Instructional Design & Development

Instructional Design & Development Master of Science
in Instructional Design and Development
Master’s Degree in Instructional Design and Development

Program Procedures  - Fall 2003

1.          Advisor

Students must contact the ID&D program secretary to be assigned an advisor by the department during their first semester of enrollment.  The advisor shall be an approved member of the graduate faculty and a member of the Instructional Design and Development program faculty.

Students must obtain an on-campus mailbox from the ID&D program secretary.  (They are located in the back of the BSET office suite.)

Students must subscribe to the IDD listserv in order to obtain timely notifications and news regarding the IDD program.  Address can be found at the IDD website.

2.         Course of Study Form

Each student will complete a Course of Study form by the end of the first semester of enrollment.  The Course of Study form must be signed and approved by the student’s advisor and department chair.  The original of this form must be retained in the student’s file kept by the Office of Student Services.  Course of Study forms are available from the IDD program secretary.

3.          Master’s Committee

The Master’s student committee for comprehensive exams shall be made up of three faculty members.  At least two shall be ID&D faculty, of which one is the major advisor.  One person outside the ID&D faculty may be assigned to the committee upon approval of the ID&D faculty at a regularly scheduled program meeting; this individual must have graduate faculty status.

4.         Field Courses

Students must complete as part of the Master’s degree requirement a minimum of one field course:  ISD 595 Internship, ISD 598 Research and Development Project or ISD 599

Thesis.
(a)  Internship

Students must have completed all core courses prior to enrolling for their Internship.  The internship component is designed to give students practical experience in design, implementation, and/or evaluation of instructional systems.  It is the student’s responsibility to locate an appropriate internship setting, although the student’s advisor will be helpful in suggesting possibilities.  Three weeks prior to the semester in which the internship will be taken, the student should document planned responsibilities in a memorandum signed by the student, the internship supervisor, and the student’s advisor.  A copy of their memorandum shall be kept in the student’s file.  Remuneration, if applicable, is negotiated between the student and the internship supervisor and not the University.
Internship Requirements:

(a) The student must have completed all core courses before beginning the internship.
(b) A document plan for the internship signed by the student, student’s advisor and internship supervisor must be on file before the internship begins.
(c) The student is expected to spend a minimum of 240 hours of participation in the internship.
(d) A written appraisal of the student’s performance must be provided by the intern’s supervisor to the advisor at the end of the internship period.  The supervisor’s appraisal will be kept in the student’s permanent file.
(e) The student must submit a written journal of his or her internship experience to be kept on file in the department office for interested parties to view.  A grade of satisfactory or unsatisfactory will be assigned by the student’s advisor based on the performance appraisal.
(f) If the student is already employed, the work done during the internship must involve tasks outside of the scope of the student’s regular duties.

Internship Project Procedures

Proposal is due one semester prior to beginning the internship. The purpose of the Instructional Design and Development Internship (240 hours minimum) is to serve as a culminating activity for your Master’s studies. The internship you select must include tasks and responsibilities allowing you to apply knowledge and skills gained during the program. The internship must be focused and consist of defined tasks with concrete products and accomplishments that can be documented and shared with your committee. The internship needs to be a cohesive, well-defined task, not a combination of numerous different assignments. This internship may not be part of your regular job tasks and responsibilities.

A draft of your proposal must be submitted to your advisor for review. All proposals will be approved and grades will be assigned by IDD Internship Coordinator, Dr. Brenda Litchfield – 251.380.2861, email -  bcl@usouthal.edu

You must follow APA standards. This includes headings, references, and tables. Additional criteria include:
  • Table of contents
  • Running head
  • Page number top right
  • Margins 1” all around
  • Double spaced
  • Length – not to exceed 10 pages excluding appendices and charts, etc
You must submit a paper and an electronic copy of your proposal. Address the following components:
  1. Purpose of internship
  2. Goals and objectives
  3. Description of company/organization
  4. Description of your responsibilities
  5. Description of final product (s)
  6. Supervisor’s title and description of responsibilities
  7. Blank evaluation form (for supervisor to evaluate you)
  8. Blank time log
  9. Letter from Supervisor explaining what you will do. It may help if you write this and give to supervisor (on a disc) for approval then it can be typed on company letterhead.
  10. Company/organization brochure or literature if available
After the internship is completed you must submit a notebook with documentation of work completed during the internshi
  1. Work Samples, product, URL, etc
  2. Time Log - filled in by you and signed by supervisor
  3. Evaluation of your supervisor and internship experience  (will not be seen by supervisor)
  4. Short narrative from Supervisor (on letterhead) confirming successful completion of internship
  5. Summary of activities: For example, but not limited to:
a. What went well
b. What unexpected problems occurred
c. What you would do differently next time
d. The major knowledge and skills you gained and how they directly relate to IDD
e. Things you encountered that you were not prepared for by the IDD program (suggestions for areas to include in our curriculum)
Master’s Internship Proposal Cover Sheet may be downloaded from the IDD homepage:

http://www.southalabama.edu/coe/bset/idd/forms/msintern.doc
(b) Research and Development Project

Master’s students may elect to enroll in ISD 598, Research and Development Project, in lieu of either an internship or thesis.  Students who have not received formal approval of their project proposal may not register for ISD 598.  Students doing so will be administratively withdrawn by the Director of Graduate Studies.

