My Lesson Versus the Six Characteristics of Instructional Design

Reflection Question:  Next, think of a lesson or unit of instruction that you have developed. Or if you haven’t ever taught or developed instruction, think of one that you have received. How does that lesson adhere or fail to adhere to the six characteristics of instructional design?

One of my early lessons this school year in my Concepts of Engineering class (9^th grade level class) was to challenge the students to create the fastest car they could using Lego pieces and a rubber band.  The goal was to teach the students the concept of rate, the importance of the engineering design notebook and highlight the characteristics of a good team.   Below is my evaluation of the lesson using the six characteristics of instructional design:

Six Characteristics of Instructional Design

1.  Student centered:  The lesson was active and hands-on from the start, which hooked the student’s interest.  They often did not want to leave the class when it was time for dismissal.

2.  Goal oriented:  They had a week to go through the engineering design process.  The goal was for their car to be the fastest car in the class.  The learning objectives were woven throughout their process of attempting to meet the challenge. 

3.  Focuses on meaningful performance:  Instead of just memorizing the formula for rate, the students had to use the formula to tabulate the speed of their car and use their calculations to compare their speed with others. 

4.  Assumes outcomes can be measured in a reliable and valid way:  When I do this lesson over again with my Concepts of Engineering students next year, this is the characteristic that I will work to adhere closer to.  I taught the students the formula for rate through racing cars.  I assessed the students’ learning of the formula using written questions.  I should have assessed them the way I taught them or incorporated practice word problems into the lessons to give them practice.

5.  Empirical, iterative, and self-correcting:  The students automatically evaluated their cars against other cars.  If theirs was not the fastest, then they independently went back through the engineering design process to find their flaws. 

6.  A team effort:  The lesson I used was a modified version of the one created by Dr. Ken Barry from the University of Texas at Dallas.  He is an engineering expert and has tested this lesson with hundreds of students.  I was able to glean from his experiences, then modify the instruction to fit my audience.