The Importance of Instructional Design

Creating effective learning material starts with instructional design. Instructional design is an important approach to learning and enhances students experiences in a structured, cogent method that maximizes information retained in a cost and time-effective way. This CPD article will take you through some of the core features and benefits of instructional design and what courses are available in this area to further develop your learning.

What is Instructional Design?

In simple terms, Instructional Design, also known as Instructional System Design (ISD), is the creation of learning experiences and materials in a manner that results in the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. Learning methods and experiences are designed, developed and delivered to learners, usually aimed towards meeting certain objectives.

Instructional learning methods often use a combination of technology, interactive activities and supporting resources and can include online courses, instructional manuals, video tutorials, learning simulations etc.

What is the main goal of Instructional Design?

While instructional design as a discipline has been around for decades, rapid shifts in technology and learning environments have accelerated the pace of change for this industry. The foundation for instructional design was laid during World War II when hundreds of thousands needed to be taught very specific tasks in a short amount of time. Individual aspects of these complex tasks were broken down, so soldiers could better understand and comprehend each step of the process. 

This approach was later taken and built upon leading to the development of instructional design, a field of study that combines education, psychology and communications to create the most effective teaching plans for specific groups of students. The main goal of instructional design is that it ensures that learners receive instructions in a form that is effective and meaningful to them, helping them to better understand the topics and concepts being taught.

How can Instructional Design concepts improve my online course structure?

Instructional Designers work to collect, process, and analyze data about employee learning goals, organisational objectives, and previous training with the aim of ensuring that they are teaching efficiently and generating an impact. If you’re new to eLearning as an effective tool and method of learning, then understanding and following instructional design best practices from the beginning is crucial to your success.

An online course structure will benefit from having focused and customized steps to its curriculum structure. These materials will then be able to address the specific needs of educators and also safeguard against training materials being created for business problems, which are better served with non-training solutions. You should be able to combine essential elements of instructional design, the curriculum life cycle, effective assessment tools and the creation of design documents, storyboards and prototypes.

Good instructional design is cost effective, as it ensures individuals learn efficiently by creating high quality learning that takes into account the needs, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of students. The main goal of this approach is to create lesson plans intended to improve engagement and encourage active learning, so that students are more likely to achieve their personal and professional goals.

Instructional Design examples in learning

Although you are free to use any concept you wish and can even create your own, a foundational core and example of instructional design which could be of use is Malcolm Knowles’s six principles of adult learning. These principals are outlined below and include:

• Self-concept. Adult learners have a self-concept. This means that they are autonomous, independent, and self-directed.
• Learning from Experience. Experience as a rich resource of learning. Adults learn from their previous experiences. Thus, it is a good repository for learning.
• Readiness to Learn. Adults tend to gravitate towards learning matters that matter to them. Their readiness to learn things is highly correlated with their relative uses.
• Immediate Applications. The orientation of adult learning is for immediate applications rather than future uses. The learning orientation of adults tends to be primarily task-oriented, life-focused, and problem-centric.
• Internally Motivated. Adults are more motivated by internal personal factors rather than external pressures.
• Need to Know. Adult learners have the need to know the value of what they are learning and know the why’s behind the need to learn them.

Where to find Instructional Design CPD courses in this area?

The CPD Certification Service recognises the impact of instructional design by hosting a number of our member’s courses in this area, all of which can be found within our CPD Courses Catalogue. If you would like to find out more about a particular CPD course listed on our website, you can complete an enquiry form that will be sent directly to the relevant CPD provider.

More CPD articles for structuring a training course

• Step by step tips on how to create a successful online training course (read here)
• How to structure a CPD training course (read here)

How to become a CPD accredited training provider

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.