The formal definition of the term ‘design’ as it will be used in this book, and as it applies at the micro level, is: The plan, structure and strategy of instruction used, conceived so as to produce learning experiences that lead to pre-specified learning goals. (The word ‘instruction’ here is used in its most general sense.) It is a definition which came to me after reading Kerlinger’s (1964) definition of the term ‘research design’: ‘Research design is the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research and to control variances.’
Although it is sometimes necessary to do some ad hoc designing in both instruction and research (in response to some unanticipated needs and circumstances), a design is created in advance.
Like the design of a shoe, or a painting, or a chair, or a spaghetti fork, the design of a course, lesson or a piece of research is something abstract.
We know it only by ‘experiencing’ it. It exists first as a concept in the mind of the designer and is then given concrete form. Its quality will determine, to a major degree, the quality of your experiences with it. In the case of a course or lesson, the design generates and steers (sometimes explicitly and sometimes subtly) the student’s learning experience. Just how it will be experienced will depend on how good it is!