ETEC 561 Section 5 Sept. 29th

ETEC 561

Section 5

Sept. 29, 2013

Chapters in Section V identify trends and issues in IDT in various contexts: business & industry;
military; health care education; P-12 education; and post-secondary education. Select at least 3
of these 5 contexts and compare/contrast the IDT trends and issues. Then explain how they are
similar or different from the IDT trends and issues in the context in which you work.

In this week’s section I will be comparing IDT in military training, the healthcare field, and post-secondary education.  My reasons for choosing these areas are personal experiences I have had in the past.  Additionally, these three areas are training capacities where I hope to work in the future.  The training requirements that I directly compared similarities to other training contexts are: working within a budget, understanding your client’s culture, and blending the needs of the individuals with the needs of the institution. 

Post-Secondary Education:  In this arena there is a significant move to a more global interest. Increasing interest in online classes allow for students to stay “home” while expanding their education.   Students unable to afford to come to the U.S. to attend college in the past are now able to enroll in classes while remaining in their home country.  These students attending your class could be German, Chinese, South American and so on.  Instructional design professionals able to take on a more global audience would be beneficial to the curricula development of online courses.

Budget:  I am positive we are all aware of recent budget cuts.  Accrediting agencies have increased the class load requirement for full time staff while cutting hours that adjunct faculty can instruct.   Instructional design did not historically have large amounts of input in secondary education development.  Increased interest in professional development of staff was beginning to open doors in regards to IDT input in post-secondary education.  When budgets are limited expansion of these programs are unlikely. 

 

Individual vs. Institution:  As previously stated, IDT can influence and contribute to more successful development of curriculum directed toward increasing the amount and scope of classes available for online students to enroll.  With more globalization of classrooms the content must be presented in a way foreign students can excel in their desire for education or to earn a degree.  Classes full equal income for the institution.   However, with limited resources IDT input to training and professional development of staff is often on the back burner.  Most individuals desire growth, advancement and personal fulfillment.  Some of this is achieved in the personal side of life; however, these are also necessary achievements in successful professional lives.  Generally, professionals spend almost half their life at work.  When development is not available, growth is not possible.  These important essentials of the professional side of individuals remaining unmet will cause loss of the best employees.

Military:  As Reiser and Dempsey stated, there are several multi-country military exercises every year.  Between NATO and joint country “peace-keeping” missions there is a huge need to employ a more global approach to IDT if your design is to be successful in knowledge gained and retained.  How individuals from different cultures view the value of learning and the way it is presented now makes all the difference as to if it is accepted. 

 

Budget:  IDT has a long respected input into military training.  Mission success is essential and this often requires extensive training.  However, the budget is not unlimited.  Costs of highly technical weapons and training simulators are constantly on the rise.  The ability to cross use some simulators, training equipment or software between military branches may cut down expense.  Another factor driving up the cost of training is an ever increasing sophistication necessary to keep the interest of recruits high during instruction.

    

Institution vs. Individual:  The military enables success of the mission by fostering success of the individual in regards to their contribution to the team effort.   Advancing the idea of the individual as an essential necessary element of the institution without whose expert performance the institution cannot succeed, the military trainers have “buy in” of the individual.  IDT  employing advancement and growth of individuals professionalism lies in the availability of education both formal and informal.  Individuals are able to and expected to progress up the ladder to obtain more interesting and responsible positions. This not only spurs individual growth but also benefits the institution in the creation of an even more valuable ingredient to their success.

Healthcare:  In considering the healthcare field, ponder this.  At Parkland hospital alone, some of the nationalities employed there as physicians, nurses, therapists, technicians and support groups are:  British, Canadian, Latino, Indian, Pakistani, Australian, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Afghani, Scottish, Philipino, Italian, you get the idea.  These are not individuals from the U.S. these are professionals from those nations here for further study, research or work experience.  The IDT individuals in this field must have a global outlook to all training sources produced.  Additionally, training regarding cultural diversity in team members and patients is essential.  Healthcare professionals must be sensitive to cultural and religious wishes and beliefs of their patient population no matter how diverse.

