Wow, it has been a busy week! Last Monday was the first day of my new job at the Kid’s Tech camp, which coincided with one of the busiest weeks of this class session. Coincidentally, I had misunderstood the directions and already completed my revised (to-be)instruction storyboard. All that was left to do was edit it, and complete the initial (as-is) storyboard. Not to mention a critique of Yuri’s storyboard (Thankfully, it already looked fantastic!) and the remaining readings/ self-checks.
We first began by reviewing the readings and reflecting on them in relation to our Instruction. It was a lot of information to review, so if I redesigned this class, I would probably break up the readings.
Article 1, 3
These two articles covered some of the basics of instruction. Merrill’s First Principles is a repetitive theme in many IDE courses. This is because it is an adaptable “checklist” of the elements/ characteristics of effective instruction. It relates to my instruction by keeping instruction “problem-centered,” or focused on a real-world situation. Merrill’s principles seem best used at either the Analysis or Evaluation stage (of ADDIE). The article on “Concreteness” could be useful at the design stage, as it dove deeper into different ways to present content: concrete, discovery, and inductive methods. I was interested in the three different discovery methods and adapted Guided Discovery in my instruction.
Article 6,7
The “Authenticity” article was interesting and highlighted the challenges institutions of higher education face in preparing students for careers. Having worked in higher-education environments, I agree that there are many, varied skills graduates need in order to be successful.While the suggestion to add real-world, contextual problems is a great way to present instruction, I don’t think it is a panacea for all the problems facing colleges and universities today. The “Enhancing” article took a different approach and suggested small, incremental improvements teachers/ designers can make to their instruction. It was a useful list and reminded us that instructional improvement can be small yet effective.
Article 2
The “Advanced Organizers” article was confusing at first. The studies mentioned were sometimes contradictory, and the definition was almost too broad to be useful. I thought Advanced Organizer = Concept Map. For this reason, I found them useless in my instruction. When I realized that an Advanced Organizer was not a formal process, but rather a framework to prepare learners for what is coming, I realized I already used it. In my tech classes, I show the students an example program. This way, they know what they are going to make, what it will look like, and most importantly, that they have to pay attention to my instruction in order to make it.
Next, we reviewed more storyboards, primarily from students that had not attended our last session.
The quickest web design class I have ever seen- Jiyang presented an as-is storyboard for a CSS, HTML coding class she had previously taken. There was a lot of room for improvement as it was mostly lecture and an assessment. I suggested adding practice time, but chunking the information and allowing students to add there own flair are other strategies that I have found successful in coding classes I have both taught and taken.
Go Sports pt. 3- Lanear presented his instruction for collegiate athlete recruiting, which I have very little knowledge about. It seemed all of the instruction was lecture-based, which is obviously bad. Some interactive or group activities would increase engagement immensely. I am still confused as to the audience of his instruction as well.
Don’t cheat- Stephanie presented her project for the Academic honesty center. She is teaching the employee to follow her about a software she uses. The instruction was well thought out, with content presentation, practice, and even an assessment. My only criticism was that it seemed very large for just one person on one software. Then again, I left training for my entire job on a two-page word document. I am glad she will actually get to implement her project.
Watching everyone else present reinforced the ideas that small changes are easy to make economical, and can make a large impact. Not every instructional design project has to reinvent the wheel (or freshman calculus). The best projects had a lot of thought put into them, and we could all easily understand the benefits if the instruction, regardless of context. This will be important as we move to the implementation stage.
Next steps…
First and foremost, I plan to catch-up on my reflection journal. So much of my classwork recently has been done in small chunks after camp. I plan to reflect on these experiences. As for my project, I am very happy with where I am. After getting feedback twice, I feel that my peers understand my instruction and its purpose. After a final check and some minor revisions, I will be ready to submit.
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