Creativity in the training and practice of instructional designers:. Gregory Clinton and Brad Hokanson.
‘The article presents a discussion of research and theoretical perspectives on creativity and instructional design, offering a conceptual model of the connection between these two constructs.’
Design/creativity loops model
‘Central to the model is a representation of the iterative, looping problem-solving cycle that can include established stages of creative thinking. As an instructional designer is routinely confronted with the next task or design problem in a project, these tasks or problems spawn iterative mental excursions that are opportunities for creative thinking. This article also explores ways that the design and development process can benefit from an emphasis on creativity and offers suggested directions for future research.’
A crucial remark of Clinton and Hokanson is ’There is a need for the connection between creativity and instructional design to be formally conceptualized, included routinely in the discourse of our field, and incorporated into the training of new instructional designers. ‘
And they continue: ‘Inclusion of some conceptualization of creative work among designers helps to send a message that creative ideas are taken seriously in a particular work environment and that creativity is ‘built-in’ to the work of instructional design, rather than being an ‘add-on.’ And while learning outcomes and the creative experience of instructional designers’ learners is of critical importance, the focus in this article is rather on the development of instructional designers and the process of design’.
ADDIE
In the article the authors apply their ideas in the ADDIE-model (Analyze, Design, Development, Implement and Evaluate). This model which is often used in course development. For example, this remark about the Design phase:
‘In the design phase, many decisions are made about materials and media, and how to deliver the instruction. This aspect of ID has perhaps the closest affinity to what has been called the ‘artistic’ or ‘craft’ approach, since designers can actually devise specific instructional strategies and make aesthetic decisions. Here there is a golden opportunity for divergent thinking, with many possible ways to conceive of the presentation of content. For example, how should the first event of instruction—gaining learner attention—be accomplished? Novelty is the quintessential device for gaining attention and is part and parcel with creativity. Perhaps there is a metaphor, for example, that ties in with the theme of the instruction that can be used in some new and unexpected way.’
Other examples
Bates includes in his E--book: Teaching in a Digital Age chapter 11.2 Nine steps to quality teaching in a digital age various examples of design tasks, like ‘prepare a story board, use prototypes, design on-line learning spaces’.
Also, Malamed , Salmon and others give suggestions for including design tasks in the systematic instructional strategy.
Still a question is, how can we insert the evidenced based results of learning psychology in these models in a 'design-format'. Interesting suggestions to answer this question can be found the fields of Evidence Based Medicine and Technical Design.