Budget:  A large portion of training in the health care field comes from private companies involving their equipment or software purchased by the hospital.   Each department and state licensing entities decide the amount of training required.  Department training relates largely to process improvement and compliance with governmental regulations.  This training comes from each department’s budget.  Should the department be a smaller one there is very little for professional development.  Transfer to another department may be the only way to advance. Some training is hospital wide and is limited to the budget of the training and development department regardless of the multiple regulations, policies and procedures.  IDT departments are small, maybe three people and still provide enough courses to fulfill governmental requirements.

Individual vs. Institution:  Healthcare training exists for the advancement and support of the institution.  After graduation from a healthcare program or post graduate education and licensure all professional development is essentially up to the individual.  Continuing education is the responsibility of the licensed individual.  A portion of requirements may be provided by the departments if budgets allow.  Otherwise, the expense of licensure requirements falls upon the individual.

 

ETEC 561 section 4

Dawn Burks

ETEC 561

Section 4

Identify a performance problem in your area of work and identify non-instructional solutions that may help solve the problem.

A performance problem prevalent in my department is lengthy orientation times for new employees and the recidivism rate for orientation of new graduates.  These problems lead to frustration of current employees and new hires.  While at the surface this situation seems to be a training problem, in fact it stems from lack of preceptors and mentors.  Although my hospital is a teaching institution, there is an insufficient motivation factor among the more experienced staff to participate in this program.  Our department has one educator and there is an overload of responsibilities.  The educator must also provide professional development and continuing education opportunities for 150 therapists.  Additionally, there is no money in the budget for another educator or to provide monetary incentive to preceptors and mentors.  In the past preceptors that completed 200 hrs. of preceptor time would receive an extra 8 hrs. of paid time off.  Even then it was difficult to recruit therapists due to the inordinate amount of preceptor time it took to receive the benefit.  Another issue is; no decrease in work load while having to orient and instruct.

Some non-training solutions might be to re-evaluate the department budget and investigate the possibility of adding another educator.  Institute a program of progressing phases allowing new hires to start sooner.  Establishment of a reward system giving mentors and preceptors special parking spots, or some other non-monetary incentive.  Most of the solutions I thought of were addressed in figure 14.2 pg. 141.

Define performance support systems and explain how a performance support system might (or might not) help solve the problem you identified above.

A performance support system consists of an electronic system using sources that work together providing an on demand variety of tools and resources for employees to access as needed in their daily context of job performance (Gery, 1991).  Reybould (1995) further expressed it as access to information, advice, learning experiences and tools to help in the performance of tasks with minimal help from others.  Development of a performance support system could negate the need for another educator by providing a bank of continuing education lessons and professional development scenarios for therapists.  A bank of FAQs and information for newcomers could be helpful.  More therapists may be willing to mentor via blogs, e-mail or tweets.

 

What knowledge would help solve the problem you identified above and how would that knowledge need to be collected and managed to help facilitate problem solving?

Currently our hospital does have a bank of information for employees to access in order to find various departments, phone numbers, the employee hand book, a patient safety network, and so on.  Improvement of the current knowledge management would be making it more interactive and timely.  Another suggestion, add more access to other medical professionals expertise in real time. 

In collecting the knowledge, a system similar to instant messaging might work.  Senior experienced personnel would be able to respond to questions and queries by receiving an IM.  Levels of emergence regarding response time should also be included.

What informal learning experiences have you participated in at your organization? Could those informal learning experiences be shared with others? Could the knowledge gained in those settings be codified and managed? And should it be managed or should the informal experiences be replicated or broadened for others?

