OAR model

Objectives-Resources-Activities (OAR) model is an instructional design model created for a specific context: distance education courses delivered through a learning management system (LMS) in higher education. It was developed in 2008 at Utah State University at the Faculty Assistance Center for Teaching by George Joeckel, Joel Gardner and Tae Jeon. The OAR model was developed to meet four criteria:

  • maintain a strict focus on the learning system context
  • create a simple graphic-based aid which facilitates communication among development stakeholders
  • remain inclusive by avoiding the use of jargon
  • represent the basic order of operations in the development process for an online course
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Learning system context

Developing a model for a targeted context is considered by many researchers to be critical for success. Edmunds, Branch & Mukherjee (1994) stated:

Concepts, theories and models have an ecology, a context within which they function. Importing a theory or model from a significantly different context, without attention to contextual differences, violates this ecology, and subsequently results in inefficient solutions to instructional problems (p. 66-67).

Tessmer & Richey (1997) described the context of a learning system as "those situational elements that affect both the acquisition and application of newly acquired knowledge, skills, or attitudes (p.87)." They identify the social, physical, and political elements which combine to create "a multilevel body of factors in which learning and performance are embedded (p. 87)."

The OAR model was created to assist instructional designers working in higher education communicate with stakeholders during the development of online courses delivered through a LMS. The Primary stakeholder is the instructor developing the course. This person provides all of the course content and oversees the course's delivery. The term "Subject Matter Expert/Facilitator (SME/F)" was created to represent this individual's context-specific scope of responsibilities.

Communication aid

Dividing the course development process into three domains represented by a visual model allows instructional designers to help stakeholders understand the components of an online course.

Each domain is color coded: yellow for Resources, blue for Objectives and green for Activities. The combination of blue Objectives with yellow Resources creating green Activities may provide a visual heuristic for some development stakeholders.

Jargon-free

The OAR model avoids using jargon in order to include stakeholders that do not have a knowledge of the terms specific to instructional design in this context.

Each of the domains in the OAR model can be described in one sentence of non-technical language:

  • Resources are "the components available [to SME/Fs] to influence student behaviors".
  • Objectives are "the statements [the SME/Fs] create to define expected student behavior".
  • Activities are "the opportunities [the SME/Fs] create to promote expected student behavior".

Order of operations

The Resources domain is placed at the top of the model suggesting it as a starting place. The process starts with an assessment of the available Resources to encourage the development of pragmatic Objectives.

There are four arrows showing the movement among the domains. Each arrow along the order of operations is progressively darker. The process starts in Resources, moves to Objectives, back through Resources (where the Objective and the specific Resources are combined), to Activities and ends with a feedback path to Objectives. While these visual cues may not be sufficient to represent the order of operations on their own, they should reinforce the explanation provided by the instructional designer.