Contextualized Learning Module Design Workshop

Contextualized Learning Module Design Workshop COETC Grant May 17, 2012 Facilitators: Ruth Brancard and Elaine Baker

Workshop Goals • Understand COETC grant project call for contextualized modules • Articulate a broad instructional goal for your team’s contextualized instructional module • Identify technical content and basic skills competencies for your module • Using a design process template, describe at least one instructional activity for your module and link the activity to technical content and basic skills competencies. • Agree on a process and timeline for your module design

Task Description: What and Why Why • Students want good jobs, but often lack the requisite basic skills to enroll in program courses • Students often have a superficial understanding of the actual skills and culture of different vocations. What • Energy faculty and developmental faculty work together to create one-credit introductory modules that build skills and introduce students to the individual college’s energy program

Warm-Up Talk to a partner • Tell about an important skill or concept you learned. • Describe the context in which you learned it. • Why was the learning important to you?

Contextualization Definitions • An instructional approach connecting foundational skills with college-level content (Perrin, 2011) • A conception of teaching and learning that helps teachers relate subject matter content to real world situations (United States Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education, 2011)

Infused Academic Contextualization (Baker, et al.) • Primary learning goal: Basic academic reading, writing, and/or math skills • Taught and practiced within a meaningful engaging content topic Example: Integrated ESL Skills Courses COETC Application: Provide instruction in reading, writing, and/or math skills needed for learning or using technical field content

Infused Occupational (Baker, et al.) • Primary focus: Occupational Content • Taught with additional instruction and practice of reading, writing, and/or math skills required to learn the content Example: I-BEST in Washington state Pharmacology Math course in a nursing program COETC application: Math course as part of energy program at FRCC

Arguments for Contextualization • Overcomes skill transfer problem • Helps student see usefulness and relevance to their lives (Perrin, 2011)

Learning • The learner connects new information, concepts, and experiences to past learning. • The learner actively constructs new meanings. • Learning and identity are linked. As learning changes what the learner can do, it changes his/her sense of self. • Learning is social as well as cognitive. It happens in interaction with others and with the ideas of others.

Principles of Instructional Design • Plan with the end in mind. What will students learn? What will they be able to do? • Focus on student activity, not just information transmission. • Connect to student experience. • Build in interactivity—student-student and student-instructor interaction. • Include formative and summative assessment. • Revise based on student feedback and assessments of learning.

Module Goals • Generate student interest in the technical area. • Build student confidence in ability to learn the content and do the job. • Help students to imagine themselves learning the content and doing the job

Accomplish Goals by • ENGAGING THE LEARNER: Provide learning activities that engage students’ active participation • INTRODUCING THE FIELD: Familiarize students with some basic aspects of the technical area—issues, job tasks, skills, processes, language, technical or scientific concepts. • BUILDING BASIC SKILLS: Provide review and practice of basic skills needed to access technical content or perform job tasks.

Brainstorming Activities • Readings • Online or face-to-face discussions • Problems • Video Clips • Field experiences • Written reflections or summaries of learning

Cross-Syllabus Work • Identify goal(s) for the module. (10 min.) • Individually (10-15 min.) • Spend time reading syllabi—technical area, developmental reading, writing, and math syllabi • Create preliminary lists of possible competencies • Together (25-30 min.) • Discuss suggested competencies • Agree on a common list of both technical and basic skills competencies

Module Goals and Competencies Posters • What do you notice? • What ideas do you get from the work of other teams that may be applicable to your work?

Guiding Principles Learning • The learner connects new information, concepts, and experiences to past learning. • The learner actively constructs new meanings. • Learning and identity are linked. As learning changes what the learner can do, it changes his/her sense of self. • Learning is social as well as cognitive. It happens in interaction with others and with the ideas of others. Instructional Design • Plan with the end in mind. What will students learn? What will they be able to do? • Focus on student activity, not just information transmission. • Connect to student experience. • Build in interactivity—student-student and student-instructor interaction. • Include formative and summative assessment. • Revise based on student feedback and assessments of learning.

Design Process, Part 1

Designing for contextualized modules

Your charge for this afternoon • Use the design template and design visuals to think through one or more activities for your module. • 2:15- 2:30 Break • 2:30 Report back to the group about your work • What did you come up with? • What are next steps? • What did you notice about the process?

Contact Information • Ruth Brancard • 303-589-8724 Ruth.Brancard@ucdenver.edu • Elaine Baker Elaine.Baker@cccs.edu • Casey Sacks Casey.Sacks@cccs.edu

Contextualized Learning Module Design Workshop