[Week 10]
This week saw some major progress on our group project. We have finally established the structure of our instruction, much of the content, and are beginning some early stage prototype videos. At this point my principal concern is the development of professional quality in our videos. Because principles of public speaking are not sequential or cummulative in nature, instruction on public speaking does not need to be either! Still, we are creating structure in each video in order to create a consistent format, so that learners know what to expect out of each video. We have access to the software an hardware to make professional quality videos, the next step is learning how to do it! I am planning on taking some more lynda.com training, this time in video production.
Our design decisions have ranged from large scale to small scale, and many of them are fleshed out through a collaborative process where a group member takes a position on a design decision, and another member takes a differing view, and then as a group we debate the merits of both positions. This is certainly part of the learning process, and as a group we are able to overcome the conflicts, mostly by either abandoning initial positions, or finding middle ground.
One design decision we had to flesh out was the structure of feedback. In our project, learners have the option to upload videos of themselves practicing their speaking skills. To help them, other learners would give feedback. We could not decide if those giving feedback should have a detailed framework for giving feedback (in the format of a form) or general guidelines. On the one hand, a detailed framework would ensure that the learners received relevant feedback. On the other, people may feel intimidated if they were to receive such a form of feedback for their initial efforts. After much debate, we resolved the issue by finding a middle ground: learners could indicate whether they want formative of summative style feedback. If they requested formative feedback, those leaving feedback would leave general, and encouraging comments. If they selected summative feedback, those giving feedback would leave detailed feedback with a high level of expectation, and would use a structured feedback form.
While we have not yet designed the guidelines for feedback nor the feedback form, we think this will enable our learners to collaborate and assess each other by encouraging them to scal expectations to learner input.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
[Week 9] Reflection
Reflection is something I have seldom used in my instruction. Aside from a once-per-concert reflection, I never used it. The reflection I used was something like this:
1. What was your favorite part of the concert last night?
2. What do you think went very well?
3. What do you think could have gone better?
4. What did you learn that will help you for the next concert?
I would leave a good deal of space for the students to write, and was often very surprised by their answers. My purpose was to help them remember the experience, and to draw attention to the idea that a concert is, in addition to a performance, a learning experience.
Another tool I considered using was a practice journal. I don't know if it would benefit the students or not, but I imagine that it would, mainly because it creates another pathway to a memory. Like the 'think sheets' used in R541 and Dr. Pisoni's undergrad memory class, it could create one more 'cue' to remember things.
One thing this week's readings point out to me is that the kind of reflection you do must match your pourpose. While that seems rather intuitive, having a pre-established idea of what kind of reflections are best for certain tasks can certainly instructional designers make more intentional decisions.
In the reading, I found the ideas of meta-cofnitive reflections rather interesting. Davis states: "I characterize reflection as “poor” or “unproductive” when it seems unlikely to promote these knowledge integration processes, and as “more productive” when it is more likely to foster knowledge integration processes. For instance, the student who plans for the day’s work and who considers ways in which his or her ideas are or are not well understood is likely to be more successful at knowledge integration than the student who merely forges full-speed ahead without engaging in these metacognitive activities.
knowledge integration processes of linking and distinguishing ideas."
I find this fascinating because I find myself going through a similar process, where suddenly I'm having to think in a meta-cognitive fashion in many respects, and I'm thinking that it will be very productive to direct students to begin thinking about how they engage their intelligence with the world around them.
Reflection is something I have seldom used in my instruction. Aside from a once-per-concert reflection, I never used it. The reflection I used was something like this:
1. What was your favorite part of the concert last night?
2. What do you think went very well?
3. What do you think could have gone better?
4. What did you learn that will help you for the next concert?
I would leave a good deal of space for the students to write, and was often very surprised by their answers. My purpose was to help them remember the experience, and to draw attention to the idea that a concert is, in addition to a performance, a learning experience.
Another tool I considered using was a practice journal. I don't know if it would benefit the students or not, but I imagine that it would, mainly because it creates another pathway to a memory. Like the 'think sheets' used in R541 and Dr. Pisoni's undergrad memory class, it could create one more 'cue' to remember things.
One thing this week's readings point out to me is that the kind of reflection you do must match your pourpose. While that seems rather intuitive, having a pre-established idea of what kind of reflections are best for certain tasks can certainly instructional designers make more intentional decisions.
