ID and GRE: Breaking Down the Bones

A design projectby Susan Matsonfor ITM600, LaSalle University

The issue: ELS Language Centers decided to teach GRE prep to its ESL learners..

But what were the implications of the decision in terms of goal analysis and needs analysis?

? Was the goal attainable from an organizational point of view?

Was the goal also attainable for the students?

As part of the overall needs analysis, we conducted a brief GRE pilot at two centers: “Some students can cope and

others panic—there’s huge anxiety.” The skeleton was dancing, but there were aches and pains.

I considered creating learning modules on --metacognition

--self-esteem building --anxiety management

--vocabulary enhancement

But wait!

Was I taking on too much for my first instructional design effort?

A close look at what it takes to create performance objectives gave me the answer…

A closer look suggested that

Anxiety, stress and low self-esteem could come from real deficiencies, weaknesses that we needed to shore up by building academic skills

I then interviewed three GRE-bound students to get a more defined diagnosis…

Writing skills were basically sound

Math was mostly in place

Reading comp was worrisome because of vocabulary

Analogies, antonyms also impacted by very challenging vocabulary

Vocabulary enhancement became the focus

But how could the 800 core vocabulary words of the GRE be taught in one ELS class with 40 hours of GRE prep per month?

About 15-30 new words per week is

typical for an adult learning ESL… We needed unique efficiency.

I decided on core word parts—the backbone of English

The instructional goal statement became:

GRE prep class students (Learner) will be able to use word parts and context (Tools) to effectively deduce meanings of new words (Behavior), during both paper-and-pencil classroom practice tests and timed, computer-adaptive tests (Performance Context).

There were 7 core steps,including

Recall meanings for common word parts and variationsin isolation 1

Identify meaning of unknown words inanalogy context 5

Identify meaning of unknown words inantonym context 6

Identify meaning of unknown words inmath context 7

Subskill analysis provided a lot more detail:

I had to learn to think in heirarchies:

Vertically as well as horizontally

List examples of analogies 5.1

Recognize meanings of items in analogy exercise 5.2

Identify meanings in analogy test context 5

Next were

Close thinking about learners and contexts (they had to perform both in class and on timed tests) Highly specific performance objectives And forward thinking assessment items

For example:Subskill: List word parts

Performance Objective: When asked to name word parts orally or in writing(CN), list (B)at least three examples each of a common prefix, root, and suffix in isolation.(CR) The learner will name at least nine word parts total.(CR)

Assessment Item: Quiz 1, Word Parts. The student is asked to complete charts to show knowledge of taught word parts, their meanings; and example words. Example: The student is given a prefix, such as TRI. The student must fill in the meaning (THREE) and give an example word (for example, TRICYCLE).

I began to realize that

Every action and plan by the teacher needed to be purposeful, and intentional—with a clear outcome in mind at all times.

A teacher could have a surgeon’s precision! Or close to it..

What remained was a comprehensive plan of care via the Instructional Strategy:

Clustering objectives so as to make teaching units.

Using those units to decide timing.

I had to learn to separate teacher time from practice and in-class activity time and become more conscious of the clock—otherwise, 40 hours of learning!

Final results:

Still more activity than I planned, slightly over 2 hours of teaching time, but a potentially very effective vocabulary enhancement tool

Almost complete:

Instructional materials (an extended handout on word parts)

Instructor guide Student guide Polished AI (quizzes) Formative assessment (center visit) Summary assessment

Conclusions A rigorous process with

overstepping at first, retrenching, gains, redesigning,and learning every step of the way

A beginning ability to see how the bones are connected, finding the backbone of an issue, and seeing the body come together at last.