EDTEC 644 is a graduate seminar and practicum that focuses on four arenas:

1. establishment and maintenance of an effective, professional consulting relationship with a client and with other instructional designers;
   
2. analysis of the client's situation and then development of effective strategies, materials and recommendations for him/her/them;
   
3. consideration of a series of cases that force consideration of instructional design theory in action; and
   
4. examination of the art and science of ID, reflecting on what they contribute to learning and performance.

EDTEC 644 is based on one intense practice of instructional and/or informational design. Graduate students are paired with clients and expected to devote from 75-100 hours outside class to solve a narrow yet significant problem for a member of our community. Just like the real world, the challenges provided by clients will vary. What they have in common is that few will be crystal clear. All involve working with the client to define a right-sized chunk of work. Some efforts will be primarily performance analysis and needs assessment; others will be less focused on the front end, with more emphasis on development of a script or web prototype. And others will involve a still smaller front end that results in a large or high tech development effort. Still others will be more even-handed, with some analysis, some design and some development.

It will depend. It will vary. Figuring out what to do, so that it serves your client and flexes and refines your ID muscles, is at the heart of your challenge this semester.

Because of the down side of only ONE intense practice, I've decided to add numerous smaller exposures to challenges and requirements in the form of practices presented by cases, mostly derived from the Ertmer & Quinn book. These cases will be sprinkled throughout your readings and our class discussions. One of your assignments involves leading us in learning from the cases.

Another component of the class is reading and discussions about instructional design theory and consulting. We will read and talk together and with occasional, visiting practitioners. Your conduct throughout all this should be enlightened by readings, theories, ideas and techniques available to you in class lectures and discussions, texts, online resources, readings packets, SDSU's Love Library and the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and through interactions with professionals in the field. You will also have access to additional support through a web tool associated with my book, First Things Fast.

EDTEC 644 is the course where you take all those neat ideas from EDTEC classes and readings and try them out in the real world. We'll enjoy the fireworks together.