Learning Task Analysis
Dr. Lam
TECM 5180
Last week…
• We discussed the analysis phase of ID
• Needs Analysis is primary function (focus on
identifying a problem that can actually be solved by
learning)
• Discussed different analysis steps involved in
establishing a need for training
This week…
• Assume you’ve completed the analysis phase
• Move to learning task analysis
• Walk through the process of conducting a learning
task analysis
• Tie this analysis into design and the design
document deliverable
About learning task analysis
• Systematic method for determining the individual
tasks, goals, and objectives of a course
• One of the biggest steps to move into the
design/development stage of ID
• Close to the act of outlining content for a paper
Learning Task Analysis
According to Ragan and Smith:
1. Write a learning goal
2. Determine the types of learning in the goal
3. Conduct an information-processing analysis
4. Conduct a prerequisite analysis
5. Write learning objectives for the learning goal and
each of the perquisites
Write a learning goal
• After needs analysis, you should have a “general” list
of learning goals (e.g., “
• Specific learning goals are statements of purpose or
intention, what learners should be able to do at the
end of instruction
• After this module (or unit or session or program),
learners should be able to…
A word about learning goals
vs. objectives
• Learning goals are broad goals that describe what
learners should know at the end of the course.
• Learning objectives are subparts of goals (more
detailed than goals).
• Goal: “When given four options, learners will select
the best student loan for their context”.
• Objective: “Learners can outline three key differences
between a parent plus loan and a Stafford loan in their
own words.”
Practice
Which of the following goals are unambiguous so that they can clearly guide further
design activities? How can we fix the ambiguous examples?
1.
Students will hear lectures and attend discussions on future trends in technology,
philosophy, and business.
2.
The student can select examples of the concept conservative (in the political
dichotomy of liberal vs. conservative) from a list of examples and nonexamples.
3.
The student will understand the procedure for applying for welfare.
4.
The student will administer an allergy injection following the sterile technique.
5.
The student can compute the mean, range, and standard deviation of a series of
ten numbers.
6.
The student has acquired the ability to deal with angry parents.
7.
Each student will be able to view clear, precise, and correctly demonstrated
examples of the A-4 technique as presented in the video, “The A-4 Technique in
Action”.
Gagne’s Types of Learning
Outcomes
• Declarative Knowledge
• Intellectual Skills
• Cognitive Strategies
• Attitudes
• Psychomotor Skills
Declarative Knowledge
Definition
Bloom’s equivalent
Example
Require learners to recall in verbatim,
paraphrased, or summarized form facts,
lists, names, or organized information.
Recall and
understanding
In your own words, write
the definition of
probability.
Intellectual Skills
Definition
Bloom’s
equivalent
Example
• Application of rules to previously
unencountered examples.
Application,
analysis, synthesis,
and evaluation
When given three
scenarios, select the
scenario that requires a
T-Test and what
scenario requires an
ANOVA.
• Differs from declarative knowledge
in that learners not only recall
information, but they apply it.
More about intellectual skills
•
Discriminations- Ability to perceive that something either matches or
differs from other things.
•
Concepts- idea that is generalized from particular instances. Think if it as
a “container”. (e.g., smart phone) Learners shouldn’t simply be able to
define concepts, but apply the definition to unencountered examples.
•
Principles- Also known as “relational rules” can usually be expressed as
“if/then” statements. (E.g., “If demand goes up, then supply goes up”)
•
Procedures- Tell us in what order certain steps should be taken.
•
Problem solving- Learned capability of applying multiple rules. E.g.,
“selecting a research methodology when given a specific research
question”.
Cognitive Strategies
Definition
Bloom’s
Example
equivalent
• Learning how to learn
• Rehearsal strategies
• Elaboration strategies
• Organizational Strategies
• Metacognitive strategies
• Affective strategies
None
• Use the acronym RoyGBiv to
remember the order and
colors of a rainbow.
• Summarize the research
article.
• Reflect on and identify what
you know and what you don’t
know about the topic.
• Develop a personal reward
system to encourage yourself
to complete the project.
Attitudes
Definition
Bloom’s equivalent
Example
• Mental state that predisposes a
learner to choose to behave a certain
way.
