Reflection Paper Completing the final project was a very meticulous and arduous task. Along the way I had to make several decisions in relation what ID model would I utilize, the learning theories which would inform my choices, the motivational theories behind the decisions, and why did I choose a specific theory over the others. All in all having this eperience gave me a firsthand glimpse into the type of decisions that an Instructional Designer makes during the initial phase of creating an intervention to solve an eisting problem. !ne of the immediate things which struck me during the initial phases was how I gradually moved away from my natural teacher inclinations and started to think about the problem from a total different perspective" that is the perspective of an instructional designer. !ne lesson that I learned throughput the process was that despite my obvious eperience in writing objectives or drafting lessons, they would not ultimately determine the outcome of the project but that they laid the foundation on which I could draw upon those eperiences to better understand the reasons behind why I made the choices that I made.
I utilized #eller$s A%C& motivational theory to inform various activities within the project. 'he reason being that the theory outlines the four phases of the instructional instructional design process. (sing the four phases the participants would be easily engaged in the process rather than seeing it as another mundane activity they the y are re)uired to complete. Add that to the fact that the theory andragogy outlines that adults are intrinsically motivated to learn and they have a specific learning characteristic that make them distinct learners than adolescents. Adults like the challenge and will utilize their own knowledge and epertise to solve problem"based activities. (ltimately, this provides them with the opportunity to draw upon those eperiences and reflect upon how they can solve a new problem that eists in front of them. It will essentially make the training relevant. As #nowles states that adult learners must be informed of the reason *relevance+ of them learning a new skill and taking part in the training. As such, they gain their internal satisfaction knowing they had utilized their own epertise an d skills to add to a teaching" learning process as opposed to being told what to do.
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!n the spectrum of the theories of learning I am )uite fleible because I truly believe that the various learning theories offer educators a variety of perspectives to choo se from when they are planning lessons and activities. ith multiple options it gives them the autonomy to select a theory to inform a specific practice at a specific moment in time. -owever, I can be considered a cognitivist in the strictest sense. 'he reason behind supporting the theories of cognitivism is because of the instructional practice of Discovery earning. Discovery learning is derived from cognitivism"based learning. Discovery learning emphasizes understanding concepts or relationships. It is useful for higher levels of learning. Discovery learning is a t ype of inductive learning *&chunk, /001+. earners find regularities and relationships from studying specific eamples and learning materials. 'he teacher presents a set of instances and eamples in which learners can develop or formulate a rule or principle through discovery *Driscoll, /002+. In order to grasp the structure of information, learners must identify key principles through inductive reasoning rather than simply accepting the teacher $s eplanation. 'herefore, discovery learning is constructivist"based and is a transforming process in which learners are actively involved to find a rule or principle. In this type of learning, learners develop their minds by using insights and intuitions to go beyond the data and find relationships and organizing structures. 'here are several misunderstandings about discovery learning. 'he success of d iscovery learning does not depend on the learners$ capacity of self"in)uiry for completing a task, but o n the teachers$ teaching methods or strategies for learners to complete a learning task successfully. 'he teacher arranges activities in which the learner searches, manipulates, eplores, and investigates. 3urthermore, discovery learning is not independent learning. (ngu ided discovery learning activities prove unmanageable and unproductive *oolfolk, *oolfolk, /001+. 'herefore, successful discovery learning depends on the teacher$s capacity to provide appropriate eamples, effective learning eperiences, as well as practical evaluation capacities. In my case, what I have seen was that my task analysis, learning characteristics, and learning theories worked in tandem to ensure that the project was a success. 4ecause of o f the fact that the eisting problem was not treated as an instructional one made it easier for me to state
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able to apply the learning theory to address the specific learner characteristics for the participants in the training. Instructional design is truly a systematic process. !ne of my biggest takeaways from doing this project was realizing that I engaged in an entire systematic process to define a problem, and designing an instructional intervention without even mentioning the famed 5ADDI6 7!D68. %eality struck how as soon as I realized that instructional designing is far more comple and not even remotely based on the Addie concept. I truly appreciate gaining that key insight and also realize that that is one of the biggest misconception that a larger percentage of the population hold about the instructional design process. I am beginning to realize some of the challenges that Instructional Designers face in their daily task, having to prove to members of the team that you are a valuable component of the project and that our job description goes way beyond just developing, designing, analyzing, implementing, and evaluating instructions. As I move through this certificate program my aim is to learn as much as I can about the instructional design process as I aim to learn more about the instructional designer as an individual. 'he course has truly awakened in me a desire to become proficient not only in the language of instructional designing but also the knowledge, skills, and competencies it takes to become an effective instructional designer. designer. As As I move through the remaining courses I wish to also continue to develop professionally and u nderstand the finer intricacies behind the professional practices. hatever objectives objectives I had set form myself when initially signing up for the course have been surely met and eceeded. I came in knowing that I would be eposed to a new body of knowledge but I did not anticipate how drastically changed my perspective would be the more delve into the readings, discussions, and completing the re)uired project. 3inally, my hope and aim for the remainder of the program is to see how the various course can inform my further interest in curriculum design. I truly anticipate that the program will give me key insights in how I could c ould use the knowledge, skills, and epertise e pertise to engage in further studies.