Monday, June 24, 2013

Tips for "Chunking" Instructional Materials

In the knowledge society, there is no end to the amount of information we have access to. Unfortunately, in a training and instruction, content overload can significantly reduce student learning. This is why many people recommend chunking instructional materials - this means breaking the training content into appropriate "chunks" or pieces so that they can be more easily processed by the learner. In this blog post, I explain the benefits of chunking instructional materials and describe how to do it effectively.

Benefits
If done effectively, chunking instructional materials has the following benefits:
  1. Manages cognitive load - our minds have limited information-processing ability, so we have to process it in relatively small pieces.
  2. Helps students stay motivated -if students become overwhelmed with the amount of information they receive, they often have a decrease in motivation.
  3. Helps learners organize knowledge - when we break information into logical pieces, the learners can see how the information is organized and can therefore mentally organize it more easily.
  4. Helps instructional designers stay organized and redesign more easily - when instructional materials are organized and chunked logically, it is easier for the designer to find, revise, and improve them.
Strategies for Chunking Instructional Materials
What are the best strategies for chunking instructional materials? Based on my experience and research, here are some basic strategies that can really increased the effectiveness of your instruction. 

Organizing and Chunking Text (use these all the time): 
Text is often the foundation of all instructional materials, and it should be chunked effectively. Here are some tips:
  • use headings for different sections of the text to help students organize their thinking.
  • use bullet points to summarize and clarify important points.
  • use tables to summarize large amounts of data.
  • break things up with images that illustrate what is being taught.
  • summarize the content at the beginning and at the end of the text.
  • use italics and bold important words.
  • Use LOTS AND LOTS of emoticons. :)  Just kidding.
Organizing and Chunking an Online Course:
Course-level Chunking
Break your course materials into logical, meaningful pieces and structures. This can be done according to weeks, modules, topics, or projects, depending on the content and the situation.

Module-level Chunking
Break each module up according to types of activities (reading, watching, discussing, sharing, applying, etc.) This helps students see what they will be doing with each piece of content. It makes sense to use the same sequence and structure for each module so that students know what to expect.

It should be noted organizing instructional materials should follow known instructional strategies. For example, the conventional strategy of Tell, Show, and Do can be used by having students Read, Watch, and Apply. 

Organizing and Chunking Videos
If working with video, be sure to break things up by using smaller videos that are focused on specific pieces of content. Small videos will not distract as much as longer ones* do.

*Note that video length does not apply to the original Karate Kid movie. An epic classic.

Chunking within E-Learning
Some of the same advice for videos applies for chunking in e-learning. Keep the time spent on each slide or screen relatively short and targeted. Follow a sequence of activities that matches instructional theory. In addition, make sure that the information on each slide is well-organized and focused. Include only what is necessary to convey the knowledge you desire and eliminate any distracting or unimportant information or images.
*          *          *

Hopefully these suggestions are helpful to you. And while these have worked really well for me, in the end, you need to follow what makes the most sense based on your goals and your situation. Design is heavily based on the context in which the work is done, so adapt these strategies to your own situation. I am interested to read of any other recommendations for chunking materials effectively - please comment!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Article: A Conceptual Framework for Organizing Active Learning Experiences in Biology Instruction

In the world of teaching and learning, many people talk about "active learning." However, this is something that seems to have been poorly defined, in the past. To help clarify what active learning actually is, my colleague Dr. Brian Belland and I recently published an article entitled A conceptual framework for organizing active learning experiences in biology instruction.In this article, we outline what we identify as some of the major themes of active learning, particularly in higher education biology courses. The active learning themes we identified include (1) Problem-solving, (2) Collaboration and Discussion, (3) Animations, and (4) Technology-enhanced Activities.

Active Learning Themes in Biology Instruction.
In the article, we describe these four themes and show how Merrill's First Principles of Instruction can be used as a framework for organizing them. To access the article, click here.


