ERIC Number: EJ1078140
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1436-4522
EISSN: N/A
Instructional Design and Professional Informal Learning: Practices, Tensions, and Ironies
Yanchar, Stephen C.; Hawkley, Melissa N.
Educational Technology & Society, v18 n4 p424-434 2015
This qualitative study explored the nature of informal learning in professional instructional designers' everyday work activities. Based on intensive interviews with six full-time practitioners, and using a hermeneutic form of data analysis, this study produced seven themes concerning the practices, tensions, and ironies associated with this largely unexplored aspect of instructional design. Specific themes concerned the resources, significance, and outcomes of informal learning, in addition to professional tensions and ironies (e.g., the observation that informal learning simultaneously fosters professional survival and professional vulnerability). Implications are discussed, such as how informal learning among professionals can be facilitated via organizational support and more practically-oriented scholarly work, as well as designers' own efforts to pursue informal learning in the midst of practice.
Descriptors: Instructional Design, Informal Education, Educational Practices, Qualitative Research, Hermeneutics, Data Analysis, Universities, Semi Structured Interviews, Satisfaction, Professional Development
International Forum of Educational Technology & Society. Athabasca University, School of Computing & Information Systems, 1 University Drive, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada. Tel: 780-675-6812; Fax: 780-675-6973; Web site: http://www.ifets.info
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A