Second Generation Instructional Design ID2

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Introduction
The most widely applied instructional design theory is based largely on the work of Robert M. Gagné and his associates at Florida State University. ID2 (second generation instructional design) is an improvement of ID1. The principal assumption behind ID1 was that different kind of learning outcomes was due to different external and internal conditions. Due to the more interactive technologies of today however it is seen that a new revised version of ID1 is needed to overcome the limitations of ID1. Hence it is this need that lead to the creation of ID2 that was based on the work of David Merrill. If interactive instructional technologies are to provide a significant part of the increasing amount of education and training demanded by society, then there is a critical need for significantly improved methodology and tools to guide the design and development of high quality interactive technology-based instructional materials. There is a need for second-generation instructional design (ID2).

Teaching method
ID2 will build on the foundation of ID1, but will address the shortcomings noted above. Specifically, ID2 will

· Be capable of analyzing, representing, and guiding instruction to teach integrated sets of knowledge and skills,
· Be capable of producing pedagogic prescriptions for the selection of interactive instructional strategies and the selection and sequencing of instructional transaction sets,
· Be an open system, able to incorporate new knowledge about teaching
and learning and to apply these in the design process,
The main difference between ID1 and ID2 is that the way of teaching is through cognitive psychology rather than behavioural. This means that the learning method results in the user organising memory into structures called mental modules. This is primarily done by 2 methods
· Organisation (structuring of knowledge) during learning so as to make it easier for the student to retrieve the information
· Elaboration (specification of relations between knowledge units) generated at time of learning can facilitate retrieval.
The key to ID2 is the acquisition and representation of course content. We propose to represent knowledge in terms of objects which we call frames; each frame has an internal structure (slots, which contain values for the structure), and links to other frames. These (both internal and external) are termed elaborations of the frame. The set of all elaborated frames together, which contains all the knowledge to be instructed by a course, is called an elaborated frame network.

It is hypothesized that there are three fundamental frame types:

· Entities, which correspond to some thing, for example a device, object, person, creature, place, or symbol,
· Activities, sets of related actions to be performed by the learner, and
· Processes, sets of related actions, which are entirely external to the learner.
There are also three types of elaborations. These are:
· Components, which correspond to the internal structure of a frame. For an entity, the components are parts of the entity; for an activity, steps; and for a process, events and causes,
· • Abstractions, which correspond to a "kinds-of" class/subclass hierarchy into which the frame may be classified,
· Associations, meaningful links to other frames in the network.

The network structure of the knowledge representation allows information to move through the structure, so that data contained in one part of the net affects the data stored elsewhere. Two principal means by which this occurs are:

· Inheritance, in which attributes of a class or super class in an abstraction hierarchy are passed to a subclass or instance,
· Propagation, in which the contents of a frame influence the contents of another frame connected to it via an association link.
Keeping track of inheritance and propagation and the amount of information involved ID2 knowledge analysis and acquisition, as described above, is not practical without an intelligent computer-based tool, a knowledge analysis and acquisition system (KAAS). In addition KAAS knows the possible links between various frames and how to propagate knowledge from one frame to a linked frame.

Transaction is the time when the instructional system interacts with the student by exchanging information. E.g. of one way transactions are such as video, lecture or documents.
In ID2 delivery method for a transaction is not constrained. All transactions with a certain type of interaction are grouped into a transaction class. The interaction needed to associate a particular instantiation of an elaborate frame takes more than one transaction. The frame set may also require transaction from a number of frame sets.

Strategy Analysis provides link between knowledge gathering and transactions.

There are three steps in strategy analysis
o Gathering information about course, student and environment
o Providing filter and prescriptions to assist knowledge analysis
o General organisation for frame network and student attributes.

System analysis helps the user/designer identify the goals of the instruction. System analysis for ID2 is more complex than for ID1 hence an intelligent computer based System analysis system is used.

ID1 requires transactions to be made from scratch. ID2 has a ready-made library transactions instances and that means to configure these instances to a subject matter, learner population and delivery system. (A transaction instance is a computer code which when executed allows a given transaction to take place). Unlike ID1, ID2 will also be an open system allowing incorporating new knowledge about teaching and learning and applying in the design process.

Reason for ID2 to taught this way?

The reason why ID2 is taught in this way is so that the learner will not only simply learn but also be able to recall previous information learned and to be able to use the information learned to new situations.
ID1 may help students pass exams but cannot apply the knowledge in a wider context.
New scientific knowledge is ever changing and complex. It is very difficult to understand scientific knowledge merely by isolated concepts and principles. Hence an integrated understanding is essential.
Cognitive psychology learning results in the construction of mental modules that serve to organise the knowledge and to facilitate recall and further learning.

References

http://www.id2.usu.edu/Papers/Contents.html