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INSYS 415 Systematic Instructional Development (3): Preparation in the use of a nine-step model for systematically analyzing instructional problems and developing validated, practical solutions.
Overview
INSYS 415b is a basic course on the process of Instructional Design. It is a core course in the Masters in Educational Technology online masters program but will also be of great interest to adult educators, those in higher education and anyone who wants to create good learning environments. This course is tailor-made for the classroom teacher and prepares you to use a systemic approach to the creation of instructional materials for your classroom. Generally the course serves k-12 teachers, but in some cases we’ve had others join us and the discussion is all the richer for their participation. This course will help you gain a facile ability to apply a simple model of instructional design to the creation of your materials.
You will focus on ONE HOUR of instruction throughout the course. And while it is not realistic to expect you to do this level of preparation for every hour of instruction in a classroom setting, the course hopes to give you tools that will allow you to apply these ideas everyday in your classroom.
Because of the specific targeted nature of this course, it does not prepare you to be an instructional designer more broadly than your classroom (that is to design training materials in corporate or higher education settings for example). Therefore, this online version of INSYS 415 will not transfer into the residential masters program in Instructional Systems.
INSYS 415 is broken down into 10 modules, which are all located within our password protected course Web site. This course is a Paced course, meaning that you will participate in learning communities in real time during the semester. There are regular dates for assignments, and a fixed start and end date (asynchronous courses by contrast allow you to enter and exit whenever you wish, studying independently and completing whenever you have mastered the materials). In this course, we will have interactive sessions where you will communicate with others in the class. The course is 10 weeks.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of INSYS 415, you will be able to:
- Define instructional design and relate it to curriculum development and other similar activities you have engaged in during your career as a teacher.
- Apply a systematic process for creating new instructional materials.
- Critically analyze the systematic process and compare it to other possible processes (e.g. constructivism, user-design).
Several critically important points about this course.
- The course is set up for k-12 teachers. While it is possible to take the course if you teach at another level (higher ed) or you work as an instructional designer and have students who are not k-12 learners, such as in an adult education setting, please know that this course has not been designed for you. You'll have to make some significant connections on your own. In general I discourage those who are not k-12 teachers from taking this section of the course, it is also offered face-to-face on campus if that's a possibility for you. If you decide to take the course and are not a classroom teacher, you need to do several things:
- Review needs assessment/analysis procedures, check Allison Rossett's Training Needs Assessment as a start;
- Be prpared to find students, texts and other supports as if you were in a classroom in order to complete assignments, and
- Make the translation into your own context from the materials presented knowing that they are aimed at a k-12 audience.
- The course takes an average of 10 hours per week as reported by former students. Recall that graduate level online courses are supposed to take between 12-15 hours of work per week. Some weeks are heavier than others, but we try to keep the requirements as reasonable as possible.
- The course expects you to have ACCESS to learners and textbooks for assignments. Please be sure that if learners and texts are not easily accessible to you (particularly if you're taking this in the summer session) that you prepare in advance for this requirement in the course. You are welcome to use similar students from your neighborhood or family if that works for you.
- I use email through the traditional PSU system, please note that you need to send to aac3@psu.edu when sending files. Also note that while my ANGEL account is forwarded to this address, yours may not be and so I may be responding to your regular PSU
- Please DO NOT upload assignments into the drop box, we will use Google Docs to house the assignments. The link to the document in Google Docs will be pasted into the appropriate drop box. Instructions for using Google Docs can be found in the Introductory Lesson.
Required Course Materials
The following materials are required and must be purchased from MBS Direct:
- Carr-Chellman, A.A. (2010) Instructional Design for Teachers. Routledge.
Library Resources
Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can
- access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
- borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
- get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
- much more.
You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and service. The Off-Campus Users page has additional information about these free services.
Technical Specifications
| Operating System | Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8*; Mac OS X 10.5 or higher *Windows 8 support excludes the tablet only RT version |
|---|---|
| Processor | 2 GHz or higher |
| Memory | 1 GB of RAM |
| Hard Drive Space | 20 GB free disk space |
| Browser | We recommend the latest ANGEL-supported version of Firefox or
Internet Explorer. To determine if your browser fits this criterion,
and for advice on downloading a supported version,
please refer to the following ITS knowledge base article: Supported Browsers and Recommended Computers.
