examples of Course Learning Outcomes:

1. By the end of this course, learners will be able to design and curate a public art project that communicates a chosen Sustainable Development Goal.
2. By course completion, learners will demonstrate the ability to evaluate and critique artistic works based on sustainability criteria.

Examples of Learning Objectives:

1. By the end of Week 1, learners will identify three key elements of zine layout and apply proper hierarchy and contrast in a mock zine spread.
2. By the end of the renewable energy module, learners will explain the basic principles of photovoltaic technology and calculate the energy output of a small solar panel under standardized conditions.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy classifies cognitive skills into six hierarchical levels, from basic recall to creative synthesis:

1. Remembering: Recalling facts or terms (e.g., list the 17 SDGs).
2. Understanding: Explain how a community mapping project highlights gaps in green spaces and safe transit routes).
3. Applying: Using knowledge in new situations (e.g., demonstrate zine composition techniques to a new topic).
4. Analyzing: Breaking information into parts to explore relationships (e.g., compare different art-based sustainability case studies).
5. Evaluating: Making informed judgments based on criteria (e.g., critique an energy visualization installation for clarity and impact).
6. Creating: Combining elements to form a new whole (e.g., design an original art installation that addresses a local SDG challenge).

Signature Assignment – Instructional Design Document

For the final week of the Instructional Design Models course I created a full Instructional Design Document—a deliverable that demonstrates problem–solution alignment, measurable outcomes, activity-assessment mapping, and accessibility considerations for an SDG-focused high school art course. The document distills content and evaluation strategies explored over the past seven weeks into one cohesive plan.
You can read the complete version here: Instructional Design Document.