•    331 – Assignment 1.2   

    Assignment 1.2

    As stated in Chapter 2 of your text, critical thinking involves an integrated set of thinking abilities and attitudes, including thinking actively, exploring situations, thinking independently, viewing situations from different perspectives, and discussing ideas in an organized way. For this assignment, you will analyze a fictional court case with Mary Barnett as the defendant.  First, read the information in Chapter 2 regarding the case. Then analyze the key dimensions of this court case and give a verdict.  Synthesize your thoughts regarding this case in a few paragraphs in which you explain the reasons and evidence that influenced your verdict. Then add your responses to any three of the following analysis questions at the end of your paragraphs.

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  •    331 – Assignment 1.1   

    Assignment 1.1

    Chapter 1 of the text introduces critical thinking as an active process and lays the foundation for achieving goals, making effective decisions and learning to think creatively.  For this assignment, you will analyze a future decision. First, describe an important decision in your academic or personal life that you will have to make in the near future. Then, using the five-step decision-making approach described in Chapter 1, analyze your decision and conclude with your “best” choice. Using your webcam, share your analysis with your colleagues.

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  •    321 – 4.2 The Personal Development Journal   

    This is a reflective post as it relates to my Learning Styles class. We are using the Strenght, Improvement, Insight model. (Beyerlein & Apple, 2005)

    StrengthDescribe the strongest learning experience(s) you had thus far and why it/they were important to you.

    I have very much appreciated creating and participating in the blogs in this course. The interaction is much less formal and allows for a more true representation of thoughts and feelings on particular topics. It allows for informal conversation and reflection on topics of interest.

    ImprovementReflect on how you could improve your learning in the future.

    As I went through the Learning Styles course, I found out much about myself in terms of how I learn and some different applications to help me develop the skills to improve my learning process in the future. As indicated by my Memletics learning styles scores, I can use my strengths in logical, kinesthetic, visual and interpersonal learning preference to bolster my comprehension of the topics. I can also work on weaknesses by combining a weakness with a strength. For example, I might use my visual strength to enhance my linguistic weakness by using tools such as Wordle.net or Inspiration.

    InsightWhat new discoveries/understanding did you get in the learning process? How will you apply it to what you are doing in your daily professional or personal life?

    Sean Peck’s blog, “My Thoughts on Adult Learning,” really sparked an element in terms of how I can review my preparations for workshops I do in the future. His statement, “we provide a service and we should strive to have people want our service,” made me think about how I could organize and “advertise” my workshops differently and force myself to think about using a balance of learning styles throughout the day. Not every learning opportunity or topic lends itself well to all learning styles but having a mix and balance would engage more students in the learning process.

    The other discovery I had while blogging with other students was that to really learn, I feel you need to put yourself out there and be willing to make mistakes. It is too easy to try and “mediate” a blog post to make it just perfect when really you just want an honest conversation. I believe this, too, needs a balance in terms of being able to effectively disagree with or have a debate and still have a sense of professionalism and still honor the other individual’s accomplishments and views. I believe this is a skill every good teacher/facilitator needs in terms of questioning views and opinions and still having a trusting learning environment for the students.

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  •    Learning Styles Debate?   

    After reading Learning Styles theory at controversy? by Victor Hugo Rojas, I was surprised that there is such debate on Learning Styles. Even to the point where some are calling it racism. I believe education is going to change radically in terms of teaching to the individual and not mass producing industrial age, standardized workers. Not only will learning styles be at the forefront of this movement, it may, dare I say, be the tool that helps us individualize information for learning. The only other concept I can foresee being more relevant would be physiological and psychological brain research that is happening in terms of education and how we learn. And really, these go hand-in-hand. We need to teach to the whole person and we are all unique. Diversifying our instruction goes a long way in communicating with and educating our students.

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  •    321 Assignment 3.2   

    Assignment 3.2

    To begin, let’s take a look at the environment which you have created to help your learners learn.* Discuss the following (please provide specific details, so that others may borrow or adapt your ideas for their environment):

    • How have you helped develop/create an environment that promotes trust amongst your learners?
    • How do you encourage learners to take risks in your learning environment? And how do you support them so they don’t fear failure in the public eye of their fellow learners?
    • How do you gain a better perspective of your learners’ learning styles?
    • What do you do to expose your learners to the other learning styles?

