Weeks 10, 11 and 12 on WebQuest

So finally, we've completed the last lecture in the E-Learning module - WebQuest.

A webquest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web.

A webquest transforms Inputs into Outputs with Scaffolds. Scaffolds are ▲- Learning Resources or O - Learning Supports, depending on the context.

The parts of a Webquest are:

• Introduction
• Task
• Process
• Evaluation
• Conclusion
• Teacher's page

Introduction

The introduction can contain a story, scenario, background information or anything that is able to deploy attention and arouse interest or motivation. For example, in my group's webquest project on "Vanishing Trades in Singapore", we used an introductory video to grab the target audience's attention.

Tasks

Tasks are a set of do-able things that learners need to accomplish during or after viewing the webquest. In my group's webquest project, the task is to produce a field report on vanishing trades in Singapore.

Process

Processes are information sources that are required to complete the task or support the completion of the task. They can be websites, print resources, cases, etc. Processes can include direct instruction. For example, if the learning task is key-duplication, then the process to support the task of key-duplication can be an instructional video such as the following:

Evaluation

The evaluation can be a rubric or some criterion-based assessment instrument. It should be fair, clear, consistent and specfic to the tasks set. An Evaluation Rubric can be as follows:

Conclusion

The conclusion offers a chance for reflection by learners and is usually instructor-led.

Teacher's Page

The teacher's page contains:

• Purpose of webquest


• Learning Goal Statement


• Learning Objectives


• Target Audience


• Credits


• Any other information

The curricular map and learning design can also be included into the teacher's page as my project group did.

Curricular Map

Learning Design

And with that, we have finally come to the end of our NM3204 E-Learning module. Throughout this module, we have covered learning theories, writing learning objectives, creating curricular maps and learning designs, and conducting needs assessment.

The lessons learnt from this module are valuable and can be transferred to organizational settings during the occasions when employee training are needed!

Learning is a never-ending quest and should be a life-long process. I wish all of you a Happy E-Learning journey......

Week 9 Lecture on Problem-Solving and Affective Learning

Problem-Solving Learning

Problem-solving is the ability to combine previously learned principles, procedures, declarative knowledge and cognitive strategies in a unique way within a domain of content to solve previously unencountered problems.

This type of problem solving is domain specific because it emphasizes learning to utilize principles in a specific content area. Problem-solving differs from Principle Learning in that it requires the selection and combination of multiple principles to solve a problem rather than a single principle.

For a learning goal to be termed problem-solving, it must involve:

• simultaneous consideration of principles and procedures within a domain
  
• careful selection of principles that are applicable
  
• sequencing of the application of principles so that a problem is solved

To begin problem-solving, learners must first define the "problem space" which includes:

• given state (current situation with its restrictions and obstacles)


• intermediate state (that must be overcome to move from given state to goal state)


• goal state (desired end state of situation)

Problems can be simple or complex; well-structured or ill-structured. The differences between well-structured and ill-structured are documented in the lecture notes and thus will not be repeated here. But what I would like to highlight is that ill-structured prolbems generally are context-bound or perspective-dependent.

There are 4 cognitive processes for Problem-solving which will be documented below.

Problem Representation

The learner develops a representation of the problem by defining and decomposing the problem into subproblems. For well-defined problems, definition involves identifying the appropriate problem schema which are productions in the IF-THEN form; where IF represents the salient conditions fora particular class of problem and THEN represents the cognitive strategies and principles to support the solution of the problem.

Solution Planning

This requires searching, selecting, combining and sequencing relevant knowledge. Solution planning for well-defined problems is activated when an appropriate problem schema is engaged.

Solution Implementation

To apply multiple principles, learners must first know these principles i.e. identify situations where principles are applicable, apply the principles and check that the principles have been correctly applied.

Solution Evaluation

Cognitive processing is not complete until the learner has confirmed that his solution correctly or appropriately solves the problem. Confirmation for well-defined problems may be simple because the system itself provides feedback that the problem is solved. Whereas for ill-defined problems, it is more difficult and involves asking questions like "Does it produce an appropriate solution to the involved parties" or "Is the solution elegant ?"

