Instructional Design Document

Document Author: Dawn Anderson
Course Name: Typographical Hierarchy and Design

Executive Summary

In an attempt to get information out quickly to their audience, organizations overlook design principles in favor of speed. Unfortunately, those messages don’t always get through to the user, or the essential aspects of the message aren’t apparent. In fact, they may be hidden in a sea of blandness. 

Unformatted text is difficult to understand and read because it does not visually define what is important on the page. By using font size, weight, color, and other design elements, aspiring designers can create documents that are easier to understand, provoke emotion, and are more user-friendly. 

This course will demonstrate how to use Typographically Hierarchy and Design principles to create documents that will get your message across to your readers in a user-friendly, visually appealing, and thought-provoking manner.

Type of Course

The Typographical Hierarchy and Design course is an entry-level design course to teach aspiring designers how to use fonts and other design elements to organize data in an easy-to-understand, visually attractive format. 

Target Audience and Learner Profile

The students that will be taking this course are first-year design students at a local community college. The ages and prior knowledge vary greatly since some students are recent high school graduates, some are participating in a college in high school program, others are adults who have never finished their degrees or attended college, while others are participating in a skills re-training program. Some students, such as the adults seeking new careers and the running start students, tend to be highly motivated, while recent grads are not always ready to learn. Since we are a community college, we have students from various socioeconomic backgrounds.

Learning Gap

The learning gap that exists is that some people do not know how to format documents in an easy-to-understand manner. They will barely format text, so the reader doesn’t understand what is most important. Demonstrating how to use typographical and design elements to draw attention to the most important parts of the document, designers will be able to create documents (posters, business cards, websites, etc.) that will allow the reader to understand the message quickly. In addition, students do not always know how to resize images so there is a tutorial on how to resize images in Photoshop. Also, one assignment created a flyer that demonstrated the principles of hierarchy.

Terminal Learning Objective

By the end of the module, students will be able to take unformatted text and format while applying the principles of typographical hierarchy to make the document easier to read.

Course Learning Objectives

At the end of this course students will be able to:

  1. Arrange documents from the least amount to the most amount of hierarchy
  2. Create a hierarchy in a document using font sizes and weights as well as colors
  3. Apply chucking to a document to improve readability and hierarchy
  4. Include images and other design elements to aid in the document’s hierarchy

Instructional Strategies

Activities & Tasks

  1. Hierarchy match game: Students will take a document containing 6 pages with identical text, each using different levels of hierarchy. Students will put the document in order from least to most. Students will then write a brief paragraph to explain why they choose the order.
  2. Document Formatting: Students will be given a document containing unformatted text. Students will apply the principles of typographical hierarchy and chunking to format the text.
  3. Readings, Lecture, and Quizzes: Students will read an article about visual principles, watch a lecture on Typographical Hierarchy, and take a short quiz on the materials.
  4. Discussion Board: Students will post their formatted document to the discussion board, then they must provide meaning feedback to one of their peers.

Assessment Strategies

Assessments

  1. If the student arranges the documents in the correct order and can explain what principles were used.
  2. If the student’s formatted document contains the most important information first and lessor important information second, then they understand the concept. If they put similar information together and have a design that is not cluttered, then they have mastered the material.
  3. If student can provide useful feedback about a Typographical Hierarchy project using the terms learned from the readings and lectures than they understand the concept.
  4. If the student takes the quiz and passes, they have a basic understanding of the concept.

Content Sources

https://www.canva.com/learn/visual-hierarchy/
https://blog.typekit.com/2011/03/17/type-study-typographic-hierarchy/
https://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/understanding-typographic-hierarchy–webdesign-11636
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/visual-hierarchy
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-ux-designer-s-guide-to-typography
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/principles-visual-design/
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/visual-hierarchy-ux-definition/

Learning Model 

This course will be designed using the Understand by Design Methodology because it is student-centered and focuses on the learning outcome at the end.  The course material is designed to help guide students and provide them with a means of achieving the learning outcome and goal. (Bowen, R.S., 2017) The course also uses Rapid eLearning Development because it will be updated and changed quarterly in the Canvas LMS by the instructor. It is the most cost-effective method in the community college setting. (Omer, A.H., 2018)

Learning Theory

Constructivism and Andragogy were used to develop the assignments. The students actively engage in the content as they learn. I mention Andragogy because many of our students are adults and have prior knowledge or work experience. They want to learn and put it into practice immediately. The exercises provide allow them to apply the knowledge as it is acquired. (McLeod, S. A., 2019)

Course Sequencing

  1. Introduction
  2. Lecture on Typographical Hierarchy with test your knowledge quiz
  3. Reading on the Principles of Visual Design
  4. Podcast
  5. Match Game
  6. Typographical Hierarchy Layout Exercise
  7. Graded Discussion Board
  8. Quiz on Reading

Course Standards

Participation is mandatory. Students need to be involved in this class therefore we will be having a discussion board set up for each project. Students must provide constructive criticisms on at least one project. Feedback must be kind and useful.