    For any of these, if you answered “you don’t currently engage in such practices,” explain what you feel you could do differently.


    Assignment 3.2 – AEDU 321
    Jason Everett

    In developing an environment of trust, I do several things with my students. The workshops I hold most are one-day on-site workshops at our ESU. I start by sending out an email to all participants letting them know what they can expect when they arrive to the workshop. I also provide a list of items they may need to have beforehand. I encourage them to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns they may have. I believe this first level contact establishes a communication point where they may feel a little more relaxed in knowing what to expect and a little more about me.

    When they arrive I personally greet each person and try to strike up a conversation. This is usually from a professional perspective although I am not apposed to getting into personal conversations either. I try very hard to keep things lighthearted and like to joke with my students. When we have two facilitators, we have fun bantering back and forth and this just sets an easy-going atmosphere. I also have music playing the background. It may be seasonal or just some easy pop or jazz to lighten things up a bit. On the overhead I’ll have the day’s agenda and I usually have a whiteboard with a place for students to put information they want to learn that day. If they are not familiar with our labs or have never been to a workshop at our ESU, I help them log in to the systems and show them where they can check their email and that sort of thing.

    Once everyone has arrived and we are ready to start the workshop, we do introductions. I have them do some sort of fun (at least I think they’re fun!) opening activity to introduce themselves. I also try giving them opportunities to have small successes at the beginning of the workshop and building on those throughout the day. All of this, I feel, builds trust so they are more likely to take risks and try new ideas as I push them past their comfort zone.

    Participants are more likely to take risks and go outside of their comfort zone if they feel they are supported throughout the process. This requires much encouragement from me and help and patience as they make mistakes. It also helps if their peers are also embarking on a new endeavor together or if they have peers in the workshops that have already been successful in a particular task. I encourage these participants to share their experiences.

    In most workshops, I don’t actively pursue knowledge of their learning styles. Rather, I try to incorporate many styles throughout the day. For example, I give them all learning objectives at the beginning of the day with an outline of resources they can refer to during the day or after the workshop. I will introduce topics and give them an opportunity to have hands-on experience with the material in each section. I provide graphical examples as I am talking and also give them an opportunity to sketch their projects with paper and, yes, crayons! Although sometimes hard to do in most computer workshops, I do like to get them up and moving. I do try to break often so they can stretch and get their eyes away from the screen. If it is nice outside, I’ll encourage them to go outside with a partner and may give them assignment to discuss as they walk around the building. Not all but most of these happen throughout the day. It is for their sake/sanity as much as mine!

    I believe in the future I may try to find a way to pre-assess learning styles so they are more aware of their own and how to be successful during the day. This might entail a creative opener that highlights these somehow. Then encourage them to delve into their learning style as we progress and let them share their results a couple of times during the day. This could be quite fun! For example, have someone explain their website plan by drawing it on the board. For someone else, they might have us walk through a topic by having us do something hands on. For yet someone else, they might have us break up into groups and share what we have learned. And yet another person might show us some resources they found to support a topic. This could truly be a two way street in terms of teaching and assessing where they are in the learning process.

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  •    321 Assignment 2.1   

    Assignment 2.1

    Find at least 2 to 4 resources that discuss other learning style theories. Based on the information you find, discuss the following:

    • How does the information you found compare and contrast to the theories discussed in the book?
    • What new knowledge can you take and apply to your learners or to your approach to instruction from this resource that you found?
    • Be sure at the bottom of your post to include reference information so that your peers can find the resource if it is something they would like to add to their resources as well.



