Project 2 Reflection

My project was to create a plan that educates other departments on what our team of Front End Developers does within the organization. Front end developers play a specific and unique role within our company. This course highlights basic procedures around how front end development works.
The instruction will be taught as a lecture in a lecture hall type of environment. The lecture will be accompanied by a PowerPoint slideshow that will be displayed during the presentation and will be emailed out to the team as a pdf. The team members will be expected to complete a list of tasks before the presentation is completed to assess their comprehension.

After completing training, team members will have a clear understanding of what Front End Developers do within the company and will have a brief understanding of the basics of how our websites are constructed. This cross-departmental training will help teams work better together.

I ended up with a clean and clear outline and have started turning it into a fully ready presentation that I will present to the teams soon. I am also creating it in a manner that will allow other members of my team to create it as well. This is something that I likely wouldn’t have thought of if I had not taken this course. When creating presentations like this in the past, I have created it in a manner that suits me, and my speaking style. This course taught me to think of the presentation from the learner’s perspective instead. I began thinking about this as a curriculum that was non-reliant on any certain educator.

There are some areas where I struggled throughout the process. For one, I missed key instructions on several occasions. I know that I turned in some assignments in the wrong format and others were missing items. This is something that will need to be tightened up as I continue my education, and as I begin applying principles into my career. It will be vital that I know the expectations of projects and that I have alignment on the desired outcomes. Another area I fell short was timeline management. While I improved over my first semester, I still repeatedly fell behind and turned assignments in late. This was a big contributor to me missing details in expectations.

This course helped me identify the things I need to work on as a trainer or educator. I need to stay on track with timelines. I need to give my projects uninterrupted attention. I need to make sure I have a clear understanding of expectations that are set. And most of all, I need to focus on the learners when I’m building out my presentation and learning course.

Assessment and Evaluation Practice

Assessment and Evaluation Practice

EDIT-5317/David White, Ed. D.

April 2, 2017

Edward Stephen Pfister

Assessment and Evaluation Practice

Assessment of Behavior

During my presentation, I will be evaluating the behavior of the audience. If I start to notice a lack of attention, or see any confusion, I will ask the audience questions about the current topic, to help bring them into the conversation. I will verify that everyone is understanding concepts before moving on to the next. Time will be built into the schedule to allow for this.

Questionnaire/Survey

Upon completion of the course, a survey will be sent out to the team members to solicit feedback on how well the training went. The team member will have the opportunity to provide comments, as well as rate each concept based on who well they learned it. There will also be a light quiz in the survey. The results will have no bearing on the team member, but will show what level of understanding the team has left with.

Reading Check #5 - Using Evaluation to Enhance Programs

Reading Check #5

EDIT-5317/David White, Ed. D.

April 16, 2017

Edward Stephen Pfister

Chapter 13

• A basic model for formative evaluation
• Purpose - Why is it being conducted?
• Audience - Who will receive the results?
• Issues - Are there any questions or concerns?
• Resources - What is needed to create the evaluation?
• Evidence - What data and information is needed?
• Data-Gathering Techniques - How can the data and information be collected?
• Analysis - How will the evidence be analyzed?
• Reporting - Where will the results be reported?
• Types of formative evaluation
• Connoisseur-based studies - uses subject matter experts and consultants
• Decision-based studies - provide information about particular questions
• Objectives-based studies - investigating how well the objectives are being met by the instructional material
• Public relations-inspired studies - used to solicit support or backing by making results known
• Constructivist-oriented process - removes limitations of traditional testing
• Stages of formative evaluation
• One-to-one trials with individual learners
• Small-group trials with a more developed version of the instruction
• Examines the use of the instruction with a full-sized learner group in the field
• Determining program outcomes
• Evaluation vs. research - figures out how course objectives were met
• Program effectiveness
• How well did the students meet their objectives?
• Determining effectiveness can be completed with similar techniques as with formative evaluations.
• Pre-tests, data collection, etc
• Program efficiency
• Learner time required
• Can the learner complete the learning in the allotted time?
• Faculty and staff required
• How many members of faculty and staff are required to facilitate the learning?
• Use of facilities
• How much time is required using the facility?
• Program costs
• Developmental costs
• What are the costs involved in developing the course
• Operational costs
• How much will it cost to administer the course?
• Instructional cost index
• What is the cost per learner? This can be determined if we know the developmental costs and operational costs.
• Confirmative evaluation
• Approaches to confirmative evaluation
• Learner-oriented approach
• Relatively low cost approach to find out learner’s value from course
• Context-oriented approach
• More flexible for when the desired value and objects of the course change over time
• Educational programs
• Usually measured with statewide or nationwide testing
• Training programs
• Must evaluate:
• Appropriateness of the training
• Competencies of employees
• Benefits to the organization
• Reporting results
• Careful attention should be given as this step can determine the future of the course

READING CHECK #3: Carroll's Minimalist Instruction:

What are some procedures for which minimalist instruction is a good choice? Why?

