The ADDIE model

For many years now, educators and instructional designers alike have used the ADDIE
Instructional Design (ID) method as a framework in designing and developing
educational and training programs. “ADDIE” stands
for Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. This sequence, however, does
not impose a strict linear progression through the steps. Educators, instructional
designers and training developers find this approach very useful because having stages
clearly defined facilitates implementation of effective training tools. As an ID model,
Addie Model has found wide acceptance and use.

Most ID models are variations of the ADDIE model.

The concept of Instructional Design can be traced back to as early as the 1950s. But it
wasn’t until 1975 that ADDIE was designed. Originally developed for the U.S. Army by
the Centre for Educational Technology at Florida State University, ADDIE was later
implemented across all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.

The ADDIE model was based on an earlier ID model, the Five Step Approach, which
had been developed by the U.S. Air Force. The ADDIE model retained this five-step
feature, and included many sub-stages within each of the five broad phases. Due to the
hierarchical structure of the steps, one had to complete the process in a linear fashion,
completing one phase before starting the next.

Practitioners over the years have made several revisions in the stages of the original
hierarchical version. This has made the model more interactive and dynamic. It was in
the mid-1980s that the version similar to the current version appeared. Today, the
influence of the ADDIE method can be seen on most ID models being used.

Addie: Stages
The five components of the Addie Model are:

Analysis
The Analysis phase can be considered as the “Goal-Setting Stage.” The focus of the
designer in this phase is on the target audience. It is also here that the program
matches the level of skill and intelligence that each student/participant shows. This is to
ensure that what they already know won’t be duplicated, and that the focus will instead
be on topics and lessons that students have yet to explore and learn. In this phase,
instructors distinguish between what the students already know and what they should
know after completing the course.

Several key components are to be utilized to make sure analysis is thorough. Course
texts and documents, syllabi and the internet are to be employed. With the help of
online materials such as web courses, a structure can be determined as the primary
guide for the syllabus. At the end of the program, instructional analysis will be
conducted to determine what subjects or topics are to be included. The Analysis Phase
generally addresses the following issues and questions:

1. What is the typical background of the students/participants who will undergo the
program? Personal and educational information such as age, nationality, previous
experiences and interests should be determined. What is the target group? What
are the educational goals, past knowledge levels, experiences, ages, interests,
cultural background etc. of the learners?
 2. What do the students need to accomplish at the end of the program? What are the
learner’s needs?
3. What will be required in terms of skills, intelligence, outlook and
physical/psychological action-reaction? What are the desired learning outcomes in
terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, behavior etc.?
4. Determining popular methods being used around the subject and taking a look at
what needs to be developed and improved. Review of existing instructional
strategies employed. Are they adequate? What aspects need to be added,
clarified and improved upon?
5. Determining target objectives of the project. What instructional goals does the
project focus on?
6. Determining the various options available with respect to learning environment.
What is the most conducive learning environment? A combination of live or online
discussions? What are the Pros and Cons between online- and classroom-based
study? What delivery option is to be chosen? What type of learning environment is
preferred? Does one opt for online or face-to-face or a blend of both? If online is
preferred what will be the difference in learning outcomes between classroom-
based learning and web-based learning?
7. Determining limiting factors to the overall goal of the project. What limiting factors
exist with respect to resources, including technical, support, time, human
resources, technical skills, financial factors, support factors?

Design
This stage determines all goals, tools to be used to gauge performance, various tests,
subject matter analysis, planning and resources. In the design phase, the focus is on
learning objectives, content, subject matter analysis, exercise, lesson planning,
assessment instruments used and media selection.
The approach in this phase should be systematic with a logical, orderly process of
identification, development and evaluation of planned strategies which target the
attainment of the project’s goals. It should follow a very specific set of rules, and each
element of the instructional design plan must be executed with attention to detail. Being
a stickler for the details is crucial to the success of the design stage. This systematic
approach makes sure that everything falls within a rational and planned strategy, or set
of strategies, that has the ultimate goal of reaching the project’s targets. During the
design stage, the IDs need to determine:

1. Different types of media to be used. Audio, Video and Graphics are prime
examples. Are third party resources going to be utilized or will the IDs create their
own? Will you prepare the teaching learning material?
2. Various resources at hand required to complete the project. What are the
available resources at your disposal for completing the project?
 3. Level and types of activity to be generated during the study. Is it going to be
collaborative, interactive or on a per participant basis?
4. Using a teacher’s style approach, how will you implement the parts of the project
(i.e. behaviorist, constructivist, etc.)?
5. Time frame for each activity. How much time is to be assigned to each task, and
how will learning be implemented (per lesson, chapter, module, etc.)? Do the
topics require a linear progression in presentation (i.e. easy to difficult)?
6. The different mental processes needed by the participants in order to meet the
targets of the project. What are the prescribed cognitive skills for students to
achieve the project’s learning goals?
7. Knowledge and skill developed after each task. Do you have a way of determining
that such values have indeed been achieved by the students? What is the method
adopted by you to determine the acquisition of desired competencies by the
students?
8. The roadmap of how the study or project will appear on paper. Will it be
advantageous to the ID to create a map of the different activities to see if they are
in line with the goal of the project?
9. If the project is web-based, what kind of user interface will you employ? Do you
already have an idea on how the site will look like?
10. The feedback mechanism you will use to determine if the participants are able to
digest the lessons. What is the mechanism designed by you to obtain the learners’
feedback on material learnt?
11. Given the wide variety of student preferences and learning styles, what method
will you implement to make sure that the program fits their wants? How will you
design your project activities so as to appeal to diverse learning styles and
interests of students? Will you opt for variety in delivery options and media type?
12. Pinpoint the main idea of the project (training activity).

Development
The Development stage starts the production and testing of the methodology being
used in the project. In this stage, designers make use of the data collected from the two
previous stages, and use this information to create a program that will relay what needs
to be taught to participants. If the two previous stages required planning and
brainstorming, the Development stage is all about putting it into action. This phase
includes three tasks, namely drafting, production and evaluation.
Development thus involves creating and testing of learning outcomes. It aims to address
the following questions:

1. Is the time frame being adhered to in relation to what has been accomplished in
terms of material? Are you creating materials as per schedule?
2. Do you see team work across various participants? Are the members working
effectively as a team?
3. Are participants contributing as per their optimal capacity?
4. Are the materials produced up to task on what they were intended for?

Implementation
The implementation stage reflects the continuous modification of the program to make
sure maximum efficiency and positive results are obtained. Here is where IDs strive to
redesign, update, and edit the course in order to ensure that it can be delivered
effectively. “Procedure” is the key word here. Much of the real work is done here as IDs
and students work hand in hand to train on new tools, so that the design can be
continuously evaluated for further improvement. No project should run its course in
isolation, and in the absence of proper evaluation from the IDs. Since this stage gains
much feedback both from IDs and participants alike, much can be learned and
addressed.

Design evaluation is done in the implementation phase. Designers play a very active
role in this stage, which is crucial for the success of the project. Developers should
consistently analyze, redesign and enhance the product to ensure effective product
delivery. Meticulous monitoring is a must. Proper evaluation of the product, course or
program, with necessary and timely revisions, is done in this phase. When instructors
and learners actively contribute during the implementation process, instantaneous
modifications can be made to the project, thus making the program more effective and
successful.

The following are examples of what can be determined:

1. Advise on your preferred method of record keeping, as well as the actual data you
would like to mine from the experience of students interfacing with the project.
2. What is the emotional feedback given to you by teachers and students during
initial demonstration of the project? Are they genuinely interested, eager, critical or
resistant?
3. As the project proceeds, do you see that IDs are able to grasp the topic
immediately or do they need help?
4. Explain how you are going to deal with any possible errors during testing. What
will your response be if, after presenting activities to students, things do not go as
planned?
5. Did you prepare a back-up tool in the event of initial failure of the project? When
technical and other problems arise do you have a back-up strategy?
6. Will you go for implementation on a small scale or a large scale?
7. When the student group gets the material can they work independently, or is
constant guidance required?

Evaluation
The last stage of the ADDIE method is Evaluation. This is the stage in which the project
is being subjected to meticulous final testing regarding the what, how, why, when of the
things that were accomplished (or not accomplished) of the entire project. This phase
can be broken down into two parts: Formative and Summative. The initial evaluation
actually happens during the development stage. The Formative phase happens while
students and IDs are conducting the study, while the Summative portion occurs at the
end of the program. The main goal of the evaluation stage is to determine if the goals
have been met, and to establish what will be required moving forward in order to further
the efficiency and success rate of the project.
Every stage of the ADDIE process involves formative evaluation. This is a
multidimensional—and essential—component of the ADDIE process. Evaluation is done
throughout the implementation phase with the aid of the instructor and the students.
After implementation of a course or program is over, a summative evaluation is done for
instructional improvement. Throughout the evaluation phase the designer should
ascertain whether problems relevant to the training program are solved, and whether
the desired objectives are met.