Reference:
Gardner, J., Belland, B., (2011). A conceptual framework for organizing active learning experiences in biology instruction. Journal of Science Education and Technology. Accessed online at http://www.springerlink.com/content/90t3706373j2u190/. DOI: 10.1007/s10956-011-9338-8.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

How to Become a Successful Lifelong Learner

In the knowledge society, being able to gain a depth and breadth of knowledge is absolutely critical. However, many people still believe that after high school or college, they have learned everything they need to succeed. Knowledge and technology are advancing at an incredible pace, and much of the knowledge and technology we will be using in the near future has not yet been created. To succeed, it is absolutely crucial to develop habits of lifelong learning.

Components of Successful Lifelong Learning

6 Self-directed Learning Strategies
To be successful lifelong learners, we must become excellent, independent, self-directed learners. But what are the best strategies for continuous learning in today's society? I have done a lot of learning over the past several years, and here are the six most important ways to take control of your learning.


1. Discover Your Interests
To be successful at learning, you should probably have specific learning goals. What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to work toward? What do you want to be able to do? To gain?
For me, I find that I love learning about goal-setting, motivation, learning, habit change, instructional design, strategies for success, spirituality, Christianity, communication strategies, training, presentation skills, Mormonism, fitness, running, and log cabins (in no particular order). I usually drift from topic to topic, but I am ALWAYS learning about one or more of these topics, and for each topic, I have a specific goal in mind, something I want to accomplish as a result of my learning.

2. Form Habits of Learning
It is vital that you form habits that will enable your learning. These habits can be receptive (in which you are acquiring information) and productive (in which you are creating knowledge or using knowledge). For example, my habits include the following:
  • Reading in the morning. I usually wake up around 6:00 am. This gives me about 30 minutes to read religious materials, meditate, pray and write in my journal. I find that this habit helps me start my day in a more centered manner.
  • Listening to books, podcasts, and conferences. This is my most effective method for gaining new knowledge. I listen to books while I am walking, driving, working out, and working in the yard. I usually listen to books related to the topics above, and over the last year, I have listened to over 20 books. This is not to mention the many conference presentations and topics I have listened to.
  • Blogging and writing. I write a lot about the topics I am interested in, particularly instructional design. I reserve this blog for learning and design-related topics, and I write about the other topics in my journal or in private blogs. If I want to write to academic or practitioner audiences, I also write academic articles. I find that writing about my interests allows me to process and refine my understanding of what I learn, and it also gives me the opportunity to share my knowledge with others.
  • Attend conferences. I try to attend a conference every year, sometimes two, when possible. I am blessed to work at a university that supports my conference attendance, and I have really benefited from many of those that I have attended. I've started writing about my conference experiences here and plan to continue to document my learning. There are very often free or inexpensive conferences held by universities, and an individual need only find out when they are held. For example, Franklin University is holding a scholarship forum this September, and Virginia Tech holds a Teaching in Higher Education Conference each year.
  • Get a formal education. Attending classes and earning degrees is an extremely powerful, efficient way to build your knowledge. My formal education has given me a foundation that I will build upon for the rest of my life, and I continually receive blessings that come from a formal education. It is definitely an investment, but the benefits will far outweigh the costs.
3. Use Learning Technologies
There are many technologies out there that can make learning relatively painless and meaningful. Here are some of the methods that I use, and there are literally hundreds of methods out there.
  • The Internet. Google is still a great way to gain knowledge. You can find a TON of information from simply searching. Videos, tutorials, blogs, wikis, websites, podcasts are all excellent ways to boost your knowledge.
  • Audio Books. I have found that listening to books is a great way to maximize my time. As I mentioned, when I run, walk, drive, work in the yard, or shop, I do my best to be sure that I am listening to something meaningful. I have listened to literally dozens of books over the last year or so, and I have many more on my list.
  • The library. Yes, the library. I visit the library in my town at least once a week. I am constantly checking out books and audio books and very often I will browse the "new books" section and serendipitously find books that have a deep impact on my life and my learning.
  • Friends. While friends are not necessarily a technology, simply having a great conversation can yield great knowledge. Some people exude knowledge, and I try to spend as much time as I can with them.
  • Apps. There are a bajillion apps out there that can be used for learning purposes. The main thing is to find those that fit your specific needs and learning goals and interests.
Again, there are literally hundreds of technologies, apps, and media that can be utilized to make your learning more efficient and effective. Your list will likely change and adapt over time - the above are what are working for me right now, and I will continue to seek out new knowledge.
4. Work Toward Your Goals, Adjust as Needed
An important aspect of successful lifelong learning is developing and working toward learning goals. For all of my interests above, I have goals. I study about log cabins because someday I plan to build a log cabin. I study about Mormonism and Christianity because I am a devout Mormon and find great spiritual inspiration and satisfaction from doing so. Whatever your interests and goals, be sure that you are setting goals that will help you succeed. Having goals will also help you chart your own progress as you move forward in your life.

