Instructional design/Affective behaviors/A Comprehensive Approach to Character Development/e-Learning Module Example Activity

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Character Education e-Learning Module Review Activity

The e-Learning module we will be reviewing is Teaching and Expecting Appropriate Behavior. You have two choices right now 1) you can either explore and acquaint yourself with the lesson before proceeding with the rest of the activity that is presented below, or 2) you can go ahead and proceed with the rest of the activity below. It is your choice.

Getting Started

What we will be going through is essentially the design document for the Teaching and Expecting Appropriate Behavior module. Since we don’t have the original design document to go through, what we will go through is one that has been “reversed-engineered” based the on the module itself and may not be an accurate reflection of the original design document, but will meet our purposes for what we are trying to accomplish here in using this module as an example of character education instruction.

Background/Instructional Context of e-Learning Module

This Teaching and Expecting Appropriate Behavior module was designed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for use within a religious context. It was designed to help Primary (a Sunday School) teachers for children 3-11 years old. Primary classes usually have anywhere from between two and ten children in a class.

The purpose of Primary is to teach children the gospel of Jesus Christ and help them learn to live it. Please see specific objectives of Primary on the Primary page if you'd like more information.

As brought up in the “The Content of Character” section on page one of this lesson, since this example e-Learning Module is for a religious context, “faith-based reasons for leading a moral life (achieving union with God in this life and the next) and the ultimate source of goodness (God’s grace) is taught as truth.” Faith-based reasons serve as the underlying principles for this module.

Audience

The audience for this module is Primary teachers. Teachers can be either men or women and are eighteen years old or older. Teachers will have various experience in teaching. Some may be in the teaching profession and therefore are quite experienced, while for others, this may be their first time teaching a class.

Teacher’s may also be life-long members of the church and have a firm gospel understanding or they may be relatively new to the church and are developing in their gospel understanding. Regardless of how long a teacher has been a member of the church or what their teaching experience is, it is assumed that they understand that Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of good character and it is He that they strive to be like and in turn teach the children to be like.

Needs

Based on feedback from Primary teachers, it was determined that instruction on teaching an expecting appropriate behavior in the classroom was needed. It was determined that the topics of developing love for those they teach, understanding children and their needs, preparing the learning environment, helping children take responsibility, responding to disruptions, and uniting with others to reinforce appropriate behavior were needed.

Learning Objectives

The overall goal of the module is to provide ideas on how to teach and expect appropriate behavior in Primary. Each lesson within the module then has specific objectives. These objectives include:

• Increasing love for Primary children based on the example of Jesus Christ
• Understand children and their needs better by being able to recognize age characteristics
• Understanding children and their needs better by learning about them individually and listening to them
• Increasing appropriate behavior as they prepare and control the learning environment
• Learning how to help children take responsibility
• Learning how to respond positively to negative behavior
• Learning progressive steps for responding to disruptions
• Learning how to teach and encourage as you speak privately with a child
• Knowing how to involve others as needed (parents and leaders)

Presentation

1. Setting Expectations

• A statement on the purpose of the module (example)
• A listing of the different lessons within the module so the learner can see what the module covers and also go directly to an individual module if they desire (example)
• Each lesson also starts out with a quote from a manual the learner is familiar with in order to set the tone of the lesson (example)
• A page counter is also at the bottom of each page so the learner knows how many pages are in each lesson and what page they are on (example)
• The title of the lesson is on every page so the learner knows what lesson they are on (example)
• The time that each lesson should take is not given. This would be helpful for the learner.

2. Gain & Maintain Attention

• A statement of what the learner will gain by going through the module (example)
• Questions to stimulate thinking or recall prior knowledge (example)
• Scenarios and examples the learners can relate to (example 1), (example 2)
• Different types of content (text, images, audio) (example 1), (example 2)
• Interactive practice activities (example 1), (example 2), (example 3)

3. Present Content

• Used a variety of presentation methods throughout the module (text, graphics, animations, audio clips, interactive elements) (example 1), (example 2), (example 3), (example 4)
• Combined animation-narration or text-illustration rather than presenting them separately (example)
• Text is concise, personalized, and presented in small chunks (see to previous examples)
• Heading, italics, boldface, etc. are used to organize content (see to previous examples)
• Graphics and other media added to instruction and are not merely decorative or “fill” the page (see previous examples)
• Examples and scenarios that mimic the learner’s reality are used (example)
• A table of content icon is used throughout all of the lessons so learners can select content and “jump” to different sections of the course (example)
• Although there is a conclusion for each page, usually a quote is used. In addition to this, summaries could be used at the end of each lesson (example)

4. Making the Course Aesthetic Pleasing Look for the following in the example provided above or as you go through the module on your on.

• “White space” is allowed. There is not too much information crammed on the pages
• A harmonious color-scheme is used that fits into the context of the online learning environment
• Template images are used consistently throughout the lessons to set the tone (images of children, scriptures, Jesus Christ, etc.)
• Graphics are high-quality
• Audio is high-quality and is crisp and clear
• Placement of page numbers, navigation buttons, etc. are consistent throughout the lessons
• Sans-serif font is used for body text since it is more readable
• A light colored background is used with darker text

Character Education Strategies Used

The lessons in this module use almost all of the twelve strategies presented by Lickona. They are used not only throughout the module for the teacher who is the learner for the module, but these strategies are also used in helping the teacher when teaching in the classroom when the students are the learners.

Some of the most obvious strategies used in this module are listed below. Be sure to look for how these are used in the module as you look at the examples provided above or as you go through the module on your own.

• Teachers should respect and care about their students, set a good example, and provide directive moral guidance.
• Create a caring classroom community by helping students to know each other as persons; respect, care about, and affirm each other; and feel a valued member of the group.
• Help students develop moral reasoning, self-discipline, and respect for others.
• Involve students, through regular class meetings, in shared decision-making.
• Teach students what the virtues are, how their habitual practice will lead to a more fulfilling life, and how each of us must take responsibility for developing our own character.
• Create a positive moral culture in the church by defining, modeling, teaching, and upholding the church's character expectations in all areas of church life.
• Recruit parents (and leaders) as partners.

Practice & Feedback

Practice Opportunities

• Practice activities presented in the course reflect the course objectives. (see previous examples)
• A variety of practice activities are used (see previous examples)

• Interactive planning guide that can be printed (example)

Provide Immediate Feedback

Please refer to this example for the bullets listed below.

• Feedback is provided after every practice exercise
• Praise for correct answers is used
• Encouragement and explanation of correct answer are used when answer is incorrect
• Learners are given multiple tries to get the right answer
• Hints are provided when incorrect answer is selected

Evaluation/Assessment

Assessment of how these lessons helped the teacher in the classroom does not appear to be part of the module.

One assessment, that was previously discussed on page two of this lesson, could be used. That would be an assessment of improvements in student character that can be observed or documented within the Primary class environment. The learner could be asked to think of the children in his/her class and make notes as to whether the content and techniques presented in the module helped with behavior in the classroom. This information could also be shared with the designers of the module if the learners were asked to fill out a survey relating to the effectiveness of the module on classroom behavior. This survey could be added to the last page of the module.

Summary

Overall, this module used character education strategies presented by Lickona well as well as the additional design guidelines presented by Simonson and Maushak as well as those by Smith and Ragan.

Hopefully, by completing this review, you now have specific ideas on how to use certain strategies and design guidelines when designing your own character education instruction.

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