Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study conducted to examine the application of Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction (Educ Technol Res Dev 50(3):43–59, 2002, First principles of instruction, Pfeiffer, San Francisco, 2012) to determine how they were implemented during a fast-paced project that required the creation of a large number of online modules. Design and development research (Richey and Klein in Design and development research, Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, 2007) was employed to investigate the conditions and factors that impacted the decisions made by a design team including project leads, team leads, and instructional designers. Findings revealed that project requirements, personnel, physical setting, time, designer experience, training and team meetings influenced the use of the First Principles of Instruction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Collins, B., & Margaryan, A. (2005). Design criteria for work-based learning: Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction expanded. British Journal of Educational Technology, 36(5), 725–738.
Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Driscoll, M. P. (1984). Paradigms for research in instructional systems. Journal of Instructional Development, 7(4), 2–5.
Edmonds, G. S., Branch, R. C., & Mukherjee, P. (1994). A conceptual framework for comparing instructional design models. Educational Technology Research and Development, 42(4), 55–72.
Gardner, J. L. (2010). Applying Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction: Practical methods based on a review of the literature. Educational Technology, 50(2), 20–25.
Gardner, J. L. (2011a). How Award-winning professors in higher education use Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 8(5), 3–16.
Gardner, J. L. (2011b). Testing the efficacy of Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction in improving student performance in introductory biology courses. (Utah State University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/862644295?accountid=4840
Gardner, J. L., & Jeon, T. (2009). Creating task-centered instruction for web-based instruction: Obstacles and solution. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 38(1), 21–34.
Gibbons, A. S. (2003). What and how do designers design? TechTrends, 47(5), 22–25.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Gustafson, K. L., & Branch, R. M. (2002). Survey of instructional development models (4th ed.). Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse of Information & Technology, Syracuse University.
Kim, C., Mendenhall, A., & Johnson, T. E. (2010). A design framework for an online English writing course. In J. M. Spector, D. Ifenthaler, & Kinshuk (Eds.), Learning and instruction in the digital age (pp. 345–360). New York, NY: Springer.
Klein, J. D., & Richey, R. C. (2015). Design and development research. In J. M. Spector, T. Johnson, D. Ifenthaler, W. Savenye, & M. Wang (Eds.), Encyclopedia of educational technology (pp. 183–184). New York: Sage.
Mendenhall, A., Buhanan, C., Suhaka, M., Mills, G., Gibson, G., & Merrill, M. D. (2006). A task-centered approach to entrepreneurship. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 50(4), 84–89.
Merriam, S. B. (1988). Case study research in education: A qualitative approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Merrill, M. D. (2002). First Principles of Instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 50(3), 43–59.
Merrill, M. D. (2009a). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology, 46(4), 5–10.
Merrill, M. D. (2009b). Finding e3 (effective, efficient and engaging) Instruction. Educational Technology, 49(3), 15–26.
Merrill, M. D. (2012). First Principles of Instruction. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Rauchfuss, G. H. (2010). How principled are designers? A study of instructional designers use of first principles. Capella University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/741708813?accountid=4840
Reigeluth, C. M., & Frick, T. W. (1999). Formative research: A methodology for creating and improving design theories. In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional design theories and models, Volume II: A new paradigm of instructional theory (pp. 633–651). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Richey, R. C. (2005). Validating Instructional Design and Development Models. In J. M. Spector, C. Ohrazda, A. Van Schaack, & D. Wiley (Eds.), Innovation in instructional technology: Essays in honor of M. David Merrill (pp. 171–185). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Richey, R. C., & Klein, J. D. (2007). Design and development research. Mahwah, NJ: Routledge/Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Richey, R. C., & Klein, J. D. (2008). Research on design and development. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. van Merrienboer, & M. P. Driscoll (Eds.), Handbook of research for educational communications and technology (3rd ed., pp. 748–757). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Rowland, G. (1992). What do instructional designers actually do? An initial investigation of expert practice. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 5(2), 65–86.
van den Akker, J. (1999). Principles and methods of development research. In J. van den Akker, R. M. Branch, K. Gustafson, N. Nieveen, & T. Plomp (Eds.), Design approaches and tools in education and training (pp. 1–14). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Wedman, J., & Tessmer, M. (1993). Instructional designers’ decisions and priorities: A survey of design practice. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6(2), 43–57.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
This research study was not funded and there is no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Klein, J.D., Mendenhall, A. Applying the First Principles of Instruction in a short-term, high volume, rapid production of online professional development modules. J Comput High Educ 30, 93–110 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-017-9166-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12528-017-9166-9