5. Focus on Improvement
Learning should serve a higher purpose. Focus your energy on self-improvement and on improving the world. Focus on what is meaningful and can impact your life and others' lives in a positive way. We all have the capacity to have a lasting, meaningful impact on the world and on the people we interact with. We have the capacity bring light, comfort, strength, opportunities and help to others, to relieve burdens, pain, and discomfort. I believe that we each have a destiny and a calling in life, and doing what we can to learn and grow enables us to better fulfill our purposes.

6. Get Started
If you want to get started on improving your lifelong learning, start to make simple changes now. Write down interests and set goals for what you want to learn about and accomplish. Start to form habits that will help you succeed at lifelong learning. Use technologies to efficiently increase your knowledge. The key is to simply get started! Sometimes it can feel like no progress is being made, but I assure you it is. Just keep learning, and you will be surprised at the great knowledge and skills you will have amassed. Do you have any suggestions from you on how to become an effective lifelong learner?

Monday, June 10, 2013

New Article: How Task-centered Learning Differs from Problem-based Learning

What is Task-Centered Learning? What is Problem-based Learning? How are the two approaches similar and how are they different?

To help provide some clarity on the differences between these two influential approaches to instructional design, my colleague Dr. Greg Francom and I recently wrote and published an article in EdTech Magazine. Our purpose is to helps instructional designers and teachers see the merits and strengths of each of these approaches while understanding the differences. You can also click here to access a pre-publication draft of the article.

Francom, G., Gardner, J. (2013). How task-centered learning differs from problem-based learning: Epistemologies, influences, goals, and prescriptions. Educational Technology Magazine, 53(3), pp. 33-38.
This article is a really good introduction to these influential theories and should be useful to instructional design students learning about the many approaches to instructional design. It can also be used in an introductory course for that same purpose. Thanks to Dr. Greg Francom for inviting me to assist in the writing of this article - he is an excellent scholar, a good writer, and a good friend.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Why I Teach and Practice Instructional Design

This is a repost of an article originally posted on the EdTech Dojo on 01/24/2012. It captures some of my deepest beliefs about instruction and teaching, so I thought it was worth reposting here.

I LOVE INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN. I love thinking, reading, writing about, and doing it. I love talking about it with my designer friends and I have chosen to spend my career as an instructional designer and as a teacher of instructional design. But why is instructional design so important to me? Why am I so excited about it? Here are several reasons:

I believe in human potential. 

 I believe that people have the power to learn, grow and become better. I believe that every human has the capacity to learn and to contribute to society in meaningful ways. Education gives people the power to contribute to society. We all have within us the “seeds of greatness.” We have the capacity to grow, expand, develop and become something incredible.

I believe in education. 
My experience is that education can absolutely revolutionize an person’s life. Through gaining a high quality education over the last decade of my life, I have come to view the world in totally new ways and I have a sense of personal empowerment that I would likely never have known without that education. Education breaks the bonds of ignorance, stupidity, and narrow-mindedness. It opens opportunities that were never available before.

I believe in self-improvement.
I have spent many hours listening to self-help audio programs by success speakers such as Stephen Covey, Anthony Robbins and Zig Ziglar. This form of education has helped me build a positive attitude, to set and reach difficult goals. This experience has shown that I have the ability to do difficult and rewarding things, and it fuels my belief that education and learning can change lives.