In the reading, I found the ideas of meta-cofnitive reflections rather interesting. Davis states: "I characterize reflection as “poor” or “unproductive” when it seems unlikely to promote these knowledge integration processes, and as “more productive” when it is more likely to foster knowledge integration processes. For instance, the student who plans for the day’s work and who considers ways in which his or her ideas are or are not well understood is likely to be more successful at knowledge integration than the student who merely forges full-speed ahead without engaging in these metacognitive activities.
In particular, students who, when they reflect, recognize
weaknesses in their current understanding are more apt to engage in the other
knowledge integration processes of linking and distinguishing ideas."
I find this fascinating because I find myself going through a similar process, where suddenly I'm having to think in a meta-cognitive fashion in many respects, and I'm thinking that it will be very productive to direct students to begin thinking about how they engage their intelligence with the world around them.
Friday, February 22, 2013
[Week 8] Scaffolding
Scaffolding is of particular interest to me because it seems, to an extent, to be very similar to my primary method of instruction in the classroom. As an instrumental music teacher, the learner task is exceedingly complex, and requires the connection of physical motor skills to aural processing and identification, which then must both connect to intellectual reasoning. Failure rate of tasks is 100%, no person succeeds on their first attempt. But ultimately, the goal is to fade the highly detailed, direct instruction into scaffolding, and, hopefully, to fade the scaffolding altogether. "My goal," I used to tell my students, "is to make it so that you don't need me."
Looking over the reading, I see that I did not spend much time on meta-cognitive scaffolding, but heavily used the other three. I'm not entirely sure that my instruction would count as scaffolding, since I never set out to make my classroom a place for inquiry based learning. This begs a question - to what extent should scaffolding be different from direct instruction? My initial thought is that the scaffolding seems to be less oriented to success/failure and more toward 'what you don't know'/'what you need to know.'
What do you think? How does scaffolding compare with detailed instruction for physical tasks?
Scaffolding is of particular interest to me because it seems, to an extent, to be very similar to my primary method of instruction in the classroom. As an instrumental music teacher, the learner task is exceedingly complex, and requires the connection of physical motor skills to aural processing and identification, which then must both connect to intellectual reasoning. Failure rate of tasks is 100%, no person succeeds on their first attempt. But ultimately, the goal is to fade the highly detailed, direct instruction into scaffolding, and, hopefully, to fade the scaffolding altogether. "My goal," I used to tell my students, "is to make it so that you don't need me."
Looking over the reading, I see that I did not spend much time on meta-cognitive scaffolding, but heavily used the other three. I'm not entirely sure that my instruction would count as scaffolding, since I never set out to make my classroom a place for inquiry based learning. This begs a question - to what extent should scaffolding be different from direct instruction? My initial thought is that the scaffolding seems to be less oriented to success/failure and more toward 'what you don't know'/'what you need to know.'
What do you think? How does scaffolding compare with detailed instruction for physical tasks?
Monday, February 18, 2013
[Week 7] Continued
After reading more about storytelling as an element of instructional designed, I feel compelled to reflect on something I posted in Chris' blog, which I will repost here:
"There is also a component of storytelling that I find very interesting – good storytellers seldom tell stories that are 100% true. In one way this is negative – how can we trust the story? how can we be sure it is true? In another way, it is positive – it allows the storyteller to convey the truth of the emotional experience. As a simple example: A fisherman lands a big fish. When he tells the story of how big it was, he exaggerates. Why is this? I feel it is because he needs to convey the truth of his experience, which is the extent of his surprise, joy, and excitement at catching the fish. So, when he tells the story, that fish is not 30 inches long and 7.4 pounds. It is "three FEET and 8 WHOLE POUNDS! It nearly snapped the rod in half", the line didn’t just make noise under tension," it was SINGING!"…etc…
In my mind, this is where the power of the story lays – it allows the teller to emphasize the interaction between facts (the world) and meaningful experience. I feel this is why mythical stories persist for so long. Harnessing the power of stories for instruction is not easy, primarily because the learners are, in many ways, living in a different world than the instructors, and so it is hard to know what they will find compelling.