Note: Cookies, Java, and JavaScript must be enabled. Pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows from Penn State websites. Due to nonstandard handling of CSS, JavaScript and caching, older versions of Internet Explorer (such as IE 6 or earlier) do not work with our courses. |
| Plug-ins | Adobe Reader [Download from Adobe]
Flash Player (v7.0 or later) [Download from Adobe] |
| Additional Software | Microsoft Office (2007 or later) |
| Internet Connection | Broadband (cable or DSL) connection required |
| Printer | Access to graphics-capable printer |
| DVD-ROM | Required |
| Sound Card, Microphone, and Speakers | Required |
| Monitor | Capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution |
If you need technical assistance at any point during the course, please contact the Service Desk.
For registration, advising, disability services, help with materials, exams, general problem solving, visit World Campus Student Services!
Course Schedule
[Printer Friendly Version]| Module | Readings | Assignments and Activities |
| Module 01: Getting Started and Learning What ID4T Is |
Read Foreword and Chapter 1 of ID4T (text) Web links to explore:
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Participate in the Class Introductions discussion forum by telling us about who you are. It is important that we establish some early community in the learning group, so be sure to share some information about why you're interested in ID and what you do currently. |
| Module 02: First Steps: Goals and Objectives | Read Chapter 2 of ID4T sections on goals and objectives. |
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| Module 03: Analyzing Student Characteristics and Testing | Read Chapter 2 of ID4T sections on learner characteristics and tests. |
In Google Docs, complete a student characteristic analysis, to include instruments administered with your students, and their results, and your final test items and discussion of test alignment. Paste the link to the document in the dropbox entitled "Learner Characteristics and Tests Discussion." |
| Module 04: Selecting Materials and Developing Activities | Read Chapter 2 of ID4T sections on texts and activities. |
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| Module 05: Selecting Media and Implementation | Read Chapter 2 of ID4T sections on media selection and implementation. |
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| Module 06: Revising Instruction | Read Chapter 2 of ID4T sections on evaluation and revising instruction. |
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| Module 07: Putting It All Together! | Read Chapter 3 of ID4T. |
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| Module 08: Using ID4T in Constructivist, User-Design, and Inquiry Classrooms | Read Chapters 4, 5 and 6 of ID4T. |
Participate in the discussion focused on student-centered activities within the discussion forum entitled Student-Centered Alternatives. |
| Module 09: Using ID4T in Standards-Based Classrooms | Read Chapter 7 of ID4T. | Participate in the discussion focused on Standards-Based Classrooms. |
| Module 10: Obstacles and Promises | Read Chapter 8 of ID4T. | Complete the end of course survey. |
Note: If you are planning to graduate this semester, please communicate your intent to graduate to your instructor. This will alert your instructor to the need to submit your final grade in time to meet the published graduation deadlines. For more information about graduation policies and deadlines, please refer to Graduation at the Chaiken Center for Student Success. return to top of page
Course Requirements
You will be asked to follow the text to create some new, original instructional material. There will be several steps along the way and you will need to complete several substeps which will make up the final material development package which will constitute the majority (30%) of your course grade. For full credit, all assignments must be completed on time and in accordance with University policies on academic integrity (honesty). See the Course Policies section below for further information. In addition, student work must show significant creativity, fidelity to the model, appropriateness, and higher order thinking. Not all submissions will automatically earn the full points. Exceptional work will earn exceptional recognition.
