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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITYMONTEREY BAY

Basic Irrigation Training

CAPSTONE PROJECT

Submitted in partial satisfaction of requirements of the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE in

Instructional Science and Technology

Royins Solano Rodriguez

December, 12, 2017

Capstone Approvals: (At least one advisor and capstone instructor should approve)

___________________________ ___________________________ _____________

Advisor Name Signature Date

___________________________ ___________________________ _____________

Capstone Instructor Name Signature Date

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Table of ContentsExecutive Summary.............................................................................................................4

Introduction..........................................................................................................................5

Background......................................................................................................................5

Problem Description........................................................................................................5

Target Audience...............................................................................................................5

Environmental Scan.........................................................................................................6

Solution Description............................................................................................................7

Goals................................................................................................................................7

Instructional Strategies....................................................................................................7

Learning Theories and Instructional Principles...........................................................8

Major Instructional Strategy Justification...................................................................9

Instructional Content.................................................................................................11

Feedback and Assessment.........................................................................................12

Objectives......................................................................................................................12

Media components.........................................................................................................12

Challenges......................................................................................................................14

Methods.............................................................................................................................16

Deliverables...................................................................................................................16

Process and steps for completing the project.................................................................17

Resources...........................................................................................................................18

Timeline.........................................................................................................................19

Evaluation Plan..................................................................................................................19

Formative Evaluation.....................................................................................................19

Summative Evaluation...................................................................................................20

Conclusion.........................................................................................................................22

References..........................................................................................................................24

Appendix A – Evaluator Observation Form......................................................................25

Appendix B – Summative Evaluation Questionnaire........................................................26

Appendix C – Login Screen..............................................................................................27

Appendix D – LMS Welcome Screen...............................................................................28

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Appendix E – Course Welcome Screen.............................................................................29

Appendix F – Pre-test screenshots.....................................................................................30

Appendix G – Screenshots of Module 1............................................................................34

Appendix H – Screenshots of Module 2............................................................................35

Appendix I – Screenshots of Module 3............................................................................36

Appendix J – Screenshots of Module 4.............................................................................37

Appendix K – Screenshots of Module 5............................................................................39

Appendix L – Screenshot of Badges.................................................................................40

Appendix M – Human Research Certification..................................................................41

Table of ImagesImage 1. Irrigation Controller Training user interface......................................................13

Image 2. Irrigation Controller Benefits.............................................................................13

Table 1. Participants’ Pre-test and Post-test Scores...........................................................21

Table 2. t-Test Paired Two Sample for Means..................................................................22

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Executive Summary

Ronnys Inc. is a medium sized landscaping business located in Los Banos, California. In

addition to the usual landscaping design, installation and maintenance services, there is a great

demand for services in installation and maintenance of residential and commercial irrigation

systems. Unfortunately, the business is not able to meet the demand due to shortage of workers

trained in irrigation systems. The majority of workers speak Spanish only. This prevents them

from effectively understanding current training material available on the Internet because big

corporations such as Hunter, Irritrol, Rain Bird and Toro make most of their instructional

materials available in English, while the less common instruction in Spanish covers less than the

English version, is outdated and most of the times contains direct translation errors. In order to

solve this problem, the business expressed its interest in creating original instructional material in

Spanish and use it to fill this knowledge gap that will in turn, allow it to fulfill its mission on the

community.

The goal of this capstone project is to create effective training in Spanish for the

employees of this business. It will cover understanding irrigation zones and the process to install,

program and troubleshoot irrigation controllers and systems.

Ethical considerations include creating original material and making it available online

through the use of a free LMS such as Moodle in order to benefit the national interests of the

United States to a substantial greater degree than the current training that big corporations in this

industry offer in English language only.

Constraints include the lack of human resources. While award winning learning products

engage teams of several professionals and specialists in various areas of design, learning science

and technology, this project was developed by one student of Instructional Science and

Technology, the collaboration of one subject matter expert technician in Irrigation and the

authorization of Ronnys Inc.

General Timeline for development starts in February 2017 continuing until September

2017 approximately. Usability tests performed in July and November. Implementation and

Evaluation phase in December 2017.

This project has set the platform required for this business to expand the instruction to

other controllers and specialist or expert level content in the future.

