Saturday, September 27, 2014

Instructional Design: Step 3 - Feedback and Assessment Procedures


Step 3 in Instructional Design as described by Fink considers Educative Assessment, including procedures for Forward-Looking Assessment, Criteria and Standards, Self-Assessment by students, and “FIDeLity” Feedback.  Each of the aspects is considered in relation to developing a workshop on EndNote Desktop for graduate students (and possibly some faculty), particularly for those in STEM disciplines.

1.        Forward – Looking Assessment.  

Students and faculty need to collect and organize references for use in class writing assignments, literature reviews, and as background information to support research studies.  These reference materials need to be properly cited in papers and publications.  References may need to be used multiple times in a series of related manuscripts, and/or may need to be shared among members of a study or research group.  Having a structure for organizing the reference and citation information can improve work flow and productivity.  Sometimes a reference citation formatted in one citation style needs to be converted to a different style for a different assignment or publishing outlet.  Desired outcomes of this workshop are for participants to learn how EndNote Desktop can be used as a tool to develop, organize, manage, and share collections of reference sources, and that the Cite While You Write plug-in for Microsoft Word can facilitate formatting of in-text citations and reference lists in papers and manuscripts.

A research scenario that includes a broad topic or question along with two or more subtopic areas of inquiry can form a basis for demonstrating the functions and capabilities of EndNote Desktop.  Workshop participants can try out the features of EndNote Desktop using the scenario given as an example, or by choosing their own research topic and questions.

An example research topic question and subtopic questions might be:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of wind turbine farms as an alternative energy source?
a.       How much wind energy can be generated to replace fossil fuel usage?
b.      What are the environmental costs of wind farms, such as impacts on bald eagles?
c.       Can energy produced from wind be efficiently stored for future use?  What additional equipment is needed to support wind-generated power?

2.        Criteria & Standards

Establishing criteria provides a means to identify achievement in relation to learning goals, while standards provide a means to measure levels of achievement.  For the EndNote Desktop Workshop, the following learning goals and sub-goals were identified in relation to the Forward-Looking Assessment described above.  

Goal 1:  Workshop participants will be able to create, organize, and share a library of citations in EndNote Desktop.
a.        Workshop participants will be able to use Direct Export to capture citation information in EndNote Desktop from records in a library database.
b.       Workshop participants will be able to import PDF files of reference articles into EndNote Desktop.
c.        Workshop participants will be able to organize citations (and any attached PDFs) in EndNote Desktop into groups, including managing multiple copies.
d.       Workshop participants will be able to develop subgroups of citations using a filter/query function applied to a main topic group.
e.        Workshop participants will be able to annotate a PDF attachment for a citation in their reference library.
f.         Workshop participants will be able to share their EndNote Desktop library with another user.
Goal 2:  Workshop participants will be able to use the Cite While You Write plug-in for Microsoft Word.
g.       Workshop participants will be able to use the Cite While You Write plug-in for Microsoft Word to insert in-text citations and create a reference list in a selected citation style (such as ALA, MLA, or Chicago).
h.       Workshop participants will be able to use Cite While You Write to change citation and reference formats to a different citation style.
i.         (Optional, if time allows).  Workshop participants will be able to create a bibliography in a file format such as HTML or XML (for publishing on a webpage).

In relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy, this workshop focuses primarily on the Application level of using and applying knowledge.  As a result, the teaching approach needs to provide students the opportunity to do tasks themselves in relation to each goal and sub-goal of the workshop, using either the provided scenario example or a research topic of their own choosing.  Participant success can then be measured by whether individuals complete each task, with the number of tasks completed defining levels of Proficient, Intermediate, or Getting Started.  Instruction may be considered successful if at least 75% of participants attain the Proficient level for Goal 1 and the Intermediate level for Goal 2 by the end of the workshop.

Criteria 1: Creates, organizes, and shares a reference library using EndNote Desktop (i.e., Goal 1).

                Proficient:  Completes 4-6 of the tasks associated with sub-goals a-f.
                Intermediate:  Completes 2-3 of the tasks associated with sub-goals a-f.
                Getting Started:  Completes 1 of the tasks associated with sub-goals a-f.

Criteria 2: Creates in-text citations, references lists, and bibliographies using the Cite While You Write plug-in for Microsoft Word.

                Proficient:  Completes 3 of the tasks associated with sub-goals g-i.
                Intermediate:  Completes 2 of the tasks associated with sub-goals g-i.
                Getting Started:  Completes 1 of the tasks associated with sub-goals g-i.

3.       Self-Assessment 

Participants will be able to see where they are having difficulty in completing tasks.  They will be able to ask for assistance and advance their skills as they work through each task in a successive manner.  A worksheet with the tasks listed may be provided, which would allow participants to indicate whether they were able to complete each task and would provide room to note areas where they had difficulty.  Participants also can be asked for input on what they found most helpful and how they expect to use what they learned.

4.        FIDeLity Feedback

Participants need feedback that is Frequent, Immediate, Discriminating, and Lovingly delivered.  Participants will be asked whether they have used EndNote Desktop before coming to the workshop, what features they have used before, and what functions they are most interested in using.  This will help gauge how to pace the material for each section of the workshop.  Questioning participants on their level of understanding also will be interspersed with explanations and demonstrations to determine whether they are following along.  Participants will also be encouraged to ask questions at any time, so that they can be answered immediately.  During times when participants are given opportunities to try tasks on their own, the instructor (me) can address individual and task-related questions, and check on how well participants are doing by roving around the classroom as they work.  A loving approach recognizes that problems and questions are teachable moments and problem-solving opportunities (as opposed to indicators that students are not following instructions or getting it right).  It is also important to recognize that some individuals will grasp the material faster than others will, but that all participants can be successful.

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