SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

1. SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES • Solid research base is lacking • Hundreds of literature prescribe how to develop educational programs: useful for specific or for all professions • Practitioners skeptical about the prescriptive frameworks • Practice involves personality conflicts, political factors, and resources constraints

2. Limited research shows no continuing educators use textbook planning frameworks, even for programs that are ‘successful’ • Doesn’t mean practitioners do not think in systematic ways • Textbook planning frameworks do not adequately prescribe and describe those systematic processes • Practitioners have personal values, believes and institutional context that influence program development

3. Central task for effective practice: • Make own framework explicit • Analyze its assumptions and principles • Alter it when necessary

4. Which Program Development Framework Should Practitioners Use? • Tyler (1949) suggests 4 questions as guide for curriculum development • What educational experiences should the school seek to attain? • What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes?

5. How can these educational purposes be effectively organized • How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained Apps (1985) translated the questions into five tasks: • Identifying learners’ needs • Defining objectives • Identifying learning experiences that meet these objectives

6. Organizing learning experiences into an educational plan • Evaluating the outcomes of the educational effort in accordance with the objectives Pennington and Green (1976) interviewed 52 CPE program planners in university setting: how planning was done?

7. Findings: Four major discrepancies between literature and practice • Little comprehensive needs assessment – lack of time, expertise, or recourses • Available resources were not used to determine program’s objectives • The design of instruction was not based on learner characteristics, desired outcomes, time, money, or other resources • Comprehensive evaluation was not done

8. Factors influencing the practices: • Personal values • Environmental constraints • Available resource alternatives • Other factors • Planners respond to the context • Planning framework in the literature presented in context-free manner • Textbook framework can be useful as long as practitioners aware of their limitations

9. An Overview of Program Development Frameworks • Frameworks from Individual Professions • Sork (1983) found 22 literature on CPE program planning • Equal emphasis give to both the activity levels and organizational levels of programming • Most planning frameworks were designed for members of a single organization • The level of sophistication needed to use the frameworks is relatively low

10. Most publications emphasize the ‘how’ rather than the ‘why’ • Planning steps similar with Tyler’s questions • Highly prescriptive in nature little attention to context • Difference emphasis given to the linkage between the educational program and the expected changes in professional practice; practice emphasis more than the framework

11. Cross-Professional Frameworks • Suggested by Pennington and Green (1976) from study of six different professions • Business administration, educational administration, law, teaching, social work, and medicine • Descriptive rather than prescriptive framework • General model comprises a series of tasks and decisions

12. 1st Cluster – Originating the idea: • Formal need assessments • Requests from a client • Availability of project monies • Legislative mandates • Suggestions from campus faculty • 2nd Cluster – Developing the idea: • Informal test of the idea with practitioners • A review of literature • A market analysis

13. 3rd Cluster – Making a commitment: • Selecting instructors • Using existing course or develop a new one • 4th Cluster – Developing the program: • Objectives were determined • Subject matter was developed • Materials were accumulated • 5th Cluster – Teaching the course: • As planned and some flexibility

14. 6th Cluster – Evaluating the impact: • Determination of what to evaluate • Developing instruments • Administration of the evaluation • According to Pennington & Green program development is a form of administrative decision-making • The decisions were based on contextual factors such as climate, internal and external constraints and resources

15. Houle’s Triple-Mode Model • Focus on strengthen professional performance • Planning itself should be part of the educational activity • Suggests a comprehensive educational process consists of 3 modes of participation: instruction, inquiry, and reinforcement • Originated from several models used by medical profession

16. Steps in Houle’s Model • Developing a list of standards of good practice • Setting the ideals of what these standards can accomplish • Establishing a floor for what these standards can accomplish • All staff are informed about the steps already taken and approve of what has been done • Data are collected on current staff performance

17. These measurements of performance are compared with both the ideal and minimally acceptable standards to determine the problems • Determine the causes of the differences between what is and what ought to be • Educational programs develop to correct the problems • Evaluate the changes • Further programs are considered if needed

18. Houle’s model similar to Tyler’s model • First 6 steps are elaborated way of identifying learner’s needs • Setting objectives and identifying and organizing learning experiences are done in steps 7 and 8 • Evaluating the outcomes occurs in steps 9 and 10

19. Practice-Audit Model • Developed by Queeney and Smutz (Pennsylvania State University) • Based on pharmacy profession • Similar to Houle’s model • Both are practice oriented and similar process are used in carrying out the frameworks • Both are prescriptive frameworks

20. Unique characteristic of this model – its implementation involved a collaboration between a higher education institution and professional associations • Consists of 7-phase process: • A committee of 6 – 10 members was developed from relevant academic department, state and national associations, and national regulatory agency • Developing practice descriptions and then validated by asking practitioners the importance of each task

21. Performance assessment materials were developed and acceptable and unacceptable levels of performance were determined • Conducting the practice audit session to gather data on the practice descriptions • The participants’ performance was compared to the standards that had been developed in phase 3 – the deficiencies formed the basis for educational program • CPE programs were developed • Evaluating the changes in practice after 6 months

22. Program Development as Professional Work • Framework or model must be adapted to the context • It is a practice undertaken by CPE educators • As a form of professional practice it can be analyzed within the functionalist and critical frameworks • Functionalist – assumes practice problems are well formed and that these problems are solved by the application of scientific knowledge

23. The goal is to help professionals gain new knowledge, attitudes, or skills • Done by framework where needs are assessed, objectives identified, instruction organized, and outcomes evaluated • Planning frameworks as forms of scientific knowledge if applied will improve practice • Reality is different so an alternative was proposed

24. Critical viewpoint offers a more useful way to understand program development • CPE educators regularly confronted with situations that are characterized by uniqueness, uncertainty, or value conflict • They must construct the problem from the situation using the skills of problem-setting • The knowledge used comes from repertoire of examples, images, understandings, and actions

25. Professionals’ espoused theories of practice and theories-in-use (Argyris and Schon, 1974) • Espoused theory – theory of action (what is planned in given situation) • Theory-in-use – theory governs educators’ actions; may or may not similar to their espoused theory • Theory-in-use must be constructed from observing actual behavior

26. All program development frameworks are someone’s espoused theories • Argyris and Schon argue that professionals must develop their own continuing theory of practice under real-time conditions • CPE educators should make their espoused theories congruent with their theories-in-use which is context-specific which include: • personal beliefs and values about learning • Proper place of the professions in society • Whether they are technically trained

27. Some theories-in-use are more successful than others • CPE would become more effective if educators see themselves as practical theorists: • Analyzing their own practice • Making explicit their theories-in-use • Present actual planning frameworks