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Introduction

Background

While landscaping and irrigation go hand in hand, it is rare to find people with

knowledge and experience in both areas. Ronnys Inc. reports having only two persons prepared

to handle irrigation jobs out of thirty people working in the landscaping business. The company

has tried to have the employees look at training materials online in an effort to prepare them to

take on work in irrigation. Unfortunately, the efforts have not been successful. The language

barrier may have played a big role. As a result, management is interested in creating original

instructional material in Spanish; so it can effectively reach the employees who only speak that

language.

Problem Description

Big companies in the irrigation industry have not paid attention to creating quality

material in Spanish. Hunter for example, is the leading player in Irrigation, and it only has

developed Spanish material for a few products. Most of that material contains direct-translation

errors. This situation discourages potential learners from using the material and none of the

workers of this business have been able to use it. Other companies such as Irritrol, Rain Bird and

Toro have even less material available in Spanish, if any.

Twenty-eight employees out of thirty field workers speak Spanish. This means Spanish-

only speaking workers represent approximately 93% of the workforce of this business.

The analysis shows a gap in knowledge, that can be filled up through the implementation

of a training program in Spanish for employees to learn about Irrigation.

Target Audience

The target population comprises 28 employees of the landscaping business, those

working in landscaping but not irrigation. Some characteristics of this population are diverse

cultural and educational backgrounds ranging from users having university degrees to some

having no formal education at all. All the learners are Latino males between the ages of 21 and

45. They have good operational and kinesthetic skills. They want to help in the irrigation part of

the business but they need instruction provided in Spanish because they do not understand

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English. They rarely have spare time available for anything other than work; therefore, the owner

would like to make the first part of the training accessible through mobile devices, so they may

access the content anytime, anywhere. Most of them have access to a mobile phone but not all of

them have access to a computer. They are motivated to learn about irrigation because they would

like to change their tasks every now and then to vary the routine and they want to further their

knowledge and skills to increase their potential for hire during low season. The method used to

complete the learner analysis was interviews with employees, human resources manager and the

business owner. These learners speak Spanish but because most of them have barely reached

high school, their vocabulary is basic. Therefore, the owner has requested to change complex

words for more simple ones. Some of the learners speak “Spanglish”. The owner requested an

effort to adapt the material, naming the English word for some nouns, such as the models of

controllers, and the rest in basic Spanish. Examples of this include saying “Node” instead of

“Nodo”, or saying “Reloj” instead of “Controlador”. The designer considered this type of

adaptation in the development of material for this project.

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Environmental Scan

The target learners work outside in landscaping varying from house front and backyards

to bigger places such as parks and planters surrounding neighborhoods. They will access the

proposed asynchronous training during off-work hours. Once they complete this e-learning

course, they will have the chance to schedule practice sessions with real controllers in a

dedicated area in the business property. Available resources include computer equipment with

Adobe Captivate, Camtasia and Adobe Creative Cloud. There are enough irrigation system

components to build the irrigation display. Constrains include the lack of lighting, multimedia

equipment such as cameras, microphones and tripods, noise isolation environment, sometimes

company trucks park next to the office of the instructional designer introducing noise to the

recordings. The SME is willing to help but there is little time available because he is one of only

two people with knowledge and experience in irrigation; creating a bottleneck with pending

work orders, leaving him no time to assist with the project during working hours. The designer

had no choice but to meet with the SME on weekends. This encouraged the designer to complete

all the technician and specialist courses from Hunter. While they go beyond the scope of this

project, this knowledge served as the basis to understand the material he developed and speak

confidently about the subject throughout the design and delivery of the learning program.

Solution Description

Basic Irrigation Training provides instruction and demonstration of the basic concepts of

the controller programming and maintenance processes, using both computer-based instruction

and practice. All five sections of the training provide the required knowledge through videos and

practice developed on Adobe Captivate and Moodle. Once the learners finish this e-learning

training, they will be able to practice with real components in a setup display to get familiar and

help them develop motor skills needed to handle irrigation components. Proper configuration of

controllers, correct execution of steps to replace a sprinkler or nozzle, accurate identification and

resolution of problems in irrigation systems, define mastery of the module.

Goals

The goal of this project is to provide Spanish-speaking employees, with basic irrigation

training to enable them to program residential and light commercial irrigation controllers, as well

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as identify and resolve common problems in irrigation systems with 100% accuracy. This

includes:

Identifying adjustment controls, indicators and functions of features in an irrigation controller.

Learning the steps for proper programming of irrigation controllers. Troubleshooting and repair of common problems on irrigation systems.

