An Online Course Development Approach Based on Bloom's Taxonomy
by mpuzziferro
What exactly is an “online course?” How can a high-quality online course be developed? There are many templates, approaches, ideas, and models available for faculty to guide online course development. One such model that is used at CSU-Global Campus looks at online course design in the context of a learning process, derived from Bloom’s Taxonomy. We feel that this framework helps subject matter experts and designers to frame content learning goals in the context of higher-level learning processes.
We all love Bloom’s Taxonomy! Bloom’s Taxonomy compels us to remember that there isn’t a cosmic battle between instructivist technique (focused on content mastery) and constructivist technique (focused on critical thinking and knowledge constructivism). Bloom forces us to think about stages of learning – knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation – all equally valued.
Derived from Bloom’s taxonomy, students learn by: a) mastering information, such as key concepts, terms and ideas through exposure to the information and recall, b)progressively grasping the information by practicing learning activities that focus on recall, trial-and-error, and building the vocabulary and comprehension of the information,c) applying the information to a problem-based situation that can be collaborative, d) analyzing the problem further by deconstructing the information and reconstructing it into a solution,e) by applying and analyzing the information, begin to recognize the patterns or relationships between the information and the problem,f) creating new knowledge and the ability to reason about the information and apply it practically to situations.
At CSU-Global Campus, each course development project is approached within the framework of “Active Mastery Learning” to reinforce to faculty the systematic elements of a learning process. Thus, our online learning model utilizes instructivist techniques, such as mastery learning, to guide students to fully grasp terms/concepts (content), and then employs constructivist techniques to engage students to apply the information in collaborative contexts. The expectation is that all learning activities foster the highest degree of instructor-student, student-content, and student-student interaction, with consideration of the particular discipline and course objectives.
To help reinforce this process, we encourage faculty in the design process to think about 5 activity/assessment types: Check Your Understanding – Providing learners an opportunity to check their knowledge and comprehension on course content is an important aspect of mastery learning. All courses at CSU-Global Campus have Check Your Understanding activities embedded in each module that provide learners with a quick, easy and low-stakes way to check their understanding of course content.
Master the Learning Outcomes – CSU-Global Campus course incorporate a mastery approach to learning at the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Mastery activities provide learners with an opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of the learning outcomes. Apply Your Knowledge – Application of knowledge is an important step in the learning experience and every CSU-Global Campus course has key activities where students can demonstrate application and analysis of content as well as move towards synthesis.
Each course has four key multi-module Discussion Forums that provide learners an extended opportunity to interact with one another in an instructor facilitated dialogue that focuses on key course themes. These course discussions span multiple modules and learners are encouraged to continue their discussions in each forum throughout the course.
Analyze the Concepts – Courses also have critical thinking activities where learners are expected to apply, analyze, and begin to synthesize course content. These activities, typically two to five per course, are developed by content experts and span module content. They can include such activities as group projects, analysis papers, and online presentations.
Expand Your Capabilities – Most course have a culminating project that is portfolio-quality, and designed to require learner to expand their knowledge and capabilities through combining knowledge and application of content with their own interpretation and judgment. After the completion of the course, these projects may become artifacts in the learner’s individual program portfolio.
Source: http://www.sloan-c.org/node/1547
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