Designing learning experiences:
Quality teachers plan quality units of work. They do not teach, test and hope for the best (Richardson & Boyd, 2013).
According to Queensland College of Teachers standards, preservice teachers are expected to design and implement intellectually challenging, engaging and flexible learning experiences that promote diversity and further incorporate general capabilities, literacy and numeracy across the curriculum (Queensland College of Teachers, 2009).
The effective way of designing quality learning experiences is explained below:
Learning design planning process:
The “10-point cycle” (Mcleod & Reynolds, 2007, p. 76, as cited in Ewing, Lowrie, & Higgs, 2010, p. 83) and “the effective teachers planning” model advocated by Killen (2009) recommend teachers to employ the Backward Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005) and the Learning Design Process (Lynch & Smith, 2006) that aligns with the EQ Dimensions of Teaching and Learning Framework (Education Queensland, 2011) for programming the units of work. The details of these frameworks are presented in Appendix 1a; Appendix 1b. The Learning design process framework with 8 Learning Management Questions (LMQ) is shown in Appendix 2.
Student’s characteristics and learning styles:
The successful teachers commence the planning process by gathering the learner’s characteristics (see Appendix 3a), adolescent brain development (Appendix 3b), prior knowledge (Appendix 3c), learning styles and how best they learn (Appendix 3d) through answering LMQ1 and LMQ3. Effective teachers find out what students already know, set meaningful learning goals for the next steps for learning and maximise student learning (Education Queensland, 2011, p. 9). Knowing how the learner best learns takes an approach of learning as a science, connects the learner and the learning, and aids to design student-centred lessons (Smith, Lynch & Knight, 2007).
Align the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment:
It is important to identify curriculum by determining “what do my students need to learn?” through answering LMQ2. This step aids teachers to set attainable learning goals through research for developing deep knowledge of the subjects, identifying how the knowledge is linked to other learning areas and applied to real-world settings (Education Queensland, 2011, p. 4) and design “context for learning” that is relevant, authentic and interesting for the cohort. Gross (1998, as cited in Dargusch, 2013) conceptualises the relationship between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (see Appendix 4) as an equilateral triangle that is a rubber band, i.e. that these three elements are interrelated and interdependent on each other. The choice of an equilateral triangle conveys the understanding that the three need to be in balance.
Bernstein (1977) also advocates that curriculum, pedagogy and assessment are the three fundamental dimensions of quality education. Penney et al. (2009) indicate that achieving quality education demands that excellence in each dimension is pursued and attention is directed towards the linkages that will ultimately be a key to achieve overall quality education. The better alignment among curriculum, pedagogy and assessment practices ensure a classroom full of learning potentials and becomes an integral strategy in optimising educational change and spectacular transformation (Daenos, n.d.). Hence, the quality teachers focus on carefully aligning these three important components in the unit planning.
Assessment:
It is crucial to integrate continuous authentic and inclusive assessment and feedback approaches into the lesson plans as students are less likely to misbehave if teachers frequently evaluate students work and provide constructive feedback (Lewes, 2008, as cited in Ewing et al., 2010, pp. 127-128). The assessment principles and strategies are presented in Appendix 5 (The role, purposes and principles of assessment; Experts’ recommendations about quality assessment practices; Assessment strategies).
Feedback:
Behavioural, cognitive and constructivist theories approve that timely feedback is crucial to promote meaningful learning (O’Donnell et al., 2011, p. 66) and make goal setting effective (Erez, 1977, as cited in O’Donnell et al., 2011, p. 491). Therefore, it is crucial to provide four different levels of feedback, “Feedback about the task”, “Feedback about the processing of the task”, “Feedback about self-regulation” and “Feedback about the person” throughout the learning journey (O’Donnell et al., 2011, pp. 66-67). The objective is to provide positive and constructive feedback for encouraging students to develop self-efficacy and confidence, and improve their overall academic performance. The effective feedback mechanism, the types of feedback connected to learning theories and the level of feedback that need to be provided is presented in Appendix 6.
It is also beneficial to employ the “challenging feedback strategy” because the challenge and feedback involve and satisfy the need for competence and this experience of competence need satisfaction motivates students to learn with enthusiasm (O'Donnell et al., 2011, p. 450). “Effective teachers challenge and support all students” (Education Queensland, 2011). O'Donnell et al. (2011, p. 442) recommends to embrace task-oriented praise in the instruction to nurture student’s competence.