I have also seen and used stories to indoctrinate newcomers to a specific mentality. Teaching people to rock climb, I tend to repeat the way I was taught: Direct instruction, Mnemonics, and stories. Direct instruction is: "Do x in situation y because z." Mnemonics helped encode important ideas (SRENE for the development of solid anchors). Stories, however, served to initiate the learner into the mentality required for survival in high angle environments. Also, they were designed to cultivate a mentality that respects, but is not controlled by fear and danger. There were also hero and blunder stories, many of which had instruction imbedded into them. These stories composed a mythology and historical record of climbers in the Red River Gorge, with main characters starting in about 1968 until the present day.
I think designing stories for instruction is tricky, particularly since authenticity is elusive. Some considerations:
1) Is the story authentic? Real stories are about events that are important in people's lives, or are unusual or interesting for one reason or another.
2) Is it memorable? Story construction, level of detail, irony, fulfillment or denial of expectation, and content can each play a role.
3) How well does it intersect with the learner's experience? Stories that the learner has no ability to relate to do not work well. For example, telling a story about how you were halfway up a climbing route, were" totally pumped, greasing off, and you found out you were out of #1's, 20 foot run out from your last piece, and had to downclimb the crux..." That story has no meaning to someone who is not a specific type of climber. Stories must be relevant.
4) Details matter: if the story content matches well with the learner's experience, then details add an important depth to the story. This is a place where learning happens. Details set up the story for its lesson - Did the hero remember to do x, y, and z? How much time did he spend doing x, y, z. Detail is a place where a concept can be repeated, and made more important.
What would you add?
Friday, February 15, 2013
[Week 7] Storytelling Research
Once upon a time, I used many stories to teach in my band classes. At first, it seemed that I told stories to simply increase student interest. These stories were not very instructional at first. Most were anecdotal, and, while they may have been good for a laugh, or an 'oh really?' moment, they did not seem to add much to class, except for the fact that I enjoyed telling them, and students enjoyed listening. I told them because I remembered how much I enjoyed my teachers' stories, and how much I looked forward to these moments. They seemed to be downtime, a brief break from the work of learning. Then one day, I was teaching a high school group how to develop an internal sense of rhythm, as the students were diligently (and heavily) stomping their feet to help them keep time. The concert: two days away. It was the group's first rehearsal together on a concert stage. The band sounded beautiful except for one thing: the students, as trained, were tapping their feet to keep time. The result was a beautiful, transcripted adagio aria punctuated with the sound of a slow death march, feet drudgingly pounding out the beauty of the melody. To put it in visual terms, it was like a beautiful painting being repetitively stabbed with a pencil.
To help them, it occurred to me to tell them a story I remembered from music history class.
The hero? Jean-Baptise Lully. French composer of incredible renown in his time, he was the leader of an orchestra, back when an orchestra was something of a new thing, and a very, very big deal. His compositions were loved for their rich harmony, and he was widely celebrated. Unfortunately, his demise came from precisely the problem my band was having. "You see" I described to the class, "He used a rather heavy and pointed stick to keep time for his orchestra. I tap my baton on the podium sometimes to help you keep time, but, maybe I should, maybe we should, learn from the fall of this hero. You see, was furiously trying to get his orchestra to stay together, pounding his stick on his podium - which turned out to be a fatal mistake. In a careless move, he stabbed his foot with the stick. His wound? It became infected with gangrene, which killed him." The students, somewhat shocked, needed a little description of how this could be. After a short description, I said "Let's not follow in his footsteps. Feel the rhythm with your body, not with your foot, but in your torso..." This initiated a lesson on how to do exactly that. The resulting lesson went very well.
This served as my first experience of the use of stories to serve a specific instructional purpose.
Reading the Andrews article, and attempting to categorize the various types of stories I have told is a very interesting idea - and it crystallizes for me the usefulness of planning stories ahead of time, and being intentional, rather than 'spur of the moment' in my use of storytelling. While I feel that storytelling best suits environments where success is difficult or important, I also wonder about its applications in other settings. What are your thoughts?
Once upon a time, I used many stories to teach in my band classes. At first, it seemed that I told stories to simply increase student interest. These stories were not very instructional at first. Most were anecdotal, and, while they may have been good for a laugh, or an 'oh really?' moment, they did not seem to add much to class, except for the fact that I enjoyed telling them, and students enjoyed listening. I told them because I remembered how much I enjoyed my teachers' stories, and how much I looked forward to these moments. They seemed to be downtime, a brief break from the work of learning. Then one day, I was teaching a high school group how to develop an internal sense of rhythm, as the students were diligently (and heavily) stomping their feet to help them keep time. The concert: two days away. It was the group's first rehearsal together on a concert stage. The band sounded beautiful except for one thing: the students, as trained, were tapping their feet to keep time. The result was a beautiful, transcripted adagio aria punctuated with the sound of a slow death march, feet drudgingly pounding out the beauty of the melody. To put it in visual terms, it was like a beautiful painting being repetitively stabbed with a pencil.
