Imagine the following real-life learning scenario: Your sister is a nervous Nelly and has begged you to help your 15.9-year-old nephew Ben get the required 100 hours of on-the-road driving practice he needs before taking his driver’s test. You agreed. (Congrats! You’re a saint!) The desired goal is to make sure that he can drive safely and confidently in typical road and traffic conditions and in difficult ones. Which learning activities are most crucial for achieving the desired goal?
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This is pretty easy, right? Some of the most typical and difficult road and traffic conditions he’ll need to be able to confidently handle as a driver include thinking ahead to be ready to make the next turn, people driving erratically (changing lanes abruptly and the like), poor weather conditions, congested traffic, and needing to merge into traffic. So the most crucial learning activities will be driving in these conditions until he can do them well and with confidence.
Picking appropriate and effective learning activities for most instructional situations works exactly like the scenario I just described. Figure out what learners need to be able to do in the real world and then make sure they get plenty of practice doing it. I’ve given away the most important advice of this article in the last sentence and if you’re pressed for time, you could stop reading right now. But you should keep reading because...
Even though it’s almost that simple, a lot of instruction doesn’t do this. I see courses every day that claim to train people to do x or y that do not have learning activities where learners do much x or y. This is a situation in need of a remedy because we really can’t design courses to train people to do x or y when they don’t get adequate practice doing x or y. Am I right?
In this article, I’m going to discuss a simple process that will help you get to the following place each time you design instruction: Figure out what learners need to be able to do in the real world and then make sure they get adequate practice doing it during instruction.
This is a “play along” article in which you’ll be completing some activities and then comparing your answers to mine. Note that a variety of answers are “right” because there are numerous ways to practice, and numerous types of media that can support each selected activity. So don’t worry if you don’t have the exact same answers as I do, but rather worry that what you select gets you to the place described in the last paragraph.
A simple process
In the next three sections, I’ll describe a simple process that I follow with clients to make sure that courses have the most-crucial learning activities, learning activities that assure that learners get adequate practice doing (during instruction) what they need to be able to do on the job, after instruction.
Figure 1 shows what this simple process looks like. (“DO” is not an abbreviation – it’s the things people must DO in order to be successful in the real world.)
Figure 1. A process for connecting learning activities to real-life activities.
Let’s look at each of these steps individually.
1. Uncover the DOs
One of the hallmarks of good instruction is that it allows learners to practice doing what they need to be able to DO in real life, in a safe environment, with meaningful feedback and help, until they are able to DO what they need to be able to DO in real life effectively.
What do people DO in real-life? Table 1 shows the most typical DO types of real-life work, and some examples of each.
|
DO Types |
DOs (examples) |
|
1. Recall facts |
Business hours Pay dates |
|
2. Find and make sense of information, often with the aid of tools, resources, etc. |
Whether the caller’s service plan covers labor When timesheets are due on weeks with a holiday |
|
3. Understand underlying concepts |
How databases work Why you need overnight shipping for perishable items |
|
4. Know how a process works |
The travel expense reimbursement process The hiring process |
| 5. Complete needed steps |
How to complete a new-hire request How to check in new stock |
| 6. Determine which course of action is needed |
Ascertain the malfunction cause(s) and contact the appropriate department Determine whether to give a refund or a credit |
|
7. Create a product or produce a specific result |
Write a discrepancy report Transfer callers to another extension |
|
8. Troubleshoot and fix problems |
Find the damaged part and replace it Analyze the reason for the delay and suggest solutions |
As an example, Table 2 lists DOs (for each DO type) for a module of a customer skills course for telephone sales representatives.
