Week 8's Readings

Procedures

they are strictly defined - all steps are included and each step is unambiguous(clearly defined)

they are also known as algorithms.

they can be simple,with only one set of steps to follow linearly.

they can be complex,with many decision decision points (points in a procedure at which one must determine which of two or sometimes more situations exist.)Each decision point can lead to a different path or branch through the alogrithm.

E-learning & Practice

(1) Learning to determine if the procedure is required

Practised by presenting situations in which the procedure might be useful.

Learners decide whether or not procedure should be applied.

Learners should justify their answers to give feedback to instructors whether they have truly identified the situation by its critical attributes.

(2) Learning to complete the steps in the procedure

Each individual step of the procedure should be practicsed immediately after it is presented.

'Snowballing' effect of practising new steps with previously learned steps = enhances learning the entire procedure as a whole.

Helpful to learn & practise the steps of some procedures in a reverse order, aka 'backward chaining' which can be very effective & motivating especially for tasks in which completing the last step is highly satisfying.

Learners should have a pratice in completing the entire procedure several times.

(3) Learning to list the steps in a procedure

Practice recalling the sequence and nature of the steps in the procedure

Provide ample opportunity to recall the steps in the correct order

The need to recall critical keywaords that summarise the performance in each day

Requires learners to expand on these keywords to ensure that they do indeed denote the entire procedure

(4) Learning to check the appripriateness of a completed procedure

Opportunities for learners to view the processs and/or product of a procedure and determine whether the procedure was correctly performed

Include overt reviewing of their own performances

Opportunity to review performance of others = allows them to note errors that others made

E-Learning and Feedback

(1) Instructor providing feedback

to confirm whether or not learners have appropriately identified the situations that require the application of the procedure

explanatory feedback to tell why a particular situation does or does not require the application of the procedure

includes discussion of the critical attributes of the situation & a mapping of these attributes onto the situation,indicating where the attributes do or do not match

(2) Accuracy of the completion of each step of the procedure

feedback during initial phase may be more detailed than in later practice of the entire procedure

include information as to whether the learner correctly assessed the nature of the situation & made the correct decision,leading to choosing the correct path in the procedure

feedback on completion of operation steps should include dichotomous(divided) information as to whether the step was correctly completed, and qualitative information as to (a) whether they selected the inputs appropriately,(b) whether the outputs of the operation reached any prescribed criterion, and (c) whether the step was completed with acceptable precision & efficiency

videotape procedures with operation steps with significant observable motro component to allow learners to observe their own behaviours while reviewing any written or spoken feedback

teach learners to judge the adequacy of the completion of individual steps in the procedure

(3) useful feedback include whether all the steps of a procedure were remembered in the correct order

(4) feedback include correct answer response as to whether the given procedure has been correctly completed

learners can compare these judgement to their own assessments of whether a demonstrated procedure has been executed properly.

Principle Learning

Principles prescribe the relationship(s) among two or more concepts.These relationships are described in terms of 'if-then' or 'cause-effect'.

Principles allow the learner to explain what has happened and control the effects of variables upon each other.

To state a principle does not means acquisition of one.Simply stating one is declarative knowledge learning.To acquisite one is to apply the principle to a variety of previously unencountered situations.

Principle learning is central to domain-specific problem solving.In other words, to solve a problem,one has to select the appropriate combination of principles ,which also means that several principle have to be applied co-currently.