The Value of Resources

This week’s required assignment for the instructional design course I am currently taking is to search for resources on discussion topics for the week and comment on the value of the resources found.

Resource 1:  Information-Processing Theory

 “A leading orientation in experimental psychology that focuses on how people select, process and internalize information and how they use it to make decisions and guide their behavior.”

For me, the quote summarizes the Information-Process theory.  In the article, the author breaks down the information-processing theory of human cognition in basic stages.  The article addresses how we as individuals, in stages, intake information, process the information and store it for later retrieval from either our short-term or long-term memory. An instructional designer's understanding of this theory can impact how they approach the design of training.

The author also recommends additional readings that pertain to information processing and problem solving, which relate to other topics that are addressed in my required text for the course.

http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/334/Information-Processing-Theory.html

Resource 2: Problem Solving

The Complete Method of Creative Problem Solving guide offers an array of problem solving steps and techniques using non-technical language that I believe can be easily used by anyone.  Content on this site ranges from ‘What is Problem Solving?’ to problem solving lesson plans for teachers. 

In the instructional designer role, understanding the science of problem solving is important.  When designing training, designers need to have some sense of how individuals learn and comprehend information. I appreciate the author's approach in organizing the information on the website and keeping it simple for individuals to grasp.  The bonus of this site - the offering of problem solving techniques I can refer to when developing and designing training.

http://www.problemsolving.net/

How Do We Learn?

As I embark on this journey of learning all there is to know about Instructional Design, my first assignment is to understand learning theories and learning styles that play a part in how I learn.  In reading the article, Learning Theory, I am focused on how the author connects ‘learning as a product’ and ‘learning as a process’ (Smith, M.K. (1009). 

The author discusses how the product of learning is change.  If one sees change, then the desired outcome has been achieved.  I believe you can see the product of ‘learning’ only if the person changes due to understanding what it was to be learned. Here is where the learning as a process comes into play.  How the information is presented affects the outcome – will the learner grasp what is needed to perform?

The product of learning is often on the display in many of our school systems. Children are consistently tested to assess if they have been ‘changed’ by what has been presented.  Teachers are assessed on the processes applied in presenting what is needed to be learned and if their students have a true understanding of the content – did their students pass the test?

 In an adult learning environment, learners’ assessment of the training received is often evident if they are able to apply what they is learned once they return to the job.  Did what they learn in training produce a ‘change’ in how they perform a process, participate on a project or lead a team of their peers?  Was the presentation of the learning presented in an environment for the learner to comprehend?  

Smith references Professor Roger Saljo’s research around how adult learners understand through learning. Saljo took the responses from his research and put them into five categories: 1) learning as a quantitative increase of knowledge, 2) memorizing, 3) acquiring facts, skills, and methods to be retained and used, 4) making sense, and 5) interpreting and understanding in a different way (Ramsden 1992:26).  Saljo’s categorization of the responses he captured show just how many different ways individuals learn, process what they learn and understand what they learn.

Ramsden, P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education London: Routledge. 290 + xiv pages.

Smith, M. K. (1999) 'Learning theory', the encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/b-learn.htm, Last update: September 03, 2009

Saljo, R. (1979) ‘Learning in the learner’s perspective. I. Some common-sense conceptions’, Reports from the Institute of Education, University of Gothenburg, 76.