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Friday, March 27, 2015
Call for Research Study Participants
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Saturday, September 21, 2013
Is there anything new under the sun?
I ran across a blog today titled "A School with No Teachers, Where Students Teach Themselves" (http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/09/a-school-with-no-teachers-where-students-teach-themselves/). It reminded me somewhat of the paradigm we used with our school in Los Angeles, based on School of Tomorrow (Accelerated Christian Education) where the students sat in study carrels and worked on self-paced workbooks. This system, however, is totally exploratory in which the students learn by solving real-world problems in IT on computers. One individual was quoted, “I had a hard time following in school. They forbid us to
talk in class. And here, talking together and passing along tips is the
key to succeeding.” Sounds pretty constructivist to me. Check it out.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Notes on Instructional Design Theory
These are some notes I took on instructional design theory from Instructional-Design Theories and Models, Volume II: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, edited by Charles M. Reigeluth, chapter 1, "What Is Instructional-Design Theory and How Is It Changing?", written by the editor. This informs the theoretical foundation of my IDOL dissertation.
1. Instructional-design theory is design-oriented
2. Instructional-design theory identifies methods of instruction and the situation in which those methods should and should not be used.
3. In all instructional-design theories, the methods of instruction can be broken down into more detailed component methods, which provide more guidance to educators
4. The methods are probabilistic rather than deterministic
(1) Design theories are intended to provide direct guidance to practitioners about what methods to use to attain different goals. The major concern for people developing and testing descriptive theories is validity, whereas for design theories, it is prefer-ability (i.e., does this method attain your goals for your situation better than any other known method?). This requires different research methodologies (see Chapter 26).
(2) Instructional-design theory requires at least two components: methods for facilitating human learning and development (also called methods of instruction), and indications as to when and when not to use those methods (situations). An essential feature of instructional-design theories is that the methods they offer are situational rather than universal. Two major aspects of any instructional situation: [1] the conditions under which the instruction will take place and [2] the desired outcomes of the instruction. Instructional conditions include: {1} the nature of what is to be learned; {2} the nature of the learner (e.g., Gagne's internal conditions of learning; Gagne's external conditions are actually methods, not conditions); {3} the nature of the learning environment; {4} the nature of instructional development constraints (e.g., time, money). These influence which methods will work best to attain the desired outcomes. Instructional outcomes are different from learning goals. Instructional outcomes do not include the specific learnings desired. Instead, they include levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal you want or deed from the instruction. /1/ Level of effectiveness is a matter of how well the learning goals are attained. The term "criterion" is often used to refer to the level of effectiveness. /2/ Level of efficiency is the level of effectiveness of the instruction divided by the time and/or cost of the instruction. /3/ Level of appeal is the extent to which learners enjoy the instruction.
Methods are made up of different components or features. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a method made up of smaller methods, such as presenting the problem and the scenario in which it occurs, forming teams, providing support for the teams' efforts, reflecting on the results of the individuals' and teams' efforts, etc. There are also many different ways in which a method can be performed. Finally, more detail can be provided for a method by offering criteria that the method should meet. (Parts, kinds, criteria). Methods are also probabilistic, i.e. they do not guarantee the desired instructional and learning outcomes. They only increase the probability that the desired results will occur.
1. Instructional-design theory is design-oriented
2. Instructional-design theory identifies methods of instruction and the situation in which those methods should and should not be used.
3. In all instructional-design theories, the methods of instruction can be broken down into more detailed component methods, which provide more guidance to educators
4. The methods are probabilistic rather than deterministic
(1) Design theories are intended to provide direct guidance to practitioners about what methods to use to attain different goals. The major concern for people developing and testing descriptive theories is validity, whereas for design theories, it is prefer-ability (i.e., does this method attain your goals for your situation better than any other known method?). This requires different research methodologies (see Chapter 26).
(2) Instructional-design theory requires at least two components: methods for facilitating human learning and development (also called methods of instruction), and indications as to when and when not to use those methods (situations). An essential feature of instructional-design theories is that the methods they offer are situational rather than universal. Two major aspects of any instructional situation: [1] the conditions under which the instruction will take place and [2] the desired outcomes of the instruction. Instructional conditions include: {1} the nature of what is to be learned; {2} the nature of the learner (e.g., Gagne's internal conditions of learning; Gagne's external conditions are actually methods, not conditions); {3} the nature of the learning environment; {4} the nature of instructional development constraints (e.g., time, money). These influence which methods will work best to attain the desired outcomes. Instructional outcomes are different from learning goals. Instructional outcomes do not include the specific learnings desired. Instead, they include levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal you want or deed from the instruction. /1/ Level of effectiveness is a matter of how well the learning goals are attained. The term "criterion" is often used to refer to the level of effectiveness. /2/ Level of efficiency is the level of effectiveness of the instruction divided by the time and/or cost of the instruction. /3/ Level of appeal is the extent to which learners enjoy the instruction.
