Library Book vs. Yesterday's Newspaper

I have worked alongside many Instructional Designers over the years.  Some good and some not so good.  I personally believe that getting something done right is far more important than getting it done on time.  Ideally you want to do both, however if one has to be sacrificed, I don't want it to be accuracy.  I would much prefer to be a little late but accurate, instead of on time and wrong.

I also prefer to be the library book on the shelf, rather than yesterday's newspaper. In other words, I don't want to design work that needs to be taken down or recalled tomorrow. In my line of work I want something I create to be well enough designed to have value for years to come. This not only shows that the value of my work is high, but it also gets rid of the need for re-work that often comes from not thinking ahead.

Letting Informal Learning Happen

I have discussed informal learning before in this post here, however one of the challenges in informal learning is allowing it to happen.  The reason it's a challenge is that you cannot control it.  The moment you control informal learning, it stops being informal learning.  At best you can foster an environment conducive to formal learning.

I recall taking some training some time in my past where the instructor noticed that the group activity that I was participating in had completed their work and we began discussing a topic related to the lessons we were involved in.  In a move that was more police-like rather than trainer-like, she interrupted what we were discussing and told us to return to our original seats if we were finished the group activity. 

I was surprised that we were shut down.  The conversation which our group continued during our lunch break was very informative and I felt that the collaborative nature that this group dynamic created was very beneficial to those that were involved.  When I returned to work after the training and asked by my manager if I had learned anything, my response was yes, but I almost didn't.

Make sure you allow time to let informal learning happen.  It's very collaborative and social and can happen when you least expect it.  Because it's driven by the participants it usually is far more effective then some written curriculum so don't stifle it when it happens.

A Learning Revolution is Needed

Sir Ken Robinson is an author, public speaker and an international advisor on education.  Earlier this year he spoke at TED about the need for an education revolution.  He states that education in it's current form is similar to manufacturing.  Students are all treated the same and put through a system where the expected results are all the same as well.  When a student doesn't fit into this mold they are usually left by the wayside.  He suggests that an organic approach is better.  Like a farmer creates an environment for his crops to grow, education should simply create an environment that is conducive to allow the student to flourish.  Here is the video:

Don't Forget There Are Two D's in ADDIE

I have been thinking about the design model we know as ADDIE.  ADDIE is an acronym for...

• Analysis
• Design
• Develop
• Implement
• Evaluate

These are the stages or phases that an Instructional Designer typically takes when creating learning.  Many who design and develop their own work often consider combining these two steps into one step or stage.  Typically I design my courses in Microsoft PowerPoint as a storyboard.  Since I was typically the one who also develops my courses into full blown e-learning, I take the time to convert my work from PowerPoint to one of the various authoring tools that I use for creation. 

Why would I waste the time?  Why not simply design my course directly into the author-ware I intend to use?  There are several reasons for this.  The first reason is that subject matter experts and stake holders like to receive something in email that they can easily open up and view without any effort on their part. 

The second reason is time.  Developing can take more time than design.  In other words, if I designed a course in PowerPoint, I don't need to spend time building all the functional buttons, animations and interactivity into that PowerPoint.  That can come later.  My goal is to get approval as quickly as possible so I can move on to the development stage.  I will then have the time to test my design, and ensure everything works great before I implement it to my learners out in the field.

Another issue is that subject matter experts and stake holders may force you to change directions.  I can't tell you how many times my courses have ended up going in a completely different direction.  This can mean you having to return to your storyboard and dramatically change your design.  Having to redesign an already developed course would waste a great deal of your time and may jeopardize your deadlines.  Make sure you do not skip the steps of ADDIE.  Trust me, they will work in your favour.

Cheaters

One problem that e-Learning designers face is designing with cheaters in mind. Early in my career as an Instructional Designer we used e-Learning software that presented evaluations on a single page in whatever order you entered it. Once an evaluation was submitted, learners saw a results page that revealed all the correct answers. We began to see a trend where the first learner from each location across the country would receive a lower average score, while each subsequent learner would score much higher. What we suspected turned out to be true. The first learner was sharing their results with other learners, resulting in much higher scores for the remaining learners.

To resolve this we switched to a new authoring tool capable of providing different evaluations to each learner who took our online courses.

