Instructional Design Document

Demographics

My target audience are 18 and over, college or trade school students, or busy professionals on a budget new to Japanese cooking in search of simple, nutritious dishes. This could also be for parents who have to pack lunch for their kids.

​

This course is inclusive in its target, all genders, educational and ethnic backgrounds.

​

Background knowledge/Disposition/Skills

The audience is familiar with and/or willing to try making non-Western foods. They might have some experience following recipes in the cuisine, but the level is beginner with underlying techniques.

 

The audience is also interested in weight maintenance and proper nutrition for health. They are:

• eager to find solutions to health concerns by considering a more food-as-medicine approach to eating.

• up on trends about the mind-gut connection in finding nutritional solutions for mental health.

• trying to avoid eating processed foods for their health and seek to prepare meals at home

• want to know where all of their ingredients come from and may have a home garden or are simply on a budget

 

Beyond just following recipes, they want to pursue the underlying concepts around the practice of food preparation for a permanent solution for daily breakfast and lunch options. The audience I'm particularly targeting are:

​

• College students who have some access to a kitchen co-operative. They have left home and are in stressful situations socially and academically. They are seeking ways to have dietary options that are healthy and optimal for brain function.

• Busy professionals who eat out a lot but would like to budget their meals and increase their savings through making their own breakfasts and lunches. They too are interested in nutrition for optimal health.

• Busy professionals who work from home and would like venture out to other cuisines for variety, better nutrition, and health.

• Holistic health seekers who have sought medical treatment for diabetes, mental health (anxiety, depression) or other common ailments around nutritional deficiencies.

• Homemakers and caregivers who are seeking to improve nutritional offerings or add variation to their breakfast and lunch options for their families. 

​

This course also seeks to support the rise of people working from home. It seeks to prioritize the option of making meals at home to pack and go or enjoy at home while making creative use of healthy staples. This is also for folks on a budget, who want to maximize the number of meals they can make from their grocery expenditures.

​

Works cited, Week 2

Combination of informational and step-by-step course

This course is a hands-on learning course in cooking nutritious Japanese cuisine. The informational aspects seek to close the knowledge gap about the Japanese approach to nutrition. The informational content will be from Andoh's book Washoku as well as translated from Japanese from popular recipe books on washoku featuring nutritional experts.

​

The step-by-step approach will enable the student to replicate cooking at home. The course also encourages variations and hybrid cultural influences applying what's available in ingredients to washoku techniques.

​​

Audience analysis

• Beginners seeking more nutritional options, but familiar with basic cooking techniques

• Beginners familiar with Japanese cuisine but wanting to know how to make it at home

• Beginning language learners wanting to learn Japanese concepts in a practical context while acquiring cooking skills
  
  Works cited, Week 3

Asynchronous online

Considering the audience are busy professionals, the course helps structure their time with asynchronous, sequential building blocks of learning washoku. Learners can go at their own pace, get assessed, and post their results once complete. Synchronous may also be possible in the future once I have a series of offerings with audience interest in having live sessions online.

​

Asynchronous with video demonstrations allows the learner to pause and rewind a step. Recipes can also be printable with transcripts of the lessons. Photography will be central in illustrating ingredients, kitchen tools and utensils. Alt text will provide background information for visual scanners. Much of the information will be available as text for English as a second language learners and the hearing impaired. 

​

The course seeks to promote community through students posting photos of their results. Students can contribute their creativity and new nutritious combinations based on the washoku framework. This seeks to promote diversity and hybrid influences that enrich the learning experience based on the audience participating at the time. It also shows the opportunities to learn from each other and provide new healthy solutions from various traditions.

​

Technical requirements & supplies

Enough bandwidth to stream video. This can be done from a smartphone as well as a laptop or desktop. Access to a camera (on the smartphone) will enable the learner to share their results. Students will also need access to a rice cooker, stove, kitchen utensils, and some key Japanese ingredients like miso paste, soy sauce, and dashi. For everything else, substitutions are possible.

​

Works cited, Week 3

Terminal learning objectives

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Create and practice consumption rituals of breakast and daily bento following 5 key principles of washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine).​ (Aligns with WLO2)

2. Execute all of the basic food preparation techniques employed in daily washoku to enhance the flavor and presentation of nutrient-rich plants, starch, and proteins (number of techniques will be pared down). (Aligns with WLO3)  

3. Employ key washoku ingredients for flavor and nutritional balance. (Aligns with WLO1)

4. Use creativity and resourcefulness (include substitutions) to adapt washoku practices in creating our own balanced daily breakfast and bento. (Aligns with WLO4)

Module 1: Introduction to Washoku and Five Principles

Bento Journey opens with an introduction to washoku and its five key principles

• Five key principles: 5 colors, 5 flavors, 5 ways, 5 senses, and 5 verses (Zen Buddhism)

• History of bento: Convenience food's origins

• Ingredients: Sourcing and seasonality – bounty of sea and mountain

• Ichi juu san sai: Namasu (raw in vinegar), nimono (boiling or stewing), and yakimono (flame broiled)

• Ichi go ichi e (mindfulness principle)​

 