Coding websites is definitely a procedure that can be taught using minimalist instruction. Most developers prefer this teaching method, as it allows them to dive in and actually see what the code they wrote outputs in a browser. There is definitely some instant gratification for the users. Also, web development platforms are often setup with a testing environment. This allows programmers to see the code in a test environment before actually pushing the code to the live website. While this is put in place to provide minimum downtime of the site, it works great as a learning and experimental sandbox as well.

Training a server to wait tables is another good procedural example that can be successful. While there will likely be some book work, like learning the menu, a lot of the procedure involved with waiting is better to learn hands on. Showing a trainee how to make tea, or ring in an order is great, however, they need to actually do it a few times and gain the the muscle memory before they work a busy shift.

Another example of a procedure that is great with minimalist instruction is learning guitar. Most guitar instruction happens by showing a learner how to play chords or notes, while they actually play them on their own guitar. This is another example where muscle memory is the key. One can learn techniques, chords, and note progressions, but they must practice actually playing them in order to develop the muscle memory that allows them to focus and play a song while distractions are near by.

How about, what are some procedure for which minimalist instruction is a poor choice? Why?

Heart surgery is probably a procedure that should have more than just minimalist instruction. I'm sure there may be a couple parts of the surgery that could use minimalist, but heart surgery as a whole would not be something that a surgeon would want to learn as they work. The surgeon should have already learned the biology and anatomy around how a heart and it's connected pieces work. They should have studied books and charts, with pictures and diagrams. They will should also be practicing on inanimate bodies before moving into the actual real surgery. Obviously, they wouldn't want to learn with minimalist instruction because, well, people will die. 

In your context, what instructional strategies can be used in minimalist instruction?

I like to use a method that I picked up as a trainer in restaurants and bars, "Tell, Show, Do, Review". In this method, a trainer would start by briefly telling a trainee what they will be doing. They then show the trainee how to do the task. Next, the trainee will have to do the task. Afterwards, the trainer and trainee will discuss and review how the task went. A good example of this would be training a bartender on how to make a drink. When starting, it helps to tell the bartender a little bit about the drink. For instance, the trainer might start with telling the trainee, "This margarita is special because it uses our top shelf, local tequila, fresh squeezed lime juice, and comes in a signature margarita glass." The trainer will then perform a walk through of how to make it, telling the trainee the steps, and announcing what they do as they do it, "Start by filling a shaker with ice. Add 1 1/4 ounce of tequila..." Next, the trainer will have the trainee make the drink, discussing what they are doing as they do it. Finally, the trainer will try the margarita, and will provide feedback on how it turned out. This will also be the opportunity for the trainee to ask questions. It's important to make sure that the "Review" has the opportunity for open dialogue. It should be a retrospective discussion about how the drink was handled. 

PROJECT 1 REFLECTION

Why did you select that (main) concept?

“Efficiency Mindset” is a skill that every team member at Kasasa will need to use at some point. As the company continues to grow, scalability, supportability and level of effort become more important. More clients coming in, means more work to launch and support new products. Every team member needs to work as efficiently as possible in order to fulfill client requests, in a timely manner, without sacrificing any quality. This gets especially challenging for teams like creative, who are tasked with constantly raising the bar. Creating a presentation to train the team will assure that all members understand efficiency and constantly strive to be more efficient. 

What's the rationale for your design?

The easiest way to train a large group in my office is to hold an interactive presentation. THis presentation can be recorded and shared remotely in order to verify that everyone gets to view the training. I will also be able to send out a copy of the presentation for the team to refer back to later. 

What challenges did you face during the design process?

The biggest challenge is to create a training that will work for everyone. The project management teams are very detail oriented, the development teams are mostly introverted, and the design teams are more free-thinking. The training has to be understood by each of these different types of learners.

