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…
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The activities involved in designing a course or lesson are illustrated in Fig. 1. By name, they will be quite familiar to those of you who know and have used the so-called ‘systems approach’ at the micro level. Activity 4…
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The answer to this, for design decision-making at the micro level, is ‘yes’.
Tyler (1949) has provided a useful definition for designers working at the micro level: ‘A learning experience refers to the interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the environment to which he can react. Learning takes place through…
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Four words can be used in rating the quality of the learning experience generated by the design of a course or lesson. These words are: ‘effective’, ‘valued’, ‘liked’ and ‘efficient’. They have been mentioned earlier, in the foreword. A learning…
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Here is our first case study. It describes the designing of an educational visit to a doctor and to a patient at home. The substance of the story is from an article (Earl, Everwijn and de Melker, 1980) in Medical…
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A so-called `SME: or Subject Matter Expert, for helping course design thinking, is not always the one who knows most. Keep a ‘crazy ideas list’. It will help you in many subtle ways. Keep in mind what every sensitive…
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One of the greatest gifts each of us has is our intuition. This book is about the combination of intuition, creativity and logical thinking in solving one of the trickiest problems in the development of successful courses and lessons: the…
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In putting together the ideas in this book, I have enjoyed the encouragement and support of the Department of Research and Development in Higher Education at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. In writing the book my special thanks…
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