Morrison, Ross and Kemp Blog 5

Chapter 8 describes how to present the information you have completed in the design process.  This chapter described how to create a pre-instructional strategy to focus the learner’s attention on the instruction, how to signal different aspects of the instruction through words and typography, and finally, how to use pictures to enhance learner understanding. 

This chapter describes the 4 types of pre-instructional strategies:  pretests, objectives, overviews, and advance organizers.  Each of these strategies performs different functions and words with different content structures.

Communications of your instructional message can be enhanced by signaling the texts’ structure to the learner.  These signals can take the form of explicit pointer words:  There are two methods…, or typographical signals, such as boldface or italics.

Pictures can provide concrete references for abstract terms presented in the text.  These pictures can provide decoration, representation, organization, interpretation, or transformation function in the text.  (pg. 188)

The development of instructional materials is the implementation of the instructional design plan.  Considerations must be made regarding how best to convey information to the learner in a way in which the learner can best comprehend.  Problems and objectives must remain in the forefront to ensure that the instruction supports the learning outcomes.

There are two types of cognitive loads, Intrinsic and Extraneous.  Intrinsic load is a function of the content and is highest when there is a high degree of interactivity between the elements.  Extraneous cognitive load can be increased or decreased through the design and layout of the instructional materials.

There are three patterns that Morrison, Ross, and Kemp discussed.  Presentation to class self-paced learning, and small group interaction activities – provide the framework for delivering a variety of instructional formats.  These questions should be answered when determining which pattern you should use when designing the instructional plan.

a.     Is there subject content or other material that can best be uniformly presented to all learners at one time?

b.     Is there subject content that learners can better study on their own, at their individual paces?

c.     Are there experiences that would best be served by discussion or other group activity, with or without the instructor being present?

d.     Is there need for individual learner-instructor discussion or consultation in private?

They also listed 3 questions that should be considered when choosing among the three delivery patterns.

1.     Large group format is the most widely accepted method in schools.  However, this pattern tends to keep learners in a generally passive mode and may not be cost effective in training contexts where learners are geographically dispersed or highly varied in experiences and training needs.  Distance learning is gaining popularity as a mode for reaching many learners located at remote sites as a means to reduce cost and increase enrollments.

2.     In business, many companies are switching to a self-paced delivery format to reduce travel costs and time away from the job and to increase the efficiency of the instruction.  Greater access to computers by businesses and schools is making self-paced instruction more practical and potentially more powerful.

3.     In many situations, there are no clear-cut divisions among the three patterns.  A presentation to a regular-sized class can incorporate questions and discussion.  Self-paced learning periods may be supplemented periodically with tutorial interaction as one learner helps another or as the instructor replies to a trainee’s questions. 

In today’s learning societies, it appears that a mixture of these learning processes should be considered when developing the learning communities design plan.