Instructional Design and Development

ADDIE stands for Analysis, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. The ADDIE model is a fairly generic process commonly used by instructional designers and training developers to design learning initiatives. It was designed in the 1970s for the US army, many tools that have migrated into the business world. It is one of the earliest and most popular instructional design models around. It’s popular in part because it provides a clear set of steps that anyone can follow when looking to develop learning programs. Each phase of the model offers an opportunity for iterations and changes before moving to the next one. Here is a brief description of each step of the ADDIE process:

Analysis — Why is the training needed? The instructional designers (IDs) answer this question after exhaustively collecting information and profiling target learners, and understanding the needs, expectations, and resources of the organization. Analysis drives design and the development process.

Design —In this phase, IDs select the instructional strategy to follow, break tasks down into steps, write objectives, and choose appropriate media and delivery methods.

Development — IDs utilize agreed expectations from the Design phase to develop the course materials.

Implementation — The course is released, rolled-out, or delivered to the facilitators and/or learners, and its impact is monitored.

Evaluation — Is the course providing the expected results? IDs collaborate with the client and evaluate the impact of the course based on learner feedback, surveys, and analytics such as formative and summative evaluations.

The SAM, or Successive-Approximation Model, is very similar to the ADDIE model, but there are important differences. Whereas the ADDIE Model is linear and must be followed from beginning to end before changes can be made, this model is recursive, and allows for feedback and adaptation at any stage of the design and development stages as changes or problems arise. Clients don't have to wait until the entire project is done, and the project is well-tested before the final product is produced.

Preparation: Gathering all information about the project. Who is the audience? What training style should be used? Who needs which skills? What are the education goals? What steps are needed to reach those goals? Are there Subject-Matter experts (SME's) you can talk to?

Iterative Design phase: The goal of this phase is to design, develop, and prototype the training product. Savvy Start refers to brainstorming and collaboration among all invested parties.

Iterative Development phase: Beta versions of the final product are implemented and evaluated on their effectiveness and efficiency. Any needed corrections are made either at this phase, or back to the iterative design phase if necessary.

The ARCS model, was designed to increase student motivation and participation. The shared attributes of the different motivational concepts constitute the acronym ARCS, attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction, representing Keller’s four categories of learner motivation (Keller, 2016). The ARCS model describes strategies for stimulating and sustaining motivation in each of the four categories as well as a systematic process of motivational design.

Attention: Getting student’s attention is one of the most important pieces to increasing student’s motivation to learn. You cannot teach them anything if they are not engaged with the content being taught.

Relevance: Students must feel like the content is relevant to their lives. This is important to help the students create a bridge between what they already know and what they are learning.

Confidence: Students must feel confident in their learning. If they experience success with the content and applying their new knowledge, they are more apt to be motivated to learn.

Satisfaction: Students feel satisfaction through applying the new skills they have learned. This satisfaction can also come from feedback and rewards they achieve from using the new knowledge they have acquired.