Computer-based instructional (CBI) materials are frequently accompanied by student study guides. This report details Grant MacEwan Community College's experience in producing print-based material to support its computer-managed learning (CML) system. Thus the report is written from a CBI perspective, and attempts to place emphasis on the recognition of cognitive processes in the development of CBI and related materials. Grant MacEwan material has been developed using the instructional design principles promoted by Gagne and Briggs (1979). The first part of this report focuses on content organization. The ideas presented may be applicable to any setting requiring the development of independent study print support material. When used in an independent study setting or for individualized education, CML requires extensive support materials, usually in print form. These support materials are not only the map which guides the student through the learning process, but also the means of instruction. Research and empirical studies indicate that instruction will be successful providing certain steps are taken. These steps are outlined in the work of Gagne (1977) and Gagne and Briggs (1979). Gagne's instructional theory is a learning theory, which amalgamates many behaviouristic and cognitive learning theories (Sprague, 1981). For example, Gagne's theory presents a hierarchical arrangement of learning similar to that proposed by Ausubel (1965), Bloom (1969), and Piaget (see Flavell, 1963); his category of stimulus-response learning is also similar to Skinner's operant conditioning, and Thorndike's trial-and-error learning (see Snelbecker, 1974); Gagne's description of chaining bears a strong resemblance to ideas presented by Guthrie and Skinner (see Hilgard and Bower, 1975); and his use of verbal association and discrimination learning is akin to the work of Ausubel (1968). Since Gagne's learning theory contains commonalities, which are inherent in a variety of learning theories, Hilgard and Bower (1975) and Snelbecker (1974) suggest that his theory may form the basis of a meta-theory. Thus Gagne's learning and instructional theories provide a foundation upon which to design instructional materials. According to Gagne and Briggs (1979), the following nine instructional events are required to support the internal mechanisms of learning: - gain attention by directing students to the topic at hand;
- inform learners of the objective by making them aware of the instructional goals so that students may acquire the necessary mind set;
- stimulate recall of prior learning;
- present stimuli with distinctive features that are inherent to the learning task;
- guide learning in order to reduce the occurrence of irrelevant 'hypotheses' and thereby increase the efficiency of learning;
- elicit performance by directing students to perform activities that give them an opportunity to practise and apply newly acquired skills;
- provide formative feedback that reassures the students, suggest remedial action to improve their weaknesses, and give them an opportunity to go beyond the immediate situation;
- enhance retention and learning transfer to new situations;
- assess performance or provide a summative evaluation of the students' progress.
It is not always necessary for these events to be presented in the precise sequence noted above. Nevertheless, this report describes how these instructional events can be incorporated into the design of CML or independent study print support materials. CATEGORIES OF PRINT SUPPORT MATERIALTo facilitate and guide students through Grant MacEwan's CML or independent study learning process, print support materials are divided into three categories: the course manual, the student manual, and the instructor's guide. The course manual contains all of the information and material the student is required to learn. It is usually divided into modules. Each module represents approximately 1 week's work or 8-12 hours work per week for a three-credit course. A student manual contains general information regarding the institution, directions on how to work through the modules in the course manual, and information on assignments and exams. The instructor's guide includes the specific information required to teach or tutor the course. It also outlines the institution's policies and procedures, standard evaluation methods, and so on. For the purposes of this report, our discussion will be limited initially to organizing materials for the course manual. ORGANIZING THE COURSE MANUALOnce the instructor has determined the appropriate course content, established priorities for selected topics, and identified time allocations for each, the entire package must be organized into modules. Modules can be modified to suit the individual instructor and course, however, every module in the course manual must follow the same format. A suggested module format is outlined below. Suggested module format - Introduction/Overview
- Objectives
- Pretest
- Directions/Module organizer
- Explanatory text
- Learning activities
- Suggested answers
- Summary
- Self-test
- Self-test answers
- References
- Further readings
- Readings/Appendices
- Assignments
Introduction/Overview Every module should begin with an introduction or an overview of its content. The overview indicates (perhaps by relating the content to the professional environment) the purpose or significance of the information. This overview technique then becomes a link between modules and acts as an on-going summary. The overview could also be designed as an Ausubelian advance organizer. Ausubel proposes that an advance organizer should be used to relate the potentially meaningful learning materials to the existing cognitive structure of the learner (Ausubel, 1968, 1978). An advance organizer can be defined as 'appropriately relevant and inclusive introductory material ... introduced in advance of learning ... and presented at a higher level of abstraction, generality, and inclusiveness' than the learning material itself (Ausubel, 1968:148). The organizer's purpose is to 'provide ideational scaffolding for the stable incorporation and retention of more detailed and differentiated material that follows' (p. 148). An advance organizer is a general, inclusive idea written at an abstract level relative to, and presented before, the instructional material. Advance organizers can be presented in prose format or via graphics (Vick and Lynn, 1983). The facilitative effects of advance organizers have been explored by Chaudhari and Buddhisager (1981) and Moskow and Ledford (1986). The introduction lists the topics to be covered, the prerequisite skills and/or courses, and access to specific resources. Occasionally, an introduction and an overview will become separate components. The introduction will present the