Category: EDCI 335

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Enhancing Learning with First Principles of Instruction

Blog Post#1

Reviewer Group: Group L
Link: https://mquach.opened.ca/category/course-overview/learning-context-and-inclusive-design/

Hi! Thank you for providing us with a product with such a high level of completion. Here are some of our thoughts:

Course Clarity

Your learning resources do a great job in defining the basic concepts and functions of EHR (Electronic Health Records) and EMR (Electronic Medical Records), with clear learning objectives covering key topics. However, if the learning objectives and assessment criteria could be further clarified, it would be easier for everyone to understand the expected learning outcomes. For instance, listing specific assessment criteria under each learning objective would help us know what key points need to be included when defining EHR and EMR. Additionally, providing examples or templates showing how to meet these standards in assignments or tests would be very helpful. Do you have assessments related to each learning outcome? Can these assessments accurately reflect our learning progress?

Appropriate Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes cover the basic knowledge, pros and cons, differences, and interrelationships of EHR and EMR, as well as the evaluation of future technologies. These outcomes align with the course goals and have practical application value. However, you could refine the specific content of each learning outcome. For example, for the outcome “evaluate future technologies,” you could specify which technologies we need to evaluate and how to conduct the evaluations. Providing case studies to help us better understand and apply these learning outcomes would also be very useful. Are there areas where these concepts need further citation or supplementation? Do you have the latest research or case studies for reference?

Course Consistency

Your course maintains good coherence between different modules, progressing logically from basic concepts to specific applications and then to evaluating future technologies. However, adding some cross-module exercises and assessments could help us better integrate and apply the knowledge learned. You could design comprehensive projects or exercises that require us to apply knowledge from multiple modules to a real-world problem. Additionally, offering a summary and reflection session at the end of each module would help us review and integrate the content learned.

Interactivity

The course uses various interactive methods such as lectures, Q&A sessions, group discussions, and role-playing, which indeed increase our engagement. These are all very well-designed activities to enhance interaction and collaborative learning. However, after lectures and Q&A, I would like to have at least a discussion/debate session, just to be encouraged to express our views and questions, for further deepening of our learning. I feel that more guided instructions and specific scenarios should be given in group discussions and role-plays for better engagement with the activities. How can this activity be made more interactive? Can you add some real-time interactive tools or more specific guidance?

Inclusivity

Various teaching methods and technical tools are used to help overcome participation and learning challenges for different students. However, there is an increased scope of making the course more accessible by further working on the accessibility of all materials. Make sure all online materials meet WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines); most especially, subtitles, text alternatives, and high contrast. Further, this would be useful if it had learning materials available in various forms: text, audio, and video, accommodative of people’s different learning styles.

Technology Use and Reasonableness

Equipping with WordPress, Zoom, and Google Forms as major technical tools is quite reasonable and effective, as they are still user-friendly and will be helpful in meeting provisions for the course. It would be better with examples of what each technical tool can do to enhance the learning experience. For instance, you can demonstrate how to conduct an effective group discussion on Zoom with other interactive tools like Kahoot or Mentimeter to involve class interaction and build fun. Moreover, posting instant results directly from the google form would allow timely feedback to the participants.

Presentation and References

Materials are clearly presented, and content is credible by citing literature or other resources relevant to the course materials. Further enrichment and updating of references will provide more comprehensiveness and timeliness of the course content. The timeliness and accuracy of the content are assured as the cited literature and resources are kept up-to-date. There are some extended reading materials that it will be very helpful to have to aid us in better understanding the knowledge learnt for expansion.

I hope these feedback points help you improve your learning resource design, making it clearer, more interactive, and inclusive. Overall, Great job!

Enhancing Interactive Learning with “What is Pedagogy?” Video

Introduction:

In the pursuit of fostering an enriching learning environment, I’ve selected the insightful YouTube video “What is Pedagogy? | 4 Essential Learning Theories | Satchel” as a key digital asset for my classroom. This video not only demystifies pedagogy but also vividly illustrates its application in real-world educational settings, offering a narrative that bridges theory with practice in an accessible and engaging manner.

Interaction Required:

Students are interested in the movie because it makes them think deeply about their own lives and the world around them. You can get people to interact with it easily by asking them to think about how they learn best and how these ideas could help them on their way to becoming a better students.

Learner-Generated Response:

Students are supposed to connect what they see to what they are learning and take notes on the important parts of the movie. By doing this job independently, they’ll remember what they’ve learned and think about how to use what they’ve learned in real life.

Suggested Post-Video Activity:

After the video, I’ll have my students work on a group project. To show how case studies can be used to teach ideas, they will use digital tools for telling stories. The point of this practice is to use creative writing to help people work together better and understand the material better.

