The Quintessential Question Model

Welcome to Part One (1) of the Two (2) part blog post on the glorious ADDIE Model.

The Addie Model may be one of the most recognized Instructional Design Models . While books, articles, and journals may boast about its ease of use, ultimately the Addie Model is the question model. When a designer sits down to prepare for the design of a course, questions float around her/his head on what the learners need and want. From those first two thought bubbles, a thousand bubbles begin to off shoot. How can a designer stay on track within budget and fulfill the learner? Start answering those questions by using the ADDIE Model!

ADDIE Model I

Using the ADDIE Model allows me to organize the questions into feasible parts. By organizing all of my concerns and doubts into the five part process I allow myself the opportunity to address each question and concern. The five parts make up the acronym Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation...ADDIE. The model is circular in nature, which means you can begin at any portion and cycle through. You can also continue the process once the course is built to continue answering those pesky questions and concerns that will inevitably pop up.

Analysis

What kinds of questions can I put under the analysis portion of the model? Think large, bold, topical questions, such as...What is the instructional goal? What is the main objective? Who is my audience? What resources are required? Is the budget large enough to accommodate those requirements? All of the overarching main questions will fall under the analysis portion.

I let my A-Type personality take flight during this phase. The more detailed and specific I can be, the better my ability to build a course that stays on task. I have to remind myself repeatedly to stick to the Instructional Goals/Objectives throughout the rest of the design, so for me it is incredibly important to chisel those objectives into intricately detailed Instructional Goals. Need a better understanding of how to build those goals? Follow the link to this incredibly helpful video.

Design

What kind of media will I include? What subject, content, layout, etc., will I incorporate? Anything and everything to do with the format needs under the design portion of the model. This is the best time to start your Storyboards. Using a simple format, such as Powerpoint or Canva, can start to bring your concepts to life. You can play with color schemes, formats, media, strategies, and many of the other concerns you will have about your design. This portion of the design tends to bleed into development, for me.

Development

Does this particular media support the learning objectives I created in the analysis portion? Are these simulations complete and necessary for the learner to engage in all the steps needed to gain the particular knowledge I aimed for? For myself, this is the roughest and longest part of the course building. Making what I envision come to life all the while ensuring I am not going off topic or off the rails.This is also the part where I begin comparing what I am building to what already exists out in the instructional design world. I know it is the norm in Hollywood to reboot, re-make and re-do what has already been done, but in this arena, I am designing to fulfill a need or a particular want of a client or a group of learners and their needs not be any duplicates. I also start pilot testing my designs to see if they are functional.

Implementation

The questions here are coming from not only yourself, but the people chosen to interact with your design, the clients and anyone you were able to persuade into taking a look at your design. What I imagined was feasible, may not work for the learners. The client may feel that some of the steps are redundant and a waste of their employees' time. The translation of your design may not be what you aimed for; tweaks, re-imaginings and cuts will be made. Remember, we design for the learner, not for ourselves.

I like to include a varying array of participants. If my course is meant for High School aged kids, then the main bulk of participants should probably be those kids, but I also want to engage with teachers, administrators, my neighbor and anyone else I can get to sit down and take a look. Take their feedback and make your design even better!

I usually take a look at the formative evaluations here as well. This is to ensure I have satisfied the analysis portion. I need to know if I have accomplished supporting the learning objectives for each part of the design.

Evaluation

ADDIE Model 2

The two main evaluations we use are formative and summative. Formative refers to a continual progression of learning through a particular objective. Think quizzes, projects, group work, etc. Formative assessments are conducted throughout the course. Summative is the over all sum of learned processes. Think midterms and finals or final projects where many of the learning objectives are covered in one project or test. Still confused? There are many different strategies one could use to create and use assessments. Judith Dodge teamed up with Scholastic Books to create a useful guide to assessments, titled 25 Quick Formative Assessments for a Differentiated Classroom.

Take the feedback and learn. Did the learners engage with the information presented, learn the information, apply the information, etc.? If the answer is no, then you have your work cut out for you. Revisit the other parts of the model and see what went wrong. I would start with the Analysis and re-examine the set Instructional Goals. If the answer is maybe or kind of, then find what knowledge did not transfer and work it out.

Remember, the evaluation stage is not the last portion of this process. The ADDIE Model is cyclical in nature. If at some point the evaluation portion is not transferring as it should or once did, it is time to re-evaluate your course and methods. Take a look at that storyboard again and see if information needs to be updated or if new methods are showing promise and can be incorporated.

Citations:

Dodge, J., & Duarte, B. E. (2017). 25 quick formative assessments for a differentiated classroom. New York: Scholastic.

Gardner, J. C. (2011, September 25). The ADDIE Analysis Phase. Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZdv5lrJs4U