Instructional Development (EDER675) February10, Learners iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Agenda for tonight 1. Needs Cases.. Group Analyses & Discussion 2. Relevant Learner Characteristics • • Selecting, determining and assessing learner assessments. A look at learning theories.. 3. Case 16: David Jaminez iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Analyzing the Learner for Instructional Development 1. Selecting Learner Characteristics for Assessment • 2. Determining Methods for Assessing Learner Characteristics • • • 3. When should learner characteristics be assessed? How should learner characteristics be assessed? Learner characteristic profiles A recent development in learner assessment? Cognitivism. • • • 4. What learner characteristics should be assessed? The importance of the learner Types of knowledge/using cognitivism Constructivism Ethical Action in Learner Assessment iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Next Week: No Class 1. Read Rothwell & Kazanas Chapter 6, Analyzing the Characteristics of a Work Setting & skim Rothwell & Kazanas Chapter 7, Performing Job, Task and Content Analyses. Next time we meet: Case 29 page 178 Mary Robbins iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch 1. Selecting Learner Characteristics for Assessment 1. Ask: “Who is the intended and appropriate learner”? • Specify target population, target group or target audience • Look for “representative learners” (now that we know the learning/training need) • Consider learning disabilities and Human Rights • What learner Characteristics Should be Assessed? “The aim is to understand the customers so well that the product or service fits them and sells itself”. (Drucker) • Define situation related characteristics What are the possible relationships between the pfce problem and the learner? Does the pfc problem suggest unique learner characteristics? Will those characteristics change? • Define decision related characteristics • Define learner related characteristics ( gas plant operator example) iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch What learner Characteristics Should be Assessed? (continued) • What learner Characteristics Should be Assessed? • Decision related characteristics • • • Who makes decisions about who can learn? (committees can work well here) Learner Related Characteristics 2 kinds exist: 1. Prerequisite skills, knowledge and attitudes 2 other traits or abilities needed to do the job 4 types of prerequisites: 1. Physical traits 2. Previously leaned skills 3. Previously learned knowledge 4. Previously learned attitudes. • Discussion: As a human performance improvement professional, what do you do if a learner does not have the prerequisite learner skills? iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch What learner Characteristics Should be Assessed? (continued) • Learner Related Characteristics • • • • • • • • • • Demographics Physiological characteristics Experience Aptitude Knowledge Attitudinal Value systems Life cycle stage Organizational culture Career stages : Dalton, Thompson and Price Model (1994) • Dalton: Apprentice / Colleague / Mentor / Sponsor Why would these matter to a designer/developer ? iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Determining Methods for Assessing Learner Characteristics When should learner characteristics be assessed? 1. BEFORE instruction (are they ready to learn or get instruction?) 2. DURING: Clarify what assumptions you are making about these learners - and that your methods will work. 3. AFTER: Forecast learner needs into the future - see who needs remediation or growth over time. iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch How Should Learner Characteristics be Assessed? • 1. There are 2 approaches • A. The DERIVED approach (simplest) • • Brainstorming to see what learner characteristics are most important to the learner in this performance (gap) situation. B. The CONTRIVED approach • ID people roll through lists of learner characteristics seeing which one is best.. Developing a Learner Characteristic Profile - a normative, descriptive or historical approach to identify: 1. Necessary background, knowledge, skill or attitude and phys. Traits for this learner in this intervention ? - Common sense can take over here! - iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch “Recent Developments in Learner Assessment” • • Cognitivism Constructivism iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Cognitivism • Learners create their own interpretations of instruction based on experiences, expectations and beliefs. How can learners be provided with the knowledge they need to perform at the time they need it and when they need it? • 2 Types of Knowledge (Kazanas) • 1. Procedural: How is something accomplished? • • Step by step analysis of tasks and decision points. Process. 2. Declarative: Why do things work the way they do? What is the name of an object or place? • Creative work. Focus on why we do what we do. Often metacognitive. iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Constructivism How can learners be provided with the opportunity to get the knowledge they need to perform at the time, and to find that knowledge in the way that they best learn it -- and when they need it? Can a training program be constructive? iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch A brief review of learning theories… iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch A conception of the relations among three epistemological traditions or Approaches to Learning Theory (Kowch after Driscoll, 2000) Pragmatism •Knowledge is negotiated From experience & reason •Reality is interpreted through signs, internal and external Objectivism •Reality is external, objective (known) •Knowledge is acquired through Experience. Interpretivism •Reality is internal, relative to a frame Of reference (subjective) •Knowledge is constructed through both By interaction socially and internally iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch An Advance Organizer for Theories of Learning Behaviorism: The Black Box Metaphor S->R Environmental Stimuli Observed Behavior Information Processing:The Computer Metaphor Input: Sensory Stimulation Output: Learned Capabilities Human Cognitive processes Interactional Models: Social Context Matters Multiple Intelligences Proximal learning Emotional Intelligence iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Definitions: