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You are here: Home / eLearning Design / When Your Content Resembles Spaghetti

When Your Content Resembles Spaghetti

How to Do An Instructional Analysis for a Procedure

by Connie Malamed

Last week, I was asked to transform seven PowerPoint slide decks into meaningful content that adult humans can comprehend and use.

Although the slides had a reasonable structure and organization, the content was difficult for a layperson like myself to understand. There were unfamiliar concepts and new terms. There were twists and turns, like a good drama, but this wasn’t a screenplay. My client filled the slides with confusing redundancies, covering the same thing in multiple places.

Should I have a panic attack?

Although I considered having a panic attack, I decided against it. I know how to perform an instructional analysis, which is a way to identify the skills and knowledge required to reach a learning goal. This is one of several types of analysis that instructional designers perform.

Sometimes, a simple content outline will do. But when content is complex, I find an instructional analysis helps me clarify it and understand how to organize it—whether it’s for a course, performance support, or something people can just learn on their own.

Video: How to Do an Instructional Analysis

Then, I thought about you and created a video showing how to perform an instructional analysis for a procedure or process in case you need to familiarize yourself with this approach. This instructional analysis comes from the Dick and Carey model (see reference below). Watch the video if you don’t have this method in your toolbox. It could come in handy for many situations.

Secret: Performing an instructional analysis is one of the key ways an instructional designer can learn to work with any type of content without being a subject matter expert.

For a related article, see Why Discovery Should Come Before Analysis.

Reference:

Walter Dick and Lou Carey, The Systematic Design of Instruction. This is an older edition, but much less expensive than the newest one.

Comments

  1. Connie Malamed says

    November 2, 2013 at 6:50 am

    Hi Jeff,
    No, I have not made that video. So busy. But thanks for the nudge!It helps.
    Connie

  2. Jeff Dalto says

    November 1, 2013 at 3:45 pm

    Nice video. This video ends with the mention of possibly making a new video in which you take your instructional goals and turn them into learning objectives. Did you ever make that video or do you have something similar written up?

  3. Connie Malamed says

    September 28, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    Hi Vivek,
    Sorry, I do not have a text version. But you can buy the book that I referenced.

    Connie

  4. Vivek Nair says

    September 28, 2012 at 12:21 pm

    Hi Connie: I wonder if there is a text version available for reference or those who cannot watch the video. Thanks!

  5. Connie Malamed says

    August 16, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    Thanks, James. When I have time I’d like to demonstrate other types of instructional analysis. Believe it or not, I used Photoshop to create the video.
    Best,
    Connie

  6. James Goldsmith says

    August 16, 2012 at 11:47 am

    Thanks for your video on How to Do an Instructional Analysis, Connie. I found it to be straightforward and helpful. One question – what tool did you use to create the video. Thanks!

  7. Connie Malamed says

    August 15, 2012 at 5:48 pm

    Hi Katherine,
    I’m happy you are enjoying your copy of VLFD. They have run out of print copies in the U.S. and are shipping some in from the U.K. The Kindle version will always be available, of course. Thanks for your kind words.
    Best,
    Connie

  8. Katherine H says

    August 15, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    Thanks Connie – just wanted to let you know that I just got my copy of Visual Language for Designers – and I do find that not only does visual language make my courses look great (focusing the eLearner’s attention), it helps me understand how best to deliver the content I am writing. It is well worth having this book on hand! 🙂

  9. Connie Malamed says

    August 15, 2012 at 10:05 am

    Kinda nostalgic, huh? But it works and you can skip any steps that aren’t needed for your own purposes.

  10. rfc says

    August 15, 2012 at 9:42 am

    Ah, brings back memories. Dick and Carey was the model we had to follow in my ID graduate course. Thanks for the reminder. Of course, as you stated, we still need to wade through (or plow through) all the content, and this is where a lot of time is chewed up. But at least Dick and Carey give us a handle on what to do with it after we’ve waded (or plowed).

  11. Connie Malamed says

    August 14, 2012 at 7:26 am

    Hi Katherine,
    So happy you found this to be helpful. It can be overwhelming at times. You aren’t alone! Good luck with your project.
    Connie

  12. Katherine H says

    August 12, 2012 at 8:00 pm

    Thanks Connie – I found this very useful. I was just on the verge of hyperventilating on some course content received from a client and now I know I am not alone and that there is a way to untangle the web 🙂

  13. Connie Malamed says

    August 1, 2012 at 11:49 am

    I was able to fix the audio! Thanks.

  14. Connie Malamed says

    July 31, 2012 at 10:40 am

    Thank you, Jason. And thanks for letting me know about the audio as it didn’t show up on my speakers. Will check on another computer. Hope your ears are okay 🙂

  15. Jason Snell says

    July 31, 2012 at 10:35 am

    Content was excellent. My only suggestion for improvement would be to clean the audio. There was a thump sound which repeated several times during the presentation. It was a bit distracting.

    I want to thank you for all your hard work on this site. It has proven to be a wonderful resource for me on a weekly basis.

    Jason

Trackbacks

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    […] The instructional analysis (or learning task analysis) examines and breaks down the learning tasks of each specific instructional goal. It provides the steps and associated subordinate tasks that are required to reach each goal. The instructional analysis should only include what’s really necessary to reach the goal and eliminate the extraneous material. A good reference for this is The Systematic Design of Instruction. See this demonstration of how to do one type of instructional analysis. […]

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