An Exploration of the Landscape of Instructional Design: Understanding Changes and Pandemic Effects (2017-2022)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the scope of the field of instructional design and technology, along with the working area (desk) of the expert in this field, in the context of the effects of the pandemic. The study is a bibliographic mapping research. The data set includes bibliographic records of 2.397 scientific texts retrieved from the WOS Core Collection within the time range of 2017-2022 using search terms instructional design or instructional designer. Co-occurrence analyses encompassing author keywords were conducted on the data. As a result, maps and related outputs were obtained that reveal the concepts that the field focused on before and after the pandemic, as well as the relationships between these. Additionally, attempts were made to identify emerging concepts for both periods based on the outputs. According to the results, there has been a significant expansion in the concepts falling within the scope of instructional design and technology, and consequently in the roles and responsibilities of designers, in conjunction with the 2020s and the Covid-19 pandemic. Design concepts and variables, context, human factors, and research methodology are enriched within this expansion. This enrichment shifts the design process from a micro perspective focusing on learning environment and environmental variables to a macro perspective that emphasizes instructors, educational institutions, and culture. Within this perspective, while the weight of real instructional problems increases, the emphasis on theory, approach, and models significantly decreases.