Tech Minds - Week 7 Discussion & Research

Module 4 – Procedure Using is a main design theory which will be applied to your next two CSTE Courses – Web Application and Technology Plan.

Case Study:

Your team should be working together to select a short procedure lesson which can be learned in less than an hour. Review the examples of “Principles for learning procedural skills” and “A sample Procedure Lesson” to complete the following tasks:

1.   Identify all the steps, break them down to entry level, and write a generality that includes the goal and the steps at entry level.

Our team selected a short, quick lesson about borrowing in subtraction problems.  As a team we agreed that the goal of this lesson is to allow students to learn how to "borrow" from another number in order to do a subtraction problem where the numbers on bottom may be larger than the numbers on top.

The pre-requisites for this lesson are:

- Students must be able to recognize numbers 0-9

- Students must be able to match numbers 0-9 to concrete objects

- Students must be able to decipher if a number is larger or smaller in    comparison to another number.

- Students must know how to subtract 2-3 digit numbers from 2-3 digit numbers.


The following flowchart demonstrates all steps.

2.   Share the reasons why procedural tasks are important. References are needed.

Lauren:

     I think that procedural tasks are important because it allows the student to chunk information and go in a step-by-step manner that is easy for them to follow and understand. Step-by-step instructions that include flowcharts are very beneficial to visual learners and allow them to pinpoint where they are and where they are going next by asking simple yes/no questions. Also, since procedural task are written in shortened sentences beginning with action words, it is simplified and not filled with unneccesary wording that adds to the lesson. Short and to the point, great for struggling students.

My Resources:

http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/Resources2/procedural_analysis.htm

http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/Resources2/taskanalysis2.htm

http://richardswanson.com/figuresandtools/ANALYSISChap11.pdf

Merriam:
Eiriksdottir, E. (2011). The role of principles in instructions for procedural tasks: Timing of use, methods of study, and procedural instructions specificity (Doctoral dissertation)Retrieved from http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/42819

This dissertation by Elsa Eiriksdottir reviews general procedural tasks and detailed procedural tasks.  Any procedural task should be specific to the task at hand; however, over detailed tasks can hinder learners. Procedural tasks are important to aid initial performance of learners and to transfer learning.  The more general a procedural task the more the learner increases studying time.  It is important for any educator to analyze the relevance of tasks to ensure proper learning.

Procedural task analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/Resources2/procedural_analysis.html

This page discusses how procedural tasks are clear steps for the learner.  Regardless of simplicity or complexity of the task, the learner must successfully achieve the ending task.  Programs such as Inspiration and Microsoft’s Visio are available to produce procedural tasks and/or can be used by the learner to create their own procedural task.  By the student creating their own steps, higher order thinking skills are learned besides memorizing and knowledge recall.  In creating their own flowchart, students make and create connections to learned material.

A link from this page also compares the uses of hierarchial tasks and procedural task analysis.  

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

“What must the learner know or be able to do to achieve the task?”	“What are the mental and/or physical steps that the learner must go through in order to complete this task?”
developed from bottom up, from general to specific	developed linearly and sequentially; start and an end
goes through each of the learning styles based on learning taxonomies	not concerned with levels of learning
levels of learning	represented as a flowchart or outline with arrows connecting the steps
is read bottom up	read from left to right
each task is a prerequisite to the task directly above	can break down some of the tasks within the flowchart
lists all givens or prerequisites at the very bottom	must have a start and end, connecting with arrows and YES/NO going out

Task analysis and usability. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/documents/briefing-17

This article concludes that tasks are a helpful toolkit for understanding everyday processes and understanding how people solve problems.  Tasks can inform design or pinpoint usability problems of the learning allowing the educator to tweak the learners “mental models.”  Not only does the use of procedural steps help the learner complete a task successfully, but it aides the educator in finding the precise step the learner goes “astray.”


Kimber:
The Indiana.edu website stated it best when they said, "...almost everything we do, we do it at least partially by using a procedure." It's important that we understand the procedure, so we can figure out where the student isn't making the connections to the meet the grade level expectations. (Reigeluth, 1999)

Reigeluth, C. (1999). Principles for learning invariant tasks. Instructional-Design Theories Site. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~idtheory/methods/m4c.html

"Task analysis for instructional design is a process of analyzing and articulating the kind of learning that you expect the learners to know how to perform" (Jonassen, Tessmer, & Hannum, 1999, p.3).