To help them, it occurred to me to tell them a story I remembered from music history class.
The hero? Jean-Baptise Lully. French composer of incredible renown in his time, he was the leader of an orchestra, back when an orchestra was something of a new thing, and a very, very big deal. His compositions were loved for their rich harmony, and he was widely celebrated. Unfortunately, his demise came from precisely the problem my band was having. "You see" I described to the class, "He used a rather heavy and pointed stick to keep time for his orchestra. I tap my baton on the podium sometimes to help you keep time, but, maybe I should, maybe we should, learn from the fall of this hero. You see, was furiously trying to get his orchestra to stay together, pounding his stick on his podium - which turned out to be a fatal mistake. In a careless move, he stabbed his foot with the stick. His wound? It became infected with gangrene, which killed him." The students, somewhat shocked, needed a little description of how this could be. After a short description, I said "Let's not follow in his footsteps. Feel the rhythm with your body, not with your foot, but in your torso..." This initiated a lesson on how to do exactly that. The resulting lesson went very well.
This served as my first experience of the use of stories to serve a specific instructional purpose.
Reading the Andrews article, and attempting to categorize the various types of stories I have told is a very interesting idea - and it crystallizes for me the usefulness of planning stories ahead of time, and being intentional, rather than 'spur of the moment' in my use of storytelling. While I feel that storytelling best suits environments where success is difficult or important, I also wonder about its applications in other settings. What are your thoughts?
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
At long last, I have found a way to make my infographic. While my initial ideas were good, making them proved to be impossible. While I was sleeping, it came to me: A TIMELINE is the correct and most attainable design. My initial designs were beyond my ability to create. I will update with drafts today!
Friday, February 1, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
PBL related infographics:
http://yamengli.co.za/work/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/new-map-sml.jpg
http://biepbl.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-meaningful-pbl.html
(this is the heptogon of quality PBL projects!)
http://media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com/upload/233131718181806531_3MOxUvSj.jpg
Infographic comparing Project based learning to traditional instruction:
http://www.edutopia.org/stw-project-based-learning-best-practices-new-tech-research
Apple infographic:
This next one is important, as it has the same goal as my infographic! While I am a little disappointed to find it, I think it will be helpful to be able to build upon. My idea is basically to create an infographic that does what a venn diagram does, but in a way that is actually interesting to look at!
http://yamengli.co.za/work/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/new-map-sml.jpg
http://biepbl.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-meaningful-pbl.html
(this is the heptogon of quality PBL projects!)
Infographic comparing Project based learning to traditional instruction:
http://www.edutopia.org/stw-project-based-learning-best-practices-new-tech-research
Apple infographic:
This next one is important, as it has the same goal as my infographic! While I am a little disappointed to find it, I think it will be helpful to be able to build upon. My idea is basically to create an infographic that does what a venn diagram does, but in a way that is actually interesting to look at!
[Week 4]
Data collection
While I have significantly review literature on project-based learning, visited the Columbus Signature Academy (a project based learning high school), and also observed a one-day follow up workshop of the PBL Academy (project based). And so, I feel quite familiar with project based learning. However, I am less familiar with problem based learning. Unfortunately, there is not time for me to investigate problem based learning to the degree that I have project based learning, and so, for the time, I am going to have to take a quick and dirty look. Here are the resources I am using:
For Descriptions of PBL's:
http://www.aishe.org/readings/2005-1/donnelly-fitzmaurice-Collaborative-Project-based-Learning.html
http://www.pbl.uci.edu/whatispbl.html
http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning
http://www.bie.org/
Comparisons of PBL's
http://pages.uoregon.edu/moursund/Math/pbl.htm
http://champs.cecs.ucf.edu/Library/Journal_Articles/pdfs/Engineering%20Education.pdf
Effectiveness Data:
http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/mop4spr01.htm
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1046&context=ijpbl
Some Video:
Assembling this data into an infographic is going to take some doing!