Some informal learning sessions tried in my department consisted of a research article of the month club.  Management or the educator would choose an article and post it on the message board.  Once a month a brown bag lunch meeting took place to discuss the article, what opinions we had and how we could use the information in our practice.  Quarterly meetings were held to discuss issues impeding our care giving and possible solutions to these problems.  Other situations were pot luck cook offs held in the department creating a more relaxed atmosphere to promote team building and learning more about each other.  Obviously these situations were shared with others.  Some of these informal learning scenarios could be shared via department news letter or e-mail.  Surely other hospital departments participate in similar activities.  Sharing these activities with other departments could be a valuable learning experience, for example, respiratory therapy and nursing or physical therapy and occupational health.  Essentially, open up opportunities for each profession to learn more about other health care professions they work side by side with every day.

Section three ETUC 561

Section 3

Sep 15, 2013

ETUC 561

Chapter 10 discusses evaluation in instructional design and provides you with two evaluation models, the CIPP and Kirkpatrick models for evaluation. Search for at least two other models used for evaluation and summarize these models. Describe how you would use them to evaluate your instruction.

One of the other models available would be Michael Scriven’s formative and summative evaluations.  Essentially, the formative evaluation concentrates on process improvement.  Companies or educational entities might be clients searching for a type of instructional or training program resulting in improved performance.  An additional necessity for instructional design programs lie in the introduction of best practice procedures, or new products. Leadership professionals in these industries would be instituting and incorporating these new programs. (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007)

The summative portion of the model deals with decision makers and leaders assessing a need for a format of instructional and training programs by observation, questionnaires, safety reports, any indicators of the necessity of employee performance improvements. (Reiser & Dempsey 2007)

I would be most likely to use summative evaluation in my instruction. I would make available an anonymous program involving questionnaires asking students to evaluate the class content and instructor helpfulness with a small comment box available for constructive criticism.

Another model mentioned was criterion referenced or objective referenced.  These programs focus on skills.  Most of the objectives determined necessary for successful completion of the class is set as instructional skills to be mastered. (Reiser and Dempsy 2007)

Currently clinical instructors in medical programs use this method.  Students must perform each skill according to accreditation standards created by regulating agencies. I am required to use these guidelines in assessing my student’s skills performance.

Reflect on what other questions that instructional design evaluation should address besides whether the instructional design leads to comparable amounts of learning and learner satisfaction as traditional methods. What else would be useful to know?

After reading chapter 11, I believe assessing whether or not the instructional design of the program is likely to be incorporated into lasting culture change.  Often times entire company culture change is not necessary, but will the new skill sets be accepted by employees? Is the program appropriate to the audience in design and message content?

You have been assigned to develop a series of professional development sessions focusing on technology use in the classroom for teachers during a time of economic decline. How will you use Situational Leadership to facilitate this project and manage scarce resources?

Some of the ways I might approach this difficult task would be:

Use contractors.

Assign multiple tasks among the development team.

.

Don’t reinvent the wheel.  Find materials or subject matter already in general use and properly acknowledge credit.

Make a priority at the start of the project to know the talents and limitations of your team members.  Give project assignments that accentuate the areas in which each team member flourishes.  Attempt to put members together who will complement each other’s strong and weak areas.

As the team leader you may have to wear more than one hat.  Contribute as leader/manager or take on an additional portion of the project.

Week 2 ETEC 561

Section 2

Epistemology (the study of what and how we come to know) is discussed in multiple chapters in this section. Distinguish epistemology from instructional methods or theories. What are the differences between theories, methods, or models of learning and epistemologies or underlying beliefs about ways of knowing?

Essentially, epistemology is a general science or view concerning how we (people) come to know the material we learn.  Experience and socio-economic circumstances in conjunction with the biological inputs leading to increased knowledge.

Instructional methods and theories discuss approaches to instruction.  Considered is the path of instruction to be used, whether through lectures and textbooks or by more hands on problem solving.  The framework of how the material will be presented.

Models are used to help learners “see” learning objectives.  They are used to improve comprehension and understanding of material presented.

Theories such as positivism and relativism are design practices used in the development of curriculum. 

