1. What are the key similarities or striking differences
between the theories/models in a given unit? Do the theories/models in a unit
share any common foundations or principles?
When comparing PSI (aka
the Keller Plan) and the A-T Method, one cannot help but see today’s web-based
instruction at infancy. PSI was
developed in the 1960s and is geared more for higher education. PSI reminds me of military training – learn, rehearse/remediate,
test, and move on to the next area of instruction. Learn the next area, rehearse/remediate,
test, and then retest on the first area to ensure the skill is still there. Move on to the third area where you learn,
rehearse/remediate, test, and then retest on areas one and two, etc. There is significant teacher or proctor to
student time which makes PSI expensive and is generally not conducive to teaching
large groups of students.
The session 3 lecture states that A-T was developed in 1961 and was “designed to help students lacking prerequisite skills to keep up with their classes.” A-T would be extremely beneficial for ESL and/or special needs students, or students with lower level reading and/or comprehension skills. A-T students also have significant teacher to student time, but the teacher is “virtual” while a proctor is provided to assist with questions. I actually had a class while working on my bachelor degree that used a lot of the A-T Method principles.
Both PSI and A-T allow for significant self-paced studies, allow for more efficient time management than traditional classes, can be extremely beneficial for certain students – allowing for an increase in learning outcomes, and rely heavily on technology – allowing the instructors to better manage their class load.
2. What are your initial reactions to these learning
theories/models? What are barriers to
their use? What benefits might be expected
for those who overcome the barriers?
As an adult educator,
I can clearly see some benefits to both the PSI and A-T Methods. One I mentioned earlier – the personal time
these models provide. For child or adult
learners with anxiety issues – the stress level of learning, testing, peer to
peer interaction, etc., must be significantly reduced. Because PSI is geared more for children, I
can see that some children could be embarrassed or harassed for attending a
class with alternative methods and they could be opened up for ridicule or even
bullying to some degree for being “different.”
For adults returning to school for a GED or degree seeking adults who
have been out of school for several years, A-T might have a positive impact as
they get their feet wet in the academic realm again. Of course the expense inherent with low student
to teacher ratios makes both of these learning models difficult for schools to
provide as government funds are decreased while tuition costs continue to significantly
outpace standard cost of living allowances.
3. Would you attempt to use any of these theories/models
with the students you are currently teaching or hope to teach in the
future? Why or why not? Could elements of the theories/models be
modified so that they would work with your current/future students?
I already do use the A-T Method via the use
of audio files (podcasts) and video files embedded in the blended e-learning
course I teach. We offer audio or video
lectures for every section of the three modules and then provide written
transcripts for every lecture so students can either listen to and/or read a
lecture or they can watch and/or read a lecture (depending on the
lecture). Many of our students will
follow along with the transcripts while listening to the audio and video presentations. We offer these options to try to appeal to
the greatest number of student learning styles because even if educators do not
believe in the theory of learning styles, many students do. When I begin my weekly webinars, we begin in a big group room where I do the "lecture" and then we go into breakout rooms of not more than 10 students each where each group works on a scenario specific to their group. We return to the main room where the "group leader" then presents the group answer to the scenario to the entire class, we discuss it as a class, and move through the scenarios until all have been presented, discussed, etc. This method allows everybody to benefit from the work of the class, while only having to work on one scenario each week. This keeps our webinar times down to 90 minutes/week instead of a minimum of 2 hours.
Another reason to try to utilize PSI and A-T
is because despite the technology curve and the age of technology wizards in
today’s world, many adults are returning to school for a variety of reasons
and not everybody is a technology wiz,
so these methods might help alleviate some anxiety for returning adults. I have found that the learning curve is tough
enough based on the material being taught – adding in a technology learning
curve is just overwhelming for some students, which results in a significant
level of PSI on my part to facilitate students completing the course as quickly
and painlessly as possible. I believe
this is one of the reasons why our end of course feedback rocks!
4. Since we’re talking learning theories/models that were
not necessarily created with the Web in mind and turning them into Web modules,
what Web-based tools or resources could be leveraged to carry out these
learning theories/models online? Please
spend some time identifying tools and resources for this last point, as this
background research should help you complete your projects more efficiently.
Well, the first one I
think of is Blackboard because that is what I use for my job. Obviously along that same vein are Moodle, Sakai
and a variety of Google sites. Then
there other options out there like WordPress and VoiceThread which are
extremely user-friendly, a variety of Wikis might help, and then there are much
more difficult programs to learn like Second Life.