Data collection
While I have significantly review literature on project-based learning, visited the Columbus Signature Academy (a project based learning high school), and also observed a one-day follow up workshop of the PBL Academy (project based). And so, I feel quite familiar with project based learning. However, I am less familiar with problem based learning. Unfortunately, there is not time for me to investigate problem based learning to the degree that I have project based learning, and so, for the time, I am going to have to take a quick and dirty look. Here are the resources I am using:
For Descriptions of PBL's:
http://www.aishe.org/readings/2005-1/donnelly-fitzmaurice-Collaborative-Project-based-Learning.html
http://www.pbl.uci.edu/whatispbl.html
http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning
http://www.bie.org/
Comparisons of PBL's
http://pages.uoregon.edu/moursund/Math/pbl.htm
http://champs.cecs.ucf.edu/Library/Journal_Articles/pdfs/Engineering%20Education.pdf
Effectiveness Data:
http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/mop4spr01.htm
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1046&context=ijpbl
Some Video:
Since I will be doing a compare/contrast infographic, I decided to see what other have done before me to accomplish such a thing. This is what I found:
http://www.appsheriff.com/inspiration/creative/14-exceptionally-interesting-infographic-comparison-maps/
Most of these only compare differences, but my infographic needs to compare both differences and similarities. Because that is my purpose, this one (which actually does not use figures or graphs) caught my eye.
I thought I would share this one simply because I like the design. However, I find the content disturbing as I am somewhat bothered by the current trend of sterotyping men in this particular fashion. Still, the design is good, and I may end up using some some similar ideas.
This one, like the one above, divides the view in half. In part, I like this idea, but it needs something else to draw similarities together and distance differences.
I think my wireframe will look something like this. Still have to decide what my graphics will be!
http://www.appsheriff.com/inspiration/creative/14-exceptionally-interesting-infographic-comparison-maps/
Most of these only compare differences, but my infographic needs to compare both differences and similarities. Because that is my purpose, this one (which actually does not use figures or graphs) caught my eye.
I thought I would share this one simply because I like the design. However, I find the content disturbing as I am somewhat bothered by the current trend of sterotyping men in this particular fashion. Still, the design is good, and I may end up using some some similar ideas.
This one, like the one above, divides the view in half. In part, I like this idea, but it needs something else to draw similarities together and distance differences.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
[Week 4]
After learning more about representation, I am confronting a common theme in IST - things seem simple on the surface, but the more you dig in, the more complex things become! Thinking about my previous concept - that there should be minimal text, I think that good infographic should go further. As the 'Do's and Don'ts of infographics' website points out, the graphic should convey the information, text should hardly be needed.
Considering my infographic topics, I feel rather stuck. To compare multiple teaching methods in one poster seems rather daunting. In fact, displaying the characteristics of even one seems daunting! There is simply a large amount of information needed to convey the ideas.
Yet I find that there is one topic that keeps coming up in conversations with fellow IST students - the difference between Problem and Project - based learning. The confusion is one that everyone who wants to learn about either must confront, since they unfortunately are both called PBL. While it may have seemed like a nice, subtle distinction at the time, and a way to tie the two together, they are now constantly confused with one another, not only in what people think about them, but also, in conversation, it is not uncommon to lose track of which PBL you are talking about!
So, despite the seemingly complex task of it, this will be my infographic topic: Problem Vs. Project Based learning.
The issues of representation:
1) Delineating the similarities and differences between the two - what kind of representation will be good for contrasting two things that are similar in many ways? While both seem to be a type of inquiry based learning, project-based learning teachers view their practice as a point of separation from problem based learning. In contrast, Problem-based learning teachers seem to view project based learning as an extension of problem based learning.
2) My audience is IST students, but I imagine that this infographic will be good for telling other people (family, friends, teachers, etc...) what PBL is - whether that means problem or project based learning. Because of the contrasting audiences, I will have to consolidate two levels of information into one graphic!
3) Much has been written about both types of PBL. To distill the ideas down to their most important theoretical points is not really an option. Instead, I will focus on the practical results: what is the role of the student, the teacher, and the community? What do the students actually do? How long do they take to do it? How do they go about doing it?