I love to see people succeed.
I have known some personal success, and it has been rewarding. But I receive as much or more gratification when I assist others in their success. I have worked with many individuals and classes over the years and find deep satisfaction when I see my students succeed.

Knowledge empowers.
Underlying all of these is the certainty that knowledge gives people power. Knowledge lifts us, ennobles us, and makes us better. Providing an individual with knowledge through effective instruction is a noble, just, good act, and is something that is worthy of my time and energy.

So, this is why I love instructional design. As an instructional designer and an educator, I am participating in work that empowers people, that gives learners the capacity to grow, to succeed, to take control of their lives more fully. I am giving people tools that can change their lives. This is why I have devoted my professional life to teaching and instructional design.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Decision-Making in Instructional Design (and Life)

How Do You Make Decisions?
How do you make your decisions? What do you do before you decide something? This is an important question, because the decisions we make determine our destiny in life. And if we want to enjoy all of the blessings that life has to offer, we must examine how we approach decision-making so that we can improve our decision-making.

In previous posts, I have written about principles for using data to make decisions, as well as leadership and decision-making. In this post, I will continue my discussion on decision-making and will relate it to instructional design and to life.
Decision-making in instructional design


Decisions can be grouped as lower-level decisions (reactive) and higher-level decisions (proactive). Based on my experience, within these levels are several different approaches, which I describe below.
Lower-level Decision-Making (Reactive)
  • Reaction - the decision is based solely on the compulsive nature of the environment. Design changes only occur when the designer is compelled to design.
  • Rule-following - the designer uses a checklist approach to design. He does what others have done before him and thinks little.
  • Social decision-making - the designer allows social influences to determine the design. This is heavily related to Reaction approach. 
In each of these lower-level decision-making approaches, the designer actually does very little design thinking.
Higher-Level Decision-Making (Proactive)
  • Systematic - in this approach, the designer gathers data to support each phase of the design process. This approach is more scientific in nature and relies on critical thinking.
  • Principles-based - in this approach, the designer bases decisions on principles of instruction. These principles are formed through their own instructional practice as well as through their exposure to research.
  • Intuition - this approach uses the creativity of the designer. The designer creatively applies or ignores systematic or principles-based approaches. 
In my experience, when good design occurs, a lovely combination of all three of these approaches emerges. A good designer knows when to be more systematic and when to use principles instead. A good designer knows how to add his or her creativity to the work, and this creativity is best used when it employs principles in unique, tailored ways.
Use the Higher Levels
We should make our decisions based on the higher levels of decision-making. Very often, these approaches are more difficult, time-consuming, and are sometimes unpopular. With the ever-constant pressure to "get the work done," we are often tempted to revert to the more reactive approaches.

Progression in Decision-Making Approaches
People can progress in their decision-making approaches. We all have a tendency in our youth to employ the reactionary approach. But over time, we can develop the capacity to subdue the reactionary approach and develop disciplined habits. These habits enable use to continue on up the progression until we are creatively combining higher-level approaches to achieve success.

A Note on Habits and Decision-Making
The old axiom states that "excellence is a habit." I extend this by saying that "Design Excellence is achieved through excellent habits." Habits can empower us in our work, or they can drag us down. The lower-level, reactive approaches are easy to form because they are the path of least resistance and require little thinking. The higher-level, proactive approaches are more difficult to form because they are difficult and require lots of thinking and feeling.

Organizations and Decision-making
 It should be noted that these kinds of decision-making approaches are evident in organizations. Have you ever worked in an organization that is totally reactive? That does what it does because that is how it does what it does? That encourages its people to follow the rules, even when it makes absolutely no sense to do so? What about a proactive organization that gathers data to make decisions? That runs based on solid principles and allows its employees to use their creativity to bring about success? Yes, these decision-making approaches certainly apply to organizations.

Designing Life
So, where do you fall in your own decision-making as an instructional designer? What about your decisions in life? Either way, you are designing. You design instruction by making effective decisions. You design your life the same way. And the fundamental truth is that proactive approaches will always yield greater success that reactive.This can apply to organizations, as well.