context or philosophical approach to the topic while the overview outlines the specific topics or concepts to be covered. The introduction and/or overview corresponds to Gagne's first instructional event, gaining attention by directing students to the topic at hand. Objectives A list of objectives usually follows the introduction. Objectives are a form of preinstructional strategies or mathemagenic activities (Rothkopf, 1971). They cue or inform the learner of the specific tasks to be accomplished. Objectives are sequenced in the order they will be learned or from easy to more difficult tasks. They indicate what students should be able to do upon completing the module. Due to their facilitative effects, instructional objectives are commonly used in distance (Holmberg, 1979) and independent study settings. The use of instructional objectives is based on the assumption that if learners are told what is expected of them, they will learn more effectively. The work of Duchastel and Brown (1974) and Frase and Kreitzberg (1975), supports this assumption. Instructional objectives simplify the stimulus environment. They reduce the number of irrelevant bits of information that impinge on the learner, and they modify the subsequent test performance (Frase, 1975). Following a review of 40 empirical studies, Hartley and Davies (1976) were able to state that objectives appear to be more useful in learning tasks which require analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. A series of questions may also perform the cueing function associated with objectives. Nevertheless, only well-constructed questions will inform learners of what they should be able to do upon completing the module. Questions stimulate the recall of prior learning, which satisfies the third requirement in Gagne's instructional objectives, and questions in the early portion of a module will satisfy the needs of individual students who have different learning styles. Pretest A pretest on the content of the module can be inserted. Obviously, the computer can issue and score a pretest. If students complete the module pretest to a satisfactory level, the instructor or tutor may consent to deleting this module from their learning package. All pretest questions should relate to the instructional objectives and should test the students' familiarity with previous knowledge. Since knowledge is gained by proceeding from the known to the unknown, a pretest can ascertain whether or not students have established a firm base upon which to build new information. Pretests are important components of individualized instruction. Through pretesting, students can determine whether or not specific learning material has been mastered. If mastery has been achieved, students may then omit the remainder of the learning package. If mastery has not been achieved, students may be directed to complete certain learning objectives. A CML system can be designed to direct students to the specific areas that require further study. Directions/Module organizer Before moving directly into the text of the module, students should be provided with a module organizer. The module organizer includes: directions on how to work through the module; a list of the required texts, equipment, and learning activities; and estimates on the amount of time it should take to complete the learning activities. The directions or organizer perform a portion of the guiding function outline in step five of Gagne's instructional theory. Directions are especially beneficial to adult learners who are returning to formal education, or to weaker students who have difficulty organizing themselves. Explanatory text The bulk of a learning module is comprised of the explanatory text and learning activities. The text contains information that develops, objective by objective, the content of the unit. The information should enhance rather than repeat the content of a prescribed or assigned text. A logical sequence of key words or phrases may be included in one section of the explanatory notes to help organize the students' thoughts and improve comprehension. Throughout the text, students can be given directions on how to integrate assigned readings and exercises with the textual material. For example, an assigned reading or case study may be worked into the text to explain or emphasize some relevant point. Include a short summary after completing the work associated with each objective. It is the quality, not the quantity, of the information provided that is important. McConkle (1977) and others have investigated the structure of learning material that maximizes student comprehension. All refer to the importance of carefully sequencing information into manageable 'chunks' in a manner which facilitates learning. There are several approaches to sequencing content. A course writer must select a sequencing approach that is appropriate for the students, the subject matter, and the instructional goals. For example, history is ideally suited to a chronological approach, whereas an inquiry model is a better approach for students involved in discovery learning. In this latter learning activity, the content sequence is based on what students need to know in order to generate solutions to problems. Listed below are several approaches to sequencing. - Chronological
- Hierarchical or concept-related
- Generic
- Inquiry-related
- Utilization-related
- Spiral sequencing
According to Gagne and Briggs (1979), if learning is to occur, the material must stimulate the recall of prior learning. As well, the new material must relate to, yet distinguish itself from, previously learned material (Ausubel, 1968). the process can be accomplished through prose; however, diagrams, graphs, tables, and models can also support this feature of instruction (Paivio, 1971 ). Students recall pictures or other visual representations more readily than words (see Fleming and Levie, 1978). One extremely effective prose technique for enhancing instruction is elaboration. Elaboration can be used to distinguish items from previous learning and to assist the recall of information (Stein and Bransford, 1979). Mayer (1980) discusses various elaboration techniques. Mnemonics also facilitate the learning process. When students are required to remember facts or a sequence of events, incorporating mnemonics can be advantageous. Embedded questions in the explanatory text is another technique that increases learning. These questions not only increase the amount learned, but also increase the amount of time students spend on each module (Boker, 1974, Richards and Di Vest, 1974). Learning activities Learning activities should be interspersed throughout the body of the text. Learning activities provide students with an opportunity to practise the skills that they will be evaluated on at the appropriate