Instructional Design (Cross-Continuing Education)

Author: Sheng Qunli
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-26
Features: "Teaching Design Principles," one of the "Contemporary Psychological Science Masterpiece Translation Series," is a prime example of the integration of contemporary psychology and school education. From a teaching perspective, it provides a macro framework for the entire principles of teaching design and delves into each stage of the design process, offering teachers many valuable suggestions. The main authors of "Teaching Design Principles," Gagné and Briggs, were representative figures of cognitive instructional design theory in the 1970s. Gagné integrated cognitive theory into his teaching design philosophy, becoming a key figure in cognitive instructional design theory. In the book, Gagné and Briggs argue that teaching design should meet several prerequisites or fundamental assumptions: First, it must be designed for the individual, a concept that aligns perfectly with Confucius's idea of "teaching according to aptitude." In their view, emphasizing individual differences is essential to achieving the effectiveness and goals of education. This provides a theoretical guarantee for transforming passive learning under teacher control into personalized, autonomous learning. Second, the design should include both short-term and long-term phases. This emphasizes that teaching design is not just about thinking and implementing a specific teaching process but exists as a system. Education is an enterprise with transcendent characteristics. While it is certainly a synthesis of educational thought, behavior, and related factors within a specific social form, education cannot merely be a byproduct of that social form. The goals and outcomes of education must still adhere to its own laws. While maintaining the smooth operation of society, education must also challenge existing social orders, allowing society to develop possibilities through a dual movement of affirmation and negation. Thus, teaching design is essentially a crucial step in determining whether educational goals can be achieved. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the immediate design and future design of teaching are integrated. Third, the design should substantially influence individual development. Teaching design does not treat students as a homogeneous group of passive knowledge recipients but, instead, creates a fair environment for individual growth, enabling every student to develop a foundation for self-realization. Fourth, the design must be conducted in a systematic manner and be based on knowledge about how people learn. Gagné believed that human learning involves different levels. The internal and external conditions for different types of learning are distinct. Gagné's instructional design theory is grounded in his "Learning Hierarchy Theory," with the purpose of providing the best learning conditions for the production of different learning outcomes or abilities. Gagné and Briggs's instructional design principles have had a profound influence. Although the book's arguments are thorough and self-contained, it does not provide specific steps for teaching but rather offers a framework for what to do. "The efforts in teaching design must meet intellectually convincing quality standards, and these standards must be based on scientific research and theory in the field of human learning." This means the authors' pursuit lies in developing theoretical frameworks that ensure teaching details follow a rational and correct direction, providing theoretical support for the implementation of specific teaching processes. Therefore, when reading "Teaching Design Principles," our focus should be on the fundamental perspectives and methods of teaching design provided in the book. By understanding the theoretical background of its basic perspectives and its value in educational history, we can fully absorb its beneficial insights to promote the development of teaching design. The book emphasizes that learning is both a process and a result. Viewing learning as a process breaks through the framework of objectivist epistemology in teaching theory, aligning essentially and theoretically with the research-based learning we now advocate, and even being consistent with it. Thus, if readers can grasp the theoretical system of the richly informative book and use it as a reference to reflect on the current state of teaching design and education in China, seek instructional design theories suitable for Chinese education, and thereby drive the development of Chinese education.