Blooms and Kolbs Flex ISW Nov2015

Time to complete this module

30-40 minutes

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module you will be able to

Tailor your learning objective (LO) to engage different domains and depths of learning using the action verbs provided in this module
Identify the 4 stages of Participatory Learning
Understand how different participatory learning activities are suited to different learning objectives

Reflect

Consider your current teaching practice and courses that you have taken as learner. In your opinion,

What is the advantage of learning objectives from the perspective of your learners?
What is the advantage of learning objectives, from the instructor's perspective?

Watch

We have talked extensively about Learning Objectives so far, but haven't explored different depths of learning, and how to target your LOs appropriately. Please watch this video to learn about Bloom's Taxonomy of verbs. This will be useful to you as you construct meaningful learning objectives for your course.

Read and Do

Review the Bloom's Taxonomy Handout, and complete learning objectives for the Cognitive domain with respect to your own discipline.

Also, write one Learning objective for the Affective domain, and one for the Psychomotor domain (any level).

Don't forget these tips for writing objectives:

How specific and detailed should objectives be?

It depends on what they are used for! Objectives for sequencing a unit plan will be more general than for specifying a lesson plan.

Don't make writing objectives tedious, trivial, time-consuming, or mechanical. Keep them simple, unambiguous, and clearly focused as a guide to learning.
The purpose of objectives is not to restrict spontaneity or constrain the vision of education in the discipline; but to ensure that learning is focused clearly enough that both students and teacher know what is going on.
Express them in terms of student performance, behavior, and achievement, not teacher activity.
Three components of an instructional objective:

Identify the type of activity in which competence is required (e.g., "Dissect...").
Specify the criteria or standards by which competence in the activity will be assessed (e.g., "a frog so that the following organs are clearly displayed...").
List any conditions or circumstances required for students to meet the objective (e.g., "...given two class periods working with the materials at your lab station").

Participatory Learning Stages

Participatory Learning is a central tenet of the ISW. Learners feel more involved with the material when they work first-hand with it, and this creates more long-lasting / meaningful understanding of the materials. Participatory learning often occurs in different stages:

Concrete Experience

We are constantly experiencing our lives whether it’s walking balanced along a curb, learning to use new software on a computer or enjoying a nice book. These moments are particular events in which you experience the physical, sensory and emotional aspects of the world. Learning is a concrete experience and one that is not confined to a lecture room. Lessons involving participatory activities provide learners with a concrete and personal experience of the information to take with them. Experience-based lessons improve thus can be highly engaging and maintain motivation in learners. Experiential lessons are also well retained. Examples: Laboratories, Field Work & Observation studies, Readings and research, Simulations and games

Reflective Observation

The ability to recall and relive our experiences in our minds offers an opportunity to learn more from our experiences then what we thought and felt during the experience. We can make sense of the experience by adopting different points of view or exploring alternative explanations for what we have observed. In a lesson reflective observation can be provided through activities such as notebook/journals, group discussions, brainstorming and thought provoking questions. This phase allows learners to sort and organize the information given to them within their minds. This process deepens learner understanding of the lesson-material.

Abstract Conceptualization

One of the largest strengths of the human mind is the ability to organize information and place it within a model or theory to make predictions about the world for which we lack experience. We recognize objects fall when dropped and from this we learn that if we drop a vase, it will fall, even though we may never have seen a vase dropped in our lives. We can further abstract from the real world and build models such as Force = Mass * Acceleration [F = MA] for the force with which the vase will hit the ground when dropped from a height of 1.2 m. Conceptualization of information provides a framework for learners to interpret the world around them and generalize the ideas taught. It’s much easier to remember F = MA then it is to remember a table of values for mass and acceleration and the corresponding force produced. Conceptualization can be taught through lecture, papers, model building and project work.

Active Experimentation

Experimentation is the application of our ideas and theories to the real world. It is the manipulation of the world around us with the aim of better uncovering the truth. A model or theory is only as good as it can explain the world around us and how we find this out is through experimentation. Experimentation in learning can both be a method of uncovering information through the process of performing an experiment and as a reinforcement of previous abstract ideas in the real world. We experiment in the classroom through simulations, case studies, laboratory, field work, projects and assigned homework.

Apply

Consider the different level Learning Objectives you wrote. Are some of them better suited to be achieved through different stages of Participatory Learning? Pick one learning objective that could be easily achieved for each stage of participatory learning. So you will have one LO for Concrete Experience, one LO for Abstract Conceptualization, one LO for Reflective Observation, and one LO for Active Experimentation.

ALTERNATIVELY

Pick one higher level Learning Objective, and think of 4 different Participatory Learning activities that could work toward achieving that LO - one activity for each stage of Participatory Learning.

Bring your completed Bloom's Taxonomy Handout, and your connections to Participatory Learning stages with you on Saturday, and be prepared to discuss with your peers.

Go Further

Review the "Objective Tips" handout for a concise introduction to writing learning objectives using Bloom's taxonomy . You may also wish to see the list of Bloom's Taxonomy Action Verbs Action Verbs
Now that you have had a chance to explore Blooms Taxonomy for creating learning objectives, consider the role of online learning and learning technologies in your teaching and learning. Read through the guide to Bloom's Digital Technology http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s%20Digital%20taxonomy%20v3.01.pdf/65720266/bloom%27s%20Digital%20taxonomy%20v3.01.pdf (you may want to start on page 7 of this 75 pages document) and consider ways that your objectives might include a focus on digital tools.
For a great list of verbs in the cognitive, psycho-motor and affective domains, see BCIT Handout on Writing Learning Outcomes