Feedback Mechanism:

After finishing, students will get full feedback through our digital tool, which includes both teacher and peer evaluations. This two-part feedback system is meant to give them a full picture of their performance, showing them where they’re doing well and where they can refine their skills. It’s an important part that helps support ongoing improvement in both learning new things and giving good presentations.

Inclusive Design Considerations:

The video has both subtitles and words that explain what’s going on because accessibility is very important. Even students who have trouble learning will be able to fully engage with the material thanks to these steps. They also make the classroom a more welcoming place to learn.

Regarding comment from other students:

Blog Post#4

To ensure that all students are successful, I identify and remove potential barriers to building social learning resources. Below is a detailed summary of how I will solve these challenges:

 Access Challenges

 Visual and Audio Challenges:

 – Types of accessible content: Content will be  in text, audio and video, and to make it available to all students. Videos are transcribed and text can be translated using an alphabetic screen reader.

– Image Description: Converting text into graphics can help visually impaired students understand visual content with the help of screen readers.

 limitation Breaking the instructions into small steps and adding bullet points, checklists, and visual aids make the content less confusing and easier for students to access.

 – Group information: dividing knowledge into small parts rather than many things allows children to understand and understand knowledge better.

 Memory and Concentration Challenges:

 – Interactions and Activities: Use questions, simulations and discussions to engage students in developing their memory. These activities provide immediate feedback and encourage learning.

 Mobility and Fine Motor Skills:

 – Keyboard Mobility: Ensure that all interactive features can be accessed from the keyboard, which can be useful for students who have problems using a mouse.

Speech and Voice Recognition: The website can be more interactive for students with poor motor skills if speech functionality and voice settings are implemented.

Limitations of Technology: The access to technology is limited.

Designing User-Friendly: It will facilitate the students unable to use computers to make the platform accessible and operable on mobile devices.

Emotional and Social Barriers: Consider joining group projects and forums contributing to a community feel to overcome loneliness and lack of involvement. Social media tools, such as group chats and discussion boards, can help communication.

Peer Helper Program: Implementing a peer support group engages students in sharing resources and helping one another, thus creating a supportive learning environment.

Feedback and Support:

Timely Feedback: Regular assessments are made to students through questions, questionnaires, and systematic reviews, which provide continuous feedback and room for improvement.

Access to Teaching: Teachers are accessible for questions and help during office hours or off-hours by email or chat to make students feel attended to and close.

By reducing barriers, social learning becomes more integrated into the experience of all students, giving them opportunities and support for success. This strategy enhances equity and optimizes the learning climate for all students.

Regarding comment from other students:

Blog Post#3

Collaborative learning (CL) is becoming more and more popular in today’s classrooms as a successful teaching strategy. Cooperative learning involves the utilization of group activities and teamwork to encourage student interaction and development.

Characteristics of cooperative learning
Cooperative learning is a group-based teaching and learning approach that stresses students working in groups to attain learning objectives. Cooperative learning has several significant elements, including:

Strong Collaboration: Students rely on teamwork to solve problems and complete collaborative tasks.

Individual Responsibilities: Each student has clear roles and responsibilities in the group, so everyone is responsible for the group’s success.

Peer Support: Students help each other, share resources and information, and promote learning through discussion and communication.

Team Structure: Team members regularly review and evaluate their interaction patterns and results to continue improving.

From these principles, it is clear that collaborative learning goes beyond simple collaboration to promote deep learning and holistic development through organization and purpose.

Continuity of collaborative learning and selected subjects

Collaborative learning is valued in selected courses to effectively promote student learning and development. Some collaborative learning methods that fit my theme:

Promoting Deep Learning: Collaborative learning focuses on interaction and knowledge sharing among students and helps them better understand the meaning of conversations and discussions. For example, in an economics course, students can connect economic concepts to practical applications through group discussions and research.

Developing Problem-Solving Skills: Collaborative learning encourages students to work together to solve problems and solve complex problems; it is a process that develops their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In the project, students share tasks and show their ideas and skills to find the best solution.

Enhancing Learning: Collaborative learning allows students to receive support and encouragement from their peers, which helps them increase their motivation and engagement in learning. In a healthy learning environment, students’ interest and motivation will increase.

Social Skills Development: Integrated learning provides a platform for personal development and improvement of social skills. Students learn to communicate, cooperate, and resolve conflicts through group work. These skills are important for future public health professionals.

Summary

Collaborative learning, as an effective teaching method, can increase academic achievement and contribute to students’ overall development by encouraging positive interaction and development among students. In my chosen course, the collaborative learning method complements the objectives and encourages students to engage in deep learning and constructive conduct.

Regarding comments from other students:

Blog Post #2

Enhancing Learning with First Principles of Instruction

By sharing and discussing each other’s ideas we can develop and improve the understanding and application of collaborative learning.

