Philosophy of ID

My philosophy of Instructional Design falls in line with Ecclectic Instructional Design. This particular notion is defined as "Eclectic instructional designers are those who do not get hung up or rely consistently on any one theory for their designs." I agree and lean on my creativity for everything I exercise in my life. It is a dominant characteristic of myself. In an article written by two educational doctorates Honebein and Sink, "The first way of how not to be eclectic is to singularly label oneself as a designer strongly affiliated with a specific brand of learning theory." They explain that an instructional designer who falls into this category uses various learning theories as a toolbox, and not subscribe to them entirely as a dogma. Their relevance is still preserved but an instructional designer learns to go beyond what has already been established and instead embark on creating something entirely new.

In their article, The Practice of Eclectic Instructional design, Honebein and Sink explain that "The second way of how not to be eclectic is to attack a particular learning theory." This is intentionally brought up to highlight the importance of all learning theories and their valuable insights into what it means to learn and to be a learner as a human being. An interesting detail in their article is  their passion to create learning experiences. Both writers and editors work interchangeably but remain focused on creating learning experiences. On a final note, they state "In the third part of the eclectic instructional design model—learning theories—eclecticism starts to emerge as the designer begins to consider the methods that best fit the situation.." In other words, the designer takes into account what learning theories and instructional design model available may fit best.

The practice of instructional design is deeply rooted in learning theory. Learning theory has amplified an instructional designer's ability to implement instruction that best fits a situation. There are classical types of each fields of study, for example in instructional design, we have the ADDIE model. In learning theory, we have Constructivism which makes the purpose of learning to be deliberate by design. Both instructional design and learning theory have a symbiotic relationship that aid in the design of effective instruction. In simpler terms, learning takes place, a learner walks away with meaning and understanding.

The value in understanding learning theory is to have critical thinking and an innovative mindset. Throughout history, learning theory has prevailed in its ability to continue changing the game by coming out with more and more research concerning how humans learn. The fields of psychology and technology combined have studied what it means to learn throughout the ages, and in essence a new way of thinking emerges. Often labeled paradigms, the field of instructional design becomes innovated yielding  to other lines of thought. Mixing an instructional design model with a learning theory, is in practice helpful to ensure that a systematic, methodical approach, allows for the transfer of knowledge. In general, learning theory influences instructional design and its associated practices.