Evolution of Instructional Materials Design

Responsiveness by publishers

Reaction Paper by Licda. Sylvia Johnson S.

Publishers attempt to develop instructional materials that meet the standards set for formal statewide adoption. They generally begin with a literature review by the author and the editorial staff; at the same time a review begins to identify the state and national standards, which are "divergent, and increasingly specific" ( Baughman,2008,p.89). Market research teams then gather information from teachers and administrators about their perspectives and information on the best instructional practices.

Next, they creat prototypes and gather continual feedback from teachers about "quality of content,organizational structure, pacing, usability," and other features (Baughman,2008,p.90).

Effective materials include certain components. Major tool generally is accompanied by a teacher's manual, test items or resources, a study guide, and activity guide (Ornstein,1992).

In addition, effective materials usually include the following features:

* Instructional goals with adaptability to course requirements

* accurate, relevant, relatively up-to-date information

* well-organized, coherent, and unified flow of information

* appropriate reading level and vocabulary

* efective layout, visual presentation, and physical features

* absence of stereotypes and biases

* multidisciplinary content with multiple rather than single perspectives

* small conceps taught as variations on larger themes

* development of insight and thinking skills rather than just memorization of isolated or unrelated favts

* real-world applications of informational skills

* inclusion of suplemental and reference materials for teaching (Ball,1990, Siegel & Sousa, 1994; Tyson, n.d.).

Formats of Instructional Materials

The National Association of State Textbook Administrators (NASTA) provides a network of support for publishers, which links to the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS); it also furnishes information and guidelines about specialized formats needed to comply with accessibility legislation that must be delivered before print instructional materials arrive at the schools.Specialized formats include Braise, audio, digital text, ans large print. For such materials, publishers must meet technical specifications in preparing and delivering instructional materials review and adoption. The Florida Department of Education provides specifications for alternative formats, or links to such information, in the packets for publishers.

Textbook Dominance

Even though this may change in the not-too-distant future, textbooks remain the main curriculum guides. They are the most frequently used instructional material for students and teachers at all grade levels beyond primary grades. The amount of classroom time that students spend using textbooks is estimated at 75 to 90 percent.(Ajayi,2005; Eisner, Nicholson,& Webb, 2000; Watts-Taffe, 2005, Wiley & Barr, 2007; Sadder & Gentleman, cited in Lumbering,2007, p.144; Stein, Student, Carnine, & Long,2001).

The Teacher's Manual

Is a key presentation feature that can be a strong selling point, especially if well designed.The same can work very well for both students and teachers when they have the following features:

* Practicality: clear layout, easy to use, durable over time, cheap enough to buy

* Alignment: teacher content and activities align to student materials

* Coverage: enough content to give teachers more time to prepare lessons; guidance on teaching procedures, cultural aspects, a plan for each lesson, enough information about topics and answers; information about what parts may find difficult and ways to explain difficult parts.

* Readability; easy to understand with clear objectives and instructions.

* Methods: information on how students learn the subject, and / or reasons for using certain activities and methods for large and small groups; different learner contexts; different styles of learning.

* Assessment: ways of evaluating learning.

* Management: classroom management support such as outlines for planning and organizing courses, units, and lessons; ways for teachers to become more confident with their teaching skills ( Ajayi, 2005: Bernstein,1992; Joyce, Weil, & Calhoun, 2004; Gleason & Isaacson,2001).