5 Haunting Mistakes Lurking in Your Courses (And How to Exorcise Them)

As the shadows grow longer and the air gets chillier, there are frights lurking in the world of instructional design (ID). No, it’s not the howling of the wind or the creak of an unseen door—it’s the chilling mistakes that can transform even the best-designed courses into a house of horrors! From ghastly gaps in learning to cursed content overload, these common ID blunders have been haunting learners for years.

But don’t run for the hills just yet! Grab your lantern, clutch your silver bullet of best practices, and join me as we unravel the top five spooky mistakes IDs make and, more importantly, how to exorcise them! Ready to confront the spectral slip-ups that may be haunting your courses? Let’s begin this spine-chilling journey into the dark side of ID…

Dark old room full of trunks, old wood, furniture, and stuffed shelves.

 

1. The Curse of Content Overload

Ever been stuck in a haunted house where every room is crammed full of dusty relics, eerie portraits, and cobwebs galore? That’s exactly how your learners feel when they’re bombarded with too much information. One of the biggest (and scariest) mistakes IDs make is trying to pack in every single fact, detail, and statistic they can think of. The result? A monster of a course that overwhelms and confuses, rather than enlightens.

How to Vanquish It
  • Keep it simple, not scary: Prioritize key information and break down content into digestible, bite-sized pieces. Aim for clarity, not complexity.
  • Use the magic of storytelling: Craft a clear narrative that guides learners through the material without dumping everything on them at once. Think of it as leading them through a haunted forest with a flashlight rather than pushing them into the dark.
  • Engage in the ritual of chunking: Divide the content into modules or sections, and let each one focus on a specific concept. This way, your learners won’t feel like they’re battling all heads of a thousand-headed monster all at once.

Dark night where toads and toadstools cover the ground and toads rain down from the sky.

2. Mismatched Learning Objectives: A Witch’s Brew of Confusion

Imagine this: you start out with a potion to make you invisible, but by the end of the recipe, you’re conjuring up a rainstorm of frogs. When IDs don’t align the content with clear, specific learning objectives, it’s a lot like brewing a potion without a proper spell—messy, confusing, and disastrous.

How to Vanquish It
  • Spell out learning objectives clearly: Right from the beginning, decide what you want your learners to achieve. Be as clear as a full moon on Halloween night—no vague, mysterious phrases allowed!
  • Ensure objectives guide the content: Every piece of content, every activity, and every assessment should tie back to your learning objectives. If it doesn’t fit, it’s like adding eye of newt to a love potion—completely unnecessary.
  • Beware the phantom of irrelevance: Cut out anything that doesn’t directly help achieve your objectives. Let the learning goals be your guiding lantern, shining a light on the path and keeping distractions at bay.

Dark, eerie, old, and cramped graveyard.

3. The Ghostly Absence of Engagement

Nothing sends chills down the spine quite like a dull, lifeless course. You know the kind: monotonous slides, droning voiceovers, and endless paragraphs of text that make you want to disappear like a specter into the night (cue that guy from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). Engagement is the lifeblood of ID, and without it, your course risks becoming a graveyard of uncompleted modules.
How to Vanquish It

  • Summon interactive elements: Bring your content to life with quizzes, games, simulations, and interactive scenarios. Don’t let learners just watch; make them participate!
  • Channel the power of visuals: Use images, animations, and videos to break up the text and keep learners’ attention. A few well-placed visuals can be like a jack-o’-lantern in the dark—guiding, illuminating, and keeping things from getting too scary.
  • Weave in the unexpected: Throw in a surprise here and there! Maybe a pop quiz, a fun fact, or an unexpected challenge to keep learners on their toes. After all, a little (well-placed) shock can be thrilling.

Invisible person wearing white hate and pink t-shirt against a black background.

4. The Invisible Audience: Designing for the Unknown

Designing a course without understanding your audience is like setting a trap without knowing who—or what—you’re trying to catch. You might end up creating something too easy for experts or way too hard for novices. Not considering the audience’s needs, skill levels, and preferences can lead to frustration, confusion, and even a few curses (from the learners, not the spooky kind).

How to Vanquish It
  • Unearth the audience needs: Before starting the design, dig deep to understand your learners. Are they seasoned witches and wizards, or are they novices just starting their magical education?
  • Adapt your tone and complexity: Match the course to the audience’s level of expertise. You wouldn’t throw an apprentice straight into an advanced potion-making class, would you?
  • Conduct regular seances (er, feedback sessions): Gathering feedback from your audience is like speaking to spirits—only friendlier. It’s essential to know if they’re understanding the content or if something is haunting their learning experience.

Dark maze of bushes and trees.

 

5. The Eternal Darkness of Poor Assessment Design

Imagine slogging through a terrifying maze only to find out that the exit leads straight into another labyrinth! That’s what poorly designed assessments can feel like. If your quizzes and tests don’t align with your course objectives, or if they’re unclear and ambiguous, learners will feel trapped in a cycle of confusion and frustration.

How to Vanquish It
  • Align assessments with learning objectives: Just like a vampire needs to sleep in its coffin, your assessments need to be aligned with what you’re trying to teach. Test what matters, not just what’s easy.
  • Mix it up, but don’t cause a fright: Use different types of assessments (quizzes, projects, discussions) to get a more comprehensive view of learning. But remember, assessments shouldn’t feel like a surprise attack—clear instructions are key!
  • Offer feedback that’s not cryptic: After an assessment, don’t just tell learners what they got wrong. Give them feedback that helps them understand why, so they can avoid falling into the same trap twice.

Closing the Coffin on These Instructional Design Mistakes

In the eerie, mystical world of ID, these five mistakes can haunt your courses and leave your learners lost, confused, or bored to tears. But with a little bit of knowledge, a touch of creativity, and a sprinkle of good old-fashioned preparation, you can banish these ghouls once and for all.

Remember, dear designers: a well-crafted course is like a well-cast spell. It should enchant, enlighten, and guide. So, keep your wits about you, your lanterns lit, and your potion recipes clear. And may your courses be as engaging and delightful as a night of trick-or-treating under a full moon!

 

 

Related Blogs

10 Worst Training Practices: Ensuring Nobody Learns Anything

5 Scary Mistakes Technical Writers Make and How to Vanquish Them

“How AI Got Us Into Swordsmithing” and Other Tales of AI Mishaps