Poodles, Borg, and Bungee Jumpers: The Development of a Taxonomy of Student Types Encountered in an Introductory Instructional Media Production Course.

An analysis of an introductory multimedia production course for preservice instructional design professionals was conducted at a large Midwestern university. To choose a representative sample of interview subjects, it was necessary to articulate the types of learners normally encountered in the class. The course instructors were interviewed on this subject, and a taxonomy was developed to identify various learner types for interview and observation purposes. A comparison of interviews with the course instructors, and responses from other media production course instructors was then synthesized into a general description of people entering any media production course and seems to have merit of its own in helping instructors identify their audience. The taxonomy has proven to be an effective tool for helping multimedia production course instructors gain greater understanding of their student populations, and to provide greater support to students in ways that are appreciated by, and acceptable to the students. Competent instructional design (ID) professionals recognize a difference between the instructional design process and the production process. The instructional design process involves the identification and development of objectives, activities, and evaluation protocols to promote learning. The production process is an activity subordinate to the instructional design process; it focuses on the creation and design of tangible products identified as necessary to the overall instructional design. Examples of these products include worksheets, booklets, posters, videotapes, and computer software. Depending on the setting, an ID professional may be responsible for some or all media production within an organization. Conversely, the instructional designer may be separated from the production process, providing for the organization a design that is subsequently realized by an independent production team or a production team that is managed by the designer (Gentry, 1994). Regardless of the instructional designer's actual participation in the production process, s/he must have a working knowledge of what can and cannot be accomplished in media production to work effectively. Students in the process of learning how to be instructional designers may have trouble understanding the production process as it relates to the instructional design process. Learners may overestimate or underestimate their competence as producers of instructional media. In the development and delivery of coursework on the design and production of instructional media, a question that is often overlooked is, "What are the attitudes and predispositions of students toward the production process before they begin coursework in production?" Answering this question should lead to the ability to develop and deliver a course that offers greater learning possibilities for its participants. Students express a wide range of attitudes toward the production process. The two extremes of this range may be described in terms of: * individuals who demonstrate a complete lack of confidence in their ability to contribute to the production process (people who verbally indicate that they are incapable of producing instructional materials and are not competent to manage producers or judge the quality of the producers' work), to * individuals with so much confidence in their own production abilities (confidence that is often unwarranted) that they are unwilling to receive instruction or criticism in this area. Any program of study intended to develop competent instructional design professionals must endeavor to instill in its participants an understanding of how the production of instructional materials fits into the larger scheme of instructional design. Instruction in this area should include some means of facilitating the learner's development of an attitude toward the production process that is consistent with the general attitude adopted by the community of expert instructional designers. …