Analyzing Learners and Contexts

I understand the great importance of analyzing learners and contexts before attempting to design instruction. I have taught spur-of-the-moment lessons that have not gone as well as they could have, and have realized how helpful it would have been to think through "the characteristics of the learners, the contexts in which the instruction will be delivered, and the contexts in which the skills will eventually be used." (Dick and Carry, p.99)

I like how systematic the lists and sample tables provided by Dick and Carry allow designers to be. They guide me to focus on what is going to be most helpful in this type of analysis.

Learner Analysis:
Entry Behaviors
Prior Knowledge of Topic Area
Attitudes toward Content and Potential Delivery System
Academic Motivation - ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction)
Educational and Ability Levels
General Learning Preferences
Attitudes toward Training Organization
Group Characteristics

Performance Context Analysis:
Managerial or Supervisor Support
Physical Aspects of the Site
Social Aspects of the Site
Relevance of Skills to Workplace

Learning Context Analysis:
Compatibility of Site with Instructional Requirements
Adaptability of Site to Simulate Workplace
Adaptability for Delivery Approaches
Learning-Site Constraints Affecting Design and Delivery

The goal of analyzing these aspects of the target population and the performance and learning contexts is to make the instruction as effective and efficient as possible for the greatest number of learners in your target population. I wonder, after all this effort, how effective an instructional designer should expect his/her instruction to be. Dick and Carry state on page 100 that our goal is "to know which variables significantly affect the achievement of the group of learners we will instruct, since designers create instruction for groups of learners who have common characteristics." No matter what, no matter who is in that group of learners and how many common characteristics they have, not everyone is going to fit the mold we are designing. Does that mean instructional designers just plan on some of their targeted learners doing better than others with their design? Do designers just accept that fact and let it be? Can an instructional designer individualize instruction? Should they try?