My current idea is to have a poster with two sides. One side will represent Problem based learning, the other will represent project based learning. I am imagining I will use a graphic, such as two people facing off, as if to fight. With one hand they will have boxing gloves that meet each other in the middle of the poster, and the other hands will be giving each other a hand shake. I feel this will represent the philosophical stance of the divide - both methods share similar values, but each has its own method of execution.
I am also tempted to include information from some studies that compare PBL (project AND problem) to lecture based education. Since most of these studies show that both methods compare favorably to lectures, it makes sense to include them. After someone learns the difference between the PBL's, their next natural question would be, 'ok, so why do I care?' or 'ok, how do they stack up?'
I'm sure my plan will change as time goes by, but this is the current plan!
After learning more about representation, I am confronting a common theme in IST - things seem simple on the surface, but the more you dig in, the more complex things become! Thinking about my previous concept - that there should be minimal text, I think that good infographic should go further. As the 'Do's and Don'ts of infographics' website points out, the graphic should convey the information, text should hardly be needed.
Considering my infographic topics, I feel rather stuck. To compare multiple teaching methods in one poster seems rather daunting. In fact, displaying the characteristics of even one seems daunting! There is simply a large amount of information needed to convey the ideas.
Yet I find that there is one topic that keeps coming up in conversations with fellow IST students - the difference between Problem and Project - based learning. The confusion is one that everyone who wants to learn about either must confront, since they unfortunately are both called PBL. While it may have seemed like a nice, subtle distinction at the time, and a way to tie the two together, they are now constantly confused with one another, not only in what people think about them, but also, in conversation, it is not uncommon to lose track of which PBL you are talking about!
So, despite the seemingly complex task of it, this will be my infographic topic: Problem Vs. Project Based learning.
The issues of representation:
1) Delineating the similarities and differences between the two - what kind of representation will be good for contrasting two things that are similar in many ways? While both seem to be a type of inquiry based learning, project-based learning teachers view their practice as a point of separation from problem based learning. In contrast, Problem-based learning teachers seem to view project based learning as an extension of problem based learning.
2) My audience is IST students, but I imagine that this infographic will be good for telling other people (family, friends, teachers, etc...) what PBL is - whether that means problem or project based learning. Because of the contrasting audiences, I will have to consolidate two levels of information into one graphic!
3) Much has been written about both types of PBL. To distill the ideas down to their most important theoretical points is not really an option. Instead, I will focus on the practical results: what is the role of the student, the teacher, and the community? What do the students actually do? How long do they take to do it? How do they go about doing it?
My current idea is to have a poster with two sides. One side will represent Problem based learning, the other will represent project based learning. I am imagining I will use a graphic, such as two people facing off, as if to fight. With one hand they will have boxing gloves that meet each other in the middle of the poster, and the other hands will be giving each other a hand shake. I feel this will represent the philosophical stance of the divide - both methods share similar values, but each has its own method of execution.
I am also tempted to include information from some studies that compare PBL (project AND problem) to lecture based education. Since most of these studies show that both methods compare favorably to lectures, it makes sense to include them. After someone learns the difference between the PBL's, their next natural question would be, 'ok, so why do I care?' or 'ok, how do they stack up?'
I'm sure my plan will change as time goes by, but this is the current plan!
Monday, January 21, 2013
[Week 3]
Today's post: possible choices for Infographic topics:
Set 1: These topics are related to an upcoming study I will be doing this summer:
1) A visual representation of Project-Based Learning: what it is, and what research says about it.
2) Comparisons of 'alternative' teaching methods (Flipped classroom, Project-Based learning, Problem based learning, etc...)
Alternatively:
1) What makes great tea?
2) Home coffee roasting - why and how!
Today's post: possible choices for Infographic topics:
Set 1: These topics are related to an upcoming study I will be doing this summer:
1) A visual representation of Project-Based Learning: what it is, and what research says about it.
2) Comparisons of 'alternative' teaching methods (Flipped classroom, Project-Based learning, Problem based learning, etc...)
Alternatively:
1) What makes great tea?