Instructional Strategies

This instruction applies Adult Learning Theory and Situated Cognition Theory. In 1989,

Brown, Collins, and Duguid developed the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model, which is closely

linked to the Situated Cognition Theory. This model relies upon practical teaching methods,

whereby context learning is key. For example, if learners were trying to acquire the basic

concepts of irrigation, they would not only take theoretical courses associated with the specific

topic, but they would also seek out real world experiences which would allow them to become

fully immersed in the field. In the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model, learners are encouraged to

acquire the necessary skills by working alongside a master that serves as the subject matter

expert in the field, next to whom they are expected to develop their cognitive and metacognitive

skills. The SME low availability for this project encouraged the designer to complete the Hunter

Technician and Specialist Courses to become familiar with the subject, allowing him to create

some of the videos to show the way for learners to acquire the desired knowledge and skills.

Learning Theories and Instructional Principles

Existing literature on Adult Learning Theory and Situated Cognition supports the design

of this solution. Malcolm Shepherd Knowles (1913 – 1997) was an American educator well

known for the use of the term Andragogy as synonymous to adult education. According to

Malcolm Knowles, andragogy is the art and science of adult learning, thus andragogy refers to

any form of adult learning. (Kearsley, 2010).

The following principles of adult learning support this design:

• Adults are involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.

• Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities.

• Adults are most interested in learning about subjects that have immediate relevance to

their job or personal life.

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• Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented” (Conlan, Grabowski,

& Smith, 2003).

Knowles (1984) provides an example of applying andragogy principles to the design of

personal computer training:

• There is a need to explain the reasons specific things are being taught (e.g., certain

commands, functions, operations, etc.)

• Instruction should be task-oriented instead of promoting memorization - learning

activities should be in the context of common tasks to be performed by the others.

• Instruction should take into account the wide range of different backgrounds of learners;

learning materials and activities should allow for different levels/types of previous experience

with computers.

• Since adults are self-directed, instruction should allow learners to discover things and

knowledge for themselves without depending on people. However, learners should be offered

guidance and help when mistakes are made.

Andragogy principles have been clearly applied on this course: Importance of the training

is mentioned on the videos, practice and test questions are task oriented and placed within valid

potential contexts, learning materials used in this project allow learners with wide range of

different backgrounds: video-based instruction, questions including pictures, a degree of

bilingual access (closed captions in English and Spanish) with plans to expand to separate

courses per language and dub audio in addition to closed captions. The course is organized in

sections that suggest a chronological progress but do not impose such sequence to students,

allowing them freedom to discover the content in their own preferred order. The learners

however, are also offered guidance and help through the “Ask your instructor” forum.

Research shows value in individual learning and on focusing individually on specific

skills in a skill set. Following this model, this training shows videos to teach the features of

controllers and the process of programming a controller, moving to changing a nozzle or

sprinkler and troubleshooting common wiring problems.

Major Instructional Strategy Justification

Whereas traditional perspectives describe knowing and thinking as isolated activities that

occur primarily within the context of the cerebellum, many current theorists argue that thinking

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is situated; that is, being in part a product of the content, activity, and culture in which it is

developed and applied (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). Modeling is a key teaching strategy to

apply the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model to this training, both in e-learning design for the first

part of the training, and for practical case scenarios wiring troubleshooting and nozzle

replacement. Our second key strategy applied is to implement a discussion board for learners to

ask questions and receive coaching. Exploration takes place when leaners are encouraged to

solve problems on their own. We employ exploration on this training when leaners are given a

real-life scenario to enable them to contextualize problems and then work to solve these

problems in real world settings.

Situated cognition is a recent term for a family of research efforts that explain cognition,

including problem solving, sense making, understanding, transfer of learning, and creativity, in

terms of the relationship between learners and the properties of specific environments. From a

situated perspective it becomes impossible, and irrelevant, to separate the learner, the material to

be learned, and the context in which learning occurs. A contrast can be made with schema

theories in which knowledge is considered to be solely contained within the learner (represented

in memory as schemata or mental models), and with behaviorist theories in which cognition

plays a less central role. (Barab, 2000)

This training implements, the six features of cognitive apprenticeship: observation,

coaching, scaffolding, modeling, fading, and reflection as Collins, Brown, and Newman (1989)

emphasized in the cognitive apprenticeship pedagogical design. They suggest this paradigm

whereby teachers or coaches promote learning, first by making explicit their tacit knowledge or

by modeling their strategies for students in authentic activity. Then, teachers and colleagues

support students' attempts at doing the task. Finally, they empower the students to continue

independently.