Sequence teaching and learning:
It is essential to develop specific declarative and procedural knowledge relevant to the intent of the unit and meet the achievement standards articulated in the curriculum. Distinguishing these two types of knowledge assists teachers to select the most appropriate instructional strategies (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Then quality teachers concentrate on answering LMQ4, 5 and 6 questions and crafting the sequential learning experiences by incorporating productive teaching strategies.
Productive instructional design strategies:
The repertoire of educational practices that are claimed by researchers and experienced teachers to work well especially in the secondary schools is presented in Appendix 7.
Making judgments & Feedback:
In the next phase, the quality teachers focus on answering LMQ7 and plans to make judgements using varied assessment techniques and achievement standards set out in the curriculum document. The intention is to improve students learning and for informing the future planning for teaching and learning. LMQ8 and LMQ9 questions are valuable to provide timely, positive and effective feedback to concerned parties. Positive feedback causes satisfaction and positive emotion, and inspiration to try harder and set higher goals (Bandura & Cervone, 1983, 1986, as cited in O'Donnell et al., 2011, p. 491). The quality learning manager completes the planning process by enunciating reflective questions (see Appendix 8) to assess the process and product and make improvements accordingly. It is an opportunity for the learning manager to think through the possible pitfalls and to plan appropriate actions that may be required (Ewing et al., 2010, p. 91).
The detailed assessment, sequence teaching and feedback planning process is shown in Appendix 9. This approach is especially beneficial for beginning teachers to improve their capability and confidence as curriculum developers and, as educators, evaluators and judges of student learning (AISSA, n.d.).
Conclusion:
The Backward and the Learning Design process that fits with the EQ Dimensions of Teaching and Learning framework provides learning manager the opportunity to plan effective, engaging and quality units of work, and purposefully choose learning activities and teaching strategies that are likely to support all the learners to accomplish the desired outcomes.
Appendix:
Examples of Learning Experience Plans (LEP) are shown below:
Learning Experience Plan 1
Learning Experience Plan 2
Learning Experience Plan 3
Learning Experience Plan 4
Examples of Dimensions of Learning (DOL) 1 & 5 strategies are shown below:
Dimensions of Learning strategies
References:
AISSA. (n.d.). Curriculum and assessment: Aligning what you value with how you teach. Retrieved from
www.ais.sa.edu.au/__files/f/77555/Planning_Assessment.doc
Bernstein, B. (1977). Class codes and control, towards a theory of educational transmissions (Vol. 3). London: Routledge and Keegan Paul.
Daenos, R. (n.d.). Aligning curriculum, pedagogy and assessment as a paradigm shift in implementing the new teacher education curriculum of the Philippines: The region III experience. Retrieved from
https://classroomconnections.eq.edu.au/topics/Pages/2013/issue-7/atherton.aspx
Dargusch, J. (2013). EDSE12013: Senior phase pedagogy: Week 7 power point; week 9 study material. Retrieved from Central Queensland University moodle.
Education Queensland. (2011). Dimensions of teaching and learning. Retrieved from
http://www.learningplace.com.au/uploads/documents/store/doc_750_3009_Dimensions_of_teaching_and_learning.pdf
Ewing, R., Lowrie, T., & Higgs, J. (2010). Teaching and communicating: Rethinking professional experiences. South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Killen, R. (2009). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.). Katoomba, NSW: Thomson Social Science Press.
Lynch, D., & Smith, R. (2006). The learning management design process. In R. Smith & D. Lynch. (Eds.). The rise of the learning manager: Changing teacher education. (pp. 53-67). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
Lynch, D., Smith, R. & Doe, T. (2007). The learning management plan. In R. Smith, D. Lynch & B.A. Knight. (Eds.). Learning management: Transitioning teachers for national and international change. (pp.75-105). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
Marzano, R.J., & Pickering, D.J. (1997). Dimensions of learning teacher’s manual (2nd ed.). Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory.
O'Donnell, A.M., Dobozy, E., Bartlett, B., Bryer, F., Reeve, J., & Smith, J.K. (2011). Educational psychology (1st ed.). Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
Queensland College of Teachers. (2009). Professional standards for Queensland teachers (graduate level): A guide for use with preservice teachers. Retrieved from
http://www.qct.edu.au/standards/documents/PSQT_GradLevel_v3_Web.pdf
Penney, D., Brooker, R., Hay, P, & Gillespie, L. (2009, November). Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment: three message systems of schooling and dimensions of quality physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 14(4), pp. 421-442. Retrieved from Central Queensland University.
Richardson, S., & Boyd, K. (2013). EDED11356: Learning management 3 - week 3 power point. Retrieved from Central Queensland University moodle.
