The Story is in the Structure: A Multi-Case Study of Instructional Design Teams

This session explores groundbreaking research conducted on the organizational structures of instructional design teams. Discover the influence of structure on the empowerment, role clarity, and leadership opportunities of instructional designers and the ideal structure for building or restructuring a sustainable, scalable, and empowered instructional design team. The primary audience for this session is instructional designers, administrators, instructional staff, and faculty in higher education. The session will be facilitated through both a detailed information section and an interactive question and answer session, where participants can ask questions of the facilitator and each other. The session will end on a call to action and reflection, prompting participants to think about the ways in which structure influences the work of designers on their own campuses, and how they can change structure and positively influence culture.

Although instructional designers are experienced and positioned to be leaders in online learning, it was not previously known if and how they were acting as leaders in their institutions. This problem warranted a deep exploration of the structures, roles, and practices of instructional design in higher education. The study was framed by a primary research question and three subquestions:

1. How do organizational structures in a university or college setting most positively influence the ability of instructional designers to lead online learning initiatives in higher education?
   1. What are the organizational structures in place at colleges and universities for dedicated instructional designers?
   2. How do dedicated instructional designers in varied higher education organizational structures participate in the design, redesign, and evaluation of university courses and programs?
   3. How do faculty and administrators empower or disempower dedicated instructional designers when collaborating on online learning initiatives?

I chose a qualitative, multi-case design consisting of 3 individual universities each with a different organizational structure profile: centralized design team with academic reporting lines, centralized team with administrative reporting lines, or a blend of centralized and decentralized design teams with academic reporting lines. I used purposive sampling to identify each university that participated; 3 were chosen out of 50 institutions evaluated. Data were collected through document analysis and semistructured interviews with participants in 3 key roles at each institution: dedicated instructional designer, online faculty member, and online learning administrator. I analyzed the data through 3 within-case analyses of each institution and a comparative case analysis of all 3 studied institutions.

The results of the study revealed that the organizational structure that most positively influenced the ability for instructional designers to lead was a centralized instructional design team with academic reporting lines. The results also showed that decentralized instructional designers experienced significant disempowerment, role misperception, and challenges in advocacy and leadership, while instructional designers with administrative reporting lines experienced a high level of role misperception specifically related to technology support. Positional parity between dedicated instructional designers and faculty, in conjunction with implementation of the recommended organizational structure, was found to be critical to empowering designers to be partners and leaders. Recommendations included: (a) instructional design teams should proportionally match the size of the university to ensure that they have time and opportunity to act as leaders in online learning initiatives, (b) dedicated instructional designers should participate or lead online program design initiatives, and (c) leaders of instructional design teams should have direct knowledge or experience with instructional design and online learning.

This session will focus on the research methods, results through selected quotes and data, and recommendations and implications for practice. Hear the story and join the change!