The apprenticeship model is one of the techniques consistent with the situated learning

perspective. Situated Cognition asserts that knowledge is embedded in the activity, context, and

culture in which it is learned. Learning is seen in terms of an individual's increasingly effective

performance across situations rather than in terms of an accumulation of knowledge, since what

is known is co-determined by the agent and the context. (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989).

Supporting the inseparability of knowing and doing, learners have the opportunity to

practice procedural and cognitive knowledge in a computer or mobile device, and once they

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complete the training they will have hands-on practice to facilitate the acquisition of physical

skills that embody important cognitive skills associated with apprenticeship.

Instructional Content

The content for this project provides the foundation needed to work with most irrigation

controllers. The content design, multimedia and lesson plan are custom made for the target

population. This designer put together this program to teach the concepts of irrigation controllers

and provide a worry-free space for workers to practice their new skills. Hunter is one of the few

irrigation companies that makes courses available on their websites. They offer technician and

specialist level certifications. They have provided authorization to use their courses for this

project. The client points out we only need to cover the basics for the scope of this first training

module. A basic understanding of controller features and common troubleshooting problems

should be enough.

The length of the videos goes from 3 to 17 minutes, there is one video, one optional

practice activity, and a short quiz per section. The videos and quiz can be accessed anytime,

anywhere as long as the learners have access to a computer or mobile device and Internet

connectivity. The quiz is not difficult, but the questions prove for information critical to evaluate

the efficacy of the instruction.

Course modules:

Module Synopsis Duration

Activity

1. Irrigation Theory

Video explaining the concept, types of irrigation, and pressurized irrigation systems

5 min5 min5 min

Learners watch the video.Optional practice.Answer short quiz.

2. How to program the Node controller

Video explaining the logic and process to program a Node controller

15 min5 min5 min

Learners watch the video.Optional practice.Answer short quiz.

3. How to program the X-Core controller

Video explaining the logic and process to program an X-Core controller

17 min5 min5 min

Learners watch the video.Optional practice.Answer short quiz.

4. How to replace Video explaining the process 3 min Learners watch the video.

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a sprinkler or nozzle

to replace a sprinkler or nozzle 5 min5 min

Optional practice.Answer short quiz.

5. Wiring troubleshooting

Video explaining how to troubleshoot and solve wiring problems

12 min5 min5 min

Learners watch the video.Optional practice.Answer short quiz.

Existing resources for example Hunter training courses are not easy to adopt or adapt due

to the custom translation requirement and to respect copyright law. It is easier and better to

create original material. The designer created videos for this purpose, they are updated to fix

details and the latest versions will always have a backup on the server.

Feedback and Assessment

Lessons are interactive with the user needing to interact to progress through the lesson.

Immediate feedback has been embedded onto every question of the lesson’s quizzes. At the end

of each lesson, the user is assessed on the concepts, and procedural knowledge before concluding

the lesson. All quizzes must be passed with at least 80% to approve.

Learning Objectives

Terminal Objective:

Without referring to documentation, landscaping workers will be able to program

residential or light commercial irrigation controllers, identify and resolve common problems in

irrigation systems with 80% accuracy.

Enabling Objectives:

From memory, landscaping workers will be able to identify adjustment controls,

indicators and functions of features in an irrigation controller with 80% accuracy.

(Cognitive domain, comprehension).

From memory, landscaping workers will be able to list in the right order, steps for proper

programming of irrigation controllers. (Cognitive domain, comprehension).

Given various programs, landscaping workers will be able to setup irrigation controllers

with 100% accuracy. (Anderson’s taxonomy, procedural knowledge)

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Given real-world scenarios, landscaping workers will be able to troubleshoot common

wiring problems on irrigation systems within 5 minutes. (Anderson’s taxonomy,

procedural knowledge)

Media components

This capstone project is delivered asynchronously through Moodle. Once they

finish the course, they will be able to practice with real irrigation controllers. The users will

access the link from any computer or mobile device. See examples of the prototype slides in

image 1 and 2.

Image 1. Irrigation Controller Training user interface.

