Course description: Instruction and how it is delivered at a distance. Examines technologies, processes, and products of distance education with emphasis on e-learning.
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| EME6457_syllabus_Sp06.pdf | 61.96 KB |
| EME6457_Norman,D._Distance_education_tools.pdf | 128.25 KB |
| EME6457_Tidwell,C.,&Norman,D.K._Standards_for_DE.pdf | 57.67 KB |
As a class assignment, I developed an instructional treatment plan for the following objective: Given a virtual working environment, avoid communication problems between virtual team members when working on a project.
We chose Nelson's Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) model because team skills are a higher order thinking activity. Nelson says CPS is not appropriate for memorized or procedural tasks and a CRT item would be "waste precious instructional time" and that "CPS is most appropriate when there is not a single answer to a question or best way of doing something" (Reigeluth, 1999, p. 247).
CPS was also chosen because the collaborative element in a virtual environment forces the students to experience the very topic they're studying and writing about. Each of the process activities in CPS is a small assessment of the enabling objectives since the group can't move on to complete the assignment until they have normed, agreed on the problem, defined roles, etc. I thought the true assessment of the enabling objectives would be performed as part of the debriefing, reflection, and discussion at the end of the unit.
Many texts have the condition, behavior, and criteria/degree elements of objectives (Dick, Carey, & Carey, 2005, pp. 123-139; Kubiszyn & Borich, 2003, p. 82; Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek 2006, p. 129; Stolovitch & Keeps, 1999, p. 356) and that Hirumi added audience (2005, ¶ 6). We tried to follow the samples in Dick, et al. (2005, p. 139), for the condition/degree of assessing intellectual skills by specifying things like "at least five peer-reviewed journals" in the sample assessment rubric. The other assessment rubric items were modeled from Dr. Hirumi's performance criteria for this assignment and peer evaluation for the end of the course.
I believe I can ask the question, "could I observe the learner doing this?" (Kubiszyn et al., 2003, p. 80; Dick et al., 1999, p. 127) to each of the objectives we listed in the treatment plan as part of the measurable behavior component of the objectives. Granted, the observation would not have an associated percentage completion or accuracy, but that goes back to the complexity of multiple solution theory in CPS. Dick et al, p. 139 has several samples without a CRT item as the assessment criterion for intellectual skill objectives.
Ways to improve the treatment plan are to include some of the degree elements from the assessment rubric earlier in the objectives, add more description and content to the instructional events, create an activity for forming and norming teams and an activity for role selection, and investigate taking some fuzziness out of the objectives.
References
Dick, W., Carey, L., & Carey, J. O. (2005). The systematic design of instruction (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Allyn and Bacon.
Hirumi, A. (2005, August 1). Unit 4: Performance objectives supplement. Retrieved September 9, 2005, from http://webct.ucf.edu/eme6613c/Unit04/u04info.html
Kubiszyn, T., & Borich, G. (2003). Educational testing and Measurement: Classroom application and practice (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley / Jossey-Bass Education.
Reigeluth, C. (1999). Instructional-design theories and models: 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2006). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Stolovitch, H. D., & Keeps, E. J. (eds.). (1999). Handbook of human performance technology: Improving individual and organizational performance worldwide (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass / Pfeiffer
Course title: Working Effectively in Virtual Teams
Unit Number and Title: Unit 1.0 - Virtual Team Communications
Terminal Objective: Given a virtual working environment, avoid communication problems between virtual team members when working on a project.
Enabling Objectives: When assigned a task to be completed in a virtual team, you should be able to:
Prerequisites:
Time Requirements: Approximately 1 week
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Designer's Notes: Collaborative Problem Solving This unit does not cover attitudinal parts of the lesson. The Collaborative Problem Solving grounded instructional strategy has been modified to meet the needs of this unit. CPS is a learner-centered learning environment, with a learn-by-doing participation attitude for participants, and the encouragement of exploration of multiple perspectives. CPS is not suited for learning factual information or procedural skills, rather different ways to apply a complex set of knowledge to different ways to complete a task (Reigeluth, 1999). The majority of this portion of the training is intended to be web-based. |
| Instructional Events | Description | Interaction | Media & Tool Selection |
| Build readiness (Prepare students for project.) | Creating an authentic learning problem is essential at this point (Stinson & Milter, 1996).