|
Course: Customer Services Skills Module 4: Finding an Out-of-Stock item for a Customer |
|
|
DO Types |
DOs |
|
1. Recall facts |
When new shipments arrive How long it takes to check new shipments into a database What the database codes are for in-stock, out-of-stock coming in on [date], out-of-stock [no date], and out-of-stock discontinued |
|
2. Find and make sense of information, often with the aid of tools, resources, etc. |
Find item in database Determine whether item is in stock, out-of-stock coming in on [date], out-of-stock [no date], or out-of-stock discontinued Determine how many pieces are available in each location |
|
3. Understand underlying concepts |
How databases work |
|
4. Understand how a process works |
The stock check-in process |
|
5. Complete needed steps |
Place hold on stock in your location Request stock from another location |
|
6. Determine which course of action is needed |
Help customer decide whether to wait for new shipment or get item from another location |
|
7. Create a product or produce a specific result |
Acquire desired item for customer Satisfy the customer |
|
8. Troubleshoot and fix problems |
Reconcile database availability and on-shelf availability |
If you don’t know what people DO in real-life, the pre-step is to learn what people do. That likely involves watching them work, asking questions, seeing what tools they use and what problems they deal with, and so on. Sounds like a lot of work, I know, but it’s impossible to understand a person’s job without doing this. And it’s impossible to design good instruction without understanding the work it impacts.
Here’s the first “play along” part that I told you about earlier. I want you to be able to DO this process after you read/do the article, so I built in some learning activities that will help you work the process.
Try it!
Throughout the rest of the article we’ll be working on the learning activities and media for module 2 of a Workplace Violence course. (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Screenshot from Threat Assessment module of Workplace Violence course (Source: Learning Peaks)
Your turn: Complete the DOs column for the Threat Assessment module of the Workplace Violence course. (A few are filled in to get you started. You can see my answers in the next Try It! Exercise, but don’t peek ahead!) For this exercise, assume that you know what a threat assessment is and how to do it, but realize that in real-life, you’d have to get a lot more information to do this.
|
DO Types |
DOs |
|
1. Recall facts |
Determine when to perform a threat assessment |
|
2. Find and make sense of information, often with the aid of tools, resources, etc. |
Interpret company workplace violence policy |
|
3. Understand underlying concepts |
|
|
4. Understand how a process works |
|
|
5. Complete needed steps |
|
|
6. Determine which course of action is needed |
|
|
7. Create a product or produce a specific result |
Make sure that the threat assessment is complete |
|
8. Troubleshoot and fix problems |
|
Once you have a list of the most important DOs for each DO type, you can convert them into learning activities (which I’ll discuss next). This is a logical and relatively simple way of determining what learning activities to include in any given instructional situation, and because these learning activities tie directly to what the learner needs to be able to do in real-life, they are valuable and relevant activities that do not waste learners’ time (or your time to develop and build).
2. Convert DOs into activities
Learning activities should let the learner practice applying what they learned in real or realistic ways via exercises, tutorials, simulations, problems, experiments, and the like. Table 3 shows typical learning activities and the media used to build these activities for each DO type.
|
DO Types |
Typical Learning Activities |
Typical Media Used |
|
1. Recall facts |
Recall facts Classify facts Use facts |
Questions requiring recall Puzzles or games Interactive flash cards |
| 2. Find and make sense of information, often with the aid of tools, resources, etc. |
Locate needed information Interpret information (what does this mean?) Apply information to a specific issue, scenario, or problem Evaluate application of information to a specific issue, scenario, or problem |
Electronic copies of resources Questions using information resources Scenario graphics, documents, and audio or video clips Forms Interactive response and feedback |
|
3. Understand underlying concepts |
Develop or interpret a concept map Identify examples and non-examples Apply concept properties |
Interactive classification, pairing, or sequencing Interactive response and feedback |
| 4. Understand how a process works |
Sequence parts of the process Interpret a model or map of the process Analyze when the process applies and when it doesn’t apply Analyze how the process applies in specific situations |
Graphical analogy or model of process Animation to show stages of process or changes over time Interactive classification, pairing, or sequencing Interactive response and feedback Scenario documents, graphics, and other media |
|
5. Complete needed steps |
Analyze when to perform the steps and when not to perform the steps Sequence the steps Perform the steps Use a job aid/decision matrix to perform the steps |