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Image 2. Irrigation Controller Benefits

Challenges

Anticipated challenges included days with urgent client work which would force training

to be postponed. The asynchronous design of this training helped overcome this challenge as it

allows the learners to progress at their own pace, pause as needed and resume at the following

convenient time. The installed LMS, helped address this challenge as it keeps track of the

learners’ progress and scores. Moodle was installed in the shared hosting server as a measure to

provide redundancy to the information. So it is safe in case of hardware or software failures or

acts of god at the local server location. It is also possible to plan full sessions in advance by

checking with the dispatcher on the expected work load per season and scheduled client contract

services. If the expected work load is high, the contingency plan is to delay the delivery of the

instruction, while increasing priority of awareness of this project by involving the different parts

in the command chain (team lead, supervisor, dispatcher, HR manager, director).

A second challenge this project faced was the delayed implementation of practice

irrigation controllers. The designer wanted to enable the learners to use the actual controllers as

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part of a real system, in addition to the online training. The controllers are available and they

were scheduled to be installed by August, but they could not be installed yet in the new location

because the move depended on financial funding. As a result, the practical part requiring real

controllers, which was intended to be part of this training, had to be postponed until the business

moves to the new location.

A third challenge was getting to know the new Moodle “Boost” theme in a short time.

Since the release of Moodle 3.2, Moodle core ships with a shiny new theme called "Boost".

While Boost does many things right and better than the legacy theme Clean, it also has some

fixed behaviors that don't make sense for all Moodle installations. One of these behaviors is the

fact that the look and feel of the navigation drawer (the menu which appears when you click on

the hamburger menu button) is hardcoded and can hardly be configured by administrators. For

example, it was pointed out that the “My Courses” link in the navigation drawer is not active and

it may confuse students who are expecting to see the list of their courses when they click on this

link. The designer looked through the docs and could not find anything that highlights how to

add/remove items from the navigation drawer. Note that the Boost theme in Moodle 3.2 onwards

uses a navigation drawer rather than the navigation block. As a workaround, the designer edited

the “navshowfullcoursenames” setting to use full course names in the navigation rather than

short names. So that students can now see the full name of the course under “My Courses”

instead of the course code “IRR101”. In versions of Moodle prior to 3.2, the default behavior for

the navigation block was to show “My Courses” as an active collapsible link, whereas the Boost

theme’s default behavior is to list all courses a student is enrolled on, and the way to show the

courses belong to the “My Courses” section is by adding indentation to all of them. The

indentation setting is part of the navigation drawer. The idea behind the flat navigation feature of

the Boost theme is to reduce the need for clicking to navigate the course, from that point of view,

it makes sense to automatically collapse the courses list within the nav drawer. Changing this

behavior is possible with deeper knowledge of PHP and CSS.

Installing Moodle was a challenge when the designer chose version 3.3, because it

required to have PHP at least on version 5.6.5 and we were running two updates behind. The

designer upgraded PHP to 7.0.22 and mysql from 5.5.31 to 5.6.37.

Adding closed caption subtitles to the videos was time consuming but very streamlined

thanks to YouTube’s integrated speech recognition technology. Once both language subtitles

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were added to the video, the designer downloaded, changed the format to vtt for compatibility

with the Moodle player, stripped the audio and added the language tracks to serve as an

alternative for those learners with slow or limited data internet connections. The process to label

the subtitle tracks in Moodle, is prone to errors because there is no indication of what goes

where, and because there is no way to edit audio media once it has been added, so it took several

trials and errors to get them to work. The company does not have any English-speaking

monolingual employees working in landscaping but considering the possibility of hiring them in

the future, it might be a good improvement for this course is to have separate versions for

English and Spanish.

Adding questions to Moodle was a very positive experience, except for the Drag and

Drop or Hotspot questions. Moodle automatically shrinks pictures to a very small size and when

you try to add hotspot sections with x and y axis, or if you try to create a drag and drop questions

with an image, it does not accurately put the drop points on the image.

A breakthrough was the effective application of badges, so that students who finish the

course with a passing grade are automatically awarded a badge. One more badge is awarded to

those who find and report three Easter eggs hidden in the questions feedback throughout the

course quizzes, the goal of this is to keep the learner’s attention.

Methods

The training is a self-study course. The designer of this course installed Moodle, created

and uploaded the course content to the company server, and follows up with the participants to

assist with their progress, keep track of the scores and moving forward if they find any

roadblock.

