Course | Lisa Batista

Guide for Effective Research

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

“Guide for Effective Research” is an online training course hosted through Canvas. This collection of self-paced, asynchronous training modules provide basic research skills and curated resources and can be implemented as a stand alone learning opportunity or as supplementary material within a longer learning experience.

Responsibilities: instructional design (action mapping, storyboarding, mockups, prototype, user testing, full development), visual design, eLearning development

Audience: Adult and young adult learners

Learning theories: Cognitivism, constructivism, adult learning theories, Bloom’s Taxonomy

Tools used: Adobe Captivate, Canvas, Scorm Cloud, Google Docs, Miro

To check out and enroll in the course, see “Guide for Effective Research”.

The Problem and Solution

Basic research skills are essential for everyone in today’s information-rich world. Whether you are a high school student, a professional in the workplace, or simply someone striving to navigate the internet more intentionally, this course equips learners with simple, actionable steps to research more efficiently and effectively.

By mastering these skills, participants can better address the challenges of fake news and misinformation while gaining greater autonomy in navigating an increasingly complex online environment.

This self-paced online course is structured into multiple topic-focused modules, providing learners with the tools to learn, practice, and evaluate foundational research techniques. Each module includes comprehensive learning guides, supplementary resources, and opportunities to engage with a supportive instructor, ensuring an interactive and enriching learning experience.

Figure 1: Module 1: Evaluating Sources welcome page.

My Process

To design this course, I utilized the SAM (Successive Approximation Model) framework in combination with Backward Design. I began by gathering information about the target audience to identify potential knowledge gaps. Drawing from my background in education and experience in instructional design, I aimed to create a course that bridges the needs of high school students, professionals, and adult learners by focusing on universally applicable research skills.

After defining the audience and focus areas, I employed backward planning to outline key objectives. The course is designed to help learners critically evaluate sources for trustworthiness and bias, answer research questions effectively, and use search engines strategically. These objectives guided the development of the first three modules of the course (source evaluation, search engine basics, and fact checking).

Figure 2: Miro mind map for backward planning and action mapping.

Each module followed, or is currently following, the iterative design, prototype, and review phases of the SAM model. I incorporated storyboarding and action mapping to ensure a logical and engaging progression of content. Assessments were crafted to measure learners’ progress and provide meaningful feedback. Once the modules were fully planned, I worked through course design basics, including becoming proficient with Canvas as an administrator, to ensure a smooth and accessible learning experience.

Figure 3: Adobe Captivate course storyboard through Google Slides.

Favorite Features

ABCD Evaluation Module

Figure 4: Link: ABCD Source Evaluation course through Adobe Captivate.

Using Adobe Captivate, I designed a fully asynchronous eLearning module that incorporates frequent knowledge checks. These checks provide immediate feedback, fostering active engagement and reinforcing learning outcomes. To support diverse learning preferences, the module is paired with a notetaking guide included in the Week 1 materials, offering additional structure for users who benefit from guided learning tools.

Figure 5: Optional notetaking guide for learners as they progress through the module.

Assessment pieces

To ensure learning, gauge progress, and provide feedback, I develop several assessments throughout the three modules. Many are formative knowledge checks as shown in the evaluation module and the Fact Checking scenario-based training, and some are more summative. One such summative assessment is a multiple choice quiz that challenges learners to think at a deeper, more authentic level and better meets the learning objectives.

Overall Course Design

I developed the course design by adhering to a consistent visual style, using ADA-compliant colors and fonts to ensure accessibility and a pleasing user experience. To maintain uniformity across the course, I utilized basic HTML and incorporated creative, visually engaging elements such as custom homepage buttons and a welcome video.

Recognizing the importance of fostering a sense of connection in an asynchronous, self-paced course, I included a discussion board to encourage peer interaction and teacher welcome videos for each module to introduce a more personal, human element to the learning experience.

Figure 6: Homepage buttons for user experience and functionality.