2) Home coffee roasting - why and how!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
[Week 2]
Principles of Good Infographic Design:
Today's post is designed to develop a single, sound principle to aid in the creation of an infographic. First, some assumptions about the information. The information you are presenting must meet the following criteria:
If these assumptions are not met, even a very well designed infographic will fall short.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, onto a single sound principle. After looking at a number of infographics, I started to notice a good number that seemed more like posters. For example:
While this particular infographic is poor in many ways, the first and most noticeable is that nearly all the text is in one large clump. Unless the reader is really grabbed by the first sentence, it is not likely that they will finish reading it! Instead, chunk your information into small parts, and do not use dense text. Examples:
Regardless of the information being presented, long, paragraph form text is simply off limits. The infographic format is designed to overcome the limits of text only formats. Don't make the mistake of simply bringing text's limitations to a format designed to over come those very limitations!
Principles of Good Infographic Design:
Today's post is designed to develop a single, sound principle to aid in the creation of an infographic. First, some assumptions about the information. The information you are presenting must meet the following criteria:
- It connects to the viewer's previous experience in some real way.
- It adds a new perspective to prior knowledge
- It is not passe or boring
If these assumptions are not met, even a very well designed infographic will fall short.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, onto a single sound principle. After looking at a number of infographics, I started to notice a good number that seemed more like posters. For example:
While this particular infographic is poor in many ways, the first and most noticeable is that nearly all the text is in one large clump. Unless the reader is really grabbed by the first sentence, it is not likely that they will finish reading it! Instead, chunk your information into small parts, and do not use dense text. Examples:
Regardless of the information being presented, long, paragraph form text is simply off limits. The infographic format is designed to overcome the limits of text only formats. Don't make the mistake of simply bringing text's limitations to a format designed to over come those very limitations!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
[Week1]
Greetings.
I am Peter Hogaboam, a master's student in the on-campus program at IU. I have been a trainer/educator for nine years in the classical music field, training students aged 12-18 in instrumental music performance. In this respect I was a school band and orchestra conductor and teacher. My primary interest (from a training/pedagogy perspective) in music was sequentially building intersections of intellectual and fine-motor skills. As a teacher, my philosophy was based upon building layers of skills, using what teachers call a spiral based curriculum. Professionally, and in addition to providing classical training, I have also trained marching bands, taught music history, piano lessons, and group guitar classes.
In a non-professional capacity, I have taught rock climbing and high angle safety procedures, as well as a great number of informal music lessons. In the long ago past I also taught water skiing, specifically knee-boarding and barefoot skiing. I am a teacher not only by trade, but also in personality, and tend to teach most things that I learn.
On a personal note, I am from the mid-west, but have lived in many places, including Michigan (Detroit area), Cincinnati, Chicago, Urbana, Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon, and, most recently, Southern Indiana. My interests have included travel, rock climbing, outdoor recreation of many kinds, woodworking, songwriting, music composition, blues harmonica, piano, guitar, etc...my primary interest right now, however, is IST!
My academic interests are currently very broad, but include Project-Based Learning, and adult learners, particularly pre-service and in-service teacher training; I am also interested in opening the door to military and corporate training. Content wise, I am currently interested in designing instruction that teaches instructional theory and methods.
Greetings.
I am Peter Hogaboam, a master's student in the on-campus program at IU. I have been a trainer/educator for nine years in the classical music field, training students aged 12-18 in instrumental music performance. In this respect I was a school band and orchestra conductor and teacher. My primary interest (from a training/pedagogy perspective) in music was sequentially building intersections of intellectual and fine-motor skills. As a teacher, my philosophy was based upon building layers of skills, using what teachers call a spiral based curriculum. Professionally, and in addition to providing classical training, I have also trained marching bands, taught music history, piano lessons, and group guitar classes.
In a non-professional capacity, I have taught rock climbing and high angle safety procedures, as well as a great number of informal music lessons. In the long ago past I also taught water skiing, specifically knee-boarding and barefoot skiing. I am a teacher not only by trade, but also in personality, and tend to teach most things that I learn.
On a personal note, I am from the mid-west, but have lived in many places, including Michigan (Detroit area), Cincinnati, Chicago, Urbana, Iowa, Kentucky, Oregon, and, most recently, Southern Indiana. My interests have included travel, rock climbing, outdoor recreation of many kinds, woodworking, songwriting, music composition, blues harmonica, piano, guitar, etc...my primary interest right now, however, is IST!
My academic interests are currently very broad, but include Project-Based Learning, and adult learners, particularly pre-service and in-service teacher training; I am also interested in opening the door to military and corporate training. Content wise, I am currently interested in designing instruction that teaches instructional theory and methods.
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