1/17/06


Module 5

Learner and Context Analysis

Module Context and Background
Module Focus
Required Reading
Module Requirement
Posting Data
Navigation Page
 

 

 

Required Readings: Dick and Cary, Chapter 5

 

Context and Background


Instructional goals and outcome behaviors may be generated as a result of institutional requirements. These requirements may be the end result of social or economic needs as defined by certain aspects of the community (or nation).
For example: (1) Increased concern for the well being of teenagers, the increasing occurrence of teen-pregnancy and what was perceived as the dissolving family structure (1960's and 70's) resulted in the public education system developing curriculum for middle school sex education. (2) Currently, the business community, to stay competitive on a global market, is looking to the education system for "new workers for the 21st century" who have various working skills, attitudes, and flexibility (life time learners) allowing business to compete on a global scale. 

Both of these examples resulted in new curriculums for teachers to deliver and for students to learn. The outcomes and the curriculums they generated were the result of various social and economic forces and conditions. (Other examples would include the "new math curriculums", "gifted and talented curriculums and programs", and currently the interest in "computer literacy."

 

The ISD System and the Learner


It is important that instructional designers never see themselves removed from the world, but as part of it.

The development of curriculums, instructional materials, delivery systems (people, computers, television, textbooks, kits, etc.), and assessment instruments, are results of many factors. Two central factors needed to be considered are the "instructional goal" and the "characteristics of the learner." Another factor which needs to be accounted for in the instructional process is the "context" in which the learning will take place.

This module will address "the learner" -- who is she or he, and the context in which the learning will take place -- I include more than the physical environment in my definition of the instructional or learning context. To completely consider the development process an analysis of the psychological, the political, the economic, and the ideological, must be considered as factors in understanding the learning environment.

 Return to top  

Addressing the learner

 

One of the dangers of the instructional system design process is that the designer, or the design team views (or understands) themselves as neutral actors in the process (here you need to consider the role of natural science and the concept of neutrality, and of the individual) Because the ISD process emerged out of "natural science", involving scientific procedures and language, disregarding the social and historical, learners and knowledge become movable parts within a system, forming relationships, as demonstrated in flow and PERT charts (PERT = Performance Evaluation and Review Technique).
 

The "system" is the system, removed from the social world but living within it.

As a result, instructional designers, in the process of identifying the learner, are constructing (understanding the instructional system design process as a social construction is important here) the learner. This perspective, one where the (definition of the) learner is a result of the system itself. It is a perspective that differs from the belief that learners can be identified, and that "who they are" is fixed in both time and space.

This difference is a critical one. This difference is founded in the dialectics of modernism and postmodernism. Briefly, modernism proclaims that the Truth (capital T) is out there and all we have to do is find it. Thus empirical science (natural science) says that we can positively (positivism) know the world, know the truth. Postmodernism suggests that there is no Truth (capital T), but many truths (small t). Truth, if there is one lies within the socially and historically constructed individual, not out there in some fixed natural world. Postmodernism address and recognizes the local and regional, whereas, modernism addresses the "grand narrative", Truth is out there waiting is to be discovered

Modernism attempts to fix the world in knowable bits. Postmodernism makes the concept of knowing problematic. In light of our efforts here, when we speak of "identifying the learner", we are really suggesting that we can "fix" the learner in time and space. We can define and point to who she or he is. Postmodernism would suggest that the learner is never "fixed", but is always in flux, changing at every moment, evolving and emerging in different ways at different times.

This causes a problem for the designer who comes from a postmodernist perspective. The learner can never be identified or fixed. That in the end, we can only "construct" learners, knowing that they do not exists as we say they do, or that the learner is generalized to a point where it serves no pedagogic function.

The best "we" can do in the instructional process is first to recognize "our" role in the ISD model (and it is a model, not reality) and move onward with the sensitivity and awareness for the well being of the student who will experience the products of our labors.


The point here is that instructional designers see themselves as "constructing" learners over identifying them. Learners (from a postmodernist perspective) are not fixed and can never be identified, only constructed. As a classroom teacher, or as a corporate trainer, to design a lesson means to also construct who you believe the learner are.

With the above in mind let us walk carefully into the process of forming some sense of who the learner is (learner analysis) as a result of the instruments used and the language selected.

  Return to top

Understanding the Learner Through Analysis

 
8

There are eight (8) elements of the learner identified in our text as being important to our process of developing instructional materials.

It is important that we keep our perspective from outside
the classroom, not in it. In this project you are not classroom teachers, but instructional designers, creating instructional materials for educational environments.

 

Entry Behaviors

 

This element is concerned with the skills, knowledge, experiences, and
attitudes that the learner brings with her/him to the learning
environment/materials.
Historical Knowledge


It is important to understand what knowledge the learner brings to the situation. It is important that instruction builds upon what is already known and understood. If the designer miss-understands this the instructional experiences constructed will either be too hard (student can not make connections or associations to the new knowledge), or too simple (experiences become boring and not engaging) for the student.
Attitude


Here it is important to consider and analyze the learner's attitude towards the content as well as the potential delivery system. If the learner holds no interests in the content, part of the instruction may have to address the reasons why the student needs to know this, or why it is important. The designer may have to consider how the content and its delivery connects with the world of the learner, does it make sense?


