A Proposed Frameworks of the Relationships Between Instructional Design and Learning Psychology.

Abstract

The Tennyson and Rasch Linking Theory was fundamental in the traditional Instructional Design (ID) in that ID approached the use of ICT in learning from a needs analysis base, considered learning psychology, and then later found a suitable ICT to sort out the problems. Lately, learning has to cater for the evolution of ICTs, now in the fourth and fifth Industrial Revolutions, and for the ICT natives to whom ICTs are part of their culture, who use ICTs to learn. ID and learning facilitators then ask questions on how to use the ICT effectively in learning. This has led to unprofessional adoption of ICTs in teaching and learning devoid of considerations of learning psychology.

The evolution of ICTs forces ID to evolve and has seemingly reached crossroads between considerations of subject content, learning psychology or the curriculum and ICTs to sort learning problems out. Predominantly, ID has to evolve in concert with ICTs and their user demands, with consideration of learning psychology. The digital divide between the haves and not haves exacerbate the complexity of the cross of roads. I argue that ID faces a possibility of their roles being taken over by technologists. ID might end up as profession of evaluators of ICT in learning.

Therefore, in this paper, I review the Tennyson and Rasch Linking Theory between ID and learning psychology and re-emphasise a need to include learning psychology in ID in the adoption of ICTs to improve learning outcomes.