The irrigation specialist and the designer of this module provided clear modeling and

instructions for learners to practice and develop the skills this business would like for them to

master. This enables them to provide support for common and high-demand irrigation services.

The instructional coordinator took the necessary actions to train the SME so he can serve

as administrator and facilitator if the coordinator is not available.

The facilitator’s extensive experience working with computers helped support the

implementation of this instructional design module, using office applications, researching the

Internet, and using the Moodle platform to deliver instruction. He is now familiar with the

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practice scenarios on the irrigation setting. Considering the asynchronous nature of this training,

only one trainer is needed per class. The learners are given immediate custom feedback and

recommendations derived from their scores on the digital test.

Deliverables

The deliverables for the capstone include:

1. Irrigation theory

Video (5 min) Content: Irrigation concept, system types, irrigation methods,

advantages and disadvantages.

Optional Practice on Moodle (5 min)

Quiz on Moodle (5 min)

2. Programming a Node Controller

Video (15 min) Content: Controller features, stations, zones, process to enter or

modify programs

Optional Practice on Moodle (5 min)

Quiz on Moodle (5 min)

3. Programming an X-Core Controller

Video (17 min) Content: Controller features, stations, process to enter or modify

programs

Optional Practice on Captivate (5 min) Practice programming sequence

Quiz on Moodle (5 min)

4. Nozzle Replacement Troubleshooting

Video changing nozzle (3 min)

Optional Practice on Moodle (5 min)

Quiz on Moodle (5 min)

5. Wiring Troubleshooting

Video wiring troubleshooting (5 min)

Optional Practice on Moodle (5 min)

Quiz on Moodle (5 min)

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Process and steps for completing the project

Following the instructional systems design (ISD) framework ADDIE, this project went

through the five phases defined for building training and performance support tools:

Analysis

Design

Development

Implementation

Evaluation

Including multiple revisions of the phases.

This project started with the analysis and previous preparation in irrigation required for

the designer to create the videos, this included taking all the e-learning courses from Hunter,

researching the specific models used in this company and selecting the two most popular ones.

Research included literature review of supporting learning strategies, asking workers about the

types of controllers they are familiar with, types of problems they most regularly face, tools, and

procedures. The design went through revisions at every phase of the process. The development

was definitely the most time consuming part of the whole process. Creating the content for the

videos, practicing the scripts, narrating every step with detail at the same time I hit record and

execute the process, it was not easy to do all that without making any mistakes. This means

having to take the videos several times to help provide a good quality level of instruction.

Editing the videos was just as time consuming as creating them. The designer had to do all the

work associated with this project on his own, this means he had to source and edit pictures and

all media required for the project. Major steps taken during the development of the project

include, selecting and installing an LMS for the company, creating and customizing the Basic

Irrigation Course within the same LMS, adding media available in various formats including

alternatives for slow or limited internet connections, creating practice exercises for every section

of the course, quizzes and test creation, finding members of the target audience to try the course,

making edits to the sections and questions according to the feedback received, pulling out scores

from Moodle, perform statistical analysis to determine learning gains, drawing to conclusions

and creating this final report.

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Resources

The company provided the following designer tools and resources to assist in the

development and completion of the project. This project is delivered via internet.

This project utilized the following resources:

Captivate 9 to develop the practical exercises. Camtasia 9 to develop modeling videos. Snipping Tool to capture screenshots. Microsoft Voice Recorder and Snowball Mic for audio.

Microsoft Word for development plans and worksheets.

Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 to edit images.

Microsoft Excel for schedule creation.

Web tools such as Dreamweaver and 3D Paint.

Softaculous to install Moodle 3.3.2 (Build: 20170911) through cPanel.

Survey Monkey for survey creation on initial stages of the project.

S8 Video camera.

Outlook for project communication.

Various Irrigation Controllers for modeling.

Timeline

Training Program

Projected

Start Date

Projected

Due Date

Node Controller Video 02/03/2017 04/18/2017

X-Core Controller Video 02/03/2017 04/19/2017

Nozzle Replacement Video 04/03/2017 05/03/2017

Wiring Troubleshooting Video 08/09/2017 10/31/2017

eLearning Module “How to program your irrigation controller” 06/27/2017 07/27/2017

Real-world Practice scenarios 09/12/2017 10/12/2017

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Website Development 09/13/2017 10/30/2017

LMS customization 10/01/2017 11/01/2017

Final Irrigation Training Program (Usability Eval) 06/27/2017 07/27/2017

Final Irrigation Training Program (Learning Effectiveness Test) 06/27/2017 07/27/2017

Final modifications based on Usability Eval & Learner Analysis 09/01/2017 11/17/2017

Final Irrigation Training Program Submitted 12/18/2017

Beta Launch of eLearning Module in Los Banos January

2018

Evaluation Plan

This project included both formative and summative evaluation.

