Elizabeth Boling

Instructional Illustrations: Intended Meanings and Learner Interpretations

Abstract Instructional illustrations are widely used in textbooks and have been shown to have the potential to aid learning. However, illustrations that are not understood as their designers intend them to he may waste resources at best and interfere with learning at worst. Learners may recognize images but not understand illustrations when their meanings arc extended by the use of graphical devices. This study examines the interpretations made by 471 participants from 2 countries, 3“’ grade through adult, of simple instructional illustrations. The extent to which their interpretations match the intended meanings of the illustration designers and the characteristics oj their responses are reported.

Instructional Design Models

Design has become increasingly important in a number of technology-related fields. Even the business world is now seen as primarily a designed venue, where better design principles often equate to increased revenue (Baldwin and Clark, Design rules, Vol. 1: The power of modularity, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2000; Clark et al., Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 3:729–771, 1987; Martin, The design of business: Why design thinking is the next competitive advantage. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2009). Research on the design process has increased proportionally, and within the field of instructional design (ID) this research has tended to focus almost exclusively on the use of design models. This chapter examines the emergence of the standard design model in ID, its proliferation, its wide dissemination, and a narrowing of focus which has occurred over time. Parallel and divergent developments in design research outside the field are considered in terms of what might be learned from them. The recommendation is that instructional designers should seek more robust and searching descriptions of design with an eye to advancing how we think about it and therefore how we pursue design (Gibbons and Yanchar, Educ Technol 50(4):16–26, 2010).

Preparing Instructional Designers: Traditional and Emerging Perspectives

While official definitions and textbooks in the field reflect a conception of design in which little has changed in decades, there has been a growing awareness since the early 1990s that broader conceptions of design could benefit practice in instructional design. Preparations of instructional designers in college programs traditionally include the use of instructional design models and processes incorporating project work. Approaches based on studio design are recently emerging in some programs. Research on design practice and the effectiveness of design pedagogies in the field are called for.

Critical Issues in Studio Pedagogy: Beyond the Mystique and Down to Business

In a 7-year study of a studio-based instructional graphics course, the authors describe its evolution from a lecture-heavy course including some studio features to a course that has much in common with traditional studio classes as we experienced them in our own architecture and fine arts education. This multi-year experience has raised questions for us regarding the way we work with students to develop their expertise in design, including the following: (1) What is “the novice”? Can we teach to the general model of a novice? (2) Is it necessary to ask students to generate many alternative concepts early in a project? (3) Can we separate tool learning from learning concepts and habits of thought? Using examples from reflective analysis of student work and field notes, we discuss experiences suggesting that assumptions brought to this course from studio experiences deserve reconsideration. At a time when discussions of design and design thinking are exploding around us with widely varying commitment to specificity and rigor, we conclude that we cannot borrow ideas like studio pedagogy from other disciplines without sufficient critical examination. We need to pay careful attention to what is actually happening in our courses rather than designing solely from theory or, worse, from our assumptions regarding studio education.

Evaluation of knowledge management systems: Insights from the study of a technical support knowledge base

While many organizations today are investing in knowledge management (KM) systems, they often have difficulty measuring value. This may be partially attributed to the fact that some benefits are intangible and various organizational stakeholder groups evaluate success differently. Rather than suggesting a whole new perspective is required, we believe that the evaluation of KM systems sits well within current paradigms.Our study is set in the context of an online technical support knowledge base (KB). The purpose of this paper is to not specifically evaluate the KB, but rather to provide a deeper understanding of evaluation practices. Using an action research method, we examine the areas of evaluation of most interest to various stakeholders, when and why approaches are deployed, and what techniques are most practical relative to organizational constraints and culture. We offer several insights and themes that may guide and assist organizations and practitioners as they undertake evaluation efforts.

An approach for designing composite metaphors for user interfaces

A composite-metaphor interface is a computer interface consisting of a combination of two or more metaphors. As computer systems have become more sophisticated, researchers have proposed the use of multiple metaphors to design computer systems because they would better match the characteristics of complex target systems; however, due to the difficulty of designing interface metaphors and limited research in this area, there are few guidelines or accepted standards for generating and implementing composite metaphors for interface design. In this paper, the authors propose an approach for designing composite metaphors. We first present the metaphor design strategies as we interviewed eight game designers, then summarise the design considerations from the metaphor literatures. Finally, we propose the design approach for selecting and combining metaphors in designing composite-metaphor interfaces.

Designerly Tools, Sketching, and Instructional Designers and the Guarantors of Design

Sketching can be a means to visualize learning objects and experiences differently than is possible in text-based representations. In particular, the experiential qualities of designed experiences can be explored using sketching as a tool and may not be accessible to designers via other means. If designers are to assume appropriate responsibility for our designs, to be the guarantors of design, our toolkit must expand. Examples are given of the ways in which sketching, as a flexible skill, may be used to represent designs for learning, together with discussion of how instructional designers would need to be able to think about these sketches in order to use them as tools.

Instructional Designer's Intentions and Learners' Perceptions of the Instructional Functions of Visuals in an e-Learning Context

Abstract The purpose of this study is to compare an instructional designer’s intentions with the learners’ perceptions of the instructional functions of visuals in one specific e-learning lesson. An instructional designer created each visual with more than two purposes related to the psychological, cognitive, and affective aspects of learning. Contrary to a deterministic view of visual design, learners perceived the instructional functions of visuals in various ways. Designer’s intentions and learners’ perceptions were analyzed to be congruent for four visuals out of eight. Specific instructional designer’s intentions and learners’ perceptions of instructional functions of visuals are described.

Development of Design Judgment in Instructional Design: Perspectives from Instructors, Students, and Instructional Designers

This chapter covers the findings of an exploratory qualitative study that investigates understanding of design judgment as part of design character in the instructional design (ID) field and how ID instructors address and value development of design judgment in their students. This study represents an empirical exploration of ideas that are beginning to be acknowledged as critical, both in the field of ID and in multiple design fields where design-based research is practiced and design theory is therefore growing in relevance. The study data were collected through semi-structured interviews with ID instructors, students, and professionals. The findings suggest that even though it is not a commonly used construct in ID, design judgment is a critical ID competency that should be developed early on in novice designers. The five major ways in which instructors address development of design judgment are also discussed in this chapter.

Relative Perceptibility of Hypercard Buttons Using Pictorial Symbols and Text Labels

The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate the comparative perceptibility of hypertext navigation buttons in three configurations: buttons with both pictorial symbols and text labels, with text labels only, and with pictorial symbols only. An instructional HyperCard stack was created in three versions, each differing only in the type of buttons used. Subjects were given typical situated tasks which required them to interpret navigational functions of various buttons. Findings indicated that buttons with both pictorial symbols and text labels resulted in significantly less user confusion than did buttons with pictorial symbols only. Buttons with text labels only also produced significantly less confusion, compared to those with pictorial symbols only. These findings have practical implications for hypertext designers. Many extant stacks typically use buttons with pictorial symbols only, which may create user confusion during stack navigation.