The biggest issue to
me along this track is the ability of the student to learn the program while
also learning the material being taught in the course. Just because we have the technology does not
mean we should always use it. Take stakeholder
and student capabilities into consideration when designing your course.
Melissa, your description of audio-tutorial as useful for ESL or special needs instruction made me think of the new movement toward blended learning, and how it uses a similar approach with students accessing online content and modules, supported by an online/virtual teacher, and a proctor for exams or teacher's assistant in the physical classroom. I had not considered that, but it seems there might be some similarities there.
ReplyDeleteI was particularly struck by your point about learning styles. While much of the published research in instructional design does not support developing course content to suit different learning styles, you are quite right that "even if educators do not believe in the theory of learning styles, many students do." When it comes to individualized learning, especially in technology-mediated environments, students do exhibit preferences based on their cognitive needs and their level of comfort with/anxiety about the content, the technology, and their classmates. The A-T approach does seem to lend itself to a more personalized experience in this way as well. Thanks for bringing that to the fore!
ReplyDeleteLauren, thanks for your comments. I see so many of my students struggle with the technology side of the course I teach. Many beg for a F2F class, but with today's decreasing budgets and manpower shortages, F2F classes are being eliminated every year because of the expense of sending students to another location, room and board, etc. Even sending an instructor to them is no longer viable. We have 12 instructors for 8000 students/year and we know we've got to appeal to the greatest number of students and their learning styles as possible while battling firewall issues inherent with being on a military installation. We're getting better and have learned a lot over the past couple of years, but I know we can do better and our students will appreciate every little step we take to give them the learning styles they require to learn the material we forcefeed them in every course.
DeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteI think you are right in identifying that the lack of technological savvy can be a factor in how effective the learning will be for many of today's adult students. Operating a tape player or some of the earlier equipment was certainly not as daunting as using some of the technology today. Given the number of passwords and accounts we all have accumulated, just being organized enough to get into the computer lessons can be a challenge!
Hey Luis, thanks for posting on my blog. You're a great Team 2 member!! Tech savvy is a huge issue for us. We have tons of students who can take apart, repair, and put back together a fighter jet, but don't know how to use Bb or DCO - our online management tool (our webinar host). I believe technology is getting easier to operate, but there is still a long way to go. Steve Jobs wanted technology simple and easy to use for the masses and I think his efforts have resulted in just that, but maybe I'm just getting smarter after working with all the great students I've encountered in this program! :-)
DeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you were able to relate the two models to real life experiences - it helped turn a theoretical discussion into a more practical one!
Dear Melissa,
ReplyDeleteYou mention something that I don't often see brought up, but that I know is an underlying issue for those new to online learning - stress.
I took all of my teacher certification coursework online, and remember wondering how in the world I was going to be able to learn online. It ended up being the experience that took me on the path I travel today, but I know that the best courses I took were able to reduce the stress in a variety of ways: Repetition of information in multiple places, clear expectations and really good feedback/communication. The model chosen to instruct online can have a significant impact on the stress levels of learners, and how well they do. Thank you for mentioning this!
I'm so sorry - this is Amanda C., your TA!
DeleteHey Melissa!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your reaction to the two models! It was very refreshing to see that you are already using a "hybrid" of sorts of the two. You seen to care more about "how" a person learns compared to their classmates as opposed to strictly learning this, this, and this....the content. It definitely makes for a better learning experience.
Your order of events for the course you teach is almost identical to that of Strayer University. My courses there were the same way; listen to a lecture, break, come back in breakout groups, long break, come back and let the spokesperson for each group present the finding and discuss, break, recap, and call it a night. The biggest difference is that the class was 4hrs long once a week and we did not have access to transcripts other than our own personal notes---which definitely would have been beneficial in getting the material to sink in.
I now know that a mix is being done and it works. I gravitated toward it over the last week after reading from the standpoint of how much a proctor on hand would add to the learning process as well as offering as many resources outside of the written content to ease the stress of basically learning alone.
Thanks for your post, Melissa!
Kim
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteOne of the strongest points you make is that the students must be prepared for these models. Not only may they be resistant due to a fear of change and/or the unknown, they may also be genuinely confused as to the expectations and new roles that are being introduced. Not only must they be active partipants in the model, they must be active participants in the preparation. After all, this is a different learning method than many of them have ever experienced.
Luis