The key features of this authorware's evaluations were:

1. Questions in Random Order - The authorware was capable of randomizing questions so that the order of the questions was never the same
2. Randomly Displayed Answers - while some of the questions may get repeated, the answers themselves appeared in random order. In otherwords, what might have been answer a) the first time the course was run, may become answer c) the next time
3. Pulling from a Larger Pool of Questions - the authorware was able to generate its random set of questions from a larger pool of questions. For example, we might have 10 questions presented from a possible list of 30 questions.  This would also present a completely new set of question each time the course is run

Employing these techniques certainly reduced the number of cheaters who were taking our online courses, however improving the quality of questions helped as well.  We almost entirely stopped using True/False questions.  The reason is that a True/False question tends to lead the learners to the correct answer.  In an organization where keeping employees positive about the products and services they sell, the answer to a True/False question is usually true.  You don't want to draw attention to what isn't true about a product or service.

Also ensuring that all the answers in a multiple choice question are at least plausible is important.  If the learner can deduce the correct answer by eliminating all the improbable answers, then you really haven't evaluated their knowledge of the topic.  All you have tested is the learner's skills of deduction.

Another thing relating to the plausibility of possible answers is the length of the answers.  Back in high school, I learned that when I didn’t know the correct answer to a multiple choice question, the longest answer was often the correct answer.  The reason for this is that designer of an evaluation may have to be careful about phrasing correct answers to ensure there is no room for interpretation.  The same is usually not true of wrong answers.  Obviously a wrong answer only needs precise wording when there is risk of it being a correct answer.

Ferris Bueller's Style of Training

Many of my generation think back fondly to the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  It is a story of the popular yet rebelious teenager who skips school to go on an adventure in the city of Chicago with his best friend and his girlfriend.  Throughout the film, the school principle is one step behind them trying to catch them in the act of ditching school.  Of course it almost goes without saying that Ferris, like all kids from the 80s, is much smarter than the principle of the school and manages to avoid Mr. Rooney with ease.

When I reflect on the film now as an adult and professional within the adult training field, I actually see an interesting thing occur in the film.  Ferris and his two friends actually receive a great education by skipping school, and there is an interesting sub message within the film.  In fact, Ferris and his two friends could easily have experienced many of the things on their day off during a class field trip.  I'm sure they experienced and learned more than their fellow students who were back in school listening to Ben Stein's lecture about the great depression.

During their trip they visited the Sears Tower and learned about it's enormous height and how it was built, Saw the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and witnessed how commodities are traded, They visited the Art Institute of Chicago and saw many famous works of art.  I dare say they learned a great deal about themselves as well.  They explored their own feelings about themselves and one another and what the future has in store for them.  The Irony is that their principle spends all this time trying to catch up with them so he could ultimately return them to the environment of books and classrooms where they likely wouldn't have learned all that much.

As teachers and trainers we should look to Ferris Bueller and get out of the text books and classrooms and get our students to truly experience life.  They will learn so much more than just what they read in books and lesson guides.

Motivation

A couple of years ago I went to Chichén Itzá in Mexico. I was amazed that the ancient Mayans built structures like the pyramid of Kukulkan seen here using only their hands and the simplest of tools. Even more amazing is the quarry for the stone used was over a mile away and the Mayans had not yet invented the wheel.  What would it have taken to motivate a group of people to build such an object?

I'm always amazed with peoples ability to stay motivated to complete a job. As someone involved in training I'm very interested in motivation and I'm always looking for new ways to tap into this ability.  Dictionary.com uses words like inducement or incentive when describing motivation.  I think of motivation as the 'reason' behind anything we do.

When I was a sales manager for a large chain of retail stores, what I found interesting was that money wasn't always a motivator for everyone.  This surprised me because the people in question had all chosen a career of sales.  Certainly sales is something that involves money.  I had several employees that were motivated by food and/or drink.  A plate of chicken wings and a pitcher of beer was usually all it took, however if I offered the same in cash, these individuals were not as motivated as the food and drink equivalent.


