Month: October 2024

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpolpKTWrp4

Please watch the video linked above that was chosen to be included in our group’s interactive learning design project. Though this video does not directly ask students to respond in a particular way, there is an innate interaction between the student and the learning material. Our group has chosen to design a course for teens about anxiety in adolescents. This means that since it will be teens who are viewing the video from Anxiety Canada (2019), students are likely to reflect on the material in the context of their own mental health experiences. Additionally, since our students will be given quizzes and a unit exam that covers all course content, students will likely make notes or summarize the video in order to make studying easier. These would all be considered learner-generated forms of interaction since they do not involve a direct interaction between the learner and fellow students or an instructor, yet still an interaction between the students and the course content (Bates, 2019). 

An activity that students could do after viewing the video includes working together in breakout rooms of about 3 students to identify a time in each group member’s life where they have personally seen anxiety to be adaptive. They might then have a small activity such as creating a mindmap or visual representation of their experiences. They could also add in feeling or emotional descriptor words that come to mind when they think about the word ‘anxiety’. 

This activity would not be graded, and further, be more directed towards getting students to reflect on what they have just watched and discuss their ideas with their peers. That being said, students might still receive a participation mark and feedback from the instructor. Feedback from instructors is extremely important when automated answers or feedback cannot be given (Bates, 2019), such as the case with this activity. Moreover an instructor could give groups feedback through a printed medium, such as email, assessing the quality of their answers and offer further examples that were not identified by the group. Additionally, an instructor could join a breakout room or zoom call with any group that is struggling to generate ideas, or understand the benefits of the assignment.

This activity would be manageable regardless of class size as each individual student will bring a different perspective and there are no “right” or “wrong” answers. I believe this activity may be a worthwhile assignment as it gives youth a potentially new perspective on anxiety that they can work to reconcile with their prior thoughts and feelings. It would be a somewhat substantial amount of work for an instructor as they will have to read through each group’s mind map and reflect on the effort that students have contributed towards its completion. Additionally, it is important for instructors to remember that they would be marking students efforts to visually represent their reflective ideas related to the video that they have watched, not simply how “good” the visual representation itself looks. However, in terms of giving students feedback, I believe this is still a manageable workload. Therefore, by completing this activity, students will have interacted with the content, fellow students, and the instructor. 

References 

Anxiety Canada. (2019). Fight Flight Freeze – Anxiety Explained For Teens [Video].YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpolpKTWrp4

Bates, A, W. (2019). Interaction. In Teaching in a Digital Age (Second edition). Pressbooks

Universal design, an essential concept to the inclusion of diversity, is characterized by designing architecture, structures, concepts and products that are usable to the most number of people possible without further revision (Burgstahler, 2009). Furthermore, universal design is primarily about ensuring that what is designed makes everyone’s lives easier, instead of simply designing for a specific need (Kim & Jeong, 2020). Another example of universal design in engineering is flexible seating that is moveable and has a variety of options to accommodate individuals of varying physical abilities, heights and weights (Bilt, 2023).

The example of universal design in seating can be used to inspire universal design in a learning context in a number of ways. For example, a course with a universal learning design may implement flexible due dates (for instance an assignment is due on Sunday, but everyone may turn it in until Friday without penalty), which would allow additional time for students with diverse learning needs, but also for students who are working, and students who have personal matters come up. I have previously taken a course which has implemented this option and it was very helpful for both myself and a number of my peers over the course of the semester. 

Additionally, a course with a universal learning design may offer a variety of project options that students can choose from to demonstrate their understanding of course material. Examples of such projects may include art pieces, digital design, community involvement, group work, or more traditional writing projects. I am a psychology major and many of the courses I have taken expect students to write a term paper. This may be difficult for students with dyslexia, students who are still learning English, or students who simply do not enjoy writing or find the process stressful. Moreover, term papers might not always be an accurate representation of how much many students have truly learned over the semester. By allowing students to choose a medium that they enjoy, students may be able to better convey the knowledge they have learned, regardless of their writing ability. 

Overall, we can take inspiration from the flexible seating universal design in engineering to reflect on how learning design can be adapted to serve the maximum number of students and not trap learners in a one-size-fits-all course structure.

References

Bilt. (2023, July 14). Universal Design Principles And Construction. Bilt by Jaffer. https://www.bilt.ca/2023/07/14/universal-design-principles-and-construction/

Burgstahler, S. (2009). Universal Design: Process, Principles, and Applications. DO-IT.

Kim, J. S., & Jeong, B. Y. (2020). Universal safety and design: Transition from universal design to a new philosophy. Work (Reading, Mass.), 67(1), 157–164.  

Kim, J. S., & Jeong, B. Y. (2020). Universal safety and design: Transition from universal design to a new philosophy. Work (Reading, Mass.), 67(1), 157–164. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-203261

Direct instruction is a learning strategy characterized by presenting information to students in a straightforward manner then allowing them opportunities to subsequently apply their knowledge (Chase & Klahr, 2017). Direct instruction usually includes breaking down knowledge, instructions, and complicated tasks into a series of smaller, clearly stated, steps (Gersten, Woodward, & Darch, 1986). This learning strategy provides a number of advantages including potentially reducing the cognitive load of students (Chase & Klahr, 2017), minimizing the potential for students getting off-topic during instruction, and enabling teachers to better determine where specific learning misunderstandings occur during lessons (Gersten, Woodward, & Darch, 1986). Nevertheless, the direct instruction learning strategy may present drawbacks such as limiting individual students’ abilities to make connections to the material (Schwartz et al. 201, as cited in Chase & Klahr, 2017).

The direct learning approach can be effective when teaching about anxiety in teens, which is our group’s chosen topic. For instance, since our course is designed for secondary-aged students, this may be the first time many participants are encountering psychological principles or studying anxiety in depth. The direct learning approach should generally minimize any assumptions that students already have knowledge or an understanding of the given curriculum (Gersten, Woodward, & Darch, 1986). This means that using the direct learning approach, providing comprehensive, basic information about anxiety in adolescence is of utmost importance. It should also be broken down appropriately into manageable modules.

Furthermore, it is important to allow students to then utilize this information, sometimes referred to as “tell and practice” (Chase & Klahr, 2017). This may include giving students a practice worksheet where they will need to apply the knowledge they have acquired during class to help solve a specific problem. Additionally, learners can apply their knowledge through quizzes and tests. This would allow teachers to identify which specific aspects of the course content are not being proficiently learned by students, and enable instructors to give feedback to students. A teacher using the direct instruction learning approach may then repeat instruction or demonstration of a concept that is difficult for students (Gersten, Woodward, & Darch, 1986). 

Overall, this approach would present potentially new information about anxiety to students in a straightforward and clear manner. This approach may be effective in covering the most potential information, broadening students’ understanding of anxiety. A drawback of this approach, especially for this course, is that many students may have personal connections to the topic of anxiety in adolescence and the direct learning approach may limit student’s ability to contribute to the class or enhance the connections they could otherwise make.

References

Chase, C. C., & Klahr, D. (2017). Invention Versus Direct Instruction: For Some Content, It’s a Tie. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 26(6), 582–596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-017-9700-6

Gersten, R., Woodward, J., & Darch, C. (1986). Direct Instruction: A Research-Based Approach to Curriculum Design and Teaching. Exceptional Children, 53(1), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440298605300102