6 Influential Instructional Design Models & Theories

Why Learning Models That Date Back to WWII Are So Important Today

When it comes to instructional design models and theories, ADDIE is the most widely recognized name among professional learning designers (more on “her” in a moment). But there are also many other notable names and theories that are highly relevant to current and aspiring instructional designers, as well as anyone who is curious about learning.

From Bloom’s Taxonomy and Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction to Merrill’s Principles of Instruction and countless others, all of the theories and models related to instructional design have at least one thing in common: They are part of the evolution of humankind’s ongoing exploration into the science of how people learn.

History of Instructional Design Models

The field of instructional design officially dates back to World War II, when America’s war effort demanded a highly effective and methodological approach to training vast numbers of people. In the years following the war, new efforts to identify the underpinnings of how people learn and use such insights to create effective learning frameworks emerged (see more below).

Today, instructional design is at the heart of a vitally important trend in education and training. Formalized instructional design processes are being utilized across higher education, the corporate world and government to help people learn essential information and skills quickly, effectively and at scale. These processes are increasingly found in technology-enhanced virtual environments, in addition to more traditional face-to-face instruction.

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Why Use an Instructional Design Model?

The instructional design process, regardless of which model is used, helps ensure that instruction is created efficiently and that it is grounded in principles that connect to our best understanding of how people learn.

Theories about how people learn, and instructional design models based on those theories, help instructional designers develop materials that inspire effective and engaging learning experiences. These learning experiences enable people to acquire and retain new knowledge and skills.

What Are Five Popular Instructional Design Models and Frameworks?

Dozens of instructional design-related theories and models grew to the forefront in the post-World War II years. Some of the most notable include:

1. Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical framework developed by Benjamin Bloom and colleagues in 1956 and revised in 2001 by Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl. It categorizes cognitive skills to help educators design curricula that promote higher-order thinking and deeper learning. As learners progress through these levels, they move from basic knowledge recall to complex analysis and creation:

2. Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction

Gagné identified five major categories of learning — verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills and attitudes. He also famously theorized that there are nine instructional “events” that are instrumental in the learning process:

3. Dick and Carey Instructional Systems Design

The Dick and Carey Instructional Model, developed by Walter Dick and Lou Carey, presents a systematic approach to instructional design by treating instruction as a system of interrelated components. It emphasizes carefully aligning goals, analysis, strategy and evaluation to create effective educational experiences. The model outlines these ten steps in the instructional design process:

1. Identify instructional goals
2. Conduct instructional analysis
3. Analyze learners and contexts
4. Write performance objectives
5. Develop assessment instruments
6. Develop instructional strategy
7. Develop and select instructional materials
8. Design and conduct formative evaluation
9. Revise instruction
10. Design and conduct summative evaluation

4. ADDIE

This brings us to ADDIE, whose familiar acronym stands for the five key stages of the instructional design process: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation.

Developed by Florida State University’s Center for Educational Technology in the 1970s, ADDIE is as vital as ever to the field of instructional design today. Many other subsequent approaches to learning design build upon or adapt core elements of the ADDIE model. (For a more in-depth review of ADDIE’s core principles, see this InstructionalDesign.org resource.)

Despite recent trends toward more agile, rapid prototyping of instructional materials, ADDIE is described as, “the best way to learn how to create an online course”

ADDIE is arguably the most important instructional design model because it provides a universal framework for instructional design. All instructional design models follow some variation of a three-step process derived from ADDIT that includes:

• Analyzing a situation to determine the instructional need,
• Producing and implementing an instructional solution, and
• Evaluating the outcomes of implementing the design. (Brown & Green, 2024)

5. SAM

SAM (short for Successive Approximation Model) is a leading example of the industry trend toward iterative design and delivery frameworks now being used to meet the need for speed in the fast-growing world of instructional design. Its three key phases include:

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6. Kirkpatrick Model

The Kirkpatrick Model, developed by Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick in 1959, is a widely used framework for evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. It provides a systematic method to assess the impact on participants and organizations by examining outcomes at multiple levels. This approach helps organizations understand how their programs influence immediate reactions, knowledge acquisition, behavior change and overall results. In this model, the four levels of evaluation include:

Expanded List of Instructional Design Models

Why are there so many instructional design models, frameworks and theories? Well, perhaps it is because there is no “one right answer” to the complex and multifaceted question of how different learners most effectively acquire and retain different types of knowledge and skills.

Here is a quick rundown of some additional instructional design-related models and theories, with links to resources for further study:

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How to Select an Instructional Design Model

There are three important points to make here.

First: In the real world, choices about which instructional design models to use are very often driven by constraints such as time, budget and project scope. Though sometimes a more methodical, linear approach may be desired, pivoting toward a more agile, rapid, iterative process may be necessary.

Second: A comprehensive understanding of ADDIE — as an overall process and why each element is important — will ensure that an instructional designer is on the right track, since that fundamental knowledge will equip them to adapt to the demands of each project or situation.

Third: This is technically not a “how to select a model” piece of advice, but more of an essential concept to keep in mind no matter what model or theory you use to frame a project. The importance of bringing empathy to each instructional design or learning experience design project cannot be overstated — specifically, empathy for the group of learners for whom your instructional materials are intended. Empathy maps are a tool that many instructional designers use to develop human-centered insights that connect to a “put yourself in the learner’s shoes” kind of approach.

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