Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:3339] RE: IFETS-DISCUSSION digest 416
From: Dobbins, Jim (Jim.Dobbins@dau.mil)
Date: Wed 24 Apr 2002 - 21:59:39 MEST
Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:3339] RE: IFETS-DISCUSSION digest 416 Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 15:59:39 -0400 From: "Dobbins, Jim" <Jim.Dobbins@dau.mil>
Mark,
When I think of designing information content for students, I think of
designing a course which deliberately focuses the majority of the
attention on the core elements of a subject, and designing it to help
students think in that discipline.
As the experts in our subject areas, we should know what the core
knowledge is in our subject, the foundation knowledge on which the
subject rests. Much of the rest, in many subjects, is stuff that
changes fairly frequently and tends to cloud acquiring the knowledge
upon which the rest can be built. Some teachers try to discriminate
between students by encouraging them to memorize minutiae. That isn't
learning and the test which does this is not educational evaluation but
rather torture. It measures memorization skill, not learning.
We should teach students how to think in our discipline. Each
discipline we teach, whether mathematics, history, finance, English lit,
or anything else, has a way to think in that discipline. Perhaps we
have not thought about that, but should. The way you think about
software acquisition management is different from the way you think
about political history. Part of the learning is learning how to think
in that discipline. How do experts in that discipline think about the
discipline differently from non-experts?
Then we teach students how to integrate their thinking in this
discipline with their thinking in other disciplines. We can do this by
posing problems that force integrated thinking. This also prevents them
from memorizing facts, regurgitating the facts, getting a 100 on the
quiz, and thinking learning has occurred.
Another way we can approach information design is to design the course
with the assessments in mind, and make the assessments cumulative; i.e.,
at the end of chapter 2 give an assessment of chapters 1 and 2, at the
end of chapter 5 give an assessment of chapter 1-5, at the end of
chapter 10 give an assessment of chapters 1-10. This does not mean they
have to be longer tests or more questions, but that the question or
questions which are asked require a cumulative integration of the
knowledge gained to that point. If done frequently, perhaps with just
one question, we get feedback on the real learning taking place. That
way a student who started slow but finally saw the light can demonstrate
that to you, and you should credit them with the learning gained. That,
of course, means you have to have a system of grading that is not rote
but gives a grade based on learning accomplished, regardless of the
slope of the curve that gets the student there. The whole idea of
education is learning, and if the student who started slowly, by the end
of the course, has achieved the same level of learning as the sprinter
out of the blocks, then they should get equal credit for equal learning.
This takes a lot of thought, and a lot of courage. You can't do it just
"winging" it. One real value is that it makes the student continually
reflect and review, and learning is reinforced, and it virtually
eliminates any need for last minute cramming for the final exam since
they have been "cramming" all along.
Hope this helps.
Jim Dobbins
James H. Dobbins, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Performance Support
Defense Acquisition University
9820 Belvoir Road, Suite G-3
Ft. Belvoir, VA 22060
703-805-5416
FAX: 703-805-3743
jim.dobbins@dau.mil
From: Mark Nichols <M.Nichols@ucol.ac.nz>
To: "'ifets-discussion@catfish.valdosta.edu'"
<ifets-discussion@lighthouse.valdosta.edu>
Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:3313] RE: Design of Information Content
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 09:39:42 +1200
Hello Mike,
I'm glad you raised this - it is certainly a welcome angle on the topic
of
best practice. You describe it as:
> designing the
> information content of the 'stuff' you teach!
What I am at a loss to is how to actually describe what this means. I
assume
that you mean more than preparing content that is written in XML or is
SCORM
compliant, or able to be modularised... what is it about the design of
the
stuff we teach that should put the spin on this particular principle?
I will describe it as "Quality information" at the moment as a best
practice
principle - I would like to invite further discussion on what the word
'quality' might entail when it comes to resource preparation. Let's
explore
this principle in more detail.
Cheers,
Mark Nichols
eLearning Consultant
UCOL, Universal College of Learning
Private Bag 11022, Palmerston North
New Zealand. +64 6 952 7327
http://www.ucol.ac.nz
Imagination is more important than knowledge - Albert Einstein
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