Week 8 - Instructional strategies for Principles and Procedure learning

The knowledge of procedures, or rule using, teaches us on when to use the correct procedures during the most appropriate situations.

In simple terms, we use procedures when we have to use procedures. For example, when operating machinery, there are certain procedures so as to ensure the desired output.

Most of key instructional elements for procedure learning deals includes strong visual aspects. Such as demonstration and worked example. These elements require teachers to SHOW learners the different procedures.

Thinking back, these learning experiences also deals with learning of Mathematics and physics, where sums and questions are to be solved, and we are given formula and other other steps to solve the problem.

In the e-learning process, practice and feedback is considered to be the most difficult to be achieved. If practice requires hands-on experience, it would be almost impossible for the learner to practice online.

If feedback includes comparison, given the ephemerality of certain activities, the benchmarks may not exist after a long time.

In solving this, practice can be done in the way of computer simulated sums or actions, such as having tutorials on Secondlife where the learner can view the the situation and react accordingly.

In the read and write web, questionaires such cast study or situational problems can be posted online so as to allow the learners to recall and apple the rules that they have used. For example " After this step, what should Ah Huat do?"

Ideal solutions or benchmarks can be posted online for learners to compare. Also, a list of compiled results can also be made available.

Of course, the learning of procedures depends on mental memory and muscle memory. As such, it should suffice that feedback of learning concentrate on the retention of these procedures. We will leave the in-depth understanding to Principles.

Principles are combinations of rules, concepts and often facts, and using them to teach us the "why" behind all these.

The teaching of principles can be tricky and outcomes can often become unclear and unmeasurable.

To practice, the websites can include a series of problem questions, kind of similar to those in examination questions, but focused on the connections between the facts/variables and context/conditions.

Feedback may require another party to look and grade physically as the application of principles might not be correct. This might be replaced by computerised adaptive feedback, however, there will be certain exceptions. And it is these exceptions that may bring about historical breakthroughs.