Sharing the Collective Wisdom of Seasoned Practitioners: An Under Utilized Source of Practical Knowledge

Topics for Discussion Dale What led to interest in this topic Focus of our research Overview of questions and findings Debby Videotaped interviews Common thread among interviewees Personal reflections Practical Side web site & excerpts

In the beginning… Debby – Concerned about being prepared and meeting employer expectations Dale – Looking at university curriculum and assessing applicability to “real-world” needs

Two Types of Knowledge Information about theories Application of instructional tools (e.g. Dreamweaver) Research, trends, & message design UniversitiesReal World Estimating time/cost Return on investment Layers of necessity Dealing with office politics Time & schedule crunches

Defining “Good” Instruction Dynamic Personality The instructors you like now. Career Enhancing The instructors you like later.

Problem Statement Isn’t there some way to expedite the acquisition of wisdom? Books Articles Websites Real-life experts

Purpose Statement Collect stories and advice Archive the information into a data bank Make the data bank available to students and new IDs

Research Question #1 What other attempts have been made to formally document practitioner wisdom in instructional design? Were these attempts successful? What can our project learn from these other efforts? 1. Many good articles and bulleted lists of effective techniques 2. Each book and article provided a unique perspective and was successful in its own right 3. What did we learn? Need for synthesizing information Ascertain “common thread” Make information available in a one-stop location, using a variety of mediums

Research Question #2 What methods can be applied to help practitioners get access to expert knowledge so that it can be shared effectively with others? Professional organizations Communities of practice Online forums Web site with a variety of informational resources (e.g., Practical Side)

Research Question #3 Once experts have been interviewed, how can their stories and advice be stored and represented in a way that is accessible and useful to students and beginning professionals? Attach key words to interviews Use search database Incorporate good site indexing Provide a site map

Research Question #4 How can the stories and advice of the experts be evaluated for quality and value? What value do collected stories have among students and beginning professionals? Interview users of information Conduct surveys Elicit feedback via web site survey

Research Question #5 After reviewing the overall project, what recommendations for improving the project can be made? Continue to enhance Practical Side web site  Add more resources and interviews  Establish searchable database  Better quality video  Written dialog to accompany video segments  Content Management System for growing needs

Research Question #6 How can we take the knowledge attained from this study to proceed with our ”personal- stretch” goals? Publishable paper Website enhancements T3 course on practical real-world skills

Effectiveness of Video Clips “Recorded interviews are a powerful addition to the pedagogical toolbox of any instructor. For example, a brief video clip of the course textbook’s author introducing a topic can entice students to read the book better than any coaxing or threatening attempted by the instructor. Similarly, an authority in e-learning can present very powerfully the case for, say, multimedia cost-estimating methods.”

Effectiveness of Video Clips “ As educators, our goal of course, is to get students energized and engaged in hands-on learning experiences, and video is clearly an instructional medium that generates excitement. Video taps into emotions which stimulate and enthrall students, and it provides an innovative and effective means for educators to address the curricular concepts.”

Interviews Doug McCord – Leadership Trainer Mo Mahaney – Instructional Designer Tammy Maccalous – HS Calculus Jackie Dobrovolny – UCD Instructor

Keywords Knowledge Relates to their audience Listens Is creative, uses variety

Other Keywords Gives feedback Engaging Teaches problem-solving Respectful Enthusiastic Structures objectives Role model Analyzes Passionate Motivating

Practical Side

Questions or Comments? Thank you for listening and participating in our study