DSRP and ThinkBlocks Training: Design Document

Roberta Pacheco

EDTC 6323 Multimedia/Hypermedia Project 1

Dr. M.Valdez-Corbeil

Instructional Goal

This learning object is designed for Saint Joseph Academy's (SJA) Professional Learning Community (PLC) of educators that seek to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in their students as part of their commitment to continuos improvement. Given training in the DSRP method and the ThinkBlocks to target English Language Learners (ELL), the Professional Learning Community teachers will be able to 1) use the Patterns of Thinking (DSRP) guided questions and 2) create a content specific "distinction" lesson using ThinkBlocks.

Performance Objectives

A. From memory (CN), the learner will correctly identify (B) the names and titles of the four main patterns of thinking without error or assistance from the DSRP chart (CR).

B. Using the DSRP chart and tutorial support (CN) the learner will differentiate (B) the “Distinction” question from the other patterns of thinking questions (CR).

C. Given training in the DSRP and example lesson with ThinkBlocks (CN), the learner will create a content “Distinction” lesson activity (B) using ThinkBlocks without assistance (CR).   

Learner Analysis

Pre-Requisite Skills

The schools reading, research, and writing initiatives using technology as tools and support have provided professional development in those areas for teachers. The level of readiness to engage in an independent training using the computer and lesson planning is high so additional skill preparations for the learner are not required. As part of a PLC, each member is also accustomed to working with others in training situations, so teaching colleagues what they learn will not be difficult for them to do. The training unit will be accessible on the Saint Joseph Academy Intranet website and through a link to the online reference guide if

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completing training away from the campus. The learners will use a computer to access this training guide through the internet for reference. This can be done using school or home computers with internet access. The training, while individual, is easily adaptable to small group training if desired using an individual classroom with internet capable computer, projector, and a screen without the need for an instructor. Besides computer access, the learners will need the downloadable DSRP guided questions, a set of ThinkBlocks, lesson plan preparation materials such as their course prospectus and course specific textbook. The learners can check out the ThinkBlocks from the library, before the training, following the procedures already in place for reserving audiovisual materials.

Prior knowledge of instructional topic

The group of learners has classroom experience in developing the critical thinking skills of their students in their respective content areas. Their knowledge of the the Patterns of Thinking (DSRP) and the ThinkBlocks is limited to none at the time of this document. A few of the members have some general knowledge because they work with the instructional designer and might have reviewed parts of this proposed training.

Attitudes toward content and delivery

The PLC is composed of members who are intrinsically motivated to improve their teaching. They enjoy learning and adopting new instructional strategies, are open-minded, and are committed to helping every student succeed. In response to the school's mission to assist the growing population of English Language Learners (ELLs), the group is extrinsically motivated to meet administration's expectations of helping the ELL segment improve their critical thinking skills. Their inner motivation to improve their teaching drives them to learn new strategies that will help the ELL population acclimate to an English only college preparatory school. Furthermore, the members of this team often tutor students, share new strategies with colleagues, and work closely with administration to support the learning environment and its tight community atmosphere.

Learner motivation

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People are motivated in different ways and for different reasons. Ideally motivation leads to improved performance in the area of focus. One factor, besides effective instructional design, that affects online training is the motivation of the learner. In this training group all of the PLC members are motivated to improve their teaching, enjoy learning new strategies, and are open-minded. They are motivated from within to be better educators. Individually they each have a level of commitment to helping every student succeed,especially this that might struggle. They desire to learn new strategies that might be useful to all students develop their thinking skills. The training will also help support one of the school administration's goal of reaching out to the ELL population as those students acclimate to an English only college preparatory school. The members of this team are often helping students, colleagues, and administration in extra ways to support the learning environment and its tight community atmosphere. This level of active involvement further highlights the intrinsic motivation of the individuals who will voluntarily participate in this training. Their involvement in the training does have some extrinsic motivation perhaps by being recognized by the administration as participants and being able to record this training in their professional development portfolio. The freedom to choose to learn a new strategy without being required to undergo the training or forced to use it in their instruction nurtures their self-motivation to enhance their own thinking skills and improve their skills as educators.

