OLI Course Design & Learning Principles

Why a “learner-centered” approach?

Learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks. The teacher can advance learning only by influencing what the student does to learn (Herb Simon, 2001).

It’s not teaching that causes learning. Attempts by the learner to perform cause learning, dependent upon the quality of feedback and opportunities to use it (Grant Wiggins, 1993).

Data on student thinking is critical to effective instruction … example

Which problem type is most difficult for Algebra students?

Story Problem

As a waiter, Ted gets $6 per hour. One night he made $66 in tips and earned a total of $81.90. How many hours did Ted work?

Word Problem

Starting with some number, if I multiply it by 6 and then add 66, I get 81.90. What number did I start with?

Equation

x * 6 + 66 = 81.90

Algebra Student Results:Story Problems are Easier!

The Expert’s Blind Spot

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ElementaryTeachers

Middle SchoolTeachers

High School Teachers

% Making CorrectRanking (which problems hardest)

Nathan, M.J. & Koedinger, K.R. (2000). Teacher’s and researchers beliefs of early algebra development. Journal of Mathematics Education Research, 31(2), 168-190

Expert intuitions about student difficulties are often wrong, systematically biased

The Course Design Triangle

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Instructional Activities

Objectives

AssessmentsTasks that provide

feedback on students’ knowledge and

skills

Descriptions of what students should be able to

do at the end of the course

Contexts and activities that foster students’ active

engagement in learning

The Triangle Exemplified

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Learning ObjectiveLearning Objective … … the students should be the students should be able to write a clear topic able to write a clear topic sentencesentence

Instructional Instructional ActivitiesActivities

Categorize example Categorize example sentencessentences

Revise poor examplesRevise poor examplesPractice at writing topic Practice at writing topic

sentencessentences

AssessmentAssessmentGenerate a clear topic Generate a clear topic sentence for a new sentence for a new topictopic

Using The Course Design Triangle To Guide CC-OLI Design

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Activities

Objectives

Assessments

Student Centered & MeasurableApplicable in Many Community Colleges

Principles of LearningMulti-Media Design PrinciplesAffordances of OLI technology

Opportunities to learn Support monitoring of learningAffordances of OLI technology

The Principles

From the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence

http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/principles/learning.html

A Quick Detour

User Experience Matters

• Interfaces can get in the way of learning• Tools need a purpose – technology should

play a supporting role

Practice and Feedback

Goal-directed practice and targeted feedback are critical to learning.

Practice that is...• directed toward a specific level of performance• continually monitored• informed by previous feedback

Feedback that is...• related to performance criteria• timely, frequent and constructive• linked to opportunities for further practice

OLI MiniTutors

• Goal-directed practice and targeted feedback are critical to learning

Organization

The way students organize knowledge determines how they use it

Can facilitate retrieval and use of knowledge and further learning when...• knowledge is organized around meaningful principles• relationships between and among concepts are clear• knowledge includes conditions and contexts for use

Can interfere when knowledge is...• fragmented or disconnected• linked inappropriately (causal, correlational)• missing conditions and contexts for use

Big Picture

The way students organize knowledge determines how they use it.

Mastery

Students only learn what they practice, so they must• practice component skills and knowledge• practice synthesizing skills• practice when and how to apply knowledge and skills

otherwise students will unable to transfer them to a new context

StatTutor

• The way students organize knowledge determines how they use it. • Goal-directed practice and targeted feedback are critical to learning. • Mastery involves developing component skills and knowledge, and

synthesizing and applying them appropriately.

Principles of E-Learning1. Multimedia

2. Contiguity

3. Coherence

4. Modality

5. Redundancy

6. Personalization

Clark, R. & Mayer, R., e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning, 2005

Principles of E-LearningResources:

oli.cmu.edu (especially after June 7)

youtube.com/cmuoli

@cmuoli

@NormanBier

@BillJerome

@JohnRinderle

Clark, R. & Mayer, R., e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning, 2005