The review of the unit should address benefits and pitfalls of group work and how the group products will be evaluated. The instructor should ask students questions about the process and respond with appropriate adjustments, if necessary. Defining the exact problem for virtual teamwork should be done in collaboration with the learners. To guide the problem, the following guidelines should be used:
Learners will read the introduction on pages 118-119 on virtual team communications in the assigned text. Learners will also review the included web sites on the subject to help them become familiar with the subject matter. Unit Overview Unit 1.0 provides an overview of virtual teams by: (a) discussing benefits and pitfalls of virtual teams; (b) comparing them to face-to-face interaction; (c) listing rules and etiquette for virtual communication. The primary purpose is to avoid communication problems when working in virtual teams. Since Unit 1 is the start of your group work in this course, it will take slightly longer than other units with a full week commitment to complete. Start by reading pages 118-119 of your text to become familiar with the subject matter. When you have a good feel for the introductory text, post an authentic problem to the bulletin board you think might be possible to solve in the course of this unit. At the end of this unit, you will be assessed on your content knowledge and skills, group-process skills, and metacognitive strategies. |
learner - instructor, learner - content | Discussion board, text, web resources and email. |
| Form and norm groups | Users form their own groups of three to six members by posting profiles of their gender, ethnicity, relevant pre-existing knowledge or skills, and previous experience with working on a team (Reigeluth, 1999, pg. 259). Interested team members reply to posts to form groups. The instructor may need to assist learners having trouble finding a group. Instructor will create private discussion boards for each group or students will create a Yahoo group or use another collaboration tool with instructor approval. As part of the norming process, members should agree on operational guidelines. Assignment: Form Groups Post a short comment about yourself to the bulletin board with at least the following information: the problem you are interested in solving, sex, ethnicity, relevant knowledge or skills, and previous experience working with a team. Form teams of no less than three and no more than six members by replying to biographies. Each team should work with at least one person who is not already known. When teams are formed, send a short paragraph of some agreed upon operational guidelines for the group to the instructor. |
learner - learner, learner - instructor. | Discussion board, Internet resources. |
| Determine a preliminary problem definition |
Students will explore the challenges of virtual teams by reading pages 120-135 in the text on virtual team communications, and refer to suggested web sites that deal with the topic. Based on their findings they will summarize and determine which direction they wish to pursue in virtual team communications. They will need to focus on challenges facing virtual teams and validate these findings through their own virtual team experience. Each student will maintain a log of events throughout the virtual team experience. Assignment: Preliminary Problem Definition Develop a common understanding of the problem the group will solve. Each group member should post a short statement of their understanding of the problem. The group should choose one for the next step, and post it to their group presentation site. Be sure the selected problem statement has enough information readily available to support a timely solution before moving to the next step. |
learner - learner, learner - content | Discussion board, chat, instant messaging |
| Define and assign roles | Scribe and moderator are pre-determined by instructor. Students will need to determine and assign roles to other team members. It is important that the team member selected to be the moderator is aware of what is involved in keeping the project moving forward. The course information in WebCT on team roles will need to be reviewed. Assignment: Assign team member roles Students will need to understand the importance of clearly defined roles for an effective virtual team project. Each student will volunteer for a specific role within the team. Each student must understand the role they will be taking on to avoid misunderstandings and to make sure that each team member in a virtual team has a clearly defined role. |
learner - learner, learner - content | Discussion board, internet resources, email, chat, instant messaging. |
| Engage in collaborative problem-solving process | Learners engage in whatever means necessary to solve the problem.
Students will use the text, suggested web references, other web resources, and library resources to research their proposed problem. Students will need to clearly identify the area their specific area of research on virtual team communications being mindful of the strengths and weaknesses of virtual teams. Instructor will be available to answer online questions via the bulletin board, or email. Assignment: Engage in collaborative problem-solving. All team members need to contribute to the collaboration process. All team members will be expected to reply to discussion postings, virtual chat meetings (at established group times). Also, every team member is expected to participate in the instructor-student online chat session during the project as assigned by the instructor. |
learner - learner, learner - instructor, learner - content, learner - other, learner - interface, learner - environment | Discussion board, email, internet, chat, text |
| Finalize the solution or project | Students will write a 5-page group report on their findings.
This report will be posted to the course web site for other students to view and for the instructor to provide feedback and evaluation. Assignment: Finalize the project Review the assessment guidelines and write a 5 page group report on the findings of virtual teamwork. Post the final report to your group's presentation site. |
learner - learner | Web page, discussion board, email. |
| Synthesize and reflect | Each student will submit a one page summary of their experience being
part of a virtual team. This summary will focus on the challenges of
virtual teams, positives and negatives of the experience, and finally
a recommendation for future virtual team events. Students should also identify newly acquired skills from the group project and what, if any, metacognitive strategies they employed.
