Drafting Your Design Proposal

Design Proposal: Overview

In the first three modules of this course, we considered the characteristics and needs of adult basic education students and educators, the standards used to assess adult learning, the potential of using and adapting existing open educational resources (OER), and important components of designing instruction, such as articulating objectives, defining the scope and purpose, and using sound instructional principles. Now, it is time to put that knowledge into action by developing the first draft of your design within a written design proposal (also referred to as a design plan).

Please review the following video (2:00 minutes) that offers an overview of this module:

Your Task: Drafting a Written Design Proposal

As described within the video above, during this module you will draft a written Design Proposal for your lesson using the Design Guide developed for this instructional design project. This Design Guide serves as the foundation from which you will build your actual lesson materials and resources for adult basic educators to use with their students. Looking ahead, in the next few weeks we will create a prototype of your work and evaluate what you’ve created.

For the purposes of this course and for this stage of our design project, we are most interested in your ability to prepare a clear written overview of your early conception of your lesson design. By the end of this module, we will evaluate your initial plan using some foundational questions, such as: 

  • Is the lesson targeting relevant objectives based on the learning standards?
  • Are you situating the lesson in a context that will be relevant to your identified audience?
  • Is the scope appropriate for the project requirements, including what will be covered within the defined time and context of the learning environment?
  • What strategies and activities will you integrate to engage students in the learning process? 

The Design Guide

Lesson Description.png

As noted earlier in this course, we have prepared a Design Guide to help us ensure consistency in the educational resources that are designed and developed for the Adult Learning Zone in OER Commons. The Design Guide focuses on the following: 

  • Project Requirements
  • Part 1: Lesson Description
    • Lesson Title
    • Abstract
    • Learner Audience / Primary Users
    • Educational Use
    • College & Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) Alignment
    • Language
    • Material Type
    • Learning Goals
    • Keywords
    • Time Required for Lesson
    • Prior Knowledge
    • Required Resources
    • Lesson Author & License
  • Part 2: Lesson
    • Learning Objectives
    • Lesson Topics
    • Context Summary
    • Relevance to Practice
    • Key Terms and Concepts
    • Instructional Strategies and Activities
      • Warm-Up
      • Introduction
      • Presentation / Modeling / Demonstration
      • Guided Practice
      • Evaluation
      • Application
  • Part 3: Supplementary Resources & References
    • Supplementary Resources
    • References
    • Attribution Statements

Using the Design Guide: Your Design Proposal

Design Guide Module 4.png

For the purposes of drafting your design proposal, please focus on Part 1: Lesson Description and Part 2: Lesson of the Design Guide. You will complete Part 3: References when you develop your prototype in Module 5. Part 1 of the Design Guide offers a guide for instructors who will be using your lesson, and provides general information about the lesson, such as lesson time and grade level. Many of these details will be listed along with your completed lesson materials (Part 2 of the Design Guide) in the Adult Learning Zone to help adult basic educators quickly determine if your lesson addresses their needs.