In assessing Problem-solving Learning, one important component is to test the ability to isolate criterial attributes' goal and given states.

There are Macrostrategies for assisting Problem-solving Learning. The strategies are presented below in order where the least applicable to ill-structured problem is presented first and the most applicable last:

1. Socratic dialogue: interaction with an expert or mentor whose role is to provide instances and guiding questions.


2. Expert systems: computer-based program which, when given data, are able to solve problems within a limited domain if expertise. Expert systems consists of a knowledge database (composed of domain-specific declarative knowledge and principles) and inference engine (composed of generic and domain-specific strategies that determine how the knowledge base should be combined). Examples include: Intelligent Tutoring Systems, sequenced problem sets and building an expert system


3. Simulations: provide a problem situation through depiction of a system in operating form and require the learner to interact with the problem. With every action from the learner, there is a response within the simulation


4. Microworlds: whereas the central idea of simulations is the representation of a system, the central idea of a microworld is a learner centered construction. Microworlds offer assistance in providing a learning environment that is instrinsically motivating and cognitively challenging.
   
5. Webquests


6. Serious games


7. Anchored instruction: learning of a domain-specific problem solving based on situation cognition. Instruction is "anchored" if it provides a meaningful context and realistic, interesting problems for learners.


8. Case studies and case problems: something we are very familiar with


9. Problem-based learning: instruction that structures courses and entire curricula on problems rather than subject content.


10. Cognitive appreticeships: placing a learner in an authentic work environment as a partial participant. Whereas the emphasis in traditional apprenticeships is on phyical and motor skills, the emphasis in cognitive apprenticeships is on cognitive skills.

Affective Learning

Affective Learning usually involves the changing of an existing attitude or the formation of a new desirable attitude. Attitudes can be identified as desirable educational goals.

There are 3 components to Attitude Learning:

1. Cognitive component: "knowing how"
2. Affective component: "knowing why"
3. Behavioural component: practising or applying the attitude to engage in behaviour

The cognitive component in attitude change and formation can be embodied in the Krathwohl taxnomy (see figure below) which lists the different levels of learning:

• Receiving
• Responding
• Valuing
• Organization
• Characterization by a Value Complex

The elaboration for each level of learning is given in the lecture notes and need not be repeated here.

There are 3 instructional conditions for learning attitudes:

1. Demonstration of desired behaviour by a respected role model
2. Practice of desired behaviour through role-playing
3. Reinforcement for desired behaviour where a reinforcer is a stimulus that increases the likelihood of the preceding behaviour reoccurring
4. Other conditions: persuasive communications; cognitive dissonance; group discussions

Finally to conclude, 3 instruments - Direct Self-Report, Indirect Self-Report and Observation of learners' behaviours can be used to assess affective objectives. Whereas in direct and indirect self-report, the learner may provide answers to what they see as socially acceptable, the observation method is a more valid measure of how learners choose to perform.

Week 8 Lecture on Procedure and Principle Learning

Procedure Learning

A Procedure is also known as an 'algorithm'. Procedure knowledge is "knowing how" The ability to state the steps in a procedure (i.e. Declarative Knowledge) is not sufficient evidence of Procedure Learning. Procedure Learning involves the ability to APPLY that procedure to a variety of previously unencountered situations, which is an intellectual skill.

But it is noteworthy that all procedures have a Declarative knowledge component in that learners need to possess knowledge of the steps. However, it does not seem necessary that this knowledge must be memorized by the learner before meaningful procedural learning can proceed.

What IS necessary before procedure learning can take place are the Concepts within the procedure that the learner MUST possess.

Productions which are the mental operations involved in applying Procedures take the form of "if-then" representations. Productions are implicit in all of the intellectual skills - concepts, procedures, principles and problem solving.

Generally, Procedures appear in this format:

"IF the situation contains distinguishing features A,B,C ,

THEN follow procedure P."

Procedures may be simple or complex. The following are characteristics of simple procedures:

• steps in a simple procedure do not vary
• there is only one set of steps and learner follows steps linearly (i.e. linear procedure)
• may be taught straightforwardly by presenting a step, demonstrate the step and allow learner to practise that step.

