A lot of people are intimidated by theory. Instructional design, like a lot of fields, has a lot of theory that is important to know to design effective learning experiences. In my previous life, I was an adjunct English professor. While earning my doctorate I was required to take comprehensive exams. (Sometimes they are called comps or quals. A lot of master’s and doctoral programs have this requirement.) My comps was a series of 4 exams taken over the course of 4 weeks. The first was a written exam on over 75-100 texts in my field (African American literature). The second was a written exam over 50-75 texts in my specialty (20th and 21st century African American literature). The third exam was a take home essay; the fourth exam was an oral presentation of the essay. (If anyone tells you they passed their exams, celebrate them hard. Trust me, they need it.). When I first started my doctoral studies, I asked how in the world anyone could remember 75-100 texts. As someone who spent 10+ years reading theory, let me give you a few tips.
Don’t think of learning ALL the theories. There’s a lot of learning theory in a master’s program or that other instructional designers may mention that you need to learn. Don’t think of it all at once. It is overwhelming. Group related theories together if it helps (like all theories on multimedia design, or on motivation). Then tackle a subset of theory instead of all of it.
Recognize how a theory fits with your work. This is the most important point and the advice I got as a beginning doctoral student. Once you see theories as fitting into your own work, they are much easier to remember. You remember the theories you use. Read theories critically. Ask yourself whether you agree or disagree. Does the theory line up with your experience or how you see the world? The more you can tie anything you read to an emotion, the better you will remember it. This means that some theories you will naturally gravitate towards and others you won’t. Some you will know very well, others not so much. You’re not being tested over it so it’s okay to not know it all. Just know where to find it if you need it.
Apply what you learn. What kind of learning professional would I be if I left this step out? Use whatever the theory suggests in your own learning projects. Does it work for you? Why or why not?
Reflect. This is also very important. Write about your process. And keep writing about it. Keep adapting it for different organizations, industries, audiences, etc.
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