#09 designing program activities
- 1. Designing Program Activities:Educator Roles & Approaches,Adult Learners
- 2. Today’s PlanEducator roles Approaches used for education/health promotionAdult education - How is it different? Instructional Design – if we have time
- 3. What have you learned about instruction or teaching from being a student ?
- 4. Principles of Instruction Merrill (2000, 2001)Addresses real problemsActivates existing knowledgeKnowledge is demonstrated to learners Knowledge is appliedKnowledge is integrated into learner’s world
- 5. Educator Roles(Not an exhaustive list, but a few examples to work with)ExpertPlannerInstructorFacilitatorResource personManagerMentorCo-learnerReformerReflective practitionerResearcherModel
- 6. Expert ApproachBased on liberal education model developed by classical Greeks Assumes thatLearners are uninformedExperiential knowledge is less importantThe experts have all the answersEducatorsSeen as possessors of knowledge and skillsTransmit these to others who do not have themParticipantsNeed to learn and master material and skills according to the experts' instructions
- 7. Facilitator ApproachBased on Humanist educational philosophyEmphasis on maximizing growth of the total personEducatorsHave no specific agendaAssume participants are already well-informed about topicHelp them gain access to knowledge they already haveParticipants Decide what they want to learn aboutBackground and experiences are taken into account
- 8. Critical Inquirer ApproachBased on Critical/Humanist philosophyEmphasis on promotion of self-actualization by becoming an autonomous, critical and socially responsible thinker through an emphasis on rationalityEducatorsUse questions to help participants think critically about issuesParticipants Have responsibility to contribute meaningfully
- 9. Collaborator ApproachFalls in between expert and facilitator approaches in terms of responsibility for content and methodsRecognizes that both educators and participants bring specialized knowledge to learning experiencesEducatorsBring research-based principlesPrepared agenda and curriculum but are fitted to needs of participantsMaintain some control over schedule and content Participants Bring own lived experience regarding these principlesEncouraged to contribute ideas for agenda
- 10. Interventionist ApproachChange agentsBased on radical educational philosophies EducatorsSeen as liberators, not facilitatorsParticipants Become social activists
- 11. Eclectic ApproachUse elements of all approaches depending on the situation
- 12. As an adult learner, what educator roles have you observed? As an adult learner, which educator roles do you feel work well for you? Why?
- 13. Adult EducationThe set of activities or experiences engaged by adults which lead to a change in thinking, values, or behaviourAndragogyThe art and science of helping adults learnPedagogyThe art and science of teaching children
- 14. Learning Environments for AdultsHow do your needs differ in these areas as adult learners?Learning resourcesPhysical settingSocial climateInstructional climateAccessibilityInstructor’s personalityTeaching methodsOther learners
Editor's Notes
- #4: You all have extensive experience as learners. Think about all your experiences being a student as a child, an adolescent, young adult or a returning student? What do these experiences have in common?What differences did you hear in these narratives about peoples’ experiences with learning?
- #5: Addresses real problems as human service professionals this is one principle where we have a real advantage ---Can't get much more real-world and personal than with family or nutrition issues - We all eat and family relationships are generally close and continuing - presenting an excellent forum to consider real-world problemsActivates existing knowledge while discussion of previous knowledge does not create new knowledge, it does bring existing knowledge to a more conscious level and helps organize itKnowledge is demonstrated to learners learning is facilitated when new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner It may take many demonstrations for effective learningKnowledge is applied - Merrills’ fourth principle – learning is facilitated when the learner is required to use this new knowledge to solve problems. Can be daunting - like working on your projects - the jump from previous experience to new performance can be particularly challenging. When it comes to behaviour change, Gottman (1994) recommends that we help learners to “overlearn” their new skills so that when they face a challenge and are tempted to fall back into underproductive practices or responses. Practice is the key to making this new learning more like a habit that you call upon when you need"Practice is the most neglected aspect of effective instruction" Use it or Lose it most definitely applies to this principlePractice can be set anywhere - instructional or real-worldProgram projects that you are doing are a hybrid of these two. Most of us learn from the errors we make, especially when we are shown how to recognize the error, how to recover from the error and how to avoid this in the future. As an instructor I still revise and re-work courses and activities in in efforts to practice what I preachKnowledge is integrated into learner’s world Learners may benefit from teaching their new found knowledge to others The combination of integrating skills into everyday life and sharing them with others cements the lessons. -preschool and elementary teachers do this all the time in multi-age classroom settings, there is great satisfaction and motivation in moving from student or learner to teacher or mentor
- #6: Hand out slips of paper and have students work on groups of 3 Write down what you think the basic assumptions are about the approach, role of the educator/teacher and participant/student for these different educator approaches.
- #15: Learning resources: materials, handouts, overheads, slides, Physical setting: the room, size, comfort - esp. imp. Social climate: interactions, personality, do they know each other?Instructionalclimate: formal, informal, participation Accessibility: physically Instructor’s personality: warm, judgmental, welcoming Teaching methods: active learning Other learners: #'s, proximityIntroduce sample learning agreement - don't forget to raise importance of confidentiality, ethical limitations around information shared during sessions.
- #16: Adult learners need to see the relevance of the content that they are presented with. Need to feel that their prior knowledge is respected Absolutely want to have an active role in their learning.