Characteristics of complex procedures are:

• have many decision points which lead to different branches through the procedure (i.e. branching procedure)
• Decision points are points in a procedure at which learner must make a classification of two or more situations (i.e. Concept Recognition)
• complex procedures must be simplified for initial instruction by teaching the following items first: (i) simplest or most common path through procedure; (ii) provide instruction on separate major branches i.e. teach one branch from beginning to end before moving to other branches; and (iii) simplified case that is a best example embodying critical characteristics

There are 4 sequences to Procedure Learning:

1. Recognize if the procedure is required in the situation
2. Complete the steps in the procedure
3. List the steps in the procedure
4. Check the appropriateness of completed procedure by estimating expected output

Principle Learning

Principles describe the relationship(s) among two or more concepts in the principle. Principle knowledge is "knowing why". Whereas Procedures involve procedural rules, Principles involve relational rules among concepts. These concepts are in the form of variables - factors that can have many values. The relationships among the variables are described in the form of "IF-THEN" or "CAUSE-EFFECT" relationships.

The cognitive processes of Principle Learning takes place as follows:

1. Prior knowledge of the Concepts represented in the principle because it is necessary to recognize the situation in which two or more concepts are related so that the Principle applies.
2. Generalization of the principles to more than the first context
3. Discrimination to recognize situations in which the principles does not apply
4. Declarative knowledge to state the relationship of the concepts
5. Determine which concepts have changed and the direction and magnitude of change
6. Determine effects of changes on other concepts

The application of a principle enables the learner to:

• PREDICT what will happen if one of the variables is changed
• EXPLAIN what has happened
• CONTROL the effects of variables upon each other

Similar to Procedure Learning, the ability to state the Principle (i.e. Declarative Knowledge) is not sufficient evidence of Principle Learning. Principle Learning involves the ability to APPLY that principle to a variety of previously unencountered situations, which is an intellectual skill.

And similar to Procedure Learning, Productions which are the mental operations involved in applying Principles take the form of "if-then" representations. Productions are implicit in all of the intellectual skills - concepts, procedures, principles and problem solving.

There are 4 sequences to Principle Learning:

1. State the Principle
2. Recognize if the Principle is applicable in the situation
3. Apply the Principle
4. Check whether the Principles has been correctly applied

This week's lecture will probably link to the following week's lecture because Principle Learning is central to Problem-Solving since learners must have a repertoire of principles that explain the relationships between critical concepts within the problem. Problem-Solving is thus the selection of appropriate principles to combine to solve a problem that requires application of several principles. So let's look forward the next week's lecture! =:oD

Week 7 Lecture on Fact and Concept Learning

Instructional Strategies for i) Declarative Knowledge (Fact) and ii) Concept Learning are covered in this week's lecture.

Fact Learning (Declarative Knowledge)

Declarative knowledge, Fact and Verbal information are terms that can be used interchangably. Facts may be taught for its own sake or may be taught as a pre-requisite to other types of learning e.g. concept learning, procedural learning, psychomoter learning and problem-solving learning.

Facts involves "knowing that" something is the case. Fact Learning involves memorizing an association between two or more entities. There are 3 different categories of Fact Learning namely:

1. Labels and names: This involves pairing of information and requires the learner to mentally make a direct link between two elements. The learning of labels and names do not necessarily require learning the meaning of the two linked ideas, but rather learning that one thing links to another. However, being able to associate the item and its meaning facilitates easier learning. An example is the learning of a foreign language vocabulary.
2. Facts and lists: Fact - statement that describes a relationship between concepts. List - group of elements that must be remembered together. Facts and lists may be learned as individual facts or as networks of interconnected information. However, the more isolated the fact is, the more difficult it is to learn. Integrating facts with prior knowledge makes learning easier. An example of an isolated fact is the closing time of the library while an example of a list are the metal elements of the periodic table.
3. Organized discourse: This is an extensive body of information which may come in the form of a prose or essay. Learning is accomplished through reading an expository text, then interpreting the threads of meanings contained within. To facilitate easier learning, the discourse must be tied in to prior knowledge. An example is an academic journal.

