Navigating multilevel challenges in learning design: an investigation of novice designer teams' learning trajectory

Abstract

Learning Design (LD) is a complex activity involving design decisions at multiple levels, from overall course objectives and pedagogical approach to task sequences, tasks and resources. Traditionally, the higher-level design decisions from the course to task levels are made by teachers, whereas instructional designers are engaged mostly in distance/online learning contexts for the detail design of tasks and resources. This paper reports on a study of novice Learning Designers (LDers) taking a master's level LD course underpinned by a 7-step model of LD spanning from the specification of course level outcomes to the design of learning tasks, resources, Learning Analytics (LA) and feedback. Students' LD was supported by a technology platform, the Learning Design Studio (LDS). The findings reveal the challenges encountered by course participants. Further, the conceptual and technological LD tools used in the course fostered the articulation of pedagogical reasoning and helped to reveal incoherence and misalignment in the designs.