Solving your Instructional Design Project Challenges with Project Management Techniques

The numbers of students who are taking at least one course online has increased dramatically over the past fourteen years in the USA, as has been tracked by Babson Survey Research group in their yearly reports (Seaman, Allen and Seaman, 2018). In 2017, Allen and Seaman reported that over 6.3 million  students were taking at least one course online. Many of these online courses were created with the help of instructional designers (Nicklin Rubley, 2016). Instructional designers are ubiquitous in higher education institutions today (Beirne & Romanoski, 2018), and their numbers are increasing yearly (Berrett, 2016; Nicklin Rubley, 2016) with  one study placing their numbers at over 13,000 in the US (Instructional Futures, 2016). There have been a few studies examining the work of instructional designers and the following have been identified as tasks with which they commonly engage (Arnold, Edwards, Magruder and Moore, 2018; Instructional Futures, 2016; Nicklin Rubley, 2016):

1. Design instructional materials
2. Manage projects
3. Train faculty to use instructional technology
4. Support faculty in managing technical or instructional challenges

Van Rooij  (2012) compared standards for instructional design from several organisations,  including the Association for Talent Development (ATD) and the International Board of Standards and Training for Performance and Instruction (ibstpi). She noted that project management skills were outlined in each set of standards, and identified several key project management competencies including the ability to listen and communicate well with clients, critical thinking, clearly defining expectations and creation of a project plan (Van Rooij, 2012). Similarly, Park and Luo (2017) identified that skills in planning, analysis and project management were all considered critical for instructional designers.

Evidence that project management is a skill required by instructional designers can also be seen from the growing number of institutions and organisations offering project management courses for instructional designers including the Association for Talent Development,  Online Learning Consortium, Purdue University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Wisconsin Stout and Quality Matters to name a few.

This research study examined the successes and challenges in the implementation of an instructional design project through the lens of project management and identified ways in which the use of project management techniques supported project success. The study also provided  recommendations on how to improve instructional design projects through the use of project management knowledge and tools. The research questions were as follows:

1. According to the literature, what project management skills do instructional designers need?
2. How can project management process groups and knowledge areas be applied to an instructional design project?
3. How can instructional design projects be improved through the use of project management?

The session will outline key findings of the research in order to demonstrate how project management techniques can be applied to instructional design projects. Participants will be able to:

• Identify key issues in the management of instructional design projects
• Identify the key process groups in project management
• Identify the knowledge areas in the project planning process group
• Use the example given to apply project planning to their own instructional design projects
• Outline how the use of project management can improve the planning and execution of their instructional design projects

In order to promote engagement, participants will be asked to work together in small groups to apply some steps in project planning to their own instructional design project. Think-pair-share will be one of the techniques used to generate discussion and spark creativity.

References

Arnold, D., Edwards, M., Magruder, O. & Moore, S.(2018). The Competencies and Goals of Instructional Designers: A Survey Study. Retrieved from https://upcea.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Competencies-and-Goals-...

Berrett, D. (2016, February 29). Instructional Design: Demand Grows for a New Breed of Academics. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/Instructional-Design/235425

Beirne, E. & Romanoski, M. (2018). Instructional Design in Higher Education: Defining and Evolving Field. OLC Outlook: An Environmental Scan of the Digital Learning Landscape. Retrieved from https://olc-wordpress-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2018/07/Instructio...

Intentional Futures.(2016). Instructional Design in Higher Education. Retrieved from https://intentionalfutures.com/insights/portfolio/instructional-design/

Nicklin Rubley, J.(2016). Instructional Designers in Higher Ed: Changing the Course of Next-Generation Learning. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.huronconsultinggroup.com/resources/higher-education/report-i...

Park, J. & Luo, H.(2017).Refining a Competency Model for Instructional Designers in the Context of Online Higher Education. International Education Studies,10(9), 87-98. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v10n9p87

Seaman, J., Allen, E. & Seaman, J.(2018).Grade Increase: Tracking Distance Education in the United States. Babson Survey Research Group. Retrieved from http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/highered.html.

van Rooij, S. W. (2010). Project management in instructional design: ADDIE is not enough. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(5), 852–864.

van Rooij, S. W.(2012). The career path to instructional design project management: an expert perspective from the US professional services sector. International Journal of Training and Development, 17(1), 33-53.