There are 3 instructional strategies for Fact Learning and these are also the 3 critical cognitive activities that learners need to engage in when learning declarative knowledge.

1. Linking: Tying new facts to learner's prior knowledge. Information is meaningful when we have prior knowledge that links to it. The result of linking is the construction of meaning and preferably instrinsic meaning. Without prior knowledge to link to, learners have to employ artificial links, based on surface similarities OR resort to rote repetition.
2. Organizing: Chunking simplifies the cognitive load of handling and remembering large masses of data. Organization adds meaning by placing unfamiliar information into some existing "slot". Slots aid recall by being a beginning point for recall or limit activation of memory to a smaller area.
3. Elaborating: Achieved by filling in gaps, making inferences and imagining examples. Elaboration is a process by which links are made within the received information as well as for connecting the received information to prior knowledge. When learners receive new information, they add to it so that it makes sense and to make information more retrievable.

Concept Learning

Concept Learning involves "Knowing the meaning of ..." or "Knowing what ... is". It is a form of Intellectual Skill that involves applying knowledge across previously unencountered instances.

A concept is "a set of objects, events or symbols grouped together on the basis of shared characteristics and is referenced by a particular name of symbol". There are 2 kinds of concepts:

1. Concrete concept: Those which have physically perceivable characteristics which may be discerned by the physical senses like sight, smell, touch, taste, etc. An example is 'pulley'.
2. Abstract concept: Those which fit a particular definition and are not perceivable by their appearance. An example is 'profit'.

Furthermore, Concepts have 3 kinds of attributes namely:

1. Intrinsic attribute: invariant property of an observable thing or class of things that can be pointed to.
2. Functional attribute (a variable attribute): how something works and what its use might be.
3. Relational attribute (also a variable attribute): a quality a concept possesses defined in terms of something else.

The detailed steps for Fact and Concept Learning are found at the end of the summary for the reading and the elaboration for each step can be found in the reading itself. It is lengthy and thus shall not be repeated here.

So, having covered Declarative Knowledge and Concept Learning, I am looking forward to Procedural learning, Psychomoter learning and Problem-solving learning which will probably be introduced in the coming weeks.

Week 6 Lecture on Writing Learning Objectives

This is the week we apply what was taught the past weeks to write learning objectives. The output from the Needs Assessment Models are goals. Basically, goals are broad statements of learning objectives. After going through the 3 Models, the educator needs to pen down specific behavioural/learning/performance objectives so that he/she knows what skills are required to perform the task and thus need to be taught.

Before we begin to write learning objectives, we first need to understand about 'Fuzzies' so that we don't end up writing fuzzy learning objectives. Learning objectives should only include performance and not abstractions. Here is my summary of how to judge whether the statement written is a performance:

1. 
   
   There is a single behaviour or class of behaviours i.e. something that you can DO to indicate the presence of the performance (NOTE: Covert performance is also counted because another person can directly infer the nature of what you just did. An example is selection. Although it is not visible because the process of selection occurs in your mind, you could point to what you selected and another person would be able to know you've made a selection.)


2. 
   
   That particular behaviour or class of behaviours have to be generally agreeable by a reasonable person i.e. if there is room for debate over the behaviour indicative of the performance, then it is considered a Fuzzy.


3. 
   
   Sometimes, you get statements like: "Says favourable things about others." and you might dismiss it as a Fuzzy because 'favourable' might appear fuzzy. But in this case, the statement is actually considered a performance because of the word 'say'. You can tell if someone is 'saying' something so it is considered a performance. "Favourable things" is indeed ambiguous but it is a matter of a criterion for acceptable performance and does not negate the fact that 'say' is indeed a performance (this is according to the readings).

Next, let's talk about the second reading on Task Analysis. Basically, a Job is a collection of Tasks, which is a series of Steps. When writing the Task Analysis, we should use a flowchart of rectangles and diamonds instead of a list. The rationale for doing so is that there will be steps in the list that require decisions and "it is somewhat awkward to show in a list just how the actions resulting from those decisions should be handled." Using a flowchart is better at dealing with the decision points i.e. the diamonds and to depict to the learner/employee the alternatives that he/she can take and what to do subsequently.

