Structural Assessment of Learning Object
lilianjie
Outline.docxBlock 2: Structural Assessment of Learning Object (15 points)
In my long experience as a teacher and university professor, I have seen many instructors who use one or more methods or features as part of their course without ever asking themselves about those aspects that support and those that might interfere with learning . On the other hand, when I was a middle and high school teacher, I wanted to know what each of the resources provided to students allowing them to learn and what might actually interfere with their learning. So from early on, I developed the habit of critically analyzing learning resources. In this second block, you will engage in the analysis (assessment) of a learning object / resource. The purpose is not to acknowledge and praise fancy gimmicky designs but to look at the learning objects through the eyes of the learner (as per the readings in Block 1).
To set the stage for this second part of this course, the analyses of 3 actual investigations of learning objects are provided—research articles adapted for the purpose of this course. The object of the first analysis is a BBC online feature in the science section. This is considered a learning object because readers will learn something new; moreover, it is precisely by reading such and similar pieces that some readers get hooked into the respective field (e.g. science, anthropology). The object of the second analysis is one of the Bill Nye the Science Guy shows that you may be familiar with. There are many who have learned and gotten hooked into science because of these and similar learning objects. Certain lectures that can be viewed on YouTube have many comments about how the particular learning object has helped them understanding the topic. The third text features many analyses of photographs in biology textbooks that one of my former students conducted just after graduating with her BSc. When you read these exemplary and exemplifying analyses, you should ask yourself questions such as: “What does the resource (learning object) make available for making sense?,” “What structural resources does the resource provide to reading?,” and “What does the resource draw on in the existing experience of the recipient?”
The point for providing the three text excerpts is to provide you with examples of how some learning object (learning resource) is critically analyzed. You learn how to write a critical analysis by emulating the forms from one or the other example.
Activity of Block 2
1. Read the sample analyses (initially, this might be done rapidly for you to get a sense of what is done in a critical analysis of a learning resource.
2. Select some resource or learning object understood in the widest sense, anything that teaches the recipient something or that could be used to teach something (e.g. from your academic discipline, your hobby, where you already know what can / should be learned).
3. Conduct an analysis of the resource or learning object—e.g. from your academic area, but it could be something else as well from everyday life. Your analysis should be guided by questions such as: What does the resource make available for making sense? What background understanding does the resource presuppose? What background understanding does the resource solicit for assisting recipients in learning? What are the structural features of the resource? ( HINT: Use the texts you read as EXAMPLES of how to conduct the analysis. EMULATE the form of those descriptions and analyses in your own text. )
4. Write a report . Because of the great variance in projects, there are no single hard criteria for length, content, or format—but think 4,000+. At a minimum, your report should include:
a. Some appropriate title, author/s of the report
b. Brief summary of the entire report and keywords
c. A brief introduction to the topic, including some references to the readings
d. An explanation of the knowledge to be learned by perusing the resource,
e. A list of the guiding questions that you used in the analysis,
g. A discussion / conclusion section, and
h. A reflection where you state what you learned about learning resources / objects through this activity. Whatever you analyze, you should provide the data. Thus, if you analyze an audiovisual resource, you should include some form of transcription, which serves as the data of your analysis. In addition, provide a link to the resource if it is available online.
i. A brief description of the ways in which the authors have contributed
