Instructional Design and Learning Theory

Creating lesson plans helps you, as the instructor, create a learner-centered classroom experience, incorporate meaningful assessment activities, and build a portfolio of teaching practices and accompanying documentation.

A good lesson plan has 3 major components:

1. Learning outcomes
2. Active learning exercises
3. Some kind of assessment activities

Liz McGlynn (Western New England University, created an approach to information literacy lesson planning called Information Literacy by Design (ILbD). Based on the Understanding by Design framework created by Wiggins and McTighe, ILbD prioritizes student understanding, the ability to make meaning of big ideas and transfer learning. 

In ILbD learning is transparent and based on authentic classroom tasks and assessments. It embraces a backwards approach to lesson planning, encouraging you to begin with learning outcomes and then drafting learning activities that can accomplish them, with accompanying assessments for students to demonstrate learning.

Gagne's 9 Events of Instruction work great for lesson plans, but can keep you grounded when you have to teach with little prep. Just don't forget to incuded an quick assessment at the end of the session. Try these on-the-go tips

1. Gain attention of the students

• Stimulate students with novelty, uncertainty, and surprise
• Pose thought-provoking questions to students
• Lead an ice breaker activity

2. Inform students of the objectives

• State or present an agenda
• Set expectations for topics and activites

3. Stimulate recall of prior learning

• Ask questions about previous experiences
• Ask students about their understanding of concepts
• Relate course information to the current topic
• Have students incorporate prior learning into current activities

4. Present the content

• Use a variety of media to engage students in learning: our YouTube Channel, ATL live
• Incorporate active learning strategies to keep students involved

5. Provide learning guidance

• Use examples and non-examples 
• Provide real world applications
• Make analogies to help students connect new concepts with familiar content

6. Elicit performance (practice)

• Have students try out what you have demonstrated and report back
• Provide formative assessment activties like a one-minute essay, online polling, concept mapping

7. Provide feedback

• Confirmatory feedback informs the student that they did what they were supposed to do. 
• Evaluative feedback apprises the student of the accuracy of their performance
• Remedial feedback directs students to find the correct answer without providing it for them
• Descriptive feedback provides the student with suggestions and directives to help them improve

8. Assess performance

• Embed formative assessment opportunities throughout instruction using oral questioning, short active learning activities*
• Generic short evaluation of your performance at the end of class

9. Enhance retention and transfer

• Reiterate and incororate your stated class objective throughout
• Ask students where else they might use the information you are giving them (classes or outside of school)