Learner educational backgrounds and abilities

The intended audience consists of 5 teachers of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). There are four females and one male member. Each member is over 25 and under 60 years of age and have from 1-20 years of teaching experience, in both public and private settings. The PLC members represent multiple disciplines across all grade levels. The learners all have a minimum of a Bachelor's degree, two have a Master's and several hold other certifications related to advanced placement, ELL, media technology, and foreign language. Not all the PLC members are fluent in a second language like Spanish, but some can read, write, and speak Spanish and some French. All the learners are computer knowledgeable and use the internet and technology related resources easily as the school requires lesson plans and grades to be posted online using the Edline

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reporting system and each has access to computers and projectors for teaching. The schools reading, research, and writing initiatives using technology as tools and support have provided professional development in those areas for teachers as well. The level of readiness to engage in an independent training using the computer and lesson planning is high so additional skill preparations for the learner are not required. As part of a PLC, each member is also accustomed to working with others in training situations, so teaching colleagues what they learn will not be difficult for them to do.

Learner preferences and learning styles

The learners in this PLC training prefer to manage their time wisely. They are highly motivated and like to choose training times around their schedules and prefer flexible locations. All of them are comfortable learning new ways to support their students using hands-on or technology strategies. While they are independent learners, they do not hesitate to seek or give help when needed. They are open minded to trying and evaluating instructional methods that are introduced. They are also willing to share with others what they learn.

Attitudes toward administration

The PLC group supports SJA's rigorous college preparatory environment for all of its students wholeheartedly. The learners also support the administration's strategic efforts of continuous improvement by actively participating in professional development and Professional Learning teams.

Group characteristics

The intended audience consists of 5 teachers of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). There are four females and one male member. Each member is over 25 and under 60 years of age and have from 1-20 years of teaching experience, in both public and private settings.

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Design/development risk

1. Given the members busy schedules, possible constraints or interruptions in training may include conflicts in scheduling training due to other commitments, internet problems, or unfamiliar content if a teacher will be teaching a new class.

2. The ThinkBlocks developers are actively engaged in improving their tools, resources, and educator outreach. Keeping up with enhancements to the ThinkBlocks or accessing the developer's main social media site (Facebook is blocked at SJA) could potentially become an obstacle that might need a creative solution.

Learning Context Analysis

This instructional unit will train members of a professional learning community (PLC) in the four patterns of thinking (DSRP) method: distinctions, systems, relationships, and perspective along with the accompanying ThinkBlocks as support resources. The training unit will be accessible through a link on the Saint Joseph Academy Intranet website and through a web link to the online training web page if completing the training away from the campus. The training is designed to be individual and self-paced to accommodate today's busy learners. The training can be done using any school or home computers with internet access. All links are accessible and viewable with any standard internet browser except Chrome. The training unit is a self contained unit for the participating learners. The online training is designed using an easy to navigate site organized to lead the learners through the training steps. It includes foundational information about the topic, tutorial video(s) segments, quizzes to check for understanding, and a self-assessment checklist for a final performance assessment. The tutorials are Camtasia screencasts and YouTube video links that are part of the lesson created in SoftChalk. Possible constraints or interruptions in training may include conflicts in scheduling training due to other commitments, internet problems, or unfamiliar content if a teacher will be teaching a new class. The performance context for this unit is different from the learning context as the learners will use their designed lesson in an actual classroom setting as an instructional strategy for their students

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and use this training to teach coworkers how to use the DSRP method and ThinkBlocks

