ADTED506

Lesson 7: Overview (1 of 5)

Lesson 7: Overview

Lesson 7 Readings:

Review the Course Readings Guide for this lesson's readings and learning activities.

Lesson 7 Learning Objectives:

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

realize the importance of sequencing instruction.
understand how to choose the best sequencing strategy for your program plan.
recognize the variety of learning formats used in educational programs.
understand how to choose the proper learning format for your program plan.

Lesson 7: Introduction (2 of 5)

Lesson 7: Introduction

We have covered a number of steps in the overall program planning model, including context analysis (doing internal and external mapping of the program context), needs assessment, and prioritizing uncovered needs. Last time we examined how to begin to turn prioritized needs into actual educational programs through first establishing learning objectives and choosing core content. In this lesson we will begin looking at actually designing the instruction by learning how to organize the content through sequencing the instruction and choosing the proper learning format.

Designing Instruction (3 of 5)

Designing Instruction

Once the needs have been uncovered and prioritize, and the final list has been fleshed out into objectives, and the objectives have been defined in terms of specific content, the program planner is ready to begin the design of the actual instruction for the educational program. The process of designing the actual instruction moves through a number of distinct steps.

The first step is to decide how to organize and sequence the content.
The second step is to determine the proper format.
The third step is link the content to appropriate teaching and learning strategies.
The fourth step is to design the program to foster learning climates conducive to adult learners.
Finally, the last step is to design the program to increase the likelihood of transfer of learning, or second order learning outcomes.

In this lesson we will be examining the first two steps in this process.

Organizing and Sequencing Content (4 of 5)

Organizing and Sequencing Content

As you discovered in your assigned readings, many approaches to sequencing instruction have been proposed. Selecting what will be learned in a learning activity is always a challenging task, mainly because it is impossible to include all the materials and activities that an instructor would like to teach. One useful way to proceed is to develop a draft of the proposed content by "fleshing out" the established program/learning objectives, and then expand the draft into a detailed outline of the content. Caffarella has suggested a framework for doing this in your assigned reading that involves considering:

What participants MUST know--content that is critical to the stated learning objectives.
What participants SHOULD know--content that supplements the critical material.
What participants COULD know--content that is optional.

The order in which the material is delivered is also important. However, there is not a single best way to sequence the content. The program content should be viewed in relationship to the goals and objectives, the characteristics and needs of the learners, the desired levels of learner involvement, your ability to manage the learning process, the availability of facilities and equipment, and the time required for each activity. Use the arrows below to review the methods and various strategies to structure content.

Dean (1997) discusses several methods that can be used to sequence objectives: learning task analysis, chronological order, easiest-to-hardest, logical content sequence, first-to-last task, random order, and in accordance with learning domains.

Learning Task Analysis: Sequence the objectives based on the order in which it is necessary to learn each skill (mastery of some skills requires prerequisite knowledge of other skills). For example, for students learning basic computer skills, understanding the functions of the main components of the computer is a prerequisite to learning how to use the keyboard.
Chronological Order: Arrange the objectives to reflect the order events occurred in history. Using the above example, one can arrange the objectives to reflect how they will be covered over a given period.
Easiest-to-Hardest: Identify the level of difficulty involved in mastering all objectives and place them in order from the least difficult to the most difficult. For example, learning how to use e-mail may be easier, and thus sequenced to be covered earlier, than learning how to use spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel.
Logical Content Sequence: Identify a sequence of implicit or explicit topics that helps the reader understand the content. For example, a teacher could group countries to be studied by geographic area or similarities in culture.
First-to-Last-Task: Place the objectives in order from the first task to be accomplished to the last task in the series. This is similar to arranging objectives according to the level of difficulty.
Learning Domain: Arrange the objectives according to the domain. For example, all cognitive objectives could be grouped together, all affective objectives could be grouped together, and all psychomotor objectives could be grouped together.

When organizing and sequencing the content for educational programs, ten "rules" emerge from the literature that will increase your effectiveness as a program planner.