Demo of steps being performed Tutorial for performing the steps Animation to show steps happening in order Documents, with or without graphics, such as job aids Classification, pairing, or sequencing elements |
|
6. Determine which course of action is needed |
Determine which policies, criteria, and guidelines apply Apply policies, criteria, and guidelines to scenarios Analyze when to apply the policy and when not to apply the policy Solve problems that occur when the right course of action isn’t taken |
Decision tools (matrix, flowchart, etc.) Scenario documents, graphics, and other media Charts, schematics, or other data representations Branched scenarios with text, graphics, audio, and/or video |
|
7. Create a product or produce a specific result |
Evaluate product examples Create the product Create a checklist to determine if a specific result has been achieved Use a checklist to determine if a specific result has been achieved |
Documents or other items as a model of what is to be built Pictures or other graphics showing product elements or results Checklists to evaluate what is built |
|
8. Troubleshoot and fix problems |
Troubleshoot information resources, processes, procedures (steps), and actions Determine when and where to get help |
Decision tools (matrix, flowchart, etc.) Scenario documents, graphics, and other media Branched scenarios with text, graphics, audio, or video |
Notice how the learning activities for each DO type align with the DO type. For example, for DO type, “Complete needed steps,” learning activities revolve around completing those steps. To work up to completing the needed steps, we may want the learner to start out analyzing when to perform the steps and when not to perform the steps. We may want them to sequence the steps so we can check their understanding of the order of the steps. And they will certainly need to practice performing the steps.
There is a direct tie between the DO and the learning activities, and this makes complete sense because in order to get adequate practice in instruction, learners need to practice doing, during instruction, what they will be doing in real-life.
Now it’s time for the second “play along” part.
Try it!
Your turn: Using Table 3 as a reference, complete the Learning Activities column for the Performing a Violence-Threat Assessment module that follows. (A few are filled in to get you started. You can see my answers in the next Try It! exercise but don’t peek ahead!)
|
DO Types |
DOs |
Learning Activities |
|
1. Recall facts |
Determine when to perform a threat assessment |
Questions about determining when to perform a threat assessment |
|
2. Find and make sense of information, often with the aid of tools, resources, etc. |
Interpret company workplace violence policy |
|
|
3. Understand underlying concepts |
None |
|
|
4. Understand how a process works |
The threat assessment process |
Threat assessment process sequencing exercise |
|
5. Complete needed steps |
Perform a threat assessment
|
|
|
6. Determine which course of action is needed |
None |
|
| 7. Create a product or produce a specific result |
Make sure that the threat assessment is complete |
Complete threat assessment |
| 8. Troubleshoot and fix problems |
Get help with your threat assessment |
|
One of the most common questions that comes up in workshops where we explore and practice these three steps is what media are used in these activities. I’ll discuss that next. And I’ll also show you some screenshots that show how these activities look (as developed by me).
3. Select media to support desired activities
The most critical consideration about media selection is that the media chosen adequately support needed practice activities (which, as a reminder, are the practice activities that let learners adequately practice needed real-life DOs). Here are some obvious other considerations:
-
Cost
-
Can be built with available tools
-
Ease of use
-
Ease of creation and maintenance
-
Works with players that learners have available (Flash, audio, etc.)
-
Bandwidth
There are many different types of media used to build and support learning activities. We create some in the course of building an activity. For example, you may build multiple-choice questions with an authoring tool, such as Articulate Quizmaker (http://www.articulate.com/products/quizmaker.php), that creates questions and feedback. You may create branched scenarios that allow learners to experience the results of decisions they make, using an authoring tool such as Adobe Captivate (http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/). You may use other tools to create images, audio, or video used in multiple-choice questions or scenarios. For example, in questions about a specific application, you might use SnagIt (http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp) to create screen captures to show in questions, or Jing (http://www.techsmith.com/jing/) to create application demos for application questions. You may edit Video with Premiere Elements (http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/) and encode it into the Flash video format using Articulate Video Encoder (http://www.articulate.com/products/video-encoder.php).
Try it!
