The Intellectual Content of Instructional Design

In this paper, instructional design is described as a high-level thinking process. This characterization provides more information regarding the way instructional design is learned and actually practiced in three ways. First, analyzing instructional design from the perspective of cognitive psychology makes possible classification of design models along a continuum from general heuristics to specific algorithms. Second, the literature on planning, schema theory, development of expertise and metacognition supports the notion that instructional design models represent designers' schemata. Third, the development of design schemata can be traced over time to chart the similarities between cognitive abilities of designers. The implications drawn from this analysis can enhance understanding of the design process as well as improve strategies to teach instructional design.