Learning : is … a persisting change in performance or performance potential that results from experience and interaction with the world. Learning Theory: …is a set of constructs linking … Results: changes in performance Means: Hypothesized structures and processes responsible for learning Inputs: Resources or experiences that trigger learning. iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Radical Behaviorism Radical Behaviorism Is most closely Associated with S -> R Skinner involves The experimental Analysis of behavior Leads to Applications Principles of Behavior Management Behavior Modification Instructional Objectives iDevelopment 675 Performance Anal. & Support © E. G. Kowch Cognitive Information Processing (Gagne & Briggs) Cognitive Information Processing Stage theory - processing begins With sensory input Sensory Memory -Visual -auditory Short-Term Memory (temporary working memory) •Rehearsing •Chunking Instructional Implications 1. 2. 3. Provide organized instruction Arrange extensive and variable practice Enhance learner’s self-control of information processing Encoding Retrieval Semantic Networks Long-Term Memory Models of Memory Storage Feature comparisons Parallel Processing iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Gagne & Briggs: We Remember…. iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Situated Cognition: Living To Learn Ecological Approach To Perception Are antecedents to Situated Cognition Critical Pedagogy Everyday Cognition Knowledge is Conceived as Lived practices Which leads to Which involves Implications for instruction Implications for instruction Learning is Participation in communities of practice and Implications for instruction •Including Cognitive Apprenticeships •Anchored Instruction •Learning Communities •Assessment in-Situ iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Cognitive and Knowledge Development •Sensorimotor Four Stages of Development •Preoperational •Concrete operational Three Developmental Processes •Assimilation •Accommodation •Formal operational • Equilibrium Evidence Countering Piaget Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology Most established theory Theories of Cognitive Development 1. Not all cultures reach formal operations 2. Reasoning is not always consistent within a stage 3. Children learn more in a stage than P thought. 4. Reasoning is domain specific Alternative Information Processing Approaches Neo-Piagetian View Biological maturation affects STM operational capacity iDevelopment 675 A computational model A componential analysis A framework theory approach Generalization is primary mechanism of development Development is the process of a novice becoming an expert Intuitive theories develop with experience in specific domains A new agenda Children’s thinking is endlessly variable and endlessly changing © E. G. Kowch Interactional Theories of Cognitive Development Bruner Interactional Theories of Development •Mediation through signs Three Models of Representing Understanding •Emphasized culture •Based in human activity •Enactive •Iconic Cognitive Growth •Symbolic Discovery, Learning and Inquiry Teaching Vygotsky Vygotsky’s Developmental Method Social Origins of Thinking •internalization •Zone of proximal development (next slide) •intersubjectivity influences Implications: •Learning pulls development Culture •Instruction should be scaffolded in the zone of proximal development •Intersubjective interaction is important iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Detail from the last slide: Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development Developing Capabilities Undeveloped Capabilities Developing Capabilities Zone of Proximal Development What the child can do unassisted What the child can do With assistance What the child cannot do yet Zone of Proximal Development (with appropriate instruction in the Zone of Proximal Development, the boundaries of the zone SHIFT). iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Biological Bases of Learning & Memory - Chemistry and Physical Science Explanations… Recall our WebCT Discussion Thread “She was born with it” Biological Bases of Learning & Memory Ultimate causes Proximate causes Evolution Neuropsychology Attention and the brain Learning, memory and the brain Conditioning Cognition Cognitive development and the brain Implications of Evolution •Humans my be predisposed to certain fears •Behaviors for which there is no predisposition to learn may be difficult to overcome •Actions associated with decreased fitness in ancestral populations may be difficult to establish675 iDevelopment Implications of Neuropsychology •Cognitive functions are differentiated •The brain is relatively plastic in nature •Language may be biologically pre programmed •Learning disabilities may have a neurological basis © E. G. Kowch Recall: The Advance Organizer for Theories of Learning Radical Behaviorist Theories Behaviorism: The Black Box Metaphor Environmental Stimuli Observed Behavior Biological Theory Information Processing:The Computer Metaphor Input: Sensory Stimulatio n Human Cognitive processes Output: Learned Capabiliti es Cognitive Theories Situated Cognition Theories Interactional Models: Social Context Matters Multiple Intelligences Proximal learning Interaction Theories Emotional Intelligence iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch Learner Characteristics: More ID Resources: • A quick Guide to Gagne & Briggs (Cognitivism: How to Carefully Deconstruct the Learner, Types of Learning and ways to investigate Instructional Events to assure cognitive learning success): • http://www.ucalgary.ca/~ekowch/673/resources/gagnebriggsindex.html • What if your learner has multiple intelligences or learning styles, and you can design gap improvements for that? • Learning Style Tests: Website URL: http://www.stanford.edu/group/Urchin/TA7IB.htm Multiple Intelligences Test: http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm • • • Multiple Intelligences Info: http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch This person is reading….. ;-) Adieu for this week, EDER 675 Readings for The Next Two Weeks: Analyzing Characteristics of a Work Setting: Chapter 6 Rothwell & Kazanas Performing Job, Task and Content Analysis (skim): Chapter 7, Rothwell & Kazanas Case: To be decided as a group Eugene G. Kowch Assistant Professor of Educational Technology iDevelopment 675 © E. G. Kowch