Learning Design Using the Four-Component Instructional Design Model (4C/ID) in Higher Education: Review of Studies

The four-component instructional design model (4C/ID) is actively used in the field of education abroad; however, there are only some scientific publications describing the experience of its application in the realities of Russian higher education. An overview of the instructional design using the 4C/ID model and an analysis of the experience of its application in the field of higher education on the example of three cases described in the scientific literature, corresponding to different subject areas (information technology, the humanities, medicine), are provided. General scientific theoretical methods of analysis, synthesis, and classification were applied; international and Russian databases (Scopus, Web of Science, eLibrary) as the base of scientific sources were used. The history of the development of the model has been reconstructed. Constructivism and social constructivism, cognitive apprenticeship, integrated learning, cognitive load theory, and transfer learning ideas are the essential theoretical foundations for 4C/ID. The four main components of the model are described: learning tasks, supportive information, part-task practice, and procedural information. Ten instructional design steps are reconstructed that sequentially develop these constituent elements and their relationships. The advantages, disadvantages, limitations of this model are analyzed and described. Recommendations for designers and teachers related to the model's features are formulated. The results obtained can contribute to developing the practice of learning design and the adaptation of modern models of instructional design in Russian universities.