Module 2: Onigiri and miso soup

Finding nutritional balance with these two core washoku staples

• Japanese nutritionist take on onigiri and miso soup

• Basic washoku ingredients to get for your pantry

• Rice grain types and preparations

• Onigiri: forming and filling variations

• Miso soup: basic stock and miso and content variations

​

Module 3: Protein and vegetables for traditional bento

• 5 different ways: ichi juu san sai in practice

• Common proteins + nutritional value

• Common vegetables + nutritional value

​

Module 4: Washoku: Cuisine imports to add to bento

• Adaptation: applying 5 principles to non-traditional ingredients

• Using 5 different ways to add umami to vegetables

• Imports: croquette, tempura to add to bento

Module 1: Introduction to Washoku and Five Principles

​​

By the end of this module, students should be able to:

1. Explain Japanese nutritional philosophy and how it's applied in food composition, choice of ingredients, food preparation, and consumption rituals. (Aligns to CLO1)

2. Evaluate 5 principles of washoku for their own daily culinary and dining practices. (Aligns to CLO1) 

3. Apply the ichi juu san structure in meal planning a breakfast or lunch, employing namasu, nimono, and yakimono. (Aligns to CLO2)

4. Employ washoku techniques in sourcing color diverse local ingredients and composing a nutritionally and visually balanced meal. (Aligns to CLO4) 

5. Identify and source 5 or more accessible washoku ingredients. (Aligns with CLO3)

6. Plan 3-5 ways bento to maximize umami factor for a washoku-inspired breakfast or lunch. (Aligns to CLO3)

​

Works cited, Week 7

Module 1: Introduction to Washoku and Five Principles – Sequenced activity & assessments

​

Sequential learning activity and corresponding assessment 

​

1. PRE-ASSESSMENT

   • Self-assessment survey: demographic info (data collection), background on washoku and cooking skills, reason for taking course (collected as multiple choice) – starting point

2. ACTIVITY: Narrated slide show (presentation) – WLO1

   • An overview of history and philosophy behind washoku will lay the foundation for cooking activities with a brief mention of health advantages such as weight loss/management and mental health (statistical data). Links will be presented to sources for further inquiry

3. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT – WLO1

   • Discussion topic: Self-reflection prompt on prior experience of and impressions of Japanese cuisine and their own reasons for learning about it. 

4. ACTIVITY: Video or narrated slide show (lecture + presentation) – WLO2

   • Five principles of washoku will be presented in text and image format as well as a video or animated slide show 4-7 minute blocks

5. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT – WLO2

   • Quiz questions on five principles.

   • Discussion topic: Self-reflection – From sourcing seasonal local ingredients to mindfulness, relate 2-3 principles to your own dining and culinary practices.

6. ACTIVITY: Video demo – WLO3

   • Ichi juu san & food preparation montage (namasu, nimono, and yakimono, etc) will be presented prior to cooking demonstrations, also no longer than 3 mins in length

7. ACTIVITY: Text and images​

   • History of bento will cover 1:1:1 protein:vegetable:starch proportions. And contemporary visual presentation trends – WLO1

   • Ingredients most frequently used: preview of other modules + flavor and nutritional benefits – WLO5

     • dashi (soup base)

     • starches: gohan (rice) – different types, (noodles) soba, somen, udon

     • sauces and seasonings – shoyu, osu (rice vinegar), sake, mirin, miso, etc.

     • protein: fish, tofu

     • key vegetables: daikon, carrots, lotus root, etc, ​

8.  AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT – WLO4–6

   • Discussion topic: Peer review

     • Bounty of sea and mountain – Source local, seasonal ingredients (based on nutritional value, optional)

     • Identify and source 5 or more accessible washoku ingredients to add to pantry. 

     • Game-based quiz: Plan 3-5 ways bento to maximize umami factor for a washoku-inspired breakfast or lunch.

     • Process report on a bento and how it supports 2-3 washoku principles

Works cited, Week 5

​

​

Activities will be comprised of lectures/presentations and hands-on activities for cooking. Discussion topics further build community and social presence around self-reflection and cooking and dining experiences and philosophies. Flipped classroom may be a possibility for a future synchronous classroom where students collaborate on cooking strategies and dishes.

Assessments will take the form of quizzes, discussion topics, peer review, and a final video demo.

​

Game-based learning: Quizzes 

• Quizzes on factual information of above sections, multiple choice and true/false. Students progress to scenario-based questions at the end that test their knowledge in novel contexts.

​

Hands-on activities: cooking for assessment  

• The heart of this course would be the actual cooking. Students create their own washoku bento, upload an Instagram-ready photo of their creation, and write their recipe for assessment. In progress photo can serve as proof of authorship. OR Do a video tasting or narrated video presentation of their creation. They can review the results and offer what they would do differently or what made it work well.
  
  Students write a process report and how it supports washoku principles. Scaffolding: Students will begin with basic rice preparation and onigiri (rice ball) and miso soup preparation and work their way through more complex techniques.