            Research and Development Project Requirements
(a) Each student will prepare a project proposal.  The proposal must be submitted the semester before the student wishes to register for ISD 598.  The proposal will be typed using APA format, and limited to a maximum of ten double-spaced pages excluding cover page, illustrations, and references.
(b) The proposal must be submitted to the student’s advisor no later than the  third week of classes in the semester before registering for ISD 598.
(c) Copies of the proposal, if approved by the student’s advisor, must be distributed the student’s master’s committee during the fourth week of class.
(d) The proposal may be approved as is, approved with revisions, or rejected.  If approved with revisions, the revised proposal must be approved by the student’s advisor before registration into ISD 598.  If the proposal is rejected, a new proposal must be submitted to the committee during the following semester.
Research and Development Project Proposal Procedures

Proposal is due the semester prior to beginning the research and development project. The Instructional Design and Development Research and Development Project (R&D) serves as a culminating project for your Master’s studies. This project incorporates many of the major concepts and ideas you have learned. You are expected to synthesize your courses and the projects you have completed using them as a basis for creating and conducting your R&D project.

A draft of your proposal must be submitted to your advisor for review. All proposals will be approved and grades will be assigned by IDD Internship Coordinator, Dr. Brenda Litchfield – 251.380.2861, email -  bcl@usouthal.edu

You must follow APA standards. This includes headings, references, and tables. Additional criteria include:
  • Table of contents
  • Running head
  • Page number top right
  • Margins 1” all around
  • Double spaced
  • Length – not to exceed 10 pages excluding appendices and charts, etc
You must submit a paper and an electronic copy of your proposal. Address the following components:
  1. Abstract
  2. Purpose of proposed project
  3. Statement of need
  4. Literature review
  5. Goals and objectives
  6. Target population and learner assessment
  7. Procedure
  8. Risks and constraints
  9. Design and development of instruction
    • Content specification
    • Task analysis
    • Instructional strategies
    • Instructional materials
  10. Formative evaluation (actual)
  11. Summative evaluation (proposed)
  12. Dissemination
  13. References
  14. Appendices if applicable
After the project is completed you must submit a notebook to Dr. Litchfield and your advisor addressing at least the following
  1. Abstract from original proposal
  2. Instruction used during project – student and instructor manuals if applicable
  3. Describe the Instruction – how well it worked, how well the participants liked the instruction, any problems you encountered, amount of time sufficient, other pertinent information
  4. Conclusion – overall success of project, what worked well, what needed to be improved, what you would have done differently, advice to someone doing the same project, other pertinent information
Master’s Research and Development Project Cover Sheet may be downloaded from the IDD homepage:

http://www.southalabama.edu/coe/bset/idd/forms/msrandd.doc


Implementation and Completion

(a) Research and development projects usually take more than one semester.

(b) Satisfactory completion of the Research Project must be confirmed by the student’s advisor before the presentation is scheduled.

(c) Students who are unable to complete the Research and Development Project as approved, must resubmit a new or revised proposal.
            c. Thesis
Students may elect to complete a Thesis ISD 599 - 3 credits.  A thesis committee provides direction for the student during the investigation and during the writing of the thesis.  The thesis will conform to the University’s current edition of A Manual for the Preparation of Graduate Thesis and Dissertations.
5.            Comprehensive Examination
(a)       All students enrolled in the Master of Science degree program must
  1. Pass an Oral Comprehensive Examination and,
  2. Develop a short summary or overview of their Research Project, Internship Report or Thesis that will be made available to the general public via the IDD Program website.  The summary may be a web page, PDF document, PowerPoint presentation or other format.  It must be approved by your advisor.
(b) The student must register for the Oral Comprehensive examination with the Assistant to the Director of Graduate     Studies. Deadlines for the Comprehensive exam will be posted by the graduate school.
(c) The Oral Comprehensive Examination will administered by an IDD faculty committee of three.
(d) Certification of completion of their Internship, Research Project, or Thesis and results of the Oral Comprehensive Examination must be reported to the Assistant to the Director of Graduate Studies before the last day of class
(e) The Oral Comprehensive Examination may be repeated no more than twice.
(f) Request to take the Oral Comprehensive Examination at a time different from the Research Project Presentation will be considered only in cases of unique circumstances.

6.            Graduation

Master of Science degree must make application for the degree early during the semester preceding the semester of graduation in the Registrar’s Office.  There is an application fee to be paid when applying for graduation.  The dates are specified in the University Calendar located in the Graduate Bulletin and in the Course Schedules.  The specific date is also posted in the College of Education.


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Questions or Comments about this page should be addressed to: Daniel W. Surry