Farrah Dina Yusop

The civic-minded instructional designers framework: An alternative approach to contemporary instructional designers' education in higher education

This paper argues that an emphasis on training-for-the-job approaches has distracted designers from thinking about the meaning of their profession and the grand purpose of practising instructional design. Drawing from literature in the fields of sociology and educational technology, this paper synthesises discourses on civic professionalism in instructional design and technology, and proposes a conceptual framework that highlights the roles and qualities of a civic-minded instructional designer. It is claimed that a critical discussion on civic professionalism in the field of educational technology can offer an alternative perspective on educating instructional designers, and have practical implications on instructional design and technology curricula in higher education.

On becoming a civic-minded instructional designer: An ethnographic study of an instructional design experience

This ethnographic study took place in a graduate course at a large research university in the Midwestern United States. It presents an in-depth examination of the experiences and challenges of a group of four students learning to be Instructional Design and Technology professionals who are concerned with the well-being of all members of a society, and wish to utilize their knowledge and skills to help solve social problems and improve people’s lives. Building on the results of previous research, findings indicate that the course, designed using the Civic-Minded Instructional Designers (CMID) framework, succeeded in enhancing students’ civic-minded agency, the group’s purposeful and reflective acts that aim at addressing the educational needs of community members. The course was designed to mimic a small, multiteam Instructional Design and Technology consulting company offering professional-level services free of charge. Community partners consisted of four real-world clients to whom students addressed an instructional issue. Data were collected from observations, focus groups, individual interviews with students and community partners, and analyses of course artifacts and students’ reflections. Students were found to diligently address community members’ needs, give voice to their community partners, address sustainability of their projects, be sensitive to their community partners’ perspectives and acknowledge their community partners as design partners. Challenges encountered include reconfiguring students’ roles and building trustful relationships with their community partners. This study contributes a deeper understanding of the roles of instructional design professionals within larger social contexts. Lessons learned can inform the implementation of the CMID framework in other educational programs.

Resistance towards wiki: implications for designing successful wiki-supported collaborative learning experiences

Wikis are online tools best used to support collaborative learning experiences of students. Not all students, however, are sufficiently comfortable in using wikis; some simply resist using them. Unfortunately, very little research has been devoted to exploring the issue of wiki resistance among higher-education learners. The authors argue that understanding factors contributing to wiki resistance is as important as understanding factors that promote its use, because such understanding supports better comprehension of the limitations of social-media technologies used in instruction. This paper thus presents a qualitative inquiry regarding the issue of resistance to using wikis among full-time undergraduate students. The participants were purposely selected because they evidenced the strongest resistance towards wikis compared to other participants who received wiki-based instruction from the same instructor. In-depth content analyses of 24 students’ written reflections, weekly wiki logs and edit history, three focus-group interviews, and weekly observations of students’ online activities were studied to gain deeper understanding. Two (2) categories of factors emerged from the findings: technical factors (slow Internet connection outside the classroom and user-friendliness aspects of wiki) and individual factors (anxiety in using new technology, mental perceptions, and lack of student commitment towards learning experiences) with the latter representing the strongest resistance factors. Limitations of the study are discussed, and recommendations for helping other instructors in designing successful wiki-supported environment in their own contexts are offered.

The Developmental Process of Managing Virtual Training for Teachers

 Abstract—This paper explores the developmental process of managing virtual training for 120 teachers from three different schools. Training sessions wereadministered in two phases: authentic environment andface-to-face virtual environment. Observation and content analysis were the two techniques employed in collecting the data. The outcome of the research was production of a system for managing virtual training for teachers. 

Improving the Quality of Contemporary Graduate Education: A Proposal for Nurturing Future Civic-Minded Professionals

Acquiring a postgraduate degree has become increasingly popular in today’s culture. Many factors generate interest in this career path, including the general perception of achieving higher income along with government support and encouragement offered through various types of financial assistance, support-of-study leave to pursue a graduate degree, and higher social status, just to mention a few. As a consequence, enrollment in graduate programs has increased over the past few years.

A Proposed Performance-Based System for Teacher Interactive Electronic Continuous Professional Development (TIE-CPD)

The paper introduces Teacher Interactive Electronic Continuous Professional Development (TIE-CPD), an online interactive training system. The framework and methodology of TIE-CPD are designed with functionalities comparable with existing e-training systems. The system design and development literature offers several methodology and framework examples. In the process of designing an e-training system, other system designs may be referenced to provide an overview of the framework and methodology for TIE-CPD. The proposed system are primarily intended to facilitate acceptance and use of electronic training environments for teachers across a broad range of nations. The main function of such a system is to provide a training system for teacher use in enhancing competency, professionalism, skill, and knowledge. A continuing development program based on this system can be interactively conducted online and accessed from anywhere. Thus, online training programs can be improved consistently and the cost in terms of both money and labor for such programs can be reduced.