Assessment Strategies

To check for understanding, the training reflection and activity assessments for the key information needed to complete the final activity will be taken after the appropriate segment of the tutorial video. The “Training Guide” tab on the web training site will have the steps of the training that the learners will follow. The learner will also be prompted in the video segments to select the appropriate hotspot link that will take them to the appropriate assessment. There are reflection questions after the introduction segment, interactive checks for understanding activities (Quiz) after each tutorial segment. The reflection, understanding checks, and Quiz are accessible as hotspots in the tutorial video and on the training guide. All instructions and links are linked or embedded into the training guide. The answers to the activities and Quiz are provided as immediate feedback as they are taken. The completion of the final independent "distinction" lesson activity is first self-assessed using the online checklist provided on the training home page and then will be posted on the training blog using online sticky notes (linoit.com). Peer feedback for the "Distinction" lesson activity will be provided using the same “bulletin board and stickies” after the training. Face to face feedback can be given as part of the follow-through activities when the PLC teachers meet after school begins.

Reflection

After viewing "Introduction to DSRP and ThinkBlocks Segment" the learners will be guided to reflect on the experience with their students and record their thoughts. This written reflection will help them focus their attention on the students they teach and their content instruction.

Reflection Questions: ( Will be available in writing on training guide)

R1. What were your initial thoughts about what Dr. Cabrera and Dr. Colosi shared?

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R2. What are your experiences in your classrooms? How do they compare to Dr. Cabrera's and Dr. Colosi's experiences?

R3. What are some of the learning characteristics of students you have taught?

SCREEN SHOT OF TRAINING BLOG:

Activity Response postings

Quizzes (Checks for Understanding)

In order to create a final "distinction" lesson using the ThinkBlocks, the learners must first master the names of the patterns of thinking, the "distinction" guided questions, and differentiate the patterns of respective guided questions.

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After viewing DSRP Tutorial Segment #1(Patterns of Thinking), the learners will be prompted to check their understanding of the evolution of the four patterns of thinking, their names, and their respective secondary titles.

Performance Objective A Learner Check for Understanding activity (Quiz #1):1.   Interactive matching ( 4 "patterns" matching with second title and 1 acronym identification )

   A drag and drop interactive matching of the patterns of thinking with their secondary titles.

2. Interactive DSRP questions check for understanding ( 4 pairs of guided questions to identify "pattern")

 A flash card activity of the patterns of thinking with their respective guided questions as the clue.

After ThinkBlocks Tutorial Segment #2 :

Performance Objective B Show/hide quiz group...

Screen shot of interactive quiz with feedback.

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Q. Decide if the question represented below is a "Distinction" guided question.

True /False: "Does the digestion system have parts?;Can you think of the stomach as a part?"

Q. Decide if the question represented below is a "Distinction" guided question.

True /False: "What is a Web 2.0 tool?" "What is not a Web 2.0 tool?"

Q. Decide if the question represented below is a "Distinction" guided question.

Multiple Choice: "From the point of view of a child: Why do parents always embarrass us in front of our friends?" ; "Can you think of this parent-child situation from another point of view?"

Matching : Misc. Pattern of Thinking recognition

Multiple Answer Multiple choice: Patterns of thinking application areas

Final Assessment Performance Objective C

After viewing DSRP Tutorial Segment # 2, the learners are ready for independent practice and assessment. Mastery of the Performance Objectives A-B are required because they build upon one another to successfully complete the Final Assessment activity. The learners will create a "distinction" lesson activity to include as part of an existing lesson topic and it will be assessed using a self-evaluation checklist. The learners will upload their "Distinction" lesson activity using the ThinkBlocks to its respective "Sticky Note" bulletin board under the "Training Blog Posts" tab. The online bulletin board by Linoit.com is embedded into the blog so the teachers can directly create a sticky-note by uploading their lesson activity as a document or if they prefer they can choose to create a quick YouTube video of their lesson idea and upload the link to the bulletin board.

An example of what the blog post will look like is included here:

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The checklist will be available on the training guide page for easy access and reference as they plan their "Distinction" ThinkBlock activity lesson.

