A Model of Expert Instructional Design Heuristics Incorporating Design Thinking Methods

Abstract

Novice instructional designers have limited experience working with ill-structured problems, and often do not possess the mental models to effectively analyze, manage, and communicate the overall design process of new instructional design projects (Wedman and Tessmer, 1993; Rowland, 1992; Perez and Emery, 1995; Liu, Gibby, Quiros, and Demps, 2002). In their 2016 article of expert instructional design principles applied by experienced designers in practice, York and Ertmer proposed the following questions for future research, "(a) Can we teach principles to novice instructional designers? (b) What methods should we use to provide this information?" (York and Ertmer, 2016, p. 189). This research further explored these questions and offers a new model of expert instructional design heuristics incorporating design thinking methods. The purpose of this study was to identify design thinking methods that aligned with heuristics of expert instructional design practitioners, and to design and develop a new model of heuristics and design thinking methods, which could assist novice instructional designers as they enter the instructional design field. The literature outlines challenges reported among novice instructional designers throughout the instructional design process, which includes their ability to solve ill-structured problems; conduct thorough analyses; collaborate in teams; negotiate priorities; generate a variety of ideas for solutions; overcome resource, budget and time constraints; communicate and manage projects with stakeholders; and prototype, iterate and pilot new design solutions (Rowland, 1992; Hoard, Stefaniak, Baaki, and Draper, 2019; Roytek, 2010; Liu, Gibby, Quiros, and Demps, 2002; Chang and Kuwata, 2020; Tracey and Boling, 2014; Perez and Emery, 1995; Williams van Rooij, 1993). The model offers novice instructional designers specific methods and combinations of methods to use for every stage of the instructional design process. As instructional designers implement design thinking methods within the context of their daily situations, they should become more comfortable and begin to adapt the methods to meet their individual needs for each stage of their process.