2
Krista Galyen
Leah Chuchran-Davis
Mary Helen Culbertson
Introduction
“Engineering is figuring out how to do what you want with what you’ve actually got.”
—John Carmack (2019)
John Carmack, a well-known engineer and video game programmer, stated that engineering was ultimately “figuring out how to do what you want with what you’ve actually got.” Instructional design and engineering have much in common when it comes to ways of thinking. They both involve encountering a series of design problems, and the way we think about and approach these problems is foundational in achieving exceptionality. Exceptional instructional design is ultimately grounded in a thorough and rich understanding of human learning and approached with sensitivity to and a deep understanding of context (e.g., humans, environments, tools, tasks). The instructional designer need not be focused on applying rigid “rules,” but instead should focus on how to think like an instructional designer while solving design problems. In the spirit of John Carmack’s quote, an instructional designer is, in essence, a type of educational engineer. This chapter, rather than merely walking through the aspects or outputs of quality instructional design, outlines how quality instructional design can be achieved by everyone, using six fundamental mindsets and approaches.
Fundamental 1: Make Design Decisions Using Three Lenses of Learning Innovation
Instructional designers blend foundational education theory, models, and frameworks with the reality and nuances of context to support optimal learning outcomes. Excellence emerges from well-applied theory and frameworks. A good way to represent this blending of theoretical conception and contextual application (how instructional designers make good design decisions) is through the “Three Lenses of Innovation” (Kelley & Kelley, 2013, p. 19) and what IDEO describes as “the intersection of design thinking.” This model is altered here (see Figure 1) to focus on learners, and by exchanging “desirability” for “learner-centered” (effective, pleasurable, meaningful experiences). There are three key lenses for great instructional design that also guide learning-design thinking and decision-making:
- Learner-centered: Focused on effective, pleasurable, and meaningful experiences for the learner;
- Feasible: Can be accomplished;
- Sustainable: Easy to maintain, support, and grow over time.
Figure 1. Three lenses of learning innovation for instructional design, modified from The Three Lenses of Innovation (Kelley & Kelley, 2013).
Learner-Centered
To be learner-centered is to design while focusing on fulfilling the learner’s needs and desired outcomes. In Seductive Interaction Design (2011), Stephen Anderson describes the “Learner Hierarchy of Needs” (see Figure 2). As in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943, 1954), the base of the pyramid is essential and must be present to successfully support the next level. Once an individual fulfills one level, they look to the nex