Hey everyone,

In this week’s reading material, Assessment Strategies for Online Learning, Conrad and Openo present a variety of assessment strategies for online learning. By comparing these strategies to the syllabus of our course, Learning Design for Technology-Mediated Environments, it is possible to identify which strategies are being applied and which are not, and to relate these strategies to behaviorist, cognitivist, and constructivist learning theories.

Assessment Strategies Used in the Course

Continuous Assessment (Formative Assessment)

A number of tasks have been designed in the course syllabus as part of ongoing assessment. For example, weekly blog posts and comments require students to regularly share their progress and comment on each other’s progress. This form of assessment helps students to progress throughout the learning process.

Ongoing assessment is also correctly associated with constructivism because it puts focus on the necessity to help students through interaction construct knowledge and feedback. For instance, weekly blog postings enable students to reflect on the progress of studies and receive immediate feedback from peers and instructors that will adjust further understanding and approach.

Summative Assessment

There are two major assignments in this class: the “Learning Blueprint” and the “Interactive Learning Resources,” which are both expected to be completed towards the end of the term in order to test students’ comprehensive skills. For example, the “Learning Blueprint” invites students to design a learning plan in detail, and the “Interactive Learning Resource” is actually a whole teaching tool to be designed by the students.

Thus, in a large part, summative assessment comes very close to and is associated with behaviorism because it takes into account specific performance-based outcomes that are assessed as a product of learning. For example, the ‘Learning Blueprint’ assignment is looking for an understanding of the subject from the student through the making of a detailed plan and the ‘Interactive Learning Resource’ project seeks to test application of learnt concepts by actually doing something in a practical standardized sense.

Self and Mutual Assessment (SPA)

The course syllabus explicitly requires students to engage in mutual assessment and blog comments. For example, in peer assessment, students are asked to evaluate other students’ learning blueprints and provide constructive feedback.

This therefore relates to constructivism in that it puts more emphasis on self-reflection by learners and knowledge-building in the process of evaluation. For instance, through peer assessment, students give a critical evaluation of peers’ work hence strengths and weaknesses in students’ work. This reflective practice enhances deeper understanding due to students’ constructing new knowledge from the evaluations and feedback.

Assessment Strategies Not Used in the Course

Automated Assessment Tools (AATs)

The course syllabus does not mention the use of automated assessment tools such as online tests or adaptive learning systems. For example, there is no mention of using online quizzes or question banks that are automatically graded by the system.

Theoretical Connection: Automated assessment tools are typically associated more with behaviorism because they rely on standardized tests and immediate feedback to reinforce learning behaviors.

Project-Based Assessment (PBA)

Although the course entails project tasks, it is not strictly adherent to the Project-Based Learning model. For instance, even though students are required to develop interactive learning resources, these projects are not built systematically through the semester as a primary assessment technique. The PBL strategy is consonant with approaches of constructivism because it insists on real-world problem-solving and active learning through projects, hence reinforcing students’ ability to apply and construct knowledge in contexts relevant and meaningful.

The PBL strategy is closely related to constructivism because it emphasizes facilitating learning through real-world projects and problem solving.

Comparison to other courses

As a computer science student, assessment strategies in other courses I’ve taken have tended to favor standardized tests and programming tasks. Example:

Behaviorist assessment strategies

In the Data Structures and Algorithms course, a large number of standardized tests and programming tasks were used. These tasks emphasize correctness and efficiency. For example, weekly programming assignments require students to complete implementations of specific algorithms and verify their correctness through an automated testing system within a time limit.

Cognitivist Assessment Strategies

Case-based learning and problem-solving tasks are used in AI courses. For example, students are required to analyze and solve a complex machine learning problem and submit a detailed report explaining their solution and thinking. This approach emphasizes students’ understanding and application of complex concepts.

The comparison shows that the Learning Design for Technology-Mediated Environments course focuses more on constructivist assessment strategies that help students construct knowledge through interaction and reflection, rather than mere knowledge transfer and assessment.

Conclusion

By comparing the assessment strategies mentioned in Assessment Strategies for Online Learning with the course syllabus, we can see that strategies such as continuous assessment, summative assessment, and self-assessment are mainly used in the course, while automated assessment tools and complete project-based assessment are not used. These strategies are primarily related to constructivist learning theory, which emphasizes facilitating knowledge construction through interaction, feedback, and self-reflection. This contrasts with the more behaviorist and cognitivist assessment strategies I experienced in my computer science courses.

Cheers,

Hengshen Chen

References

Conrad, Dianne L., & Openo, Jason.(2018). Assessment Strategies for Online Learning.

Course Outline: Learning Design for Technology-Mediated Environments.

Ertmer, Peggy A., & Newby, Timothy J. (2013). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features from an Instructional Design Perspective.

Regarding comment from other students:

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