Developing iBooks: A Case Study Teaching Gram-stain Analysis

University of California at Irvine’s medical school is one of many programs that have transitioned to iPad based instruction. Release of iBooks Author, a development tool for electronic books, in January 2012 enabled the creation of “iBooks” that transitioned the iPad from an instructional content viewer to an advanced learning experience including interactivity and multimedia. This tool was the first time that instructors could develop customized instructional content for the iPad without prior programming experience. However, there currently lack any guidelines for iBook development, and there have been few evidenced-based research projects utilizing the tool. Therefore, the purpose of this instructional design project was to design, develop, and evaluate a prototype iBook intended to inform development decisions for instructional designers. The iBook design focused on integration of The First Principles of Instruction (Merrill, 2013), Principles of Multimedia Learning (Mayer, 2001), and iOS Human Interface Guidelines (Apple, 2012). Improved test scores, increased skill confidence, and positive participant responses indicate that selected theories and guidelines were applicable to iBooks development. The author suggests that these implications could be broadly applied to eBook development, and discusses additional design concerns for future research.