​

Discussion: Peer review example

• Peer review is intended to foster student social presence and ultimately group cohesion in building community. Through the reviews that culminate in a final group project, students gain the benefit of learning from other's discoveries and mistakes, and for inspiration.
  
  Students first summarize washoku principles as a navigation point. The learner can first recreate the same recipe from the demo. They can then add their variation on it. For example, students can recreate onigiri from a video demo, choosing a traditional or more contemporary seasoning/flavor profile. They can provide background on the ingredient, its origins, nutritional value, and flavor profile, as well as how it achieves umami. This can then be peer reviewed by classmates creating dishes in the same category. Peers can assess according to a rubric based on inclusion of: nutritional value of 2-3 key ingredients, cooking technique chosen, and seasoning. Students can rotate on different dish categories each week.

​

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT: Peer teaching –

• Final project with rubric: instructional cooking video employing washoku techniques and/or ingredients. This could potentially be a group project where students pick a dish to assemble as a group into a bento meal. Each person would specialize in a dish, investigating ingredients and health benefits and origins. Student would then conduct a learning video demo for a final peer critique. This would foster social presence for better engagement and accommodate student’s limited time and resources.

Works cited, Week 5

​

Subject matter expert will be my mother, Takako Ichikawa, a Japanese language instructor, tea ceremony and washoku practitioner. After studying the resources below and consulting my mother, I will also become a subject matter expert, writing the objectives, content, and assessments for the minicourse. I will consult the following books as stand ins for actual SMEs:

​

Abramson, Ashley. “Understanding the Microbiome.” Eating Well, 6 Oct. 2023, eatingwell.com. Accessed 27 Nov. 2023. 

 

Andoh, Elizabeth. Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen. Ten Speed Press, 2005. 

​

Omote, Yoko. Onigiri to Misoshiru Dake [Only Onigiri and Miso Soup]. Wani Books Corporation, 1 Feb. 2023.

​

Otowa, Kazunori. Yasai Ga Oishii Deli no Aidea 191 [The Deli with Delicious Vegetables' 191 Ideas]. Maruyamaken, 25 Apr. 2023. 

​

Shufu-no-tomo ed. Effortless Bento: 300 Japanese Box Lunch Recipes. Vertical, 27 May 2014.

ADDIE/Rapid Instructional Design hybrid would be the model I choose for my minicourse. This is due to the fact that I am mostly working alone with a subject matter expert and consulting cooking manuals. I am also a newbie so I want to understand firsthand the "grammar" of instructional design models by starting with ADDIE and modifying it with Rapid, which is more of an approach than a model.

 

Once I get my hands on Adobe Captivate or Articulate 360, it might make sense to switch to a rapid prototyping model using the linear content that Bento Journey will be. There is a clear beginning, middle, and end to cooking and preparing for cooking. As I do see the project becoming iterative with user testing, there will need to be simultaneous stages and definitely some prototyping to present my work to my SME. But for now, I am working with my own experience as an online learner and online course writer while applying Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction.​

​

My Bento journey has a few constraints. Cooking is linear in nature and terminology is something that needs to be presented first. It will have to be visually rich to show what the tools and ingredients look like. It will use demo videos, as that is what cooking learners are accustomed to viewing. Students should be able to pause and rewind steps.

 

Because it's step by step, I intend to include recipes written in order with more explanation of the why in between. So there will be video with close captions, audio, and text options for different learners. The course is hands on so my kitchen would model the learner's kitchen, where they may be cooking and viewing the video. 

​

The timeline for production would be between 8-16 weeks (not sure how integrated its production is with the learning), which is a narrow timeframe to achieve the stages below, so blending Rapid Instructional Design with ADDIE will be a way to learn as I go. 

​

Analyze – Knowledge gap: Assessing the needs of various target groups listed above, through designing a learner feedback mechanism in assessments. Determine scope of course, resources, and learning objective

​

ITERATIVE CYCLE STAGE ONE: DESIGN -> PROTOTYPE -> REVIEW

APPROVAL LEADS TO POPULATING WITH ACTUAL CONTENT

​

ITERATIVE CYCLE STAGE TWO: DEVELOP -> IMPLEMENTATION LEADS TO TESTING + LEARNER FEEDBACK -> REVIEW FEEDBACK LEADS TO UPDATING CONTENT

See information graphic below.

​

DESIGN – (1. preliminary motivating activity, 2. course presentation, 3. practice (cooking), 4. post-activity assessment, summary)

​

PROTOTYPE/DEVELOP – Prototype of all components (stage this rather than final for SME approval) then rinse and repeat between design/prototype/review and develop/implement/review

​

IMPLEMENT/TEST – Once the iterative prototype has been swapped with actual content, development cycle would kick in. In the development cycle, testing can take place in-house for review. Once implemented, learners can evaluate and provide feedback on effectiveness of learning experience. This could then be integrated into future development.

​

REVIEW/EVALUATE – Review indicates in-house testing and corrections; evaluate indicates learner input. Surveys can be embedded in course for formative feedback (clarity, impact, feasibility) and "smile sheets" can prompt summative feedback at the end on learner satisfaction. Both enable further developmen

Works cited, Week 6

​