Instructional Design and the Importance of Instructional Alignment

This paper highlights the instructional design process followed by the Maricopa Community College faculty in the creation of instructional modules in Digital Visual Literacy. The paper categorizes 10 tasks that an instructional designer, a teacher, or a trainer performs during the design phase of the instructional design process. The importance of alignment between each of these 10 instructional elements is stressed in the paper. Also described are two different design models (top-down model and the matrix model) that were used by the faculty in the design of instructional materials. The matrix model has been found to be more effective in aligning the 10 instructional elements. Also included are survey results on the importance of the instructional design elements and if instructors include these elements in their lesson design in a community college setting.