Mr B’s Masterful Space

I think it is very important for the instructional designer to be aware that learners have preferred ways of learning that are possibly different from one another. This awareness should lead to considerations during the design phase of a variety of delivery methods, range of activities, alternate assessment options, etc.

One of the challenges for the designer is deciding whether to structure the program with the entire program offered in a variety of manners (to be truly flexible) or to offer a variety of structures across the duration of the course.

One of the questions I would pose is related to offering the learning in a variety of manners but then forcing all learners to communicate their learning in one format only. In my experience, it is in the communication of the learning that the most flexibility should be offered. Rather than force everyone to submit a written assignment (which automatically disadvantages those students with English as an acquired language), offer a choice of a written assignment, video presentation, recorded discussion on the topic, annotated flow chart, etc, etc. This allows students to reflect their learning in their preferred learning style.

This creates some interesting questions for the designer of a program that is being delivered online, and even some questions for this course.

Instructional Design for Flexible Learning

Major Project Proposal

Coaching Program for the Junior Boys Basketball Team

At the start of each school year, training begins for the basketball season at Vientiane International School. At the start of each season, the junior boys team forms and competes from September through to December, with an interschool competition early in the new year.

The coaching program will be implemented with the junior boys team to prepare them for and during the 08-09 basketball season.

Institution

Vientiane International School (VIS) is a school offering instruction in English to approximately 270 students from more than 33 different countries from around the world. The average time spent at VIS by a student presently stands at just under 3 years.

This average time, small number and many nationalities of VIS students will play an important part in the designing of my program.

Nature of the Program

In some ways the nature of such a program is unique. Success can be based on so many different criteria, and the criteria finally chosen will be directly related to one thing and one thing only – the learners within the program.

Within the program there can be individual measures of success and a collective measure of success, but again, these can be influenced by many different factors.

The Analysis stage of designing this program therefore takes on enormous importance as the results of the analysis have a major impact on each subsequent stage of the design model

The Learners

The junior boys basketball team is comprised of boys from grades 6-8 at VIS. This means choosing a squad of 8-12 players from a possible pool of 30 boys. This is difficult for a number of reasons as outlined below:

•    Soccer is the dominant sport amongst this age group.
•    Many of the boys have never played basketball in an organised fashion before.
•    Many come from backgrounds/cultures where basketball is not a popular sport and have therefore had little exposure to the sport.
•    A number of the boys are not physically active or do not enjoy playing sport.
•    Some families perceive the extra time devoted to sports training as time away from study and therefore place little importance in it.

While these difficulties exist for attracting new players, a number of the older boys have played in the team for at least one season already. Unfortunately with the high turnover of students at VIS, the team will lose some of these boys at the end of this school year as their families move on to other postings.

These factors have a big impact on how the training program is to be developed. In the areas of basketball knowledge, basketball skills and general fitness there are enormous differences amongst the learners.

At this early stage it is possible to imagine the learners divided into three groups:

1.    Beginners
2.    Basic skills players
3.    Competent players

Closer analysis of the learners will determine exact numbers within these groups or if further grouping is required.

Program Aims

The program will be strongly developed around the constructivist theory, using existing skills and abilities as the starting point and a major factor in the development of program aims. With the development of such a program there are many different aims possible, most of which are dependent on a single factor – the skills and abilities that the learners (players) bring to the program at its outset. This places great importance on the Analysis stage of the program design, specifically in relation to the group of learners participating. Depending on the results of that analysis, the aims could be to:

•    Develop an understanding of the game of basketball
•    Maintain a fun atmosphere and develop a sense of “team”
•    Develop skills and knowledge to allow participation in a competitive game of basketball
•    Improve skills and knowledge to become a competitive team
•    Maintain a positive win-loss record over the course of the season
•    Win the season competition

Program Content

The basic content of any basketball training program must include:

1.    Fitness development
2.    Skills development
3.    Understanding of the rules of the game
4.    Team strategies

Within each of these four sections there is a whole subset of content to choose from, for the absolute beginner to the professional player. During the Analysis stage of the program design it will become clear, based on the existing skills and knowledge of the learners, where the emphasis will need to be placed in the selection of content within these four main categories.

Program Delivery

In the past, this type of training program has been delivered using only one method – direct instruction on the basketball court. As the students at VIS become more and more involved in the extra-curricular activities at the school, time is increasingly becoming a large factor in the scheduling of activities.

As a consequence, during the Design stage of the program design it will be important to identify content that can be delivered using alternate methods, and what those methods might be. Not only will this allow for a better use of the time available, but it will also expose the learners to a variety of instructional methods throughout the program. The Development stage of the program design may see, amongst other things, the identification of websites to visit, DVD’s to watch and instructional material to read.

Assessment

The nature of the program being designed creates continuous opportunity for immediate formative assessment of the learners. As the bulk of the skills are demonstrated physically, it is possible for immediate directed feedback for each learner. In the past, this feedback has been communicated to the learner via one mode only – verbal, on the spot.

During the Design and Development stage of the program design it will be important to carefully consider current research into effective assessment and feedback in order to determine the best methods for providing feedback to the learners during the program. During the Analysis stage of the program design, as the course content is being considered, it will also be important to consider the related assessment and how results can be communicated most effectively.