Professional Basics - A Guide for High School

Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract

“Professional Basics: A Guide for High School” is a short lesson set designed to teach and review basic professional skills to teen students. The course mini-lessons are formatted using Articulate Rise 360 to serve as bell ringers (short, under 10 minute lessons) that can be utilized in any high school classroom at any point in the year, without disrupting the regular curriculum. The product is designed to compliment instruction and be used as needed based on instructor evaluation of needed professional skills amongst their students. All materials and planning are pre-made to ensure that the lessons can be implemented immediately with minimal prep time required from teachers.

Responsibilities: instructional design (focus groups, storyboarding, mockups, prototype, user testing, full development), visual design, eLearning development

Audience: 9-12th grade students and teachers

Learning theories: Cognitivism, constructivism, readiness to know, Bloom’s Taxonomy

Tools used: Google Docs, Rise 360, Storyline 360, Zoom

To check out the full prototype, see “Professional Basics: A Guide for High School”.

The Problem and Solution

Through my time as an English teacher, I worked extensively with high schoolers at every grade level. I found myself frequently frustrated by how much instructional time I had to allocate to teaching students professional skills. Students came to my classes lacking basic skills like how to write a school and business appropriate email. Despite it not being part of my set curriculum or plan, I often gave up class and planning time to set students up for success in these skills.

In this prototype eLearning course, I set out to help teachers solve this problem by designing mini-lessons to cover the basic professional skills many students need.

My Process

I chose to use a blend of Universal Backwards Design (UbD) and the ADDIE model to develop this learning experience. UbD worked well as I learned through holding a series of focus groups with subject matter experts (SMEs) prior to development the major frustrations high school teachers are facing in regards to current students’ professional skills. I learned that in many cases students come to classrooms not having basic knowledge (such as how to write an email or present in front of the class) and educators find themselves playing catch up to help students obtain those needed skills. Using the end goal: professionally literate students, I was able to work backwards to develop terminal and enabling objectives for my mini-lessons. After determining objectives I could plan the best assessments for evaluating if learners mastered the needed skills.

Along with UbD, ADDIE played a large role in my development process. During the Analysis phase, I held several focus groups with educators to evaluate and determine the problem. After listening and hearing the teacher response, I began identifying possible solutions and the medium that might best fit teacher and learner needs. Moving into the Design phase I used observations and conclusions to storyboard three mini courses for my prototype. The three courses featured are: email etiquette, MLA formatting, and basic public speaking skills. These three topics are varied but met the needs the teachers discussed in the focus groups and were a good starting point for future mini-lesson development. During this phase I also determined the best “bell ringer” assignments for each lesson’s assessment piece.

In the development stage I designed the course and mini lessons through Rise 360 incorporating interactive elements for both engagement and immediate feedback. In the email etiquette lesson I also utilized OpenAI by designing a personalized chatbot to provide the learner with immediate feedback on an email draft. This required developing the chatbot in Storyline 360 through light Javascript and prompt engineering. I then used the block from Storyline in my Rise course. After completing the prototype, I started user testing with the primary audience of high school students. Further revision followed this data collection phase. While I have not implemented this course yet, the next step will be gaining more feedback from actual users and learners and then evaluating the effectiveness for future modifications.

Focus Groups

Early in the analysis stage I conducted focus groups with my secondary audience of high school educators. I felt this was an important audience to gather data from because while I wanted to design something to teach students, I knew teachers would have input on what were the biggest problems they were facing in their classrooms. These focus groups allowed me to explore multiple avenues relating to eLearning in the 9-12 classroom and what teachers were already using and found helpful.

User Testing

After completing a working, interactive prototype, I organized a series of user-testing to allow for further feedback from both my primary (high school students) and secondary (teachers) audiences. This process provided valuable insight into potential bugs in the mini-lessons and users were able to share honest opinions and suggestions for improvement. I implemented most suggestions.

Favorite Features

OpenAI Chatbot During the prototyping process I used Articulate 360 and javascript to code in an interactive chatbot feature so learners can get immediate feedback on an email draft. Creating a functional AI feature required prompt-engineering to ensure the feedback was relevant, concise, and usable.

Drag and Drop In Storyline 360 I designed a simple drag and drop interaction for students to assess their knowledge of how to format a document in MLA.