Methods are made up of different components or features. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a method made up of smaller methods, such as presenting the problem and the scenario in which it occurs, forming teams, providing support for the teams' efforts, reflecting on the results of the individuals' and teams' efforts, etc. There are also many different ways in which a method can be performed. Finally, more detail can be provided for a method by offering criteria that the method should meet. (Parts, kinds, criteria). Methods are also probabilistic, i.e. they do not guarantee the desired instructional and learning outcomes. They only increase the probability that the desired results will occur.
REFERENCE
Reigeluth, C.M. (1999). What is instructional-design theory and how is it changing? In C.M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional-design theories and models, volume II: A new paradigm of instructional theory (pp. 5-29). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Training will save America! I think...
I just got my latest email from Training Doctor, a consulting firm that specializes in helping companies produce better training for their employees. They presented some information I found rather fascinating:
According to a recent report by University of California (San Diego) faculty, training and re-training the American workforce will save America’s economy. Ok, they didn’t exactly say that – but it was close!
According to one of the authors of the report, Henry DeVries, “federal support for training initiatives, and incentives for companies to offer them, is crucial. Unless we fully commit to retraining our country then our businesses do not have much of a future," he says.
"People have to understand that this is not their grandfather's high school- or college-based economy. There is a growing disconnect between the types of jobs that employers need to fill and the number of Americans with the right education and training. The only thing constant is change. The economy is going to keep changing, and people are going to need to keep adapting."
He cites the welding industry as one example. Due to recent advancements in technology, which many older welders are not apprised of, there are currently 100,000 welding jobs going unfilled in America.
One surprising finding of their study and report, is that the jobs that have gone away the last few years are NOT coming back. The problem, as DeVries sees it, is that "there is a job gap, in that people who are thrown out of industries like construction and retail and finance, don't have the skills for where jobs are being created through innovation – such as green jobs or IT jobs. There are plenty of jobs available in America,
there just aren't the properly skilled employees to fill them, he says.
Read more about the report here: http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/10-ways-congress-can-spur-job-creation-56845.aspx
(c) 2011 The Training Doctor, LLC http://www.trainingdr.com.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The tutor is intelligent!
I ran across an idea for my proposed curriculum. It involves the use of an "intelligent tutor" concept in the programming of the curriculum. Basically, it uses a computer program to perform the processes and steps of an individually prescribed, self-paced programmed text environment. It begins by assessing the learner's current knowledge on the target subject, which is built around a frontend analysis of the system being taught. The learner's current knowledge is compared against the expected final outcomes of the training and then an instructional prescription is formulated by the program to guide the learner through the branches. Gaps can be filled first and then the learner can be sequenced from the lowest point of continuous need. My question at this point is "Are there any authoring tools out there that can build this type of system, or must this be done from scratch in a programming language?" I'll find out.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Yikes! It's Farmville!
It's Tuesday at 2:30 am and I can't go to sleep. Why? Last Friday night, I took up my wife's challenge and started a farm on Farmville.com. She's been doing it for a couple of months now, and is at level 37. In less than 72 hours, I have risen from level 1 to level 17. I have increased the size of my farm twice and am just waiting until I have enough coins to buy the next larger farm. I have a tractor, a seeder and a harvester. I have only four decorations: a New Year's Eve Ball, a holiday tree with which to receive presents from the Facebook feed, a toy soldier gate to front my 15 clumsy reindeer, and an evergreen tree, which I may sell. I also have a dozen or so flowers of a few different kinds that have no intrinsic value, along with an outhouse, a rest tent, a picnic table, a well, a butter churn, and a water trough. Everything else is utilitarian. I describe this because many of the farms I have seen online are significantly decorated, which takes up space but brings no recurring return, as the animals and cultivated land do.