Methods are steps used within a particular design practice to deliver or guide the student to the objectives of a particular course of study.

Chapters in this section present two contrasting epistemic stances: positivist and relativist. However, a third stance, the contextualist or hermeneutical, is also widely recognized. This stance falls somewhere between the strictly objectivist/positivist beliefs about knowing and the purely subjectivist/relativist stance. While designers and educators with a positivist stance generally apply behaviorist principles to the design and development of instruction, those with either a contextualist or relativist epistemological framework employ constructivist theories and methods. However, relativists ascribe to radical constructivist approaches, while contextualists draw upon social constructivist theories and models. Based on what you’ve read about positivist and relativist epistemologies, as well as behaviorist and constructivist approaches, try to more fully describe a contextualist epistemology. How might it differ from either a relativist or positivist stance, and how might social constructivism differ from either behaviorist or radical constructivist approached to learning and instruction?

Contextualist epistemology- A learning system or plan consistent with students processing and internalizing new information as it relates to their current realities.  Students then apply this new information as a way to “make sense” of the introduced knowledge and how it can be used in problem-solving.

Relativist concepts are very similar to contextualist concepts in that both require the lesson design to include smaller parts and components that will lead the student to an acceptable understanding of the lesson material as a whole.  Where a contextualist stance differs from a positivist stance is in allowing the student an active role in what they learn and how they apply their new knowledge.  There is no absolute truth according to the relativist as there is in a positivist stance.  Instructors in a positivist class are lecturers and students are required to repeat information learned in the context and reality of the professor.  On the other hand, in a constructivist model, roles of instructors may change as the students acquire and apply newly internalized information.  Instructors become more of a guide in the learning experience.  Problem solving is more at the heart of the class material. Essentially all constructivist theories overlap and share similar meaning.  VyGotsky’s radical social constructivism is similar to contextualists in that both consider student internalization of knowledge.  This allows for learning within that student’s accepted current reality.  However, VyGotsky adds the consideration of a student’s social context coming into play as an essential part of how they learn. 

Von Glaserfield suggests knowledge is not explored but subjective, cognitively constructed through our own experiences.  In his view there is no existence of external reality.  Von Glaserfield suggests students incorporate new information to “fit” their reality and as long as it “makes sense” to their knowledge base it will be viable.

A behaviorist view is completely different from constructivism or contextualist learning beliefs.  It is usually possible to use multiple learning sciences to create a more rounded and deeper understanding of teaching material.  For example some portions of the lesson design could have a lecture portion to lay a foundation from which role play or problem solving etc. could be added to the design.  I believe radical forms of any learning theories stand in the way of delivering a richer and deeper experience for the student learner.

Differing epistemic stances lead to differing approaches to learning and instruction, and ultimately to problem-solving. Explain differences in problem-solving when approached from behaviorist and constructivist perspectives. How do the approaches differ in both the nature of the problem to be solved and in facilitating the problem solving process? Finally, what effect might these differences have on learner motivation?

Behaviorist problem solving infers one correct answer and one correct way of reaching the correct conclusion.  Instructors lay out information to be learned and objectives to be accomplished.  Knowledge itself is separate from the students and their past experiences and social contexts.  Therefore problem solving is strait forward and consists of a defined path leading to the answer.

Constructivist perspective of problem solving lies in knowledge as it is constructed from the student perspective.  Instructors act as guides for learning.  Content to be learned can change and should in fact become a part of the students’ reality so the student him/herself are also changed.  Problem solving in this learning environment can consist of more than one path leading to possibly more than one answer depending on the understanding and circumstance of the student learner.

The motivational factors behind student learning are varied.  If the student is in a required course in order to keep their job they may or may not be affected by either behavioral or constructionist epistemologies.  I see motivational factors as another consideration when creating instructional design.  As Reiser stated it is possible to build valid approaches to understanding and influencing learner motivation to contribute in a learning environment and design whether it is behavioral or contextual.