We are aware that there is much more to a teaching decision than can be presented in a two-hour workshop, but we are constrained by our attendees' background and sophistication about learning. They want to know the steps in writing a multiple choice test, not the theories of measurement that underlie those steps. We have to remember that our own level of sophistication with regard to instructional design is very different from that of most faculty simply because we have had more time to think about these things. They need to know the basics first, and they'll be as impatient as the students if they come away from a session with nothing tangible they can use. So, yes, initially we should focus on basic principles and suggest that there is much more to this topic than meets the eye.
Faculty differ from students, however, in that they are already very sophisticated learners.
They may be novices in this subject, but not in learning itself. They are aware that there is more beyond the surface strategies, even if they are not ready to learn it. But the fact that they have reached higher levels of understanding in their own disciplines alerts them to the possibility of similar complexities in teaching. Therefore, they will reach the level of sophistication we aim at much more quickly than someone who has never reached that level in any area. In spite of the fact that faculty are highly sophisticated learners, embarking on a learning experience is no less risky for them than it is for their students.