Formative Evaluation

Situated Cognition asserts that knowledge is embedded in the activity, this online training

where learners are encouraged to observe the modeling of the activity is evaluated with quizzes

created with adobe captivate and Moodle.

A group of five workers volunteered to take the online module prototype and participated

in the evaluation.

Formative evaluation was conducted through reports from LMS. Eventually, when the

business moves to the new location, the learners will be able to execute the practical part in the

designated space for the irrigation display.

Analysis of results confirmed levels of acquisition and mastering of the skills required to

perform the tasks as required for real-world cases. Learners who do not perform at the desired

levels, are offered coaching and given further opportunities to improve their skills.

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Summative Evaluation

The summative evaluation measured changes in knowledge, comparing results of the pre-

test on the first part of the training, with results of the final exam. Both tests contain the same

questions. The questions are selected from each module to assure balanced representativeness of

the topics covered.

The original idea of the business for this project was to create an online platform and

grant its employees content access so they could learn anytime, anywhere. Therefore, this project

was designed to be asynchronous training.

Part of this project included the implementation of the first learning management system

for this business. Moodle was selected for a combination of reasons. This course has been

published on the following link: http://ronnysinc.com/aprendo/. There is a space for

announcements and another one for questions, this enables communication and collaboration

among peers and trainer. Quizzes include multiple choice, true or false, drag and drop questions

to measure the transfer of knowledge. There is a quiz at the end of each instructional module.

The final exam is made of questions selected from the quizzes and serves as summative

assessment.

A statistical analysis revealed that, in the pilot, using participants from the target

audience, there was enough statistical significance of improved learning outcomes, to reject the

null hypothesis at the conventional 5% level. In a more formal description, H0 is the null

hypothesis, μ1 is the mean score in percentage of the pre-test, μ2 is the mean score in percentage

of the post-test, and HA is the alternative hypothesis:

H0: μ1 ≥ μ2

HA: μ1 < μ2

The tables below, were used to analyze the test scores, to either reject or not reject the

null hypothesis of no improvement in the workers’ knowledge. Presuming the participants

improve their overall score from the pre-test to the post-test, the alternative hypothesis is

presented as follows: the post-test will have a higher mean percentage of correct responses than

the pre-test or HA: μ1 < μ2.

22

Table 1 demonstrates the pre- and post-test scores for all five participants, including their

corresponding mean outcomes. Evaluated by the means of the assessments, the post-test shows

an improvement of 53 percentage points over the 40 % pre-test mean.

All of the participants showed remarkable improvement in their test scores after

participating in the lesson. Participant 1 showed the most improvement (+ 62%), while

participant 2 scored a lower but still important improvement in the post-test (- 33%).

Table 1: Participants’ Pre-test and Post-test Scores

Participant Pre-test Post-test1 33.33 95.002 58.33 91.673 33.33 90.004 40.00 96.675 33.33 90.00

Mean 39.66 92.67

Given the improvement of outcomes in the post-test, the results support the following

analysis of statistical significance. Recognizing the null hypothesis: pre-test score ≥ post-test

score and the alternative hypothesis: pre-test score < post-test score, a t-test was used to analyze

the above data to review the significance of the results. Since the two sets of data are dependent

– the participants are the same individuals before and after the lesson is administered – a paired

sample t-test was used, the results of which are presented in Table 2. If the absolute value of the t

Statistic (t Stat) is greater than the t distribution’s critical value (t Critical), then one can reject

the null hypothesis. The absolute value of the one-tail t Stat |t| is 10.57 and the t Critical value is

at 2.13. This indicates that the t Stat is more than the t Critical value (10.57>2.13), and therefore,

this analysis demonstrates sufficient statistical significance.