They will post two bulletin board postings on their recommendations for improving the virtual team experience. Part of this learning experience will also include a general chat time with the instructor on the experience as a whole. Assignment: Synthesize and Reflect Write a one page reflection. Discuss the challenges of working in a virtual team, the positives and negatives of the experience, what skills you acquired in the process, and what metacognitive strategies you employed, if any. Generate at least two recommendations for improving future virtual team events and post them to the bulletin board. Watch for a notice from the instructor about meeting in the chat room for a whole-class debriefing. |
learner - learner, learner - instructor | Discussion board, chat, email. |
| Assess products and processes | Each student will evaluate their learning experience and assign
letter grades to each member of the group based on the specified course
criteria using a teamwork evaluation form.
Students will provide comments on other student work in a constructive fashion via the bulletin board. Instructor will provide feedback on each groups report and virtual team summaries. Instructor will distribute electronic survey via email to all students to provide feedback on the virtual team experience. |
learner - learner, learner - instructor | Evaluation form, discussion board, email and multiple choice survey |
| Provide closure | Each student will receive a final grade on their final product, which
will include a group grade, and instructor direct feedback. The group evaluations will be summarized and shared with each member of the group for feedback. Student's will post wrap up insights on the whole process and will include what worked and what didn't work discussion posts. |
learner - learner, learner - instructor | Discussion board, email, grade tool. |
Webpages were selected to deliver most instructional events for a number of reasons (the tools in WebCT will be used for the project):
Email, chat, discussion board, and whiteboard will be used for various parts of the virtual team process:
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Designer's Notes: The enabling objectives for Unit 1.0 focus on higher order thinking skills, therefore an essay, discussion, and reflection are necessary for assessing virtual teamwork knowledge. The terminal objective for the virtual teamwork unit focuses on the cognitive domain. Each objective addresses the audience, required behavior, condition, and criteria or degree to which the performance will be measured. |
| Skill | Objective | Domain | Method | Item/Criteria |
| Communicate effectively in virtual teams | Terminal objective 1.0 - Given a virtual working environment, avoid communication problems between virtual team members. | Cognitive | reflective discussion | learner reflection, potential for real-world success, and the group processes of each team |
| Criticize virtual team communications | Enabling objective: 1.1 - Given example communications from virtual teams, criticize virtual team communications. | Problem solving | reflective discussion, post test: essay |
learners' gains in content knowledge and skills, group-process skills, and metacognitive strategies
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Select appropriate communication tools for specified tasks. |
Enabling objective: 1.2 - Given a problem situation, select the appropriate communication tools for the specified tasks. | Concept | reflective discussion, post test: essay |
learners' gains in content knowledge and skills, group-process skills, and metacognitive strategies
|
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Evaluate advantages and limitations associated with virtual teams. |
Enabling objective 1.3 - Given a teamwork situation, evaluate the advantages and limitations associated with using virtual teams. | Cognitive |
Post test: essay |
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| Examine strengths and weaknesses of selected communication tools. | Enabling objective 1.4 - Given a list of communication tools, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. | Problem solving | Post test: essay |
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| Predict typical communication problems of virtual teams. | Enabling objective 1.5 - Given a teamwork situation, predict the problems typically associated with virtual teams. | Cognitive | Post test: essay |
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| Compare and contrast virtual and F2F team communications. | Enabling objective 1.6 - Given a communication scenario, compare and contrast the using F2F or virtual environments as the communication medium. | Cognitive | reflective discussion, post test: essay | learners' gains in content knowledge and skills, group-process skills, and metacognitive strategies
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Quality (___ /5pts): Completed all assignments to the level of quality expected by the group.
Responsibility (___ /5pts): Completed all assignments in a timely manner. Attended meetings.
Interpersonal Skills (___ /5pts): Worked well with other team members.
Attitude (___ /5pts): Projected positive attitude throughout project.
Contribution (___ /5pts): Contributed to the group in an equitable fashion.
Estimate the % contribution of the team member you are evaluating under the column marked "Individual" for major tasks completed by the team for each assignment. The % contribution of the individual plus the % contribution of all others MUST add up to equal 100% for each major task
| Tasks | % Contribution by Individual |
% Contribution by All Others |
|---|---|---|
| Exemplary |
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| Proficient |
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| Developing |
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Reigeluth, C. (1999). Instructional-design theories and models: 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Stinson, J. E. & Milter, R. G. (1996). Problem-based learning in business education: Curriculum design and implementation issues – Drawing on eleven years experience with a problem-based learning MBA program, curricular design and implementation. Retrieved March 1, 2006, from Ohio University Web site: http://www.ouwb.ohiou.edu/stinson/PBL.html