Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to discern unpredicted, non-linear patterns that may emerge in complex instructional systems design projects. A secondary purpose was to determine how existing models could be redesigned to accommodate emerging factors. The following questions focused the inquiry:
1. In what ways does the actual ISD process, in action, exhibit unpredicted, non-linear patterns? 2. What common happenings are not predicted by the ADDlE process model? 3. What kinds of contextual happenings emerge to disturb the process? 4. If the ISD process cannot be predicted, what events or conditions provide stability and direction?
5. What might an ISD model look like that reflects emerging factors? In this study, an in-depth investigation examined five designers working in diverse settings on diverse instructional problems. The sites examined were business service corporation, community education agency, high-tech
manufacturing, university, and museum. It was found that the ISD process is an ecological phenomenon and that it cannot be studied outside of the context. "Unpredicted Happenings" are occurrences in an ISD Project that emerge as a result of the context. It was also learned that instructional systems design is an "Unpredictable Process." The ISD process itself is directly influenced by the context and in no case studied was it linear. The process emerges out of the context over time. The ADDlE model was found to be a simplified depiction of general ISD stages that can be anticipated but not necessarily in any particular order. Not every instructional systems design project moves through the general stages from one to the next. Not all of them go through each stage.
Out of the study, the prototype of a three-dimensional animated model was created in digital format and presented on CD-Rom.