Table 2: t-Test Paired Two Sample for Means

Summary Pre-test Post-testMean 39.664 92.668Variance 117.22278 9.17167Observations 5 5Pearson Correlation 0.013292Hypothesized Mean Difference 0

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df 4t Stat -10.5787P(T<=t) one-tail 0.0002259t Critical one-tail 2.1318468P(T<=t) two-tail 0.0004518t Critical two-tail 2.7764451

Conclusion

The development and implementation of the Basic Irrigation Training satisfies the

original goals set forth for the project. Learners have ease of access to information, resources,

and opportunities for practicing the knowledge acquired. The evaluation phase of the project

indicated that the learners did benefit from the content, and that their overall knowledge in

irrigation systems increased as a result of the training and resources installed on the LMS.

Evaluation also helped identify sentences used that can be rephrased to match local

Spanish. This training could be improved by adding the practical part, as it was intended

originally. Since this limitation depends on external factors, the practical part will be

implemented as soon as they are sorted out.

A possible future improvement in the technical part of the LMS implemented with this

project is to enable PHP OPcode caching, since it improves performance and lowers memory

requirements.

Overall, the Basic Irrigation Training design, development and implementation is viewed

as a positive experience for the designer, business manager, and learners.

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References

Barab, S.A., K. E. Hay & T.M. Duffy (2000), Grounded Constructions and How Technology

Can Help, CRLT Technical Report No. 12-00, The Center for Research on Learning and

Technology, Indiana University.

Brown, J. S.; Collins, A.; Duguid, S. (1989). "Situated cognition and the culture of learning".

Educational Researcher. Vol 18. No. (1), pp. 23–42. doi: 10.3102/0013189x018001032

Conlan, J., Grabowski, S., & Smith, K. (2003). Adult Learning. Emerging perspectives on

learning, teaching and technology.

Kearsley, G. (2010). Andragogy (M.Knowles). The theory into practice database. Retrieved

from http://tip.psychology.org

Knowles, M. S. (1962) A History of the Adult Education Movement in the USA, New York:

Krieger. A revised edition was published in 1977.

Knowles, M. (1975). Self-Directed Learning. Chicago: Follet.

Knowles, M. (1984). The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (3rd Ed.). Houston, TX: Gulf

Publishing.

Knowles, M. (1984). Andragogy in Action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Appendix A - Evaluator Observation Form

Checklist Yes No Comments

Does the learner complete every

item in the module?

4 1 One learner expressed he wasn’t

sure what to do.

Does the learner follow the

instruction correctly?

4 1 One learner was not familiar with

the drag and drop feature.

Does the learner have any

difficulty following instructions?

3 2 Some learners were not sure what

to do. This was more noticeable on

the quiz questions.

Does the learner follow the

Module navigation without

difficulty?

3 2 Some learners had difficulties

working with the navigation

buttons.

Does the learner encounter any

problem, but manages to solve it

on his/her own without developer’s

intervention?

1 4 Yes, one learner noticed the audio

getting stuck but realized that if he

clicked again, the audio had a

better chance to finish.

Does the learner encounter any

problem, and need developer’s

intervention to be able to continue?

1 4 One learner was not familiar with

computer use and required

additional assistance to advance.

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Appendix B - Summative Evaluation Questionnaire

1. Were the instructions easy to follow? Please choose your response from the drop down

menu. Circle only one option. Very easy. Easy. Neutral. Difficult. Very difficult.

2. How significant did the training contribute to your knowledge about irrigation

controllers? Circle only one option. Very significant. Significant. Undecided.

Insignificant. Very insignificant.

3. How confident do you feel in programming an irrigation controller?

Circle only one option. Very confident. Confident. Undecided. Unconfident. Very

unconfident.

4. Did you experience any frustration while learning with the module? Circle only one

option. Lots of frustration. Some frustration. Undecided. Hardly any frustration. Absolutely

no frustration.

5. How would you describe the level of difficulty of the quizzes?

Circle only one option. Very easy. Easy. Undecided. Difficult. Very difficult.

6. What did you like about the instruction? Please type your answer.

7. What did you dislike about the instruction? Please type your answer.

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Appendix C – Login Screen

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Appendix D – LMS Welcome Screen

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Appendix E – Course Welcome Screen

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Appendix F – Pre-test screenshots

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32

33

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Appendix G – Screenshots of Module 1

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Appendix H – Screenshots of Module 2

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Appendix I – Screenshots of Module 3

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Appendix J – Screenshots of Module 4

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Appendix K – Screenshots of Module 5

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Appendix L – Screenshot of Badges

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Appendix M – Human Research Certification