A note about FEEDBACK: This course is built on a systems perspective which means that each piece of your project will be based on the previous step and will contribute to the next step; it's all interconnected. In some cases we will suggest you need to change something before you move on. We expect you to do that work on your own. You will be given ONE set of feedback (from me and any assistant helping with the course) based on your graded submission. Unfortunately because of the volume of work involved with so many individual projects, we cannot give you feedback on subsequent revisions. The only way we've been able to figure to change this problem is to allow you to work in teams on team projects, but we have gotten feedback from the students in previous sections of this course that they prefer to work on their own project which can be applied to their personal work context. It's a tradeoff and we think it's the right tradeoff, to give you a little less feedback, but the opportunity to work on your own project of your own interest. Please be respectful of this boundary and do not ask us to review another revision of your project, goals, objectives or other assignments unless WE INVITE you to do so.
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Graded Assignments
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Criteria
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Points
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Instructional Goal (module 2)
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Clarity, fidelity to model |
100
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Behavioral Objectives (module 2)
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Systemic nature, clarity, fidelity to model |
100
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Final Tests (module 3)
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Accurate application, clarity, systemic nature, innovativeness/creativity |
100
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Instructional Activity (module 4)
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Systemic nature, fidelity to model, clarity, creativity, comprehensive plan, excellent writing |
100
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Media Selection (module 5) |
Systemic nature, fidelity to model, clarity, comprehensiveness, creativity, innovation (extra credit for designed materials and possible 50 points) |
100
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Final project (module 7)
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Creativity, fidelity to model, systemic connections, higher order thinking evident, clarity of writing, presentation, responsive to feedback |
300
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Class participation
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Contributions are substantive vs. social, feedback offered to others’ design documents a minimum of three times, responsible behavior throughout class |
200
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TOTAL
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1000
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Grading
The World Campus follows the same grading system as the Penn State resident program. The grades of A, B, C, D, and F indicate the following qualities of academic performance:
A = (Excellent) Indicates exceptional achievement
B = (Good) Indicates extensive achievement
C = (Satisfactory) Indicates acceptable achievement
D = (Poor) Indicates only minimal achievement
F = (Failure) Indicates inadequate achievement necessitating a repetition of the course in order to secure credit
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Grade
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Points Range
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A
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940-1000
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A-
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900-939
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B+
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870-899
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B
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840-869
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B-
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800-839
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C+
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760-799
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C
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700-759
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D
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600-699
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F
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0-599
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Please refer to the University Registrar's information about University grading policies.
If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.
For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.
Academic Integrity
According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity (for undergraduate students in undergraduate courses) and policy GCAC-805 Academic Integrity (for graduate students and undergraduate students in graduate courses), an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.
Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity or GCAC-805 Academic Integrity as appropriate). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.
How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and personal
integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and property; and help
create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the
fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is
requisite to respect for oneself and others, as well as a civil community.
In cases where academic integrity is questioned, procedures allow a student to accept or contest/appeal the allegation. If a student chooses to contest/appeal the allegation, the case will then be managed by the respective school, college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. Review procedures may vary by college, campus, or school, but all follow the aforementioned policies.
All academic integrity violations are referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response, which may assign an educational intervention and/or apply a Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, or Expulsion.
Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page.
Accommodating Disabilities
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities, including World Campus. The Disabilities and Accommodations section of the Chaiken Center for Student Success website provides World Campus students with information regarding how to request accommodations, documentation guidelines and eligibility, and appeals and complaints. For additional information, please visit the University's Student Disability Resources website.
In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
Students with disabilities participating in internship, practicum, student teaching, or other experiential learning opportunities as part of their degree requirements may also be eligible for reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access and opportunity. These accommodations are determined through an interactive process involving the student, their University supervisor, and the site supervisor. Student Disability Resources can assist students with identifying potential barriers, facilitating accommodation requests, and coordinating with University supervisors to promote inclusive learning experiences.
Additional Policies
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.
In order to protect your privacy, course access is limited to those individuals who have direct responsibility for the quality of your educational experience. In addition to the instructor, a teaching assistant or college administrator may be provided access in order to ensure optimal faculty availability and access. World Campus technical staff may also be given access in order to resolve technical support issues.
The information contained on this page is designed to give students a representative example of material covered in the course. Any information related to course assignments, dates, or course materials is illustrative only. For a definitive list of materials, please check the online catalog 3-4 weeks before the course start date.