Within training, motivation comes from the affective domain.  This is the emotional side of training that involves how someone feels about a topic or task.  This is probably one of the most difficult things to train as peoples feelings vary from one to another.  You need to have people unlock there own potential much like a coach of a sports team.  Simply telling them what to do will not provide the motivation on it's own.  Instead have your learners figure out what the results of the change will mean to them and what types of rewards those changes will bring.  Like most things that we as professional trainers teach,  the most engaging stuff will be the things the learners have to do for themselves.

Blooms Taxonomy: Part Three

The affective domain is the third domain of learning included in Bloom's Taxonomy.  Skills in this domain tap into the way people feel about the learning material.  The goal of this type of learning is usually to get people to react emotionally and get in touch with attitudes toward the material.

Training within the affective domain is probably the hardest domain to achieve, however when it is done well, it literally can be a call to action or change the emotions of an entire group.  I have posted this video before, but here is an example of affective training.  I believe the goal that Dr. Randy Pausch had when giving this lecture was to remind us that how we live our lives is important and we should not waste the precious gift that life is.  I think you will agree that he is very capable of tapping into our emotions and perhaps changing how we think or feel about death.



Many organizations use this type of training to change the attitudes of their employees.  Perhaps they have had a fundamental shift in ideals that they wish to convey to their employees, or perhaps they are attempting to correct behaviors or attitudes they have become aware of.

Like the other domains there are levels of learning within the affective domain.  They are:

1. Receiving - learners passively pays attention through listening and/or observing.
2. Responding - learners actively participates by reacting in some way demonstrating their willingness to be involved.
3. Valuing - learners agree with the material that is presented not just through compliance but because they have a belief in the content itself.
4. Organizing - learners put together values and compare, relate and elaborate on the material that is presented.
5. Characterizing - the learner has adapted these values so as to become apart of their makeup as a person.  These values will affect how the learner behaves and are characteristic of who they are.

When stating your objectives and describing your learning activities will require action verbs that are appropriate for this type of learning.  Below are some examples:

Receiving – ask, attend, choose, describe, give, identify, listen, receive, use, view, watch

Responding – communicate, comply, consent, conform, contribute, cooperate, discuss, follow-up, greet, help, inquire, participate

Valuing – accept, adopt, approve, complete, choose, commit, desire, differentiate, display, endorse, explain, express, form, initiate, invite, join, justify, propose

Organizing – adapt, adhere, alter, categorize, classify, combine, compare, complete, defend, explain, establish, formulate

Characterizing – advocate, characterize, defend, devote, disclose, discriminate, display, encourage, endure, exemplify, function, incorporate, influence, justify

By the way, Dr. Pausch did eventually pass away and while he was still with us, he managed to fulfill another dream of his.  He was invited to play a character in the latest Star Trek film.  He is on the bridge of the USS Kelvin in the opening scene of the film.

Blooms Taxonomy: Part Two

The second domain from Bloom's Taxonomy that I am going to discuss is the psychomotor domain.  The psychomotor domain is where the learning achieved through the cognitive domain is demonstrated with physical skills.  This is an important domain when you are training skills that would be considered manual labour.  This domain can be broken down into 5 levels as follows:

1. Imitation - learners will attempt to duplicate an act that has been demonstrated to them.  Error is expected and encouraged as a learning opportunity for the learners.
   
2. Manipulation - Continual practice of the act so that it becomes habitual and confidence is built.
   
3. Precision - The skill has been attained.  At this stage refinement or further accuracy become the goal.
4. Articulation - At this stage learners will adapt their movement patterns to accommodate special needs or to meet a specific problem.
   
5. Naturalization - Naturalization occurs when the skill becomes an automatic response.

In this domain's case, learners will likely start out with the first level; imitation and then progress to manipulation, precision and so on.  In the psychomotor domain you would write your learning objectives and learning activity instructions based on the current level of performance that your learners are currently able to demonstrate.  For example you may have beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses that gradually move the learners from Imitation right up to naturalization.  You would most likely want each course to be a prerequisite of one another to ensure that the appropriate skills needed are achieved first.