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.), Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=133964&site=eds-live&scope=site
Quality teachers plan quality units of work. They do not teach, test and hope for the best (Richardson & Boyd, 2013).
According to Queensland College of Teachers standards, preservice teachers are expected to design and implement intellectually challenging, engaging and flexible learning experiences that promote diversity and further incorporate general capabilities, literacy and numeracy across the curriculum (Queensland College of Teachers, 2009).
The effective way of designing quality learning experiences is explained below:
Learning design planning process:
The “10-point cycle” (Mcleod & Reynolds, 2007, p. 76, as cited in Ewing, Lowrie, & Higgs, 2010, p. 83) and “the effective teachers planning” model advocated by Killen (2009) recommend teachers to employ the Backward Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005) and the Learning Design Process (Lynch & Smith, 2006) that aligns with the EQ Dimensions of Teaching and Learning Framework (Education Queensland, 2011) for programming the units of work. The details of these frameworks are presented in Appendix 1a; Appendix 1b. The Learning design process framework with 8 Learning Management Questions (LMQ) is shown in Appendix 2.
Student’s characteristics and learning styles:
The successful teachers commence the planning process by gathering the learner’s characteristics (see Appendix 3a), adolescent brain development (Appendix 3b), prior knowledge (Appendix 3c), learning styles and how best they learn (Appendix 3d) through answering LMQ1 and LMQ3. Effective teachers find out what students already know, set meaningful learning goals for the next steps for learning and maximise student learning (Education Queensland, 2011, p. 9). Knowing how the learner best learns takes an approach of learning as a science, connects the learner and the learning, and aids to design student-centred lessons (Smith, Lynch & Knight, 2007).
Align the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment:
It is important to identify curriculum by determining “what do my students need to learn?” through answering LMQ2. This step aids teachers to set attainable learning goals through research for developing deep knowledge of the subjects, identifying how the knowledge is linked to other learning areas and applied to real-world settings (Education Queensland, 2011, p. 4) and design “context for learning” that is relevant, authentic and interesting for the cohort. Gross (1998, as cited in Dargusch, 2013) conceptualises the relationship between curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (see Appendix 4) as an equilateral triangle that is a rubber band, i.e. that these three elements are interrelated and interdependent on each other. The choice of an equilateral triangle conveys the understanding that the three need to be in balance.
Bernstein (1977) also advocates that curriculum, pedagogy and assessment are the three fundamental dimensions of quality education. Penney et al. (2009) indicate that achieving quality education demands that excellence in each dimension is pursued and attention is directed towards the linkages that will ultimately be a key to achieve overall quality education. The better alignment among curriculum, pedagogy and assessment practices ensure a classroom full of learning potentials and becomes an integral strategy in optimising educational change and spectacular transformation (Daenos, n.d.). Hence, the quality teachers focus on carefully aligning these three important components in the unit planning.
Assessment:
It is crucial to integrate continuous authentic and inclusive assessment and feedback approaches into the lesson plans as students are less likely to misbehave if teachers frequently evaluate students work and provide constructive feedback (Lewes, 2008, as cited in Ewing et al., 2010, pp. 127-128). The assessment principles and strategies are presented in Appendix 5 (The role, purposes and principles of assessment; Experts’ recommendations about quality assessment practices; Assessment strategies).
Feedback:
Behavioural, cognitive and constructivist theories approve that timely feedback is crucial to promote meaningful learning (O’Donnell et al., 2011, p. 66) and make goal setting effective (Erez, 1977, as cited in O’Donnell et al., 2011, p. 491). Therefore, it is crucial to provide four different levels of feedback, “Feedback about the task”, “Feedback about the processing of the task”, “Feedback about self-regulation” and “Feedback about the person” throughout the learning journey (O’Donnell et al., 2011, pp. 66-67). The objective is to provide positive and constructive feedback for encouraging students to develop self-efficacy and confidence, and improve their overall academic performance. The effective feedback mechanism, the types of feedback connected to learning theories and the level of feedback that need to be provided is presented in Appendix 6.
It is also beneficial to employ the “challenging feedback strategy” because the challenge and feedback involve and satisfy the need for competence and this experience of competence need satisfaction motivates students to learn with enthusiasm (O'Donnell et al., 2011, p. 450). “Effective teachers challenge and support all students” (Education Queensland, 2011). O'Donnell et al. (2011, p. 442) recommends to embrace task-oriented praise in the instruction to nurture student’s competence.
