Talk:Instructional design/Cognitive behaviors/Teaching Procedures

For a Generality
Attention-focusing. For procedures the most important aspect of the generality is the steps. Therefore, we should focus attention on the actions (mental or physical) which must be performed, and the order in which they should be performed.

Alternative representation. For procedures, the most useful alternatives are usually a flowchart or a paraphrase.

Mnemonic. In some procedures, it is hard to remember the order or nature of all the steps. In such cases, a mnemonic (like SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) can be very helpful to learners.

For Examples
The number of examples (or demonstrations) should be increased as the difficulty of the procedure increases.

Examples should be presented in an easy-to-difficult sequence.

Attention-focusing should relate the example to the generality, either by explaining in general terms what is being done in each step of the example or by highlighting the key actions and orderings.

An alternative representation for an example will often be in the form of a flowchart.

A reminder of the mnemonic can be helpful.

Common errors are useful to warn the student about, as long as they are indeed common (otherwise you might increase the chances of the errors being made) and as long as they are explained meaningfully to the learner.

For Practice
The number of practice items can be increased to enrich the instruction. An easy-to-difficult sequence should also be used, as for examples. Prompting is often helpful on early practice items when the procedure is a difficult one. Otherwise, power should be reserved for the feedback.

Feedback
Attention-focusing should be used to relate the instance to the generality by pointing out, depending on the nature of the learner's mistake, the way an action (mental or physical) should have been performed, or the order in which it should have been performed. It should be the same as attention-focusing for examples.

A variety of representations is often helpful for the correct-answer feedback when a procedure is difficult.

A reminder of the mnemonic (if one was presented earlier) is often a very helpful aspect of feedback.

Of course, motivational enrichment can also be used: praise for correct answers and encouragement for wrong answers.

Development Procedure for Designing a Procedure-Using Lesson

 * 1) Identify all the steps, break them down to entry level, and write a generality that includes the label (if any), the goal, and the steps at entry level.  To do this, you should observe or ask your SME about the nature of the post-instructional requirements for using the procedure and assess the entry level of the learners with regard to the steps.
 * 2) Identify and list all dimensions of divergence (equivalence classes) for the procedure.  Make sure the generality deals with all of them.
 * 3) Assess the difficulty level of the procedure for the target learners (on, say, a scale of 1-5).
 * 4) Create an instance pool that contains x items per dimension of divergence, where x = the difficulty level times 2.
 * 5) Create a test, using at least one item randomly selected from each dimension of divergence.  If the procedure is a difficult one, increase the number of items per dimension.
 * 6) Create practice items, using at least two items randomly selected from each dimension of divergence.  If the procedure is a difficult one, increase the number of items per dimension.
 * 7) Create examples, using at least one item randomly selected from each dimension of divergence.  If the procedure is a difficult one, increase the number of items per dimension.  Include appropriate power components, depending on the difficulty level of the procedure.
 * 8) Create the feedback for the practice items so as to be virtually identical to the enriched examples.
 * 9) Think about motivational needs and media selection, and modify the instruction as appropriate to each.  (This should be done throughout the process, not just after all else is done.


 * Note: In general, the number of examples and test items should be about the same, and there should be at least twice as many practice items as examples.

Skill Builder: Practice What You've Learned
Skill Builder: Procedural Skills: In the Skill Builder section, you will have the opportunity to gain practice and view examples of designing instruction for teaching procedural skills.

I am putting this content on the discussion page until I can move each section to its own page. Please do not delete. Thanks. --Lzinsmei 22:58, 7 April 2007 (UTC)