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Final Lesson checklist: (This chart will be on the training guide page)

Instructional StrategiesPre-Instructional Strategies  

Besides computer access, the learners will need the school issued DSRP guided questions chart, a class set of ThinkBlocks, content lesson plan preparation materials such as their course prospectus and course specific resources. The

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learners can check out the ThinkBlocks set with the DSRP questions from the library, before the training, following the procedures already in place for reserving audiovisual materials.

Before the official DSRP and ThinkBlocks training begins, the learners will verify they have completed the following:

(This chart will be on the training Home page)

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Content PresentationThe content for this lesson will be presented using a web based interactive lesson which will include screencast tutorials, online blog postings of reflection questions, interactive activity Quizzes, and online posting of lesson activity development documents.The content presentation for the DSRP and ThinkBlocks training is summarized in the chart below.

Learner ParticipationThe learners will complete the training as guided on the interactive lesson. The steps they will complete and in what format is summarized in the chart below:

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Instructional StrategiesInstructional StrategiesInstructional StrategiesInstructional StrategiesInstructional StrategiesInstructional Strategies

Pre-Instruction ActivitiesPre-Instruction Activities Time Technology / Media

Individual / Group

Test Items

“Teacher’s activities” Student’s Activities

T1Publish training unit and email participants.

“Welcome “ letter with instructions

S1

Welcome email with instructions to access the training lesson

S2 Check out DSRP Chart and ThinkBlocks from library

S3Access training link on computer to begin training by selecting “Begin Training”tab

2 min

3 min

5 min

Internet based:

Electronic mail/web link

SJA checkout procedure

Web link

IndividualSelf-assessment using checklist in welcome letter

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Content Presentation

Online interactive training with Screencast segments

Content Presentation

Online interactive training with Screencast segments

Time Technology / Media

Individual / Group

Test Items

“Teacher’s” Activities Learner Participation

Screencast clip (SC)

Introduction to DSRP Segment

S4 Identify purpose and motivation for training after viewing Segment #1

3 min

Recorded PowerPoint embedded in screencast

Individual Complete reflection questions to record initial thoughts

Online Training Activity link: “Reflection Questions”

Reflection Questions

S5Answer the reflection questions on the “Reflection Question” activity

2 min

Online interactive lesson(Softchalk)

Individual Completionassessment

SCTutorial Training:

Segment #1- Patterns of Thinking (DSRP)with Check for Understanding

(Performance Objective A)

S6View video clip and complete Check for Understanding #1DSRP patterns of thinking (DSRP)

10 min

Screencast video for tutorial;Online interactive Quiz activity(Softchalk)

Individual Select link and complete Check For Understanding #1 ( Quiz 1)

SCFeedback for Check for Understanding #1

S7Check answers

30 secs

Answers are part of interactive quiz

Individual

SCSegment # 2- ThinkBlocks Tutorial video clipswith Check for Understanding Quiz

(Performance Objective B)

S8Check for Understanding #2ThinkBlocks “Guided Questions”

13 min

Screencast video for tutorial;Online interactive Quiz activity(Softchalk)

Individual Select link and complete Check For Understanding #1 ( Quiz 2)

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SCFeedback for Quiz #2

S9Check answers

30 sec

Answers are part of interactive quiz

Individual

SCIndependent Practiceinstructions the online training site

(Performance Objective C)

S10Create a “Distinction” activity to include in an existing content lesson

15 min

Instructions presented in interactive activity on training home page

Individual Self-guided and self-assessed checklist using ThinkBlocks Checklist link on training home page

SCConclusion

S11Listen to the concluding statement of training

1 min

Recorded in screencast

Individual Self-guided

Follow-through ActivitiesFollow-through ActivitiesTeacher’s Activities Student’s

Activities

T1PLC teachers meet together

* summer availability?

S12PLC teachers each share their previously developed “Distinction” ThinkBlock activity

Est.30 min

Live sessionGroup Peer feedback

StoryBoard

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