Sequence teaching and learning:
It is essential to develop specific declarative and procedural knowledge relevant to the intent of the unit and meet the achievement standards articulated in the curriculum. Distinguishing these two types of knowledge assists teachers to select the most appropriate instructional strategies (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Then quality teachers concentrate on answering LMQ4, 5 and 6 questions and crafting the sequential learning experiences by incorporating productive teaching strategies.
Productive instructional design strategies:
The repertoire of educational practices that are claimed by researchers and experienced teachers to work well especially in the secondary schools is presented in Appendix 7.
Making judgments & Feedback:
In the next phase, the quality teachers focus on answering LMQ7 and plans to make judgements using varied assessment techniques and achievement standards set out in the curriculum document. The intention is to improve students learning and for informing the future planning for teaching and learning. LMQ8 and LMQ9 questions are valuable to provide timely, positive and effective feedback to concerned parties. Positive feedback causes satisfaction and positive emotion, and inspiration to try harder and set higher goals (Bandura & Cervone, 1983, 1986, as cited in O'Donnell et al., 2011, p. 491). The quality learning manager completes the planning process by enunciating reflective questions (see Appendix 8) to assess the process and product and make improvements accordingly. It is an opportunity for the learning manager to think through the possible pitfalls and to plan appropriate actions that may be required (Ewing et al., 2010, p. 91).
The detailed assessment, sequence teaching and feedback planning process is shown in Appendix 9. This approach is especially beneficial for beginning teachers to improve their capability and confidence as curriculum developers and, as educators, evaluators and judges of student learning (AISSA, n.d.).
Conclusion:
The Backward and the Learning Design process that fits with the EQ Dimensions of Teaching and Learning framework provides learning manager the opportunity to plan effective, engaging and quality units of work, and purposefully choose learning activities and teaching strategies that are likely to support all the learners to accomplish the desired outcomes.
Appendix:
Examples of Learning Experience Plans (LEP) are shown below:
Learning Experience Plan 1
Learning Experience Plan 2
Learning Experience Plan 3
Learning Experience Plan 4
Examples of Dimensions of Learning (DOL) 1 & 5 strategies are shown below:
Dimensions of Learning strategies
References:
AISSA. (n.d.). Curriculum and assessment: Aligning what you value with how you teach. Retrieved from
www.ais.sa.edu.au/__files/f/77555/Planning_Assessment.doc
Bernstein, B. (1977). Class codes and control, towards a theory of educational transmissions (Vol. 3). London: Routledge and Keegan Paul.
Daenos, R. (n.d.). Aligning curriculum, pedagogy and assessment as a paradigm shift in implementing the new teacher education curriculum of the Philippines: The region III experience. Retrieved from
https://classroomconnections.eq.edu.au/topics/Pages/2013/issue-7/atherton.aspx
Dargusch, J. (2013). EDSE12013: Senior phase pedagogy: Week 7 power point; week 9 study material. Retrieved from Central Queensland University moodle.
Education Queensland. (2011). Dimensions of teaching and learning. Retrieved from
http://www.learningplace.com.au/uploads/documents/store/doc_750_3009_Dimensions_of_teaching_and_learning.pdf
Ewing, R., Lowrie, T., & Higgs, J. (2010). Teaching and communicating: Rethinking professional experiences. South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Killen, R. (2009). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.). Katoomba, NSW: Thomson Social Science Press.
Lynch, D., & Smith, R. (2006). The learning management design process. In R. Smith & D. Lynch. (Eds.). The rise of the learning manager: Changing teacher education. (pp. 53-67). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
Lynch, D., Smith, R. & Doe, T. (2007). The learning management plan. In R. Smith, D. Lynch & B.A. Knight. (Eds.). Learning management: Transitioning teachers for national and international change. (pp.75-105). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
Marzano, R.J., & Pickering, D.J. (1997). Dimensions of learning teacher’s manual (2nd ed.). Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory.
O'Donnell, A.M., Dobozy, E., Bartlett, B., Bryer, F., Reeve, J., & Smith, J.K. (2011). Educational psychology (1st ed.). Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
Queensland College of Teachers. (2009). Professional standards for Queensland teachers (graduate level): A guide for use with preservice teachers. Retrieved from
http://www.qct.edu.au/standards/documents/PSQT_GradLevel_v3_Web.pdf
Penney, D., Brooker, R., Hay, P, & Gillespie, L. (2009, November). Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment: three message systems of schooling and dimensions of quality physical education. Sport, Education and Society, 14(4), pp. 421-442. Retrieved from Central Queensland University.
Richardson, S., & Boyd, K. (2013). EDED11356: Learning management 3 - week 3 power point. Retrieved from Central Queensland University moodle.
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.), Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=133964&site=eds-live&scope=site