LEARNING GUIDES Blueprint for Instructional Designers; Checklist for Learners
Below are learning guide artifacts for two modules within the course Common Assessments for Student Learning. The learning guides provide students a succinct checklist outlining the modules outcomes, resources, activities, self-assessment and evaluation. They also provide the instructional designer a purposeful blueprint for the course structure. Though the learning guides are written in outline form they contain specificity including web links, textbook pages numbers, and/or direction for supplemental materials necessary to participating within the modules activities as well as provide students expectations of learning upon the module’s completion. They have been purposefully color coded to align with the graphic syllabus and alignment chart; each module is designated a unique color to assist with associating materials with individual modules for clarity and organization.
Reflection: The learning guides were instrumental in delineating the module content and where it resides within the priority triangle framework suggested by Robin Smith (2008) in Conquering the Content. Content focus has remained on the largest segment, or highest priority, within the triangle as these components are necessary for the course. The resource gathering component, though time intensive, became the most valuable as the instructional designer because it not only began to bring the course together, it encouraged me to be reflective in evaluating the resource content and where it is placed within the priority triangle and its alignment with the objectives and assessments.
Triangle adapted from Smith, R.M. Conquering the Content. A Step-by-Step Guide to Online Course Design. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.