Your turn: Using Table 3 as a reference, complete the Media column for the Performing a Violence-Threat Assessment module that follows. (A few are filled in to get you started. You can see my answers at the end of the article but don’t peek ahead!
|
DO Types |
DOs |
Learning Activities |
Media |
|
1. Recall facts |
Determine when to perform a threat assessment |
Questions about determining when to perform a threat assessment |
|
|
2. Find and make sense of information, often with the aid of tools, resources, etc. |
Interpret company workplace violence policy |
Use policy manual to answer threat assessment questions
|
Multiple choice questions
|
| 3. Understand underlying concepts |
None |
None |
None |
| 4. Understand how a process works |
The threat assessment process |
Threat assessment process sequencing exercise |
|
| 5. Complete needed steps |
Perform a threat assessment
|
[Offline] Use questionnaire to complete department threat assessment |
|
|
6. Determine which course of action is needed |
None |
None |
None |
|
7. Create a product or produce a specific result |
Make sure that the threat assessment is complete |
Complete threat assessment Use checklist to evaluate threat assessment completeness |
Forms-based threat assessment
|
|
8. Troubleshoot and fix problems |
Get help with your threat assessment |
Determine who to call with questions |
|
To see what some of these activities might look like, Figure 3 shows a screenshot from the policy manual question learning activity (DO type 2) and Figure 4 shows a screenshot from the complete threat assessment learning activity (DO type 7).
Figure 3. Screenshot – Policy manual question (Source: Learning Peaks)
Figure 4. Screenshot – Complete threat assessment form (Source: Learning Peaks)
My completed chart is below. Your chart is likely to be different because there are many different ways to build these learning activities (media).
|
DO Types |
DOs |
Learning Activities |
Media |
| 1. Recall facts |
Determine when to perform a threat assessment |
Questions about determining when to perform a threat assessment |
Multiple choice questions
|
|
2. Find and make sense of information, often with the aid of tools, resources, etc. |
Interpret company workplace violence policy |
Use policy manual to answer threat assessment questions
|
Multiple choice questions
|
|
3. Understand underlying concepts |
None |
None |
None |
|
4. Understand how a process works |
The threat assessment process |
Threat assessment process sequencing exercise |
Drag-and-drop sequencing exercise |
| 5. Complete needed steps |
Perform a threat assessment
|
[Offline] Use questionnaire to complete department threat assessment |
Downloadable threat assessment questionnaire |
|
6. Determine which course of action is needed |
None |
None |
None |
|
7. Create a product or produce a specific result |
Make sure that the threat assessment is complete |
Complete threat assessment Use checklist to evaluate threat as assessment completeness |
Forms-based threat assessment Assessment checklist |
|
8. Troubleshoot and fix problems |
Get help with your threat assessment |
Determine who to call with questions |
Determine who to call rollover Downloadable who to call cheat sheet |
This process is simple, logical, and gets you to fairly obvious conclusions about what learning activities are most critical in an instructional situation. First, figure out the DOs. Next, convert these into learning activities. Then, figure out what media you will use to support these activities. The results are courses that are more likely to get learners where they really need to be. Sweet.
References and Resources
Learning Peaks’ resource database: http://del.icio.us/learningpeaks
Alessi, S. M. & Trollip, S.R. (2001). Multimedia for learning: Methods and development (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Clark, R. (2003). Building expertise: Cognitive methods for training and performance improvement (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: International Society for Performance Improvement.
Mayer, R.E. (2001). Multimedia learning. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Mayer, R.E. (2003). The promise of multimedia learning: Using the same instructional design methods across different media. Learning and Instruction, 13, 125-139. http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/edpsych/External/EDUC_5080/Mayer.pdf
Merrill, D.M. (2002). First principles of instruction. Educational Technology Research & Development (ETR&D), 50(3), 43-59. http://www.indiana.edu/~tedfrick/aect2002/firstprinciplesbymerrill.pdf
Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (July 1, 1999). Cognition and multimedia design for complex learning. Inaugural address at the Open University of the Netherlands. http://bit.ly/9CBYBz