Start with the familiar: Create a link to the existing schema and experiences of the learner.
Provide a "Context": Suggest various links to other info the learner knows.
Start with easy concepts, move to more difficult ones: Build up to complexity.
Connect application to concepts: Be pragmatic in design - link content to application.
Cover prerequisites before new material: Be sure foundations are known (can't do calculus w/o algebra).
Provide for practice and review: People learn what they practice.
Alternate stimulation with reflection: Times to do, times to integrate/synthesize.
Alternate personal involvement with safe distance: Move people on and off the spot.
Alternate talking about something with practicing it: Not good to have all one than all the other - break it up.
Alternate individual tasks with group processes: Linked to format chosen -- see next major section

Although the ten general rules for sequencing concepts are generally true, research has shown that other ways to sequence the content can also be followed in certain situations to foster learning. Consider one of the following nine approaches to sequencing for a program you are designing.

Chronological Sequencing

The content is arranged by time sequence with the presentation of later events preceded by discussion of earlier ones.
Chronological sequencing is typically used with history.

Topical Sequencing

Learners are immediately immersed in the middle of a topical problem or issue.
Example, today's newspaper headline of a problem that may be of topical significance to a given performance objective, and it could be used as a starting point for instruction. Learners are then led back in time to see how the problem originated. They may sometimes be led forward to see what will happen if the problem is not solved.

Whole-to-Part Sequencing

Learners are first presented with a complete model or a description of the full complexities of a physical object (such as an automobile engine), abstraction (such as steps in a model of instructional design), or work duty (such as writing a letter).
Instruction is then organized around "parts" of the whole. For instance, learners are then led through each part of an automobile engine.
This approach to sequencing was built on the work of Gestalt learning theorists. Learners should be presented with an overarching logic to govern what they should know. In this way, they can see how each part relates to a larger conceptual system.

Part-to-Whole Sequencing

Learners are introduced to each part of a larger object, abstraction, or work duty. By the end of instruction, they should be able to conceptualize the entire object/abstraction or perform the entire duty.
Learners could be oriented to an organization by visiting, investigating, and charting work activities in each department. They should eventually be able to describe the activities of each organizational part and thus (presumably) the entire organization.

Known-to-Unknown Sequencing

Learners are introduced to what they already know and are gradually led into what they do not know.
Learners bring their experience to bear on what they learn. Consequently, it is essential for instruction to build on what the learner already knows.

Unknown-to-Known Sequencing

Learners are deliberately disoriented at the outset of instruction. "Put the learners in over their heads."
Approach dramatizes how little they really know about a subject or the performance of a task or work duty with which they already feel smugly familiar.
The aim of this approach is to motivate learners for a subsequent learning task by giving them an uncomfortable experience that leads them to question their own knowledge, thereby demonstrating to them that they need to learn more.

Step-by-Step Sequencing

Learners are introduced to a task or work duty through either of two methods.
- The first method is based on the steps of the task or work duty itself.
- The second method is based on the knowledge that learners must already possess or they must have mastered the skills to be capable of learning the procedure.
Instructional designers analyze how people learn the skill or process information (information processing analysis, information mapping, or learning hierarchy analysis).
Performance objectives are then sequencing around each step ("chunk of knowledge" or "specific skill") that learners must possess in order to be able to master a task or work duty.

Part-to-Part-to-Part Sequencing

Learners are treated to a relatively shallow introduction to a topic, move on to another topic that is also treated superficially, move on to a third topic that is treated superficially, eventually return to the original topic for more in-depth exposure, and so on.
The aim is to ensure that learners are introduced to topics and then hear more about them gradually as they are elaborated on in subsequent rounds of the spiral.

General-to-Specific Sequencing

All learners are introduced to the same foundation of knowledge of the same skills. Later, however, each learner specializes.
This method of sequencing is sometimes called the pyramidal or core structure method.
All learners are exposed to certain topics (the core), but may specialize (by exposing themselves to topics around the core).