While often overlooked due to time constraints and monetary reasons, Evaluation is an
essential step of the whole ADDIE method as it aims to answer the following questions:

1. Determine the categories that will be established to evaluate the effectiveness of

the project (i.e. improved learning, increased motivation etc.) On what factors or
criteria will the effectiveness of project be determined?
2. Determine the way you will implement data collection, as well as the timing at
which it will be effectively made. When will the data related to the project’s overall
effectiveness be collected and how?
3. Determine a system for analyzing participant feedback.
4. Determine the method to be used if some parts of the project need to be changed
prior to full release. On what basis will you arrive at a decision to revise certain
aspects of the project before its full implementation?
5. Determine the method by which reliability and content validity can be observed.
6. Determine the method by which you will know if instructions are clear. How is the
clarity of instructions assessed?
7. Determine the method by which you can analyze and grade the response of the
participants on the project.
8. Determine who gets to receive your final output regarding the project. Who will
prepare this report on the results of the evaluation?

9. ADDIE Model
10. The ADDIE model is the generic process traditionally used by
instructional designers and training developers. The five phases—
Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation—
represent a dynamic, flexible guideline for building effective training and
performance support tools. While perhaps the most common design
model, there are a number of weaknesses to the ADDIE model which have
led to a number of spin-offs or variations.
11. It is an Instructional Systems Design (ISD) model. Most of the
current instructional design models are spin-offs or variations of the ADDIE
model; other models include the Dick & Carey and Kemp ISD models. One
commonly accepted improvement to this model is the use of rapid
prototyping. This is the idea of receiving continual or formative feedback
while instructional materials are being created. This model attempts to
save time and money by catching problems while they are still easy to fix.
12. Instructional theories also play an important role in the design of
instructional materials. Theories such as behaviorism, constructivism,
social learning and cognitivism help shape and define the outcome of
instructional materials.
13. In the ADDIE model, each step has an outcome that feeds into the
subsequent step.
14. Analysis > Design > Development > Implementation > Evaluation
15. Analysis Phase
16. In the analysis phase, instructional problem is clarified, the
instructional goals and objectives are established and the learning
environment and learner’s existing knowledge and skills are identified.
Below are some of the questions that are addressed during the analysis
phase:
17. * Who is the audience and their characteristics?
* Identify the new behavioral outcome?
* What types of learning constraints exist?
* What are the delivery options?
* What are the online pedagogical considerations?
* What is the timeline for project completion?
18. Design Phase
19. The design phase deals with learning objectives, assessment
instruments, exercises, content, subject matter analysis, lesson planning
and media selection. The design phase should be systematic and specific.
Systematic means a logical, orderly method of identifying, developing and
evaluating a set of planned strategies targeted for attaining the project’s
goals. Specific means each element of the instructional design plan needs
to be executed with attention to details.
20. These are steps used for the design phase:
21. * Documentation of the project’s instructional, visual and technical
design strategy
* Apply instructional strategies according to the intended behavioral
outcomes by domain (cognitive, affective, psychomotor).
* Create storyboards
* Design the user interface and user experience
* Prototype creation
* Apply visual design (graphic design)
22. Development Phase
23. The development phase is where the developers create and
assemble the content assets that were created in the design phase.
Programmers work to develop and/or integrate technologies. Testers
perform debugging procedures. The project is reviewed and revised
according to any feedback given.
24. Implementation Phase
25. During the implementation phase, a procedure for training the
facilitators and the learners is developed. The facilitators’ training should
cover the course curriculum, learning outcomes, method of delivery, and
testing procedures. Preparation of the learners include training them on
new tools (software or hardware), student registration.
26. This is also the phase where the project manager ensures that the
books, hands on equipment, tools, CD-ROMs and software are in place,
and that the learning application or Web site is functional.
27. Evaluation Phase
28. The evaluation phase consists of two parts: formative and
summative. Formative evaluation is present in each stage of the ADDIE
process. Summative evaluation consists of tests designed for domain
specific criterion-related referenced items and providing opportunities for
feedback from the users.
29. Document courtesy of Wikipedia.org