Reflections/Week 10

I have to smile, when reading the task analysis for preparing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was cynical. Then a thought occurred which made me smile broader. A particular movie depicting a young man who was displaced from the African Jungle to experience the American lifestyle knew little of the social existence of a strange place called New York City. He was devoid of all acceptable American standards including the use of silverware, clothing, and suitable behaviors. His caretakers realized they had to include step by step instructions with everything! One funny episode included the young man making a fruit drink in a blender, well, the caretakers forgot to tell him to put on the lid and you can guess what happened! We take so much for granted!
Morrison, Ross, and Kemp (2007) wrote that a topic analysis consists of two types of information including the identification of subject content and how the content is made or the structure of it. They give us the different content structure classifications to aid with teaching design for task analysis. I wish they would have considered topics I could relate to such as fashion design or pedicures/manicures instead of the nails, screws, and bolts that mean nothing to me (I can always consult the subject matter expert (SME)).
I appreciated chapter five and was wide eyed as I discovered all the different types and ways of writing objectives. Prior to this chapter, objectives were unclear and resembled more of goal than instructional purposes. To realize there were domains such as cognitive, psychomotor, and affective gave me insight to the “real” world of writing objectives for instructional planning. To have the observational verbs at my fingertips is a relief and the given examples are great visual tool. I was always guilty of shying away from correcting or writing existing goals because they seemed austere and certainly beyond my expertise. Now I can use either Mager and Beach or Merrill’s models or resort to Bloom’s taxonomy levels, complete with examples, to introduce objectives with focal learning needs in mind!
Different ideas rose as chapter six addressed the sequence of instruction to help the student have greater success with completing the course objectives. Motivation is a key factor in presenting materials and the different sequencing events portrayed in the book give food for thought. Our theory content is limited by the current syllabus and objectives, but realizing all the different instructional methods, winds of change are very near.
I think I am a semantic learner, someone seeking a deeper understanding and wanting higher tests scores, while some of the students definitely fit the phonemic level, not reading for the meaning or learning for application. The teaching steps mentioned in chapter seven are helpful to understand how to plan theory class and achieve the objectives designed for optimal comprehension. Design is often overlooked in the instructional process, but is much needed to assist the learner to master the topic. I like the sequential teaching method of attitudes; it really drives the subject home and gives the learner hands on involvement. After all, from all I have read, student participation is a key component to successful learning!
Reference
Morrison, G., Ross, S., & Kemp, J. (2007). Designing Effective Instruction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. U.S. A. 76-165.