Beyond deciding upon the proper sequencing, designers must also know how to best organize the content within a particular sequence to best facilitate new learning. Four of most widely used general content organizing strategies to facilitate new learning are summarized below.

Use Classifying Strategies: Learn to "chunk" information.

ex: create taxonomies
ex: create classification structures
ex: arrange complex information into "arrays" for ease of learning

Use Spatial Learning Strategies: Create visual pictures.

Using visual displays that show the patterns to grasp the "big picture."
Use frames or matrices: create grid systems for showing connections between categories and relationships.
Use concept mapping: arranging major concepts into a algorithm, with lines drawn to show structural relationships.

Use Bridging Strategies: Methods to help learners apply prior knowledge to new information is systematic ways.

Advanced Organizers: presented prior to the material, an advanced organizer is a brief transition statement that summarizes previous learning and previews an outline of material to be covered.
Metaphors, Analogies, Similes: Strategies used to transpose meaning from one idea, concept, procedure, or event, to another. They help to sensitize learners to similarities across knowledge domains.

Use Multipurpose Strategies: Misc. collection of core content strategies.

Rehearsal: reviewing material, asking questions, predicting possible questions, summarizing.
Imagery: mental visualizations of objects, events, and arrays. A major way of storing knowledge in the mind.
Mnemonics: Artificial aids to memory, techniques to order and remember information.

Determine Instructional Format (5 of 5)

Determine Instructional Format

The next step in designing instruction after organizing and sequencing the content is determine the proper instructional formats. In some cases, the decisions about format and methods overlap. Instructional format refers to how the total program of educational activities is structured and organized. When choosing the proper instructional format for learning, six factors should be considered:

The background and experience of the participants.
The availability and expertise of staff with the format.
The cost of the format.
The types of facilities and equipment required by a format.
The program content "fit" to format.
The desired program outcomes and the format chosen.

There are four major types of instructional formats used in most adult education programming (individual, small group, large group, distance learning). While your assigned readings examined the format issue, Caffarella provided a helpful summary chart of options which I have simplified below. Each of these formats contain a number of options for teaching/learning strategies.

Individual Formats

Individual Formats:

Apprenticeship. Formal relationship between an employer and employee by which the employee is trained for a craft or skill through practical experience under the supervision of experienced workers.
Coaching. One-on-one learning by demonstration and practice, with immediate feedback, conducted by peers, supervisors, and/or experts in the field.
Programmed instruction. Use of programmed texts and booklets. Material is presented in a planned sequence of steps, with immediate feedback given on the extent of a person's learning.
Self-directed learning. A form of study in which learners have the primary responsibility for Planning, carrying out, and evaluating their own learning experiences. Adults use people (such as friends, family, content experts) and other types of resources in this process. A personalized learning plan or contract is often used to document this type of format.
Mentoring. An intense, caring relationship in which someone with experience works with a less experienced person to promote both professional and personal growth. Mentors model expected behavior and values and provide support and a sounding board for the protege.
Clinical supervision. A collegial practice designed to support and provide feedback to experienced staff who generally are good at what they do. The process, consisting of five steps (pre-observation conference, observation and data collection, analysis and strategy session, follow-up conference, and post-conference analysis), is used to refine practice.
On-the-job training. Instruction provided by a master or expert worker to a novice while both are on the job and engaged in productive work. This format is often used when the work is complex and the worker or craftsperson is the best person to pass on the knowledge and skills to other workers.
Computer-based instruction (CBI). Delivery of instruction by a computer. This instruction may take the form of drill and practice, tutorials, simulations, modeling, and problem solving. CBI can also be used as a part of distance-learning programs.
Electronic mail. The exchange of correspondence by way of computer. Although the correspondence can be much like traditional mail, it moves virtually instantaneously from sender to receiver. The receiver's computer has an electronic "mailbox" that holds the mail until it is read.
Writing. Writing of all kinds (for example, reflective journals, articles, poetry, books). Although writing provides a powerful individual format for learning, it can also be used as a small-group format (if, for example, writers work together to share and critique their work).