The procedure for Task Analysis is straightforward so I have nothing I would like to add on. I understand some of my coursemates have raised the question of "Why do we need to cross out the duplicates when we list the skills required to perform a step?". This is so that we don't have to teach the skill twice since "it makes no sense to teach the same skill once it's learned."

Moving on to the Curricular Map, the important things to note are that the performance objective right at the top is the terminal objective and the ones below it are the enabling objectives i.e. those that are pre-requisite and lead to the attaining of the terminal objective. If a horizontal line is drawn across anywhere in the curricular map, it means that those objectives below the line are assumed to be prior knowledge and so don't have to be taught. One last point to note is that in writing learning objectives, we should follow the A-B-C-D format: Audience (the learners), Behaviour (what the learners are supposed to DO), Condition (a scenario or context) and Degree (measurement). While the first 3 are essential, Degree can be added only where applicable.

To end off, I would like to share that after this week's lecture, I hope to be able to look at the learning objectives of NUS modules and see if they follow the A-B-C-D format. In fact, I shall go have a look at the NM3204 learning objectives on IVLE now! Till next time....... =:o)

Week 5 Lecture on Needs Assessment

This week, we learnt about Needs Assessment. How does Needs Assessment fit into the overall picture? The chapter summary at the end of the reading provided me with a macro-perspective on things.

First, we need to understand that Instructional Analysis or "front-end analysis" involves analyzing 3 components, namely:

i) instructional context (learning environment); ii) prospective learner; and

iii) learning task

This week's lecture zooms in on the first component: Instructional Context. There are two steps to analyzing Instructional Context. Step 1 is to conduct Needs Assessment and Step 2 is to draw up a description of the Learning Environment.

The purpose of a Needs Assessment is to determine whether there is actually a need for new instruction to be developed. There are 2 scenarios when designing new instruction would be considered a waste of time and resources:

1. Developing new instructional materials for topics that students are already learning well with existing cost-effective instruction.
2. When there is no compelling reason for a student to learn a particular skill or knowledge. This occurs when there is no subsequent learning goal or future job task that require the acquisition of that skill or knowledge

Needs Assessment and evaluation plans should be constructed simultaneously. There are 3 conditions which calls for Needs assessment and there are 3 models which work best under each condition:

1. Condition A: There is a problem. Use the Problem Model.
2. Condition B: There is something new that learners need to learn e.g. when there are changes or innovations in the educational system or organization and new learning goals should be added to the curriculum to accomodate those changes or innovations. Use the Innovations Model.
3. Condition C: No apparent problem but organization would like to evaluate learning/training programme to check that goals and reality are congruent. Use Discrepancy Model.

The steps for each Model are provided in the reading so I shall not list them down here. One point that I would like to highlight is that the Innovations Model may lead existing goals to be reexamined through the Discrepancy Model. The reason why I would like to highlight this is because when attempting the self-assessment, I did not tick the above statement because I viewed the 3 Models in isolation of each other and totally forgot about the arrow that linked the Innovations Model in the ANALYSIS portion of the circle to the Discrepancy Model in the EVALUATION portion of the circle (refer to diagram above).

While on the topic of evaluation, I would like to express that I feel the value of the Discrepancy Model is in its evaluative quality. In step 2 of the Discrepancy Model, "Determine how well the identified goals are already being achieved', there is one important question that is raised about whether existing instruction is being delivered efficiently.

A particular statement made in that paragraph stimulated my thinking: "There are occasions... when learning goals are being reached... but only with a Herculean effort on the part of teachers/trainers and/or learners."

At this point, I realized that effective instruction should not only emphasize on minimizing the effort put in by teachers to teach, but it should also minimize the effort that learners need to put in to learn.

I recall the times in my J.C and secondary school when I got really lousy teachers in a sense that they fared poorly on instruction and the poor students had to put in extra effort to re-read the lecture notes and textbooks in order to understand what the teacher was trying to say.

