Goal Analysis in Instructional Design

A common exercise to teach students how to write an effective procedure for a science experiment is to have them write out the steps for a simple and familiar task, such as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  The teacher then follows the directions, deliberately misinterpreting steps to make explicit the assumptions in the directions students wrote.  For example, the first step students include is usually to spread the peanut butter on the bread, neglecting steps like preparing a work area, opening the package of bread, and opening the jar of peanut butter; beyond that, students typically leave out details like where on the bread to spread the peanut butter or how much peanut butter to use.

Working on the subtask analysis was very reminiscent of this activity, so much so that the instructor referenced something similar in the module introduction.  I've done the activity as a student, where my focus was on trying to identify the steps as clearly as I could and I've done it as a teacher, where my focus was on finding the vagaries, missing steps, and other wiggle room in what my students had written.  When completing the subtask analysis, I found I needed to switch between those roles.  It wasn't enough to play the student, trying to outwit the person with the barest prior knowledge, I needed to look at my work from the view of the teacher, finding the tiny holes that left space for me to misinterpret the steps.  Completing the subtask analysis started to feel like a game and I found myself having fun looking for the smaller steps behind each larger task.

What I found challenging was seeing how the objectives are different from the steps of the information processing and subtask analyses.  After re-reading sections of the textbook and looking at what my classmates had done, I believe the differences are becoming clearer in my head.  The objectives are the goal, the reason for taking the steps while the stages of the subtask are the way you get there.  To use an example, I am planning a short backpacking trip for this summer.  When I pick the campsites I want to reach each night, I am setting some of the objectives for my trip.  When I get out a map and pick out the specific trails I'll be using, I am doing the subtask analysis.

Finally, as I've been working on my goal analysis, my project has started to take a much firmer shape.  It is exciting to see how these early steps almost force certain aspects of the instruction into place.  Following the full, formalized instructional design process is not something I will have the opportunity to do for most of my lessons, but the benefits are clear.  The principles I am learning will certainly influence my approaches to new lessons.