Effective Pedagogy – PowerPoint Presentation

Describe how each phase is best conceptualized at the college level.

There are generally three major phases of an Integrated Course Design. Many of these components are found in other models of instructional design. However, these components are crafted into a model that is considered to be relational and integrated to the learning process over a model that is traditionally linear. (Fink, 2003)To understand how this model works, one needs to understand what comprises this model and how each phase is conceptualized overall. There is the Initial Design Phase, the Intermediate Design Phase, and the Final Design Phase. Let us review these major phases of design.

Initial Design Phase

In the Initial Design Phase, instructors must be able to “begin with understand who your students are, deciding what you want them to learn; determining how you will measure student learning; and planning activities, assignments and material that support student learning.” (Pregent, 2000)The first steps of this phase include identifying important situational factors and learning goals. Once these steps have been completed, instructors must “formulate appropriate feedback and assessment procedures.” (Fink, 2003) Beyond this step, effective learning activities must be crafted and finally, to end the first phase, primary components will be integrated for success.

Intermediate Design Phase

After completing the Initial Design Phase, instructors begin the Intermediate Design Phase. The components have been created for the course, but now instructors must organize them into activities that will blend course goals and ideas into a whole. There are three essential steps to completing the Intermediate Design Phase. First, the instructor must create a thematic structure for the material. Ask yourselves, “What unites my ideas?” From this step, identifying and creating strategies to implement this structure into instruction must occur. Finally, the structure and strategies must align to create the overall scheme of the course and the activities that surround it.

Final Design Phase

Once an instructor has completed the Initial Design Phase and the Intermediate Design Phase, they must move on to the Final Design Phase. This phase is all about finishing any lingering tasks and polishing the designed course, checking for any errors or flaws.“How will this be graded?” You have all of your components present and they have been assembled into a strong structure. But, how will you grade your student’s work? Creating a realistic rubric is important to maintain coherent instruction. Beyond this, instructors must be able to “de-bug” the lesson plan for any possible issues. Once satisfied with the material, instructors now must pen the course syllabus into a clear, concise document that makes sense to the students. Finally, instructors must plan for an evaluation of both the course and to assess if they have achieved the desired outcome.

Explain how relevant each phase is to the success of the college teaching-learning effort.

The Initial Design Phase is relevant for numerous reasons. It allows for systematic review of all major components and with learning focused goals, students are not learning to test and forget, but learning for the long term. The activities involved engage students on meaningful and relevant levels by incorporating reflective learning. In the Intermediate Design Phase, instructors are able to arrange learning concepts into logical sequences or “foundations” that the students can build upon during the length of the course to assure that students become comfortable with the gradual mastery of concepts and understand further complexities and greater challenges.When it comes to the Final Design Phase, instructors must take care to assure that the grading system is fair and reflects the student’s ability to learn the material in it’s entirety. Also, instructors are able to trouble-shoot the material to make sure that students are receiving the best possible instruction.

Discuss the areas of each phase in need of theoretical elaboration or further research.

Each phase will require some level of additional elaboration or research. Designs and plans are just that, plans and must remain some what flexible and subject to change as necessary.The Initial Design Phase is meant to be continually improved upon and changes in one area will affect and “reinforce” the others. Some times this can be as simple as adding one different form of learning to a goals list and/or a new type of assessment. These can be altered through experience, trial and error, or simply through learning new means to teach with. As course design changes, it is important to review the Intermediate Design Phase to make sure the course structure is not over-simplified or too complex in nature. To prevent the material from becoming stagnant, some rotation of learning activities might prove beneficial for differentiated learners. To maintain clarity and focus, an instructor must always be on top of making sure that changes are appropriately reflected in the course grading rubric and syllabus. Out-dated grading systems and course layouts always require further investigation and correction.

Explain what the fields of adult education and educational psychology say about the activities that take place in each of the three phases of college instruction.

It is always important to take note that in the fields of adult education that an instructor must take note of the context of each lesson and how the material is absorbed by the students. Each student has a complex and different set of needs that must be met to learn successfully. Lives outside of the classroom will undoubtedly impact their ability to understand the material and adequately express their mastery of the subject through assessments, informal and formal alike. Maintaining a focus on the material is paramount, but it is imperative to take the setting into account as well. Does the learning connect to the student? Is it founded in a realm of reality as well as a place of relatability. (McKeachie & Svinicki, 2014) This is why the three phases of instruction must be aware of these external influences and be mindful of them during course design.

Resources

Fink, D. L. (2003) A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.McKeachie, W.J. & Svinicki, M. (2014) McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.Pregent, R. (2000) Charting Your Course: How to Prepare to Teach More Effectively. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.