Concerns of the potential delivery system is also considered. You may find that young learners prefer "in person" instruction over delivery over television or the Internet, whereas adult learners may enjoy taking a class over the Internet or educational television. Other factors also come into focus here. Teenagers may like video or computer delivered instruction because they feel less pressured and not under the watchful eye of a monitor or teacher.
Motivation


It is important for the designer to consider "why" a student may be interested in the content. What motivated the learner, or why is the learner motivated. This was one of the guiding questions in the development of behavior modification materials/environments. There is also discussions concerning "edutainment" and learning motivation.
General Learning Preferences


How open is the learner to new learning experiences (as well as the institution where the learning will take place). For example, will students be open to learning environments that are based upon constructivists theories? Will students be open to understanding themselves as inquires and constructors of their own understandings.
Group Characteristics


How does the learner "fit" into the group. Is there a group, or are there many subgroups? If the designer understands the learners as part of a generalized group or as members of diverse social economic cultural groups, the design and delivery of the curriculum will be impacted.

 

 

  Return to top

Context Analysis

It is important, at this point, to quote directly from Dick and Carey

Power is the connecting element for the above (list). We need to see them as dynamic relationships, not fixed or frozen, but always changing and shifting. How the designer understands, considers, and acts on the understood social world of the learner will have a great effect on the further design of the learning environment.

Key to understanding instructional design, is seeing it as a set of constructed relationships between content, learner, evaluation and delivery.

Support

This refers to the organizational support for learners as they use the new skills learned. For example, students learn (and are tested on) critical thinking skills. They are provided with examples and problems to address. When students begin to use these skills to solve regional problems (pollution, or library censorship as an example), the student may or may not receive institutional support for the use of their newly acquired skills.

Physical Aspects or Environmental Concerns

Here the designer needs to consider the actual environment and resources of the learning or work environment. Will the learner have the tools, resources, space, time, etc. to learn and put into practice the skills and knowledge learned?

 

Social Worlds

The designer needs to understand the social context of the learner. I include in this list the following:
  • gender
  • race
  • economic
  • cultural
  • power relationships
  • common sense world views

 


Power is the connecting force for the above elements. We need to see all of the above items in a dynamic relationship, not fixed or frozen, but always changing and shifting.

How the designer understands, considers, and acts on the understood social world of the learner will have a great effect on the design of the learning environment.

 

Relevance

Will the learner see or understand the relevance of the instruction and the skills/knowledge to be learned to their current situation or to their futures? Will the students understand the reason for learning the material because they need it now or because they are banking it for future use.

Data Collection

 

The designer (design team) will need to develop a number of instruments for collecting data on the learner, the learner's social context, and the learning and work environment. These instruments may address the assessment of current knowledge and attitudes. The instruments and methods for data collection may consider historical and contemporary data. The designer may use various instruments (tools) to gather data. Some of these tools come from the social sciences. These data collection instruments may include (but not limited to them): observations, interviews, testing, collection of historical data, discussions, to name a few.
 
remember that data is a social historical construction, it does not exist until we say it does -- a postmodern perspective

 Return to top
 
Module Focus:
 
The focus of this module is for your design team to develop a deeper understanding of the learner who will experience the instruction you are constructing. Within the limitations of time created by this class you will need to either collect "real" data or "fictional" data to complete your information form.
 
For each learner characteristic your team will need to describe a "data source" from which you have identified elements of your learner(s). "Data sources" may be drawn from different types of data collection instruments.
 
  • tests
  • observations
  • evaluation of student work
  • instructional records and history
  • interviews
 
 
You will also be invited to complete an analysis of the learning environment or site. (It is assumed that you have read the chapters related to this module.) Your design team will need to consider the physical, social, and resource elements of the learning site. (Keep in mind that the site could be a traditional classroom, a training site for staff or employee development, the learners home, or a community center.)
 
It is important that your design team reflect back to their identification of an instructional goal for this project. At that time you had constructed a learner(s) and had a vision for the learning environment that the instruction would take place.
 
After completing this module you will have created the "shell" for the development of your instructional process (we are not talking about materials at this point, but process). In future modules we will be moving into more detail.
 
 

Module Requirement:

 
This module invites you complete the information requested above concerning the learner and the instructional or learning environment (site). Please refer to the class timeline for completion date.
 
To access the team database record (the writing tool) you will use the same password from module 3 and module 4.
 
If you have any questions have your team leader contact me via e-mail (muffoletto@appstate.edu). If your team would like to "Chat" with me concerning this assignment we will need to set a time and virtual location (chat room).

  Return to top