LEARNING AND ATTITUDE go hand in hand. It is always important for Instructional Designers to define the target audience's current attitude toward the subject that will be taught. In some cases the current attitude is not the desired end state, and so attitude change becomes a component of the instructional design.

Michael Simonson and Nancy Maushak developed a set of guidelines for instructional designers wanting to influence attitude change (Simonson & Maushak, 1996). These guidelines were developed based on results of their own studies and other research in this area. They break the guidelines into two main categories: Message Design Guidelines and Learner Involvement Guidelines. 

New, useful information 
Learner attitudes will be more favorable if they are learning new information, that they can apply to needs they have.


Realistic, relevant and technically stimulating instructional methods/technologies
Realism and relevance in the instructional examples and materials help make the instruction more believable. Applying appropriate technologies can stimulate interest, which also promotes positive attitude change. 

Presented in a credible manner
Credibility may be enhanced by using a credible source to deliver a message. It is also dependent upon the way the course is presented. Competently designed and delivered courses enhance credibility,whether they are live, by computer, or videotape.

Involve learners in planning, production and/or delivery
Active learners are usually more positive toward the subject being taught than passive learners. It is often not practical to involve all learners in course design, but some degree of learner interaction and involvement during instruction can be built in to any course.


Purposeful emotional involvement or arousal
This is the guideline many would think of first, when considering how to change attitudes, and it can be very powerful. However, using emotion can backfire if the primary motivation is fear. If a message arouses too much tension it may cause learners to avoid the message altogether.

Several studies in this area used subliminal messages to arouse involvement in their subjects. While this was effective it certainly raises ethical questions. For a an in-depth look at the ethics of persuasion see the book Principled Persuasion: Influence with Integrity, Sell with Standards by Marlene Caroselli (CaroselliM 1999).


Involve learners in post-instruction discussions or critiques
Simonson and Maushak report several studies that found follow-up discussions after instruction were very effective in promoting positive attitudes.

According to Simonson and Maushak, for effective attitude change, at least one guideline from each category should be followed, and the more of the guidelines that are included, the better the chances of influencing attitude change.

Research about media type and attitude change is pretty much inconclusive, similar to what research on media type and learning in general has found. In most cases, lesson design and the learning environment have a much greater effect on learning, and attitude change, than media type.

Sherry Ryan
Student, SDSU Educational Technology