What makes this so unique, and why I am posting this information here, is the relevance it has to instructional design. The thing that hooked me right away was the abundance of immediate small rewards. However, that would grow old and boring if it were not for the additional ability to bank small rewards for larger ones. It's a pyramid scheme in the ultimate degree. And it is just as addicting as crack cocaine. I'm told that with crack, the first hit is addictive, and each subsequent hit is an attempt to achieve that initial high. So it is with this. I thought I would just dabble in it for a little bit, but it has become all consuming. Hence, I am still awake at this hour, my mind racing with ideas of how I can upgrade my system to be more efficient and handle the extreme flash orientation of the graphics. Everything is constantly in animation, and whether or not you run the sound, it is still there in the background, consuming assets.
I am obsessed with getting up in a few hours (if I ever get to sleep) in order to harvest my pumpkins, which I planted last night for that reason, since they have an 8-hour maturation cycle. The system is ingenious: some crops, like cotton, have a much longer cycle (4 days) but the yield is much greater in the gross. However, for yield percentage, other crops are much better, like poinsettias, which have a 1 day maturation cycle but a three-fold yield to cost, compared to a 2.5-to-1 yield for cotton. Planning becomes ubiquitous: after I harvest my pumpkins this morning, I intend to sow rice, which has a 10-hour cycle, so that I can harvest when I get home from my real job (!). Then, I plan to sow poinsettias, because they are only available for three more days. That will give me somewhat of a break in the mornings.
In the midst of all this furious planting and harvesting, I am trying to study two facets: the nature of the game (that's what it really is) and the nature of my response to it. Through the interface, I am developing virtual friendships with people here in my own town and others across the globe. For a true nerd like myself, this is the essence of our malady. We are inveterate loners, yet have an excruciating need to belong. The conflict is almost unbearable, yet this venue meets both needs in us. Of course, I am learning. Right now I am learning to play the game. Yet, I also see in the game paradigm couched in agriculture, numerous applications to life. However, the game lacks a few things that life does not, such as bugs, diseases, and drought. Maybe that's down the road a way. We'll see. In the meantime, I had to do something to burn off some mental energy in the hopes that I can get some sleep before I have to go harvest, er, go to work.
What makes this so unique, and why I am posting this information here, is the relevance it has to instructional design. The thing that hooked me right away was the abundance of immediate small rewards. However, that would grow old and boring if it were not for the additional ability to bank small rewards for larger ones. It's a pyramid scheme in the ultimate degree. And it is just as addicting as crack cocaine. I'm told that with crack, the first hit is addictive, and each subsequent hit is an attempt to achieve that initial high. So it is with this. I thought I would just dabble in it for a little bit, but it has become all consuming. Hence, I am still awake at this hour, my mind racing with ideas of how I can upgrade my system to be more efficient and handle the extreme flash orientation of the graphics. Everything is constantly in animation, and whether or not you run the sound, it is still there in the background, consuming assets.
I am obsessed with getting up in a few hours (if I ever get to sleep) in order to harvest my pumpkins, which I planted last night for that reason, since they have an 8-hour maturation cycle. The system is ingenious: some crops, like cotton, have a much longer cycle (4 days) but the yield is much greater in the gross. However, for yield percentage, other crops are much better, like poinsettias, which have a 1 day maturation cycle but a three-fold yield to cost, compared to a 2.5-to-1 yield for cotton. Planning becomes ubiquitous: after I harvest my pumpkins this morning, I intend to sow rice, which has a 10-hour cycle, so that I can harvest when I get home from my real job (!). Then, I plan to sow poinsettias, because they are only available for three more days. That will give me somewhat of a break in the mornings.
In the midst of all this furious planting and harvesting, I am trying to study two facets: the nature of the game (that's what it really is) and the nature of my response to it. Through the interface, I am developing virtual friendships with people here in my own town and others across the globe. For a true nerd like myself, this is the essence of our malady. We are inveterate loners, yet have an excruciating need to belong. The conflict is almost unbearable, yet this venue meets both needs in us. Of course, I am learning. Right now I am learning to play the game. Yet, I also see in the game paradigm couched in agriculture, numerous applications to life. However, the game lacks a few things that life does not, such as bugs, diseases, and drought. Maybe that's down the road a way. We'll see. In the meantime, I had to do something to burn off some mental energy in the hopes that I can get some sleep before I have to go harvest, er, go to work.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Flash traffic!
I just realized minutes ago that I have a copy of Adobe DreamWeaver CS3 that I bought for one of my Colloquium sessions. I can build prototypes of pages for review in a portfolio. Now all I need to do is find some free webspace where I can store them and view them. The big trick, however, is going to be time management and prioritizing--my dissertation comes first. This is just fun stuff!
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