Instructional designers perform a task analysis in order to determine the instructional goals and objectives; define and describe in detail the tasks and sub-tasks that the student will perform;
specify the knowledge type (declarative, structural, and procedural knowledge) that characterize a job or task; select learning outcomes that are appropriate for instructional development; prioritize and sequence tasks; determine instructional activities and strategies that foster learning; select appropriate media and learning environments; construct performance assessments and evaluation (Jonassen et al.,1999). http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/Resources2/taskanalysis2.htm

Becky:

Procedural tasks are a sequence of activities that involves completing a procedure.  Procedural tasks are important so that it provides a foundation to every learning activity.  Procedural tasks can be performed in two ways: physical and mental and needs to be done step by step.  These tasks are considered in a low level of the learning domains, yet I believe they are important since they are important to be able to learn and teach them.  Once these procedures are learned then it is easier to apply in higher levels of learning.  Procedural task are so important that now prestigious companies, like Apple, are adding virtual tours or videos where they demonstrate basic skills (procedural tasks), such as how to click and drag.  Companies are aware that users will gain the greatest benefit if they make sure that basic knowledge is taken care of first.  In order to get students to higher level of learning, they first need the basic steps to achieve learning goals.


Reigeluth, C. (1999). What is a procedural tasks? Instructional-Design Theories Site. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~idtheory/methods/m4c.html    

Palmiter, S., Elkerton, J., & Baggett, P.  (1991).  Animated demonstrations vs written instructions for learning procedural tasks: a preliminary investigation. Int. J. Man-Machine Studies (34) 487-701.  Retrieved from http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29369/1/0000439.pdf

_____________________________________________________________________
Discussant: Becky Navarro
1. Summary

Procedural tasks are important because they permit separation of information into manageable amount and step-by-step.  Visual learners and struggling students benefit much from procedural tasks.  Procedural tasks are straight to the point; if tasks are too general learners will be hold back.  It is important for learners to reach the end result, regardless of the complexity of the tasks.  Students can create their own flow charts so higher learning thinking can be applied and not only memorizing and recalling concepts.  Procedural tasks are used to process just about anything and are not only helpful for students, but are also helpful to educators as it allows them to pinpoint what they need help in.  Task analysis can be performed to determine the appropriate activities, media, environments, assessments, and evaluations that promote learning.  

After summarizing what our team learned about procedural tasks and how flow charts can be effectively enhance learning I decided to research on how graphic organizers can foster learning.

2. Articles:

a. This article conducted three experiments to test if student learn more when they are provided with a graphic organizer or when they are asked to construct their own graphic organizer.  The results concluded that in terms of retaining information it really did not matter if the graphic organizer was provided for or students creating their own.  As per the activity theory, this experiment showed that students don’t necessarily learn by creating their own graphic organizer, but have the same result if they are provided with a graphic organizer.

Stull, A. T. & Mayer, R. E. (2007).  Learning by Doing Versus Learning by Viewing: Three Experimental Comparisons of Learner-Generated Versus Author-Provided Graphic Organizers. 

Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(4), 808-820. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.99.4.808

b.  This article addressed the problem that some children have of creating mental model when they read either because of failure of attention or the use of working memory.   However, their reading can be improved by implementing some verbal and visual strategies that helps students with mental modeling. 

Woolley, G. (2010). Developing Reading Comprehension: Combining Visual and Verbal Cognitive Processes. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 33(2), 109-125.

c. This summary provides a table organized into general education and learning disabilities and each contains best practices and what research has found.  For example, a best practice for reading comprehension is to discuss the structure of the text and then provide a graphic organizer that follows the same structure.  Teachers should provide ways to organize information before, during, and after reading. 

Howard, P. & Ellis, E. (2005).  Summary of Major Graphic Organizer Research Findings.  Retrieved from http://www.hoover.k12.al.us/hcsnet/RFBMS/MakesSense%207.4/DoNotOpenFolder/Implmnt/DONTOPEN/MSStrats/Stuf/GOMatrix.pdf

3. Chosen article
I highly recommend for you to read the third (c) article because it gives you ideas to how you graphic organizers can be incorporated in the classroom.  It also provides ways on how learning can be foster by other strategies depending if it is reading or writing.  Also I liked that it contains information on how graphich organizers have demonstrated to be effective.  Please visit:  http://www.hoover.k12.al.us/hcsnet/RFBMS/MakesSense%207.4/DoNotOpenFolder/Implmnt/DONTOPEN/MSStrats/Stuf/GOMatrix.pdf

4.  Questions
How often do you use graphic organizers in your classroom and how effective are they in your classroom?  How have graphic organizers helped you assess student's learning?