Become A Master of The ID Process And Create Effective Lessons Today

Step 1: Needs Analysis

The first step in instructional design is to identify the learning needs of the target audience, students. Start with the end in mind. Teachers should start by identifying the learning outcomes they want their students to achieve. Once they know what they want students to learn and why they need to, they can begin to develop a plan for how to teach it. As educators, we can determine the needs of our students in many ways. 

• Reviewing state standards. Like it or not, students are going to be tested at the end of the year on these standards. Review your state's standards and identify which ones should be prioritized and the ones students will need the most instruction on to master.  
• Assess what your students learned and retained from prior years. Learning should be student-centered so it is only natural that they are involved in lesson planning. Ask students what content areas they would like to focus. What did they not master in the previous school year and what new academic skills would they like to master this year? 
• Assessing school curriculum. Some schools and districts require certain content to be taught. Go over the content that you are required to teach and try to picture the challenges students may face when presented with it. 

Once you have identified the learning needs of your students, you can begin to develop the curriculum.

Step 2: Task Analysis

Once teachers know what they want students to learn, they can break down the learning into smaller, more manageable steps. This will make the learning more manageable for students and will help them to stay on track. This is known as task analysis. Task analysis helps to ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the learning objectives and that the instruction is progressive.

This is the brainstorming step. You know what your students need so now it is time decide how you meet those needs. Common brainstorming tactics include:

• Traditional brainstorming: This involves a group of people sitting in a circle and brainstorming ideas. The facilitator of the brainstorming session will write down all of the ideas on a whiteboard or flipchart.
• Mind mapping: This is a visual brainstorming technique that involves creating a map of ideas. The central idea is placed in the center of the map, and then related ideas are added around the central idea.
• Flowchart: Flowcharts are made up of a series of boxes and arrows. The boxes represent steps in the process, and the arrows represent the flow of control from one step to the next.

No matter how you brainstorm teaching your lesson, the end result should always be the same: an effective lesson that meets the academic needs of your students. Once you know the steps to meeting your students needs, you can move onto developing the content. 

Step 3: Content Development

This step is developing the instruction materials. You know the needs of your students and have the steps you need to go through, so now you need a clear and concise plan to deliver your content. An effective lesson plan is one that is well-organized, comprehensive, and engaging. It should include all of the necessary information to deliver the lesson effectively, and it should be tailored to the specific needs of the students. A good lesson plan includes: 

• Duration: It is important to include how long your class is. To develop the content of your lesson you will need to know how much time you have to deliver it. 
• Objective: Communicate your objective with your students. Students should understand what they will be getting out of your lesson. 
• Materials: During task analysis, you identified what needs to be done and how to do it. You should have everything that you as the teacher will need to deliver your lesson and everything your students will need to complete their activities and assignments listed. 
• Procedure: Time every activity that you will be doing so it fills up the duration of your class time. The best way to keep students engaged is to have them doing something at all times. Include in this section how students are going to be doing their activities. Are they online, in groups, or listening to you?

Step 4: Delivery

The fourth step is to deliver the instructional materials to students and teach your lesson. Find the most effective environment to teach your lesson. This can be in school face-to-face, online, or a hybrid system. During the needs assessment and task analysis you should have identified the best ways for your students to learn. Use a variety of instructional methods to keep students engaged and to help them learn in different ways. 

• Lecture: At some points you will need to present information, concepts, and explanations to the whole class. This method is useful for introducing new topics, providing background information, or delivering complex content. This should be the teaching method utilized the least. 
• Discussion: Have whole class discussions that every student can be involved in. Invite students to share their thoughts, opinions, and questions on the learning material
• Multimedia Presentations: Use multimedia resources such as slideshows, videos, audio clips, and interactive online content to enhance your lessons. These visual and auditory elements can help capture students' attention and provide additional explanations or examples.
• Demonstrations: Showcase a process or concept by performing a demonstration. This method is particularly useful for science experiments, math problems, art techniques, or showing real-life applications of concepts.
• Group Work and Cooperative Learning: Have students work together in small groups to solve problems, complete projects, or discuss specific topics. Give each group control in how the rest of the lesson goes and allow them to explore the content in their own way.  

Step 5: Evaluation

The final step is to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional materials. Assess how well the information was received and retained by students, but also evaluate your own performance. What parts of your lesson did students seem to understand and enjoy the most? What parts of the day did not go well and what needed to be changed? 

The best way to assess learning is not to grade students on every test, quiz, and assignment, but to provide them with feedback. When students present their assignments you can evaluate their work and help them to learn. Read more on feedback based assessment today. 

By following the five steps of instructional design, you can create a school curriculum and lessons that are effective, efficient, and engaging. Learn more on instructional design and its benefits in Hacking Instructional Design.