An example of training in the psychomotor domain would be physical side of training for a pilot.  In the beginning you would demonstrate the skills for them to imitate.  Likely this would be done in a simulator for safety reasons.  The potential pilot would be encouraged to make mistakes and see what the results are.  Continual practice would occur during the manipulation stage so that confidence is built up and actions become habitual.  At this stage the potential pilot would like gain experience in real air craft.  Further practice would be used to gain the level of precision.  Articulation would teach them to be adaptable when needed, perhaps how to handle emergency situations.  In the final stages of their training, naturalization would occur.  The pilot would simply react appropriately during different situations without having to spend time thinking about each situation.

The types of action verbs you would use for stating objectives and writing learning activities would be:

Imitation - begin, assemble, attempt, duplicate, follow, mimic, practice, reproduce, try

Manipulation - acquire, complete, conduct, do, execute, improve, maintain, make, manipulate, operate, pace, perform, produce, progress, use

Precision - accomplish, advance, exceed, master, reach, refine, succeed, surpass, transcend

Articulation - adapt, alter, change, excel, rearrange, reorganize, revise, surpass, transcend

Naturalization - arrange, combine, compose, create, design, refine, originate, transcend

Like before many of these words are interchangeable and certainly could apply in more than one level (especially during imitation, manipulation, and precision).  Remember you are not limited to these words, there are likely thousands of action verbs you could use for every level of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Blooms Taxonomy: Part One

Some Instructional Designers moan about going through the exercise of using Blooms Taxonomy while designing training.  I submit that when you have attended training sessions that over promised yet under delivered, it’s likely because the designer of the training ignored Bloom's Taxonomy.  The most important aspect of Bloom's Taxonomy from the perspective of your learners is that they will receive exactly what was promised during any type of learning activity.

If I promised you the ability to rebuild an automobile engine by the end of my course and simply stood at the front of the class and forced you to memorize facts and figures about cars, you could no more rebuild an engine than you could before you started.  Essentially it’s like bad advertising.  Writing proper learning outcomes will also force you to further develop your learning activities so they do achieve the goals of training.

Bloom's Taxonomy can be broken down into the three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and the affective domains. Most training and education falls within the cognitive domain so in this first of three parts on Blooms Taxonomy that I will discuss.  The cognitive domain can be broken down into 6 levels of learning.  Here they are explained using some interesting scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean (just for fun).




Cognitive Domain

1. Knowledge is simply the ability to remember fact or content. 
2. Comprehension is the ability to understand the material through interpretation, translation or the ability to predict consequences of the material.
3. Application is the ability to independently apply material in new situations.
4.  Analysis is the ability to break down material into it's individual parts.
5. Synthesis is the ability to create something new from the material.
6. Evaluation is the ability to judge the value of the material

So how does this apply to planning your lessons?  Simple, your goal should be to achieve the higher levels of the cognitive domain.  While knowledge and comprehension are important, memorization and understanding is no substitute for being able to do or create something new or to judge it's value.  This is where true learning occurs.

Secondly to ensure that you direct your learners toward these higher levels, you need to choose the correct language in both your learning objectives and in your instructions for learning activities.  Selecting the correct action verbs will help your learners prepare for what they must do.  Below are some examples of words that will tell your learners what's expected of them and which level of learning these types of activities accomplish:

Knowledge - select, identify, label, match, recall, recite, reproduce

Comprehension - describe, define, explain, illustrate, restate, rewrite


Application - demonstrate, apply, develop, organize, operate, produce, solve, modify

Analysis - compare, distinguish, analyze, breakdown, classify, separate, subdivide

Synthesis - combine, compile, compose, conceive, construct, create, design, generate, invent

Evaluate - appraise, conclude, contrast, criticize, decide, defend, discriminate, write (a review)

Of course several of these action verbs can fall into more than one level of learning, and there are many more possibilities as well.  This should allow you to take your learning activites and determine what level of Blooms Taxonomy they achieve.  For example if I had a learning activity that stated:   

"Please select the correct answer from the following list of wrong answers." 

...you would know that this only achieves the knowledge level.  Simple memorization is all that is required to answer this question.  It doesn't determine if the learner actually comprehends the knowledge.  Of course that might be fine.  Perhaps it isn't required that the learner know why something is correct, just that it is correct.  If a learner's job requires the ability to analyze a situation and act appropriately with that information, you are going to want to design course objectives and learning activities that tests their ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the material you provide them.  More difficult to do? Yes.  More rewarding for your learners? Absolutely.