The role of context in learning and instructional design

The Role of Context in Learning and Instructional Design [] Martin Tessmer Rita C. Richey Context is a pervasive and potent force in any learning event. Yet instructional design models contain little guidance about how to accommodate contextual elements to improve learning and transfer. This paper defines context, outlines its levels and types, specifies some pertinent contextual factors within these types, suggests methods for conducting a contextual analysis and utilizing its results for instructional design, and outlines future issues for context-based instructional design. The incorporation of a contextual approach to instruction will make our design models systemic as well as systematic. [] This paper examines the role of context in learning and proposes a way of addressing context in the instructional design process. Essentially, we will describe a new design phase we are calling contextual analysis. Our premise is that context has a complex and powerful influence upon successful performance-based learning, and yet is largely ignored (or at the least deemphasized) in most current instructional design models. We posit that this situation is one of the main reasons that design models tend to be more systematic than systemic and that the effects of many instructional interventions are not maintained over time. Our views have been formed not only as a result of our own research and development activities (Richey, 1992; Richey & Tessmer, 1995; Tessmer, 1990), but also from an examination of research and theory from a variety of fields. The recognition of the influence of context is, of course, not new, even though current thinking tends to have rediscovered its impact (Anderson, Reder, & Simon, 1997; Richey, 1995a; 1995b). However, the general orientation to context over the years has changed. Historically, designers and behavioral scientists adopted a minimalist view in which it was assumed that context played a minimal role in facilitating the attainment of instructional goals. This view was especially dominant in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Stokols, 1990). During this period the fundamental structure of our instructional design models was established and most models were based upon the fundamental premise that designed interventions are environmentally neutral and are applicable to all settings. ETR&D, Vol. 45, No. 2, 1997, pp. 85-t15 ISSN "~042-1629 8~ 86 ETR&D,Vo145, No. 2 There are other views of the role of context, however. Some have embraced an instrumentalist position in which context is seen as an instrument for promoting the achievement of cognitive or behavioral goals. Thus, learning environments or microworlds can be designed to facilitate the acquisition of problem solving or self-regulation skills. Stokols (1990) suggests a third orientation in which learning environments can be designed more from a spiritualist than instrumentalist view. In these cases the environment becomes an end in itself. Classrooms are conceived as resources that guide exploration; microworlds are designed to facilitate intellectual play. Such diverse contextual orientations for instructional design continue given the current, and sometimes conflicting, influence of notions such as situated learning, constructivism, performance technology, and the quality movement. Many designers intuitively support beliefs about the instrumentalist or spiritualist roles that context plays in learning, motivation, and transfer. In many respects our proposal for a contextual analysis design phase can be viewed as support for these intuitive notions. However, in spite of the informal recognition of contextual forces there is little formal consideration of it in design procedural models. Surveys of instructional design (ID) models (Andrews & Goodson, 1980; Edmonds, Branch, & Muhkerjee, 1994) have indicated that no ID models have a specific task or stage for contextual analysis or planning. Yet as Jonassen notes, "context is everything" to instructional design (1992). Typically, variations in instructional strategies have been primarily dependent upon the nature of the learning task (GagnG 1985; Leshin, Pollack, & Reigeluth, 1992), and to a lesser extent, upon the nature of the learner (Keller, 1987). Context is a largely unrecognized influence, although Smith and Ragan (1993) outline some learning environment considerations, and the new Dick and Carey model (1996) considers some performance context elements. These contextual additions are in part based upon Richey's (1992) identification of critical preinstructional and postinstructional contextual factors that influence training transfer and attitude change, as well as Tessmer's (1990) and Tessmer and Harris's (1992) models for analyzing instructional context factors. Nonetheless, the need for a comprehensive explication of contextual analysis prompted us to develop a more complete theoretical model that provides direction for this design phase. This model includes: • a comprehensive definition of context; • the historical role of context in ID; • contextual levels and factors that should be considered in ID; • a design process for utilizing contextual analysis information; and • contextual analysis data-gathering tools. The theoretical paradigm encompasses the entire contextual range--prelearning, learning, and performance contexts. It is also composed of two more specific models, a conceptual model and a procedural one. This comprehensive model should help readers conceptualize contest, conduct a contextual analysis, utilize its information for instructional design, and identify future context research and development directions (Table 1). This comprehensive model does not specifically cover context-based instructional strategies such as situated learning, problem-based learning, or cognitive apprenticeships (e.g., Wilson, 1996). It does indicate how designers can engineer contextual elements to facilitate learning and performance, in conjunction with the instructional strategy employed. Table t [ ] A Comprehensive Theoretical Model of Context for Instructional Design Conceptual Model Context Definition Roleof Levels& Context Factors Analysis Model Processes& Principles Datagathering Tools Examples & Issues Case Study Example Concerns & Directions