What Is Instructional Design?

Instructional Design is the creation of "instructional experiences which make the acquisition of knowledge and skills more efficient, effective, and appealing" (Merrill, Drake, Lacy, Pratt (1996)). It is a systematic process by which instruction and learning experiences are created and refined through the analysis of learning needs and design, development, and implementation of effective and efficient learning experiences.

Benefits of Instructional Design

Instructional design plays a critical role in creating a culture of learning in organizations. Benefits of instructional design include:

  • Improved learning outcomes: Instructional design ensures that learning experiences are designed to meet specific learning objectives. This helps learners achieve their learning goals more effectively.
  • Increased engagement: Instructional design uses a variety of instructional strategies to engage learners and make learning more interesting and enjoyable.
  • Consistency: Instructional design ensures that learning experiences are consistent across different learners and different delivery modes. This helps ensure that all learners receive the same quality of instruction.
  • Efficiency: Instructional design helps organizations create learning experiences more efficiently and effectively. This can help save time and resources.
  • Measurable results: Instructional design uses evaluation and assessment to measure the effectiveness of learning experiences. This helps organizations identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.

Instructional design is a critical component of creating a culture of learning in organizations. It helps organizations create effective, engaging, and efficient learning experiences that improve learning outcomes and drive results (Jones, 2024).

How can an Instructional Designer help?

With a focus on teaching and learning, our instructional designers consult with faculty and staff to offer resources and support in the design, development, and implementation of learning solutions.

Instructional designers can assist with:

  • Course Design and Development for Traditional, Hybrid, Online Synchronous, and Online Asynchronous Modalities
  • Course Mapping
  • Alignment of SLOs, Learning Objectives, Assessments, and Learning Activities
  • Assessment Strategies
  • Course Content Presentation
  • Locating and Creating Media to Support Learning
  • Student Engagement and Active Learning
  • Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning
  • Visual Design and Usability

Instructional Design Services

Course Design Consultation

Request a course design consultation to plan, organize, design, or re-design elements of your courses. Common examples include:

  • Organizing your course layout (e.g. modules, weeks)
  • Incorporate interactive elements into Brightspace webpages
  • Designing collaborative, group, or peer activities
  • Designing authentic assessments
  • Adding video in your course (e.g. screencasts, tutorials/demonstrations, module/unit overviews)
  • Designing a new course
  • Redesigning, adapting, or re-organizing an existing course for another modality or format (face-to-face, hybrid, online, flipped, etc.)
Schedule a course design consultation

Prepare for a Course Design Review (OSCQR)

Are you planning to go through the Course Design Review (OSCQR) process? Working with an instructional designer before beginning a Course Design Review can help ensure a smooth and speedy review process. Together, we'll assess your needs as well as the needs of your course and students to determine ways to incorporate instructional design best practices in your specific context. Combining OSCQR standards with the differences of each faculty member creates a unique course design experience for each faculty member. 

During your consultation, an instructional designer will provide customized recommendations and strategies as well as individualized support.

Schedule a consultation