Small-Group Formats

Small-Group (Face-to-Face) Formats

Courses/classes. Groups with a definite enrollment that meet at predetermined times for the purpose of studying a specified subject matter under the direction of an instructor. These classes may be part of a distance-learning program or be held at only one site.
Seminars. A focus on learning from discussions of knowledge, experiences, and projects of group members. Participants in these groups must have knowledge and skills in the content of the seminar. Instructors act primarily as resource persons and facilitators.
Workshops. Intensive group activities that emphasize the development of individual skills and competencies in a defined content area. The emphasis in this format is on group participation and products.
Collaborative research projects. Groups of people working together to respond to research questions related to practice. The final product would include both research findings and conclusions and an action plan related to this material.
Clinics. Sessions that focus on a single problem or skill as participants present case illustrations of practice problems to an expert or panel of experts. The experts serve in consultant roles.
Trips/tours. A group field visit for on-site observation and learning. Trips provide the opportunity for further experiences with people, places, and situations that cannot be found in a formal classroom setting.
Support groups. Groups in which people work together on shared problems or practices. Usually participation is voluntary, and sharing and equal status among group members are the norm. In some cases, a trained facilitator may work with this type of learning group.
Decision support labs. Groups of learners, using an interactive computer network, can make group decisions and learn a variety of decision-making and problem-solving techniques.

Large-Group Formats

Large-Group (Face-to-Face) Formats

Conferences/conventions. One or more days of meetings, one of the primary purposes of which is education—to present information, exchange experiences, improve skills, learn new skills, and/or engage in problem-solving activities. Sessions include large- and small-group meetings, and a variety of instructional strategies are used.
Clubs and other types of organized groups. Groups that frequently engage in activities that foster learning as part of their agenda (for example, hobby clubs, physical fitness groups, computer users groups), although hosting educational programs may not be their primary purpose. This can also be a small-group format, depending on the size of the club or group.
Networks. Loosely configured groups of people with similar experiences, interests, problems, or ideas who come together to give and receive information and to provide mutual support and assistance.
Institutes. Intensive sessions, usually over several days, emphasizing the acquisition of knowledge and skill in a specialized area of practice.
Lecture series. A series of presentations by one or more speakers who offer material on a given topic over a specified period of time.
Exhibits. A stationary display of ideas, products, and/or processes. Resource people may be available to respond to questions about the content of the exhibit.

Distance-Learning Formats

Distance-Learning Formats

Correspondence study. Prepared printed instructional materials (for example, course syllabi, manuals, texts, worksheets) that are delivered to the home or office. Participants engage in reading and/or other learning activities and send assignments to instructors to evaluate.
Audio-conferencing. The linking of one or more sites by telephone to provide for live, interactive verbal exchanges of information between and among program participants and instructors. Conference phones and networks are used to enhance group interaction.
Video-conferencing. Delivery of educational programs via one-way video or two-way video to one or more locations. With two-way video, distinct sites can send and receive both motion video and audio.
Broadcast/cable television. Educational programs transmitted by private and public broadcasting stations as well as cable television companies. The television production may stand alone or be part of a larger program effort (for example, college courses that are offered via television).
Satellite communication. Delivery of video and audio educational programs that can be picked up by satellite reception dishes in homes, hotels, businesses, and other sites. This does not generally provide for interaction between and among learners and instructors, however (as does video-conferencing).
Computer-conferencing. Delivery of programs through Web-based learning environments, or through other computer-based forms, such as interactive CD-ROMs, etc.

Once the format is chosen, the next step is to finalize the actual schedule of the program. For example, if you decided upon a workshop format, when will the workshop be held? How long will the workshop take? Issues of length, timing, location, etc. impact on schedule considerations of a chosen format.

ADTED506:

Lesson 7: Designing Instruction: Organizing Content Through Sequencing and Learning Formats