more signal, less noise instructional design with cognition in mind thomas c. hammond professional...

More Signal, Less Noise Instructional Design withCognition in Mind

Thomas C. Hammond

Professional Development Committee Program

25 Nov 2013

[Learning as change in behavior]

…change in mental behaviors

Information processing theory

First, some (very simple) theory

Output(Response)

Input(instruction)

• Statement• Performance• Piece of writing• (etc.)

Output(Response)

SensoryInput(from

instruction)

• Hearing a statement

• Viewing media• Touching a

manipulative• (etc.)

Long-term memoryLong-term memory

Short-termmemory

Short-termmemory

Output(Response)

SensorymemorySensorymemory

SensoryInput(from

instruction)

retr

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repetition / rehearsal


Short-termmemory

Short-termmemory

Output(Response)


SensoryInput(from

instruction)


retr

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(suc

cess

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Principles we can apply to our instruction1. Reduce the noise

2. Increase the signal

3. …and not too much at one time

Reduce the noise

“Noise” = “Distraction”

Extraneous information

Verbiage

Visual clutter

(etc.)

(are my speakers turned on?)

“Noise” =

REDUCE THE NOISE

“

DISTRACTION”

E

XTRANEOUS INFORMATION

V

ERBIAGE

V

ISUAL CLUTTER

(

ETC.)

Real-world illustrations of noise

Winter, 1998

Real-world illustrations

Winter, 1998 Spring, 2013

Reduce the noise

“Noise” =

Reduce it via…

“Distraction”

Extraneous information

Verbiage

Visual clutter

(etc.)

CRAP design

•Contrast

•Repetition

•Alignment

•Proximity

•Contrast

•Repetition

•Alignment

•Proximity

• CONTRAST• REPETITION• ALIGNMENT• PROXIMITY

Lack of contrast

•Contrast

•Repetition

•Alignment

•Proximity

• CONTRAST• Repetition• alignment• PROXIMITY

Lack of repetition

•Contrast

•Repetition

•Alignment

•Proximity

CONTRAST•REPETITION

ALIGNMENT

PROXIMITY

Lack of alignment

•Contrast

•Repetition

•Alignment

•Proximity Contrast

Repetition

Alignment

Proximity

Lack of proximity!

•Contrast

•Repetition

•Alignment

•Proximity

In general…•Keep it simple

•Keep it clean

Reduces the noise

•Contrast

•Repetition

•Alignment

•Proximity

In general…•Keep it simple

•Keep it clean

Reduces the noise

ASK YOURSELF:

…How would Google design this? (minus all the data stealing)

…How would Yahoo! do this (and then do the opposite)


Short-termmemory

Short-termmemory

Output(Response)


Sensory Input(from

instruction)


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NAME PREWAR VICTIMS

Austria 185,000 50,000

Belgium 65,700 28,900

Bohemia and Moravia 118,310 78,150

Bulgaria 50,000 0

Denmark 7,800 60

Estonia 4,500 1,750

Finland 2,000 7

France 350,000 77,320

Germany 566,000 138,000

Greece 77,380 63,500

Holland 140,000 100,000

Hungary 825,000 559,500

Italy 44,500 7,680

Latvia 91,500 70,750

Libya 30,000 712

Lithuania 168,000 141,500

Luxembourg 3,500 1,950

Norway 1,700 762

Poland 3,300,000 2,950,000

Romania 609,000 278,000

Slovakia 88,950 69,500

Tunisia 90,000 260

USSR 3,020,000 1,050,000

Yugoslavia 78,000 59,750

Jewish demographic data circa Holocaust

Increase the signal by…

• Providing visuals

• Being multi-modal

• Being interactive

• Teaching just-in-time, not just-in-case





• Teaching just-in-time, rather than just-in-case






NAME PREWAR VICTIMS

Austria 185,000 50,000

Belgium 65,700 28,900

Bohemia and Moravia 118,310 78,150

Bulgaria 50,000 0

Denmark 7,800 60

Estonia 4,500 1,750

Finland 2,000 7

France 350,000 77,320

Germany 566,000 138,000

Greece 77,380 63,500

Holland 140,000 100,000

Hungary 825,000 559,500

Italy 44,500 7,680

Latvia 91,500 70,750

Libya 30,000 712

Lithuania 168,000 141,500

Luxembourg 3,500 1,950

Norway 1,700 762

Poland 3,300,000 2,950,000

Romania 609,000 278,000

Slovakia 88,950 69,500

Tunisia 90,000 260

USSR 3,020,000 1,050,000

Yugoslavia 78,000 59,750






y = mx + b

Y X

2 -5

-2 3

0 -1

This line……has a negative slope (slants down)…crosses in negative territory (left of and below the origin)…is linear, not curvilinear (no powers involved)…will have a constant derivative






• Clickers, etc. –see PollEverywhere

• Blogs • Forums• Q & As• Stop and ask for predictions• Student “whole product”

work• Student community /

collaborative work• As much formative

feedback as you can manage!

• …draw on your powerpoint. Really.

{

Example of interaction

Question

What is CRAP used for?

Text your response to

37607

Answer choices

418670 = “Reducing noise”

418671 = “Increasing signal”

418672 = “Something unspeakable”

Tool = PollEverywhere.com; responses displayed at http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/jCAIhjci5PDSOMC






Accept epistemological shift! Assuming a useable framework, reference-on-the-fly via Wikipedia, Google Earth – whatever repositories work for your disciplinary community

Teach in context, to increase ‘necessity’ (and hence JiT-ness) of information

y = mx + b

…and how is this used in real life?

Teach concept use concept in lab

?


Short-termmemory

Short-termmemory

Output(Response)


Sensory Input(from

instruction)


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Not too much at one time…Chunk it!

• Telephone numbers• 6107583529• 610.758.3259• (610) 758-3259

• Social security number or LIN• xxx-xx-xxxx

• Sets of ideas• “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”• “Five Pillars of Islam”

To return to an earlier example…

Chunking: Not just a good idea…

• Miller, G.A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review 63(2), 81-97.

Lee & Molebash, 200430 grad students in SS ed split into 3 conditions: heuristic + Google, archive, or selected docs

Pre/post/post design: “How was the Cuban Missile Crisis resolved?” before, after, and then 2 months after

“[P]articipants … who used the 5 pre-selected documents were more likely to retain contextualized knowledge about the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

Branching out: Brave New World of technology-users?Research-based

1. Be (more) visual

2. Be (more) multi-modal

3. Be (more) interactive

4. Be (more) on-demand (just-in-time vs. just-in-case), recursive

Speculative

1. Be (more) “authentic”? Game-oriented?

2. Off-load (some) fact-recall; emphasize schema-building?

3. Be more epistemologically self-monitoring?

Fighting over this stuff

Research-based

1. Be (more) visual




Speculative





Research-based

1. Be (more) visual




Speculative




We need to invent Digital Native

methodologies for all subjects,

at all levels, using our students

to guide us. (Prensky)


Research-based

1. Be (more) visual




Speculative





Research-based

1. Be (more) visual




Speculative




“Our ability to interpret text, to make the

rich mental connections that form when

we read deeply and without distraction,

remains largely disengaged.

[A]s we come to rely on computers to

mediate our understanding of the world, it

is our own intelligence that flattens...

(Carr)


Short-termmemory

Short-termmemory

Output(Response)


Sensory Input(from

instruction)


retr

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l

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ding

(suc

cess

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)

1. Reduce the noise



…but these will always help

Questions? Comments?

hammond [at] lehigh.edu

more signal, less noise instructional design with cognition in mind thomas c. hammond professional...

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