cognitive level specified in the objectives. Well-prepared learning activities will break complex skills down into small steps so that students develop skills in manageable portions. By being 'actively' involved in learning, and checking their responses, students can gauge their progress. Learning activities can take many forms; they do not have to be lengthy or complicated exercises. They can be multiple choice, matching, sentence completion, or true/false questions. Students may be directed to enter their answers on separate sheets or in the appropriate blank areas provided throughout the course manual. A learning activity can also be long answer, essay-type questions. If students are required to prepare long written assignments, include directions on structuring ideas and indicate an acceptable format. Students often remember more when given the opportunity to practise newly-acquired skills. This is especially true if students can apply their new skills to real-life situations. If this is not possible, simulations or case studies may act as substitutes. The latter activities can improve the student's understanding of previous material and ensure the transfer of knowledge to new situations. An adequate number of learning activities will ensure that students achieve mastery on the objectives being tested. Suggested answers A section with suggested answers to the learning activities should be included. This section allows students to compare their responses to a 'model' answer. Place the suggested answers near the end of the module along with some further explanations and directions to a source for review or additional study. Positive feedback is best. It reassures the students, suggests remedial action to improve their weaknesses, and gives them the opportunity to go beyond the immediate situation. Feedback provides the reinforcement I needed to strengthen the correct behaviour or mental pathway and establishes more precise and elaborate learning (see Skinner, 1968). Feedback should be understandable to the learner and provided frequently. Summary A summary of the module's main ideas and concepts, arranged in a logical order, follows the explanatory text and brings closure to an instructional activity. It also aids in the consolidation of new learning materials. A summary can be a paragraph or simply a point form list; it should not be longer than one page. Questions can be included in the summary to promote learning. Higher-level questions encourage students to review the material they have just learned and to organize the material in their memories (Friedman and Rickards, 1981 ). These postquestions may be advantageous for low-ability students. An alternative to prose summaries or questions is a graphics organizer or a flow-diagram that indicates the interrelationships among the items presented in the module. These devices appear to aid the older Students' comprehension (Moore and Readance, 198;). Self-test and self-test answers A self-test may be a more formal verification of learning performance. In this case, well-prepared self-test items will test the levels of learning specified in the objective statements. Ensure that this self-test includes at least one test question per objective. These questions should be similar to those in the learning activities and designed in the same format as the final exam or the CML test questions. Provide self-test answers and explanations as well as a simple calculation the students can use to determine their test scores. References and further readings A list of references and further readings can be appended to the module. References give the sources for material used in the module; further readings list articles, books, and various nonprint media students can investigate to find out more about the topic/subject. These items should be available to the student; they can be placed in the learning resources centre or shipped to distance students. All readings and references should be written in an appropriate bibliographic style. Readings/Appendices Although similar to the references and further readings mentioned above, these readings are directly referred to in, and are appended to, the module. Readings/appendices are usually journal articles or audiotapes. Only copyright-approved reprints should be distributed. Assignments The final component in the suggested module format is the assignment. Carefully structured assignments are an effective evaluation strategy. The nature and scope of the students' assignment should reflect the learning level of the objective to be evaluated. Depending on the learning objective, assignments can take several forms. Assignments may be: a research project, observations at a field site, participation in a teleconference, a verbal discourse on an audiocassette, an oral presentation, participation in an on-campus workshop, or a written paper. The written essay assignment is the one of the most popular evaluation strategies. Written assignments encourage interaction between the instructor and the students wherein students obtain vital feedback. If the first written assignment is short, and placed early in the course, students will get involved with the course material. This initial assignment can provide students with early feedback on their progress. The assignments should become more difficult as the course progresses; however, it has been noted that students who complete their first assignment in an independent study program usually complete the course (Macken et al, 1976). Provide the students with the weight of the assignment, the marking scheme, the resources required, and some suggestions on how to complete each assignment. A three-credit, independent study course should have no more than six major assignments. Placing them at the relevant points in the course encourages students to work systematically through the material. Assignments can be incorporated into a course in several ways. They can be bound into a separate package, placed at the point in the course where they are to be completed, or included as a section at the end of the student manual. If assignments are to be marked by a tutor and returned to the students, then timing becomes crucial. Students must receive their graded assignments before they write the final examination. Students should not be placed in a situation wherein the final performance evaluation is completed before they receive adequate feedback on the status of their progress. SUMMARYThis report described the factors involved in designing print support materials that accompany computer-based or independent learning. An effective study guide or an excellent course manual is one that adheres to the principles of good instructional design as defined by Gagne and Briggs (1979).
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