Constructing Desirable Learning Habits: Evidence from an Instructional System Design Course Based on the IDC Theory

Abstract

Habits are formed when people perform repeated actions in a certain context while pursuing a goal. In the context of a semester-long Instructional System Design course, we show how the goal of designing a real-life website for the sensitization of teachers and peers toward disabled students led to the construction of certain desirable learning habits. The participants in the course were the default IS designers and the Persons with Disability (PwD) cell of the institute was the client. Anchored in the Interest-driven creator (IDC) theory, this study provides evidence for the three conceptual components of the habit loop- cuing environment, routine, and harmony. We argue that the real-life goal provided a fertile ground for routinizing the behavioral and conceptual activities of the participants. We use a combination of deductive and inductive coding to analyze the data sources of interviews, class interaction observations, shared documents for class reflection, and class interaction records in a virtual space. Our findings suggest that the physical and virtual spaces for regular class interaction, learners' routine interaction with the group members, and the constant sharing-cum-discussion of ideas scaffolded desirable learning habits as they pursued the common goal of website design. This study has implications for fostering desirable learning habits in regular classroom interactions.