What changes did you feel like you need to make after receiving feedback? Why?

The question of what challenges I faced actually answers this question as well. The feedback asking who my audience was, forced me to really take into consideration how many different types of learners I would be presenting to. 

PROJECT 1 TOPIC SELECTION

PROJECT 1 TOPIC SELECTION

Main concept

Efficient mindset: Finding the shortest path between point A and point B, even if that means a little extra work sometimes. Helping improve processes, finding solutions, time management, multitasking.

Sub-concepts (5~7 sub-concepts): May help constructing a hierarchical tree to see if you get enough/appropriate sub-concepts.

• Efficient mindset
• Finding the shortest path between point A and point B
• Helping improve process
• Finding solutions
• Time management
• Multitasking
• Progress over perfection

Bullet points for your target audience/context.

• Efficient mindset
• Finding the shortest path between point A and point B
• Working smarter rather than harder
• Getting results, but doing things the right way
• Helping improve process
• If there is something in the process that prevents you from efficiently getting your work done, work with your team to improve the process
• Find ways to complete tasks faster and more efficiently
• Finding solutions
• Help find solutions to problems that are preventing efficient work
• Don’t let yourself get stuck on something for too long by accepting help from other team members
• Time management
• The best use of time
• Prioritization
• Using time effectively and efficiently
• Multitasking
• Limiting downtime
• Handling multiple tasks simultaneously
• Progress over perfection
• Get a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) live
• Improve using user feedback

Approximate time of instruction (no more than an hour).

The presentation will be 30 minutes, however, there will be crowd participation during the presentation, with opportunities to ask questions at the end.

Bullet points for what strategies, methods, and techniques may be used to teach this concept and sub-concepts.  

• Define Efficiency Mindset
• Define objectives and concepts that will be learned
• Use three ways to learn a concept
• RECALL: Memorize name, definition, and particular instance
• Recall information periodically, and ask audience to recall concepts during presentation
• UNDERSTAND: Explain relationships to other concepts
• Provide solid examples of efficiency mindsets being used in work
• Use similar concepts to illustrate success
• APPLY: Apply a concept in new situations
• Discuss examples of when efficiency mindset could come up at work, and how to deal with the situation

READING CHECK #2: What is a concept?

What is a concept?

A concept is a category that can be applied to things that are similar, like a group of objects, or a group of theories. The same concept can be used with all of the items in the group.

Think about your experience as a teacher/trainer or even a learner. How have you taught or learned a concept? Give an example.

In my line of work, I often will be involved in projects that rely on developers with different skill sets, and different programming languages of expertise. Some of the developers may work with the underlying infrastructure that all of our websites are built on, while others may be the ones programming the websites on said infrastructure.

However, when working with different types of developers, there are some concepts that apply to code, regardless of the language. Some of the common concepts we may use are “scalability”, “supportability”, and “level of effort”. Our code must always be “scalable”, meaning if we do it for one client, we need to be able to do it for hundreds of clients. This means it needs to be easy to implement for each of the clients. The code also must be “supportable”. With programming, there will almost always be a necessity to update or upgrade the code. An example would be if a browser changes the way it handles a Javascript function, or drops support for this function. Users could experience a broken website. Another concept of coding is “level of effort”. How many hours will it take to complete the project? When does the project have to be completed? This will determine how many developers will need to work on it. I also like to look at the “value” that will be achieved, once the project is completed in order to make sure that the “level of effort” doesn’t outweigh the “value” - that the “juice is worth the squeeze”.

How would you use your knowledge of concept learning in developing instruction?

When developing instruction, I look at who the audience will be. Once I’ve determined all of the audiences, I will look at the concepts that will be taught, and determine how they relate to each team. I will keep all of the concept definitions generic enough that they can apply to each team, but will show some examples of the concept being applied to each. An example of this would be the presentation on persuasive communication that I completed last semester and presented to our department. As a department, we have established a set of soft skills that each team member should develop in order to help them in their jobs. Persuasive communication is one of those soft skills. I had to teach a variety of different teams what meant to use persuasive communications, and how they could apply it to their work. The team included copywriters, designers, developers and project managers, so the concept had to be broad enough to include each team, but detailed enough to help them understand the concept and how to apply it to their day-to-day work. I was able to explain what persuasive communication is, and then allow the team to discuss how it would be used in different scenarios by different teams.