I suppose this is one of the reasons why Needs Assessment is important. It helps evaluate whether instructional delivery is efficient so that BOTH teachers and students do not need to exert excessive effort to achieve the learning goals - just what is sufficient to attain them.

Extrapolating it into the NUS context: perhaps if ALL the courses taught had efficient delivery in a sense that lecturers mastered the technique to effectively deliver content only once and the student would be able to grasp the concept, then we would have more time to pursue our other interests in life than to spend our academic career mugging only. Haha......

This was just a thought that struck me spontaneously but it got me to appreciate the value of the evaluative aspect of Needs Assessment. Perhaps if I do become a trainer or teacher one day, I will remember what I said and try to develop a way to deliver content only once and my participants/students would immediately be able to grasp the concept. *imagine.....*

Week 4 Lecture on Learning Design

From what I absorbed from the lecture and readings, I think the purpose of this week's lecture is to let us appreciate the value of
i) Learning Design and ii) having a standard framework with which educators can use to represent their learning designs.

Since it is firstly very important to understand the benefits of Learning Design, I drew up a Figure which represents the value of designing for learning (refer to Figure 1 on the left).

Basically, educators use the resulting Learning Design (after much thought and planning) to create the Learning Experience that learners need, to achieve the planned Learning Outcomes.

A good Learning Design should take into consideration the following:
i) learners' prior knowlegdge, motivation and expectations to build upon
ii) learning context e.g. where the learning is taking place, preferred pedagogical approach, etc
iii) available instituitional software and e-tools

Obviously, there are many other aspects to be factored into the construction of the learning design but the above 3 are what I feel are the main important considerations. They are simple to understand yet essential to be a starting point in the planning of a learning design.

So, since there are so many considerations in a learning design, obviously different educators in different educational institutes that subscribe to different pedagogical approaches will come up with many different learning designs right? How then do we compare and evaluate the various learning designs?

Thank God (or rather, thank Herrington) for his Learning Design Framework. Herrington's Learning Design Sequence or framework, which I prefer to call it, provides a standardized way of representing the learning design that educators all over the world come up with. This is how the framework is implemented:

Rectangles - represent learning activities i.e. what learners are required to do or produce
Triangles - represent learning resources e.g. information sources and learning materials
Circles - represent learning supports which provide feedback to learners; communication is a critical aspect of learning supports

The direction in which the arrow is drawn from a rectangle to a triangle bears certain meanings. An arrow from a triangle to the rectangle implies that the learning resource is there as an input to the learning activity. An arrow from a rectangle to the triangle implies that a learning resource is produced from that learning activity.

A learning design can usually be split into the left, center and middle column. Triangles are placed on the left, rectangles in the center and circles are at the right column.

Ok, having completed the discussion of the 2 main learning objectives which I picked out, I would like to comment on the learning design focus/learning activity techniques by Oliver and Tegiar respectively. You can refer to pg. 68 of Oliver reading and pg. 96 of Tegiar reading to roughly know what I'm referring to.

The learning design focus (rule-based, incident-based, strategy-based and role-based) offered by Oliver is based on the Jonassen (2000) taxonomy of problems. I find the classification that Oliver uses confusing and contradictory to Jonassen's taxonomy.

For example, under rule-based designs, Oliver quotes an example of a CD-ROM tool that assists medical students with clinical communication to identify patients' problems. Rule-based designs should be based more on algorithmic problems rather than case method problems (e.g. clinical cases as stated in the Week 2 lecture notes)

Another point that Oliver makes is that role-based design is higher in complexity than strategy-based design. I disagree on this point becuase I feel strategy-based design should rank as the highest in complexity. My opinion is also backed up in Jonassen's taxonomy which ranks issue-based problems as the most complex and should utilize the strategy-based design (because according to Oliver, it is for complex, ill-defined tasks with decision-making).

On the otherhand, Tegiar's classification of learning activity techniques - assimilative information handling, adaptive, communicative, productive and experiential - is a more accurate and clear-cut categorization that is easier to follow and agree on.

So this is my input for Week 4. Looking forward to being able to apply the learning design in tutorials and seeing how it relates to future topics on E-learning!