    Nature’s Powerful Tutors; The Educative Functions of Free Play
    Psi Chi – The International Honor Society in Psychology

    Sudbury Model of Democratic Education

    The Sudbury Model of Democratic Education is a model that literally does incorporate all learning styles. Even those we don’t think exist or have not thought of yet. This model of learning styles is backwards to everything we have learned so far. Instead of trying to figure out what the learning style is or categorize it, this model let’s the student decide it! The concept has blown me away in thinking how we approach education. This is truly a working model in practice since 1968. The basic premise is that the student decides what they learn, how they learn and when they learn. They have complete and total control over their learning. The reason I chose to investigate this is that it was discussed as a “Response to Intervention” model.  RtI is very popular right now in Special Education circles and working with these folks, I get to hear a little bit about it. One premise that comes out of this is that we don’t have learning disabilities, we just learn differently and at different rates and times throughout our lives.

    I will take away something very powerful from researching this model. As we have learned from previous readings and research in this course, we are all motivated to learn. As facilitators we must avoid putting up roadblocks to unmotivated our students. One of the questions I would like to test on my students is “What would you like to learn today?” This puts the motivation back on them in what they come away with from the class or workshop.

    GSU Master Teacher Program: On Learning Styles

    This article by Dr. Harvey Brightman of Georgia State University is about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The article describes the four dimensions of the MBTI and teaching suggestions for each type. The information in the article was conformative to the theories discussed in the book. By that I mean the MBTI classifies personality traits into groups of people that we can normalize educational situations for. It is somewhat different in that it is all cognitive in relation to preference.  It seems many of the other learning styles theories are based in senses and some cognition where this particular theory is based solely in cognition.

    This article will be very beneficial as I review the development of lesson plans in the future. It gives good concrete examples of how I might develop activities suited to a particular learning style. For example, as I think about teaching to the “Perceptive” student, I may create a set timeline through out the day in a full day workshop to keep them on target. On the flip side of this, a “Judging” student will likely learn better having note taking strategies at their disposal. This may mean having a split page outline as a hand out or some other note taking tool I can create for them.

    References:

    Gray, P. (2007). Nature’s Powerful Tutors; The Educative Functions of Free Play. Psi Chi – The International Honor Society in Psychology, 12(1), Retrieved from http://www.psichi.org/Pubs/Articles/Article_645.aspx

    Brightman, H. J. (1998, December). Gsu Master Teacher Program: On Learning Styles. Retrieved from http://www2.gsu.edu/~dschjb/wwwmbti.html

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  •    AEDU 321 Class Blogs   

    Blogs on Learning Styles from my fellow students in the Bellevue AEDU 321 class:

    1. http://aedu321-boom.blogspot.com/
    2. http://badort.blogspot.com/
    3. http://bellevueaedu-stacey.blogspot.com/
    4. http://5reeds.blogspot.com/
    5. http://my.siouxlandvoice.com/Groups/Foodies/blog
    6. http://www.educationrebels.blogspot.com/
    7. http://creatinglearningstyles.blogspot.com/
    8. http://tungebellevueuniv.blogspot.com/
    9. http://nahnook.blogspot.com/
    10. http://rosiaaedu321.blogspot.com/
    11. http://mythoughtsonadultlearning.blogspot.com/
    12. http://misslisathoughts.blogspot.com/
    13. http://cjbeebe.blogspot.com/
    14. http://delightfulinsights.weebly.com/

    Will edit as more add their blogs to the discussion site! There are some really good ideas!

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  •    321 – Assignment 1.2   

    Assignment 1.2

    The book does state that it is not necessary for an instructor to prepare 20 ways to teach the same thing – it would be unreasonable. I believe we can agree with that, but are there techniques you can be using to spice up your instruction? Utilize the internet (not Wiki) and library resources and complete the following:

    • Find at least three resources that discuss learning styles.
    • Provide the reference information for others so that they may find it if they are interested in reading more (continue to try your hand at APA formatting – please include a title page and a reference page).
    • Provide a summary of the articles – comparing and contrasting the information you have found.
    • Based on what you have read in the book and from your articles, analyze the information about learning styles and how they pertain to you, your learning and your teaching.

    The resources I found on the Internet were mostly taken from the Google Scholar search with the exception of the Felder resources. These were links provided within the Course Documents in BlackBoard.

    As I investigated Richard Felder’s website, I was drