Essential books in the field of instructional design and technology

Abstract

This article describes the results of a study to determine the books that instructional design and technology professionals believed were most important to the field. Participants in this study were 77 professionals from different areas of the field, including education, business, and government. The purpose of the study was to create a snapshot of the books that form the theoretical and practical foundation of the field of instructional design and technology at this time in the field's history. A survey was conducted asking participants to rank the importance of books on a four-point scale from "profoundly important" to "unimportant". The data were then analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicate that the importance of a book varies widely, based on factors such as a person's area of interest in the field, degree level, and age. Overall, however, the study found that 10 books were viewed as being among the most important by most respondent groups. This core group of books should be included in every instructional designer's or technologist's personal library.