Examples of good feedback
  • “The font used in Paragraph 1 is a headline font and it is hard to read.”
  • “I love the color you used for your circles, but the text is too hard to read. Can you use a lighter color?”
Examples of bad feedback
  • “I like your design it is pretty.”
  • “Your design stinks you should change majors.”

Any student needing accommodations due to a documented disability should notify the Center for Disability Services and me at the beginning of the quarter for further instructions.

All work submitted in this class is expected to be your own. Tracing artwork or written work may violate the owner’s copyright and is prohibited in this class. You will receive a failing grade in the class if you submit the work of others—professionals or students—as your own.

All work submitted in this class is expected to be completed during this quarter. Unless stated otherwise for a specific assignment, designs produced in other classes will not be accepted.

Using copyrighted photographs, clip art, or other materials as part of your assignments is allowed on a limited “educational purposes only” basis and only when allowed by the instructor.

Follow the instructions provided for each class assignment and exercise. Failure to do so will result in a reduction in your grade for each assignment. If you are unclear about the instructions for an assignment, please address the issue in class or contact me by email.

These deadlines, like any other in the real world, are absolute. Late assignments will automatically receive a reduced grade unless an extension is requested and granted in advance of the due date.

Academic Honesty

We expect all students to follow the highest standards for academic integrity.
Any student involved in cheating will receive a F/zero for that project.

Examples of cheating include:
  • Allowing someone to create a project for you (or creating a project for another).
  • Allowing someone to complete an in-class exercise for you (or completing it for another).
  • Exactly copying someone else’s design (from a book, magazine, website, or other references).
  • Attempting to alter a grade on a project after it has been returned to you.
Examples that are NOT cheating include:
  • Asking someone to suggest improvements to your project, then acting on those suggestions.
  • Asking someone to help you with a digital or manual technique that could improve your project.
  • Getting together with other students to discuss a project or brainstorm ideas.
  • Looking at other design work to analyze how/why it works (or doesn’t work).

Sources:

Bowen, R. S.  (2017). Understanding by Design. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved 12/12/2021 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/understanding-by-design/.

McLeod, S. A. (2019, July 17). Constructivism as a theory for teaching and learning. Simply Psychology. Retrieved 12/19/2021 from www.simplypsychology.org/constructivism.html

Omer, Ayesha Habeeb (2018). Rapid eLearning Design and Development: A Watered Down Version Of ADDIE? Retrieved 12/12/2021 from https://elearningindustry.com/rapid-elearning-design-and-development-watered-down-version-addie

Pappas, Christopher (2013) The Adult Learning Theory – Andragogy – of Malcolm Knowles. Retrieved 12/19/2021 from https://elearningindustry.com/the-adult-learning-theory-andragogy-of-malcolm-knowles

300x Inputs

Consider the distinct differences adult learners can bring to an education or training situation. This can be very influential in not only how you choose specific media and technology but also how you use it and expect students to use it.

For the assignments, I used a variety of media including video, audio, visual/written, and interactive. I used the materials to explain the concept of typographical hierarchy. Students would be able to see, read, hear and interact with the explanations of what it is and how to use it in their designs. In addition, since images can be a part of it, I created a tutorial on how to resize images in Photoshop.

What tools have you used for development? Articulate? Captive? Powtoons? Any others?

I used Adobe Captivate for the Interactive element. I used Powtoons for the Animation Video. For the images, video editing, screen capturing, etc I used Canva, PowerPoint, Adobe Premiere Rush, Placeit.com, Adobe Photoshop, and Techsmith Snagit. I published the videos on YouTube and I created my portfolio on a self-hosted WordPress site using the Kadence Framework.

Simply stated, course standards are stated goals or criteria which a student must abide by.

This was already covered early in the document go there now.

Consider each level in Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation Model. How will you implement the levels? How many checklists/rubrics will you need? This information comes from LDT400x.

I am not a fan of checklists because you can manipulate them however you want them to be. I personally would apply a different rubric to each exercise because each one needs to be evaluated differently. So the answer is how many it takes.

Will you use Quality Matters? OLC? Peer Review? Pilot groups? How do you plan to test the validity of your course? This information comes from LDT400x.

No, I most likely will use Peer Review because it is free and they have to evaluate our classes every quarter. I think it is also relative. In my scenario, I am a subject manner expert and I am creating the class. The subject I teach is an area I worked in for over 20 years. But say hypothetically I was to suddenly start creating classes for others it would most likely be a combination of pilot group, peer review, and subject matter expert review.

Development of the following digital content

See all 300x assignments

OERs, Creative Commons, Checklists