This study employed a hermeneutic investigative approach to determine instructional designers' underlying views of learner responsibility for their own learning, and how those views informed design practice. Prior research has examined how instructional designers spend their time, make decisions, use theory, and solve problems, but have not…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study conducted to examine the application of Merrill's First Principles of Instruction ("Educ Technol Res Dev" 50(3):43-59, 2002, "First principles of instruction," Pfeiffer, San Francisco, 2012) to determine how they were implemented during a fast-paced project that required the…

The ability of novice instructional designers to become skilled problem-solvers, who select and apply appropriate instructional design (ID) models in their work environments, are key competencies generally sought after in introductory ID courses. Yet, the proliferation of ID models, coupled with varied philosophies and practices about how ID is…

Instructional designers (IDs) frequently collaborate with subject matter experts, peer IDs, and other professionals (Intentional Futures 2016). Such collaboration often requires an exchange of feedback on design plans and work completed with and for others, as well as self-assessment of one's own skills and work during the design process…

Needs assessment is a fundamental step in the instructional design process where instructional designers must determine the difference between the current state of affairs and a desired state. Throughout the needs assessment process, the instructional designer must feel comfortable making decisions and assumptions based on the information that has…

Minimal attention has been paid by scholars to practitioners' views of and experiences with instructional design tools. Instructional design practitioners working in diverse setting were surveyed regarding the tools they use in their practice, and interviewed regarding how they explain their choices to use the tools that they do. A survey…

One current focus of research regarding online courses concentrates on identifying effective design and delivery methodologies. This non-experimental comparative research study investigated two types of learner-to-learner interaction techniques: designed and contextual interactions and their effects on learner achievement, social presence,…

Instructional Design literature provides descriptions of established models that are particularly helpful for novices learning the patterns and approaches that have historically proven successful. However, it does not provide as much information about the design process in its largest sense. The popularity of established ID models may cause…

The purpose of this research was to identify the competencies of educational technologists by surveying the professionals within the field. The Educational Technology Competency Survey (ETCS) developed in this research was based on a conceptual framework that emphases the definition of educational technology and associated knowledge, skill, and…

Why do over 90% of the learners in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) never finish the course? There is a need for further studies focusing on the learners' experiences of participating in MOOCs and factors that influence the decision to complete or drop out of the course. To deepen our understanding of why learners complete or drop out of MOOCs,…

Much is made of the diversity for MOOCs learners--with their varied motivations and interests; yet MOOCs are often run and judged on the assumption that learners would progress through the course in its entirety, to completion. This paper presents an analysis of three recently delivered MOOCs that were designed to support a broader set of learner…

Open textbooks are similar to traditional textbooks except that they are free of cost and licensed to allow revision and reuse. Adopting open textbooks for higher education courses is a way to address the growing costs of traditional textbooks that lead some students to be unable to access them, and to allow instructors to tailor the books to…

Researchers have proposed that social media provide complementary learning environments for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that might engender participation, engagement, and peer-support. Although suggestive, nearly all of the research in this area consists of case studies, making it challenging to determine whether or to what extent findings…

The use of video-based open educational resources is widespread, and includes multiple approaches to implementation. In this paper, the term "with-video assignments" is introduced to portray video learning resources enhanced with assignments. The goal of this study is to examine the factors that influence students' intention to adopt…

Since Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) started to become part of the scene of Higher Education (HE), many institutions have joined the race of MOOC creation. However, producing MOOCs has shown to be a cumbersome and expensive activity for HE institutions. For this reason, many universities have started to explore and experiment with hybrid…