D300: Identifying Learner Needs and a Research Problem

Identifying Learner Needs and a Research Problem opens the program's three-course, design-based-research capstone — the first two phases of a genuine research process, grounded in real Design Thinking empathy work.

What D300 covers

The course is the first of three capstone courses in the program, providing an introduction to design-based research and focusing on the first two phases of the design-based research process: identifying and analyzing the learning problem and reviewing the literature.

The course requires learners to continue applying Design Thinking as they empathize with learners and define the instructional problem their research will help them understand and address, and teaches how to conduct a literature review to determine what research has already been done.

The D300 performance assessment

Expect a performance assessment requiring you to identify and analyze a real instructional problem and conduct a literature review situating it within existing research.

Key topics in D300

• Design-based research process
• Identifying and analyzing the learning problem
• Literature review methodology

Writing tips for D300

Follow the task instructions and rubric line by line

WGU performance assessments for D300 are graded against a fixed rubric — every rubric line has to be visibly addressed, usually with a labeled heading that mirrors the rubric language. Skipping a rubric point because it seems minor is the single most common reason a competent submission comes back "Not Yet Competent" for revision.

Ground design decisions in a specific learner population and instructional problem

Learning Experience Design courses like D300 typically ask you to apply Design Thinking or instructional design models to a specific learner population and problem, not design in the abstract. Evaluators are checking whether your reasoning fits that concrete audience and problem, not a generic e-learning module.

Because WGU is self-paced, don't let "no deadline pressure" become no submission

There's no weekly due date forcing progress, which means procrastination costs more at WGU than at a traditional term-based school — a stalled task can quietly eat weeks of a term. Treat your own target date for each D300 assessment as a real deadline.

Why students seek help with D300

Candidates sometimes propose a research problem without the empathy-driven learner analysis (grounded in Design Thinking) the course specifically requires first — the rubric typically wants that learner-empathy foundation shown, not a problem asserted from assumption.

How GradeEssays helps with D300

Share your instructional problem area and rubric, and your writer will build a problem analysis genuinely grounded in learner empathy and a real literature review.

Prerequisites and program context

D300 requires Learning Experience Design Lab (D299) as a prerequisite and opens the 3-course capstone sequence.

• Master of Education, Education Technology and Instructional Design

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