• Attitudes influence key choices (e.g.,
if you dislike math, you’ll avoid
taking math classes)
• Hard to design directly in a training
setting
None
• Describe the
relevance of this
information to
you personally.
Psychomotor Skills
Definition
Bloom’s equivalent
Example
• Coordinated muscular movements
that are typified by smoothness and
precise timing
None
Shoot a basketball
correctly.
Practice
Is it declarative knowledge, discrimination, concept, principle, problem solving, cognitive
strategy, pscychomotor skill, or attitude?
1.
The student must be able to select the beakers from a set of laboratory equipment.
2.
The learner must be able to type sixty words per minute.
3.
The student teacher must choose to utilize positive reinforcement rather than
punishment.
4.
The student must select the appropriate pronoun so that the noun and pronoun agree
in number.
5.
The student must select curtains that exactly match the color of the carpet.
6.
When given a series of poems, the learner must tell which ones are examples of
haiku.
7.
The student must invent a way to remember people’s names.
Information-Processing
Analysis
Helps us determine the necessary content for instruction
and occurs in two-steps:
1. Information processing analysis of a goal
2. A prerequisite analysis of the steps identified in the
information-processing analysis.
Information Processing
Analysis
• First step in breaking down the goal into its
constituent parts, identifying what the students need
to learn to attain the goal.
• Example: Given a topic in the area of “technical
communication”, the learner will be able to locate
journal articles relevant to that topic.
10 Steps for InformationProcessing Analysis
1. Read and gather as much information as possible about
the task and content implied by the goal.
2. Convert the goal into a representative “test” question.
3. Give the problem to several individuals who know how
to complete the task and do one or several of the
following: observe them completing the task (think
aloud OR videotape); have them complete and write out
steps; ask them to write out steps.
4. Review the written steps or replay the tape and ask
questions about the process.
10 Steps for InformationProcessing Analysis
5.
If more than one expert is used in steps 3 and 4, identify
commonalities.
6.
Identify the shortest, least complex path for completing the
task, noting factors that require this simpler path.
7.
Note factors that may require a more complex path or more
steps.
8.
Select the circumstances, and the simpler or more complex
paths, that best match the intentions of your goal(s).
9.
List the steps and decision points appropriate to your goal(s).
10. Confirm the analysis with other experts.
Perquisite Analysis
• For each step you identified in the informationprocessing analysis, determine what a learner must
know or be able to do to complete the step.
• Example: Log into the UNT library site.
1.
2.
3.
4.
The URL to the UNT library site
Username and password
When you need to login and when you don’t.
???
Writing Learning Objectives
•
Basically, we want to create a learning objective for steps and
perquisites that we identified in the information-processing analysis.
•
Three essential parts to a good learning objective:
1.
Description of the terminal behavior.
•
•
2.
Describe w/ action verb (use Bloom’s)
E.g., Identify an empirical article in technical communication journals.
Description of the conditions of demonstration of that action.
•
•
3.
Describes the tools or information that the learners will be given when
they demonstrate their learning.
E.g., Given four articles, identify an empirical article…
Description of the standard or criterion.
•
•
Describes how well the learner must do for you to say the learner has
achieved the objective. (accuracy, number of errors, time, etc.)
E.g., Given four articles, identify the two empirical articles.
Hypothetical example…
Scenario: We’re designing a short course overviewing how to
conduct an experiment and statistically analyze data. We’ve already
determined there is a need and outlined the following general
learning goals:
1. Students should know when to conduct an experiment.
2. Students should know how to conduct an experiment.
3. Students should know how to choose the correct
statistical tests and conduct the tests.
4. Students should know the advantages and disadvantages
of experiments.
Go through the process…
1. Write a learning goal
2. Determine the types of learning in the goal
3. Conduct an information-processing analysis
4. Conduct a prerequisite analysis
5. Write learning objectives for the learning goal and
each of the perquisites
What’s next?
Now that you have an outline of your course content,
what’s next?
• Learning strategy analysis – It’s essential to
determine what the optimal delivery methods are for
each type of learning.
• Writing the design document – Outlines your major
design decisions and provides a detailed design
matrix for the entire course.