Posts Tagged ‘learning’
New Poster Theme: Frugality in Teaching and Learning
Posted by: Nancy Kiplinger in Best Practice, Instructional Design, Teaching on August 13th, 2009
How does the concept of frugality apply to teaching and learning?
For me, it is about being economical while being effective–that is:
- using sound instructional practices that have been empirically proven to produce learning,
- focusing on the knowledge and skills learners need to do their jobs and protecting learners from cognitive overload, and
- producing instruction and instructional materials that are engaging.
Likely there’s not much in the previous sentence that instructors would disagree with, yet many continue to rely on unproven concepts (or misconcepts) when designing instruction. For example, many instructors waste time and effort because they believe they must consider and design for multiple learning styles. Others try to fit the notion of a learning pyramid (learners remember 10% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they do, etc., etc.) with the way they develop and deliver instruction. Still others adhere to the belief that we learn best from formal instruction.
Persuasive arguments are made against these and other learning myths in Parts 1 and 2 of an article by Wallace Hannum of this university entitled Training Myths: False Beliefs That Limit the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Training Solutions. Part 1 has been available for several months in the TLS literature racks in the 3rd-floor break room or next to the mailboxes on the 4th floor. Part 2 was published in July, and you can find copies of it and Part 1 in the literature racks. While you’re there, please notice the latest TLS poster on the theme of frugality and let us know what you think.
I encourage you to read both short parts of this article and then weigh in with your thoughts. Or, drop by for a friendly debate or a conversation about really works since mythical concepts don’t.
Identifying Audience Needs
Posted by: Joel Galbraith in Instructional Design, Presentations, Teaching on April 7th, 2009
(requires SOG Intranet authentication)
Dona Lewandowski recently created a powerful introduction to her course that really anchors and gives a human face to the technical information she was attempting to communicate to her Magistrates. Dona considered her clients, identified a “missing link” in her course, and came up with this solution. Her solution is simply brilliant, easy to make and will be remembered! (SOG intranet password required)
As teachers we are 1/2 of the learning equation, the client too must be an active participant for learning to happen. But it is incumbent on us to put our self in our client’s shoes, learn their needs, and do what we can to eliminate obstacles to learning. If you were in their shoes listening to you, would your information and activities be useful? Would it be busywork, or engaging and relevant? If you were them, is there something else you wish you’d be getting from your course?
Let’s assume for a moment that as a high-performing organization–intent on helping public officials and citizens understand and improve state and local government–that what we teach is critical information for their jobs. Have you made clear why the information you are sharing is critical and helpful to them? Before we make that assumption, is there a way we can check that assumption? Consider the following:
- Use (or revise and use) your course evaluation as a tool to really solicit feedback on the effectiveness of your course in meeting learner needs
- Create a client survey to gather info on your specific client training needs?
- Use TurningPoint at the end of class to gather (and save) anonymous client responses. Let the rank order preselected topics of interest and value to them. Who knows? maybe choosing to display the results might show clients how difficult it is for your presentation to meet all their diverse needs.
The TLS team can help you design a survey, design some TurningPoint poll slides and provide additional tips on ways to consider your learners’ needs.
-Joel G.
Poster Theme: Less is More
Posted by: Nancy Kiplinger in Did you Know?, Instructional Design on February 19th, 2009
Cognitive overload is the unfortunate by-product of too many topics and too much content or information. When it comes to training and learning, less is usually more. Read more about this in the following snippet, excerpted from Hannum, WH, Training Myths: False Beliefs That Limit the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Training Solutions, Part 1, Performance Improvement Journal, Volume 48, Number 2, February 2009.
Less is More
More content does not equate with better training, more learning, or improved performance (Mayer, Bove, Bryman, Mars, & Tapangco, 1996). In fact, as training content grows, learning and performance may suffer. Increased training content not only increases the length, and thus the costs, of training initiatives. It also adds an extra burden for the learners. They have to sort through, figure out, comprehend, and understand the additional content. Learners find it difficult to decide… Read the rest of this entry »
Of Pinewood Derby Cars, Learning Design, and Wheels that Spin
Posted by: Joel Galbraith in Best Practice, Instructional Design on February 18th, 2009
Red Lightning (crafted by Drew & Joel Galbraith)
The Story:
It’s the season. If you’ve got a cub scout in the (extended) family, you may know it’s Pinewood Derby time. This is my first Derby experience. Growing up overseas, it wasn’t something I did as a kid. My son Drew and I scoured the web for ideas, and even attended a workshop together at Lowes on how to build a winning pinewood derby car to have a chance at speed or creativity awards. We’ve done all the things we read and heard about: We came up with a fun design, carved and sanded, sealed and painted, sanded and painted some more, ground down burrs, buffed axles and wheels, affixed and set weights, lubricated, and then some. I finally stuck the wheels on, excited to see how long they’d spin, and nothin’! Well, they spun, but not for much longer than they did when they came outta the box (~10 seconds for those that are counting). It was a bit of a let down.
We (dad) put a lot of work into that thing, and sure, there was some joy in the journey and satisfaction in doing a project with my son…but the wheels don’t turn very smoothly. I had been downplaying the whole “winning” thing with my son, since he’s been very excited about the prospects of winning (I wonder where he gets it?). Secretly, I knew we we’re doing all the right, and seemingly important things to have a good chance of at least placing (or so I thought), but I wanted him to be pleasantly surprised if we did well…did I mention the wheels don’t spin?! It turns out that this spinning thing is critical for racing ;-), and certainly more important than the many of coats of paint and gloss we applied, or the special buffing we did, and the extra effort to employ a multiple-derby-winner’s secret weight system (last time I take his advice). All that doesn’t make much difference if you can’t reduce friction and get the wheels to spin freely around that axle–and for about 20+ seconds.
The Thinking:
I have no one to blame. I created my own course of study and as I experienced these last couple weeks, working hard is not synonymous with working smart. My learning experience lacked purposeful design… Read the rest of this entry »