Program Evaluation

The success of the program will be directly related to the overall aims set during the analysis of the learners entering the program. It will also be directly related to the results of the assessment of the individual learners. Did the program have a positive or negative effect on individual learner achievements?

The Design stage of the program design will need to consider how the final program evaluation will be monitored, recorded and communicated while the program is running and at its conclusion.

I spent last night reading through all the suggested and optional readings for Module 2 of the course and found myself underlining, highlighting and doing a lot of general nodding. Analyse the ‘who’ – absolutely. Examine the ‘what’ – yep, no news there! Consider the ‘when’ – of course. Analyse the ‘where’ – for sure. Determine the ‘performance gap’ – most definitely.

So I started to think in a bit more detail about the learner and was given plenty of food for thought by Donald Clark (1995) and Regina Daigre (n.d.) and her contributors. Design around the participant – which I took as meaning with the participant as the focus rather than avoiding the participant in the design! Consider the ’stable same things’, ’stable different things’, ’samey changing things’, and ‘different changey things’ – all excellent stuff (even though I had never considered them in such a same, different, stable, changing sort of context). There was so much about discovering the interests, motivational level, attitudes, perceptions, self-concept, anxieties, beliefs and attributions of the learner. And there was this one sentence.

“Learner styles are key in developing effective instructional design materials.” Ah ha! (I thought to myself) Finally! Learner Styles! … but then there was … or Characteristics! So, I thought to myself, does she mean learner styles or learner characteristics? Because these are different are they not?

Different?

Not!

Aaah… (as opposed to an Ah ha!), I thought to myself. I’ve muddled things up. She is talking about learn-er styles, not learn-ing styles. So I continued looking for the ‘ing’ in amongst all the ‘ers’ and found… noth-ing! Now at this stage, please forgive me if I overlooked something, missed a page, fell asleep at the wheel or just plain ignored someone else’s post or the most important reading of the whole module, but I did not find anything relating to analysing the learn-ING styles of the learn-ERs.

Dr. Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory suggests that;

“…suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, he proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults…One of the most remarkable features of the theory of multiple intelligences is how it provides eight different potential pathways to learning. If a teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in the more traditional linguistic or logical ways of instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences suggests several other ways in which the material might be presented to facilitate effective learning.” (Armstrong, 2000)

So at the risk of err-ing, I would propose that there is much to be gained by carefully analysing the learn-ing styles of the participants in any course one is designing.

References:

Armstrong, T. (2000). “Multiple Intelligences.” Retrieved April 2, 2008, from http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm.

Clark, D. (1995, January 20, 2008). “Big Dog ISD Page.” Retrieved April 1, 2008, from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/sat2.html.

Daigre, R. M. (n.d). “Chapter 4 – Instructional Analysis: Analysing the Learners.” Retrieved April 1, 2008, from http://www.angelfire.com/la2/learners/learners.html.

I know very little about the history of boats, but will presume the first were made of wood, and I will also presume that the boat builder had already worked out that wood floats. Had this analysis not taken place before the boat building began, the consequences of the granite boat would have been rather dire for Mr. Boat Builder. So as I contemplate my boat, a basketball training program for grade 6-8 boys, it seems there is a lot more to consider than just wood or granite.

The course notes and suggested readings all confirm that the analysis stage must examine the learner, learning context, learner needs, instructional goals and learning outcomes. According to Clark (1995), it is the building block of a training program and provides the basis for the who, what, where and when of the training.

In my context, careful analysis of these factors is vital as the entire program will be based on what skills and abilities the learners bring to the program. Hopkins (in Daigre, n.d.) reinforces that the key to instructional design is to work around the participants rather than the content and this is especially true in my context.

I do not have a supervisor insisting on specific outcomes. Clark (1995) suggests the purpose of an analysis is determining the performance gap, the difference between the way things are and the way they should be. In my context, the “way things should be” is not a predetermined point. The way things “should be” will be determined by carefully evaluating the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the learners at the start of the program, what time is available, and other external factors such as the nature of the competition they play in and the climate. This analysis stage will also need to identify exactly what the ‘other external factors’ are.

As mentioned previously, the analysis will need to take into account the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the learners. What do they know about the game of basketball? The rules? Team strategies? What skills do they have in actually playing the game? Can they complete a lay-up? Do they know how to complete a lay-up? And why have they joined the team? What do they wish to achieve during the season? By asking these questions of the learners, they have an opportunity to be involved in the design of the program, which Clark (1995) universally advises all clients of a proposed program should be.

In the process of this analysis I will be using a range of collection instruments as the realm of analysis encompasses physical abilities, knowledge and attitudes; areas that need to be evaluated through demonstration, discussion and questioning.

In the design of this basketball training program the analysis stage is of the utmost importance as it provides the foundation for the entire program. Every subsequent decision will be based on what is learned during this stage of the design process.

With careful consideration of all factors, I will be building my boat with wood.

References:

Clark, D. (1995, January 20, 2008). “Big Dog ISD Page.” Retrieved April 1, 2008, from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/sat2.html.

Daigre, R. M. et al (n.d). “Chapter 4 – Instructional Analysis: Analysing the Learners.” Retrieved April 1, 2008, from http://www.angelfire.com/la2/learners/learners.html.