An-Najah Staff

The hypothesis that the planning activities of classroom teachers correlate with the practices of instructional design professionals is explored within the context of this study. Classroom teachers participated in a survey which requested information regarding their planning routines. The 35-item two part questionnaire that was used as the data collection instrument was sent to 110 teachers currently teaching grades 7 through 12. including teachers participating in university-school partnership programs. The 61 who returned the questionnaires (56%) reported on their actions when planning to teach on a daily basis, and provided information on typical class size, number of years teaching, grade level, educational background, and subject taught. Analyses of the responses indicate that a strong correlation exists between teacher planning activities and instructional design practices, although the subject taught is the only variable studied that seems to affect the potential for teachers to practice instructional design. It is suggested that some instructional design practices may be beyond the realm of manipulation by public school teachers, and that a dialog between instructional design professionals should be formalized. It is also suggested that instructional designers should consider instructional design models that combine common teacher planning routines with instructional design practices.