Review of Chapter 1&2

6 types of objectives

3 Types learning activities To accomplish learning objectives, we typically require 3 types of learning activities: Absorb Do Connect

Matching learning activities with objectives

Chapter 3 Do-type activities

Do activities Learners discover, parse, decode, analyze, verify, combine, discuss, debate, evaluate, condense, refine, elaborate, and most importantly, apply knowledge. Some Do activities help learning a remembering or understanding objective Some Do Activities lead to help learning a applying or creating objective

Types of Do activities Practice activities Discovery activities Games and simulations

A- Practice activities Use practice activities to: Prepare learners to apply their knowledge and skills Teach learners use abstract concepts in concrete situations Automate skills so the application is faster and more fluent Build confidence Verify the ability to apply low-level skills or knowledge before moving up.

Types of practice activities Drill and practice (repeated application of similar simple tasks) Hands-on activities (allow learner to follow steps perform tasks in real or simulated environment on their own) Guided analysis activities (guides learners through the process of analyzing a complex situation)

1- Drill and practice is useful Wrong: don’t use this method whatsoever Very helpful in in helping people memorize facts that they must be able to recall reliably without hesitation. You don’t want a doctor or an engineer or a consultant who has to check the manual, glossary, or Google each time you ask them a question. You don’t want to pause a conversation to go and search for info.

Types of drill and practice Auto-generated problems (http://iteslj.org/v/ei/adjectives2.html ) Increasing challenge (www.ixl.com) Database of problems (test banks)

2- Hands on activities Give learners a small piece of real work or simulated work to perform. Example More example of hands-on activities?

Best practices for hands-on activities Control advancement to the next step by asking questions (don’t let them proceed before proving they have learned the current step) Let students print out the instructions Require evidence of the hands-on activity (require photos or snapshots)

3- Guided analysis activities Guided analysis helps leaners to separate useful from useless information and to infer general principles and conclusions from separate, confusing, concrete instances. 5,10,15,2025,100 are divisible by five so all numbers that end with 0 or 5 are divisible by 5 The learners observe and collect data to see and verify (not to discover) the principles and theories. If theory T is true, observation O should happen in situation S.

Another example https://horton.com/additional-resources/e-learning-examples/do-activities/guided-analysis

Ways to guided analysis Compare and contrast Classify items (drag & drop- select the category) Outline items (create a hierarchical organization – Concept maps) Re-create famous examples (paintings, music, experiment, writings,…etc.) Example of compare and contrast?

Best practices for guided analysis Focus on techniques or principles (decide which one is your goal) Spend more time analyzing, not collecting data (use a simulation) Specify a format for answer (make list, table, pros/cons, rate,…etc.) Label and size of the field (use prompts, use a little larger text field, use hints such as KG, CM,…etc.) Prompt higher-level thinking (“it sucks”, “excellent”…etc.). See page 143

B- Discovery Activities Discovery activities don’t present ideas, but lead learners to discover ideas on their own. They transform trial-and-error into trial-and-aha learning

Best practices for discovery activities Resist the urge to lecture Provoke experiments and interaction (by asking a question) Include synthesizing activity (absorbing information is not enough ask students to summarize and make conclusions) Balance realism and complexity. (Don’t become obsessed with realism)

Types of discovery activities Virtual laboratories Case studies

Virtual laboratories A virtual laboratory provides an on-screen simulator or calculator that learners can use to test ideas and observe results.

When to use virtual laboratories Instead of real laboratories (never crowded, never closed, never broken, never blow up) To prepare learners to use real laboratories (be more efficient in real lab) For abstract experiments (remove gravity, crossbreed a panda, control confounding variables)

Best practices for virtual laboratories Focus on what you are teaching If the goal is preparation for real lab (add details) If the goal is discovering principles (remove extra lab equipment) Challenge learners’ assumptions and misconceptions Prescribe experiments (ask specific questions to be answered) Allow independent experiments too Reuse your virtual laboratories (simulations and virtual labs are reusable in other courses)

2- Case Studies Also known as student projects or student research Case studies teach students to develop abstract, general principles from specific, concrete particulars.

Types of case studies Instructor-led case studies Virtual field trips Observe-and-comment activities Mini-case studies Reaction (reflection) papers

C- Games and Simulations Could be the best type of Do activities.

1- Base the game on a single objective

2- Clarify the purpose Games serve 2 purposes Provide practice of skill Provoke discovery of knowledge

3- Make the game easy and quick Use just a few simple rules Use a familiar models (Jeopardy – Drag & Drop) Use the same type of game throughout the entire course.

4- limit the scope or use segments of a larger game Branching simulation of up to five jumps. Quiz-show game with up to 25 questions. Word puzzle with 30-40 clues. Jigsaw puzzle with 25-50 pieces. Personal-response simulation for three to five decisions. Math or financial simulation for a single calculation involving five to ten variables.

5- keep game activities consistent Using too many types of games can confuse learners. Good games are hard to make and hard to find Use games that can be played over and over (e.g., quiz-shows, word games, task simulations)

6- Use the same type of game for testing