Week 2: Merril (2001) 5 Star Instructional Design Rating

Merrill designed a 5 star rating system for Instructional Design. In this system a course can earn the stars by meeting different criteria. There is an opportunity to receive five stars, varying in color (bronze, silver, and gold). This star system is limited to specific types of courses, like architecture tutorial or experiential. This being that receptive and exploratory courseware consist of an information push opposed to allowing learners to make connections.

The Five Stars are as follows

• Problem based


• Activation


• Demonstration


• Application


• Integration

So I think that problem based and activation will be easy to understand. But by demonstration does the elearning show the task clearly, will they then be able to apply it to other situations, and finally will the participant be able to integrate it into daily routines.

Through the reading it does not really tell you how to label what type of rating it gets. It just tells the reader how many stars and that each could be a different color. So I am just writing it the easiest way for me to explain it.

I was having a hard time looking at the suggested elearning to grade, but during the process I stumbled upon http://mentor.ucs.indiana.edu/~frick/r547/2006/onlinetesting/

Problem based- I give this a bronze star. It does not seem to identify a problem that I may have, but it does tell (not show) the task that I will be able to come away with.
Activation- I am interested in this, because as an ID creating e-courses, I have to take the instructors paper based tests and put them online. It did not interest me from the beginning and had I not had to rate it, I think I would have stopped after the first couple of tasks. I was really only interested when I found out you can use it for LMS. Silver star
Demonstration- It does a good job demonstrating! Sometimes though I could have just used a simple picture, but that is because I am a little use to working my way around new software. Gold Star
Application- I don't know what to give the application. The course tells the reader to work in the actual file, which is good, but it does not give you immediate feedback. Essentially the learner finds out if they are successful or not by the expected outcomes description the course gives. Bronze Star

Integration- No Star. The Course did not let the learner showcase what they learned or have any sort of open discussion. Perhaps if there was a forum at the end then this could help them integrate.

The other e-learning course we as a class looked at is located here http://payson.tulane.edu/courses/ltl/projects/entrepreneur/main.swf

This one I found very good! Here is my break down for my ratings

Problem based- It shows several examples that are problem based. For instances the Mexican Restaurant, will Russians eat Mexican food? Gold Star
Activation- By providing the different types of indutries, it allows students to be activated by them. Gold Star
Demonstration- It demonstrates in the sections and as you get into the sections at the left then the student gets a chance. Gold Star
Application- The learner gets a chance at applying what they have learned in the previous industrys to each of the remaining industries. And ultimately by creating their own business.
Integration- Students were able to create their own business, but I am not sure if they were able to showcase it or not. I don't know if it was my browser, but in the create your own business, it had no option to write ideas into. But maybe it was supposed to be that way. It asks for evidence, and so I think learners are able to defend their position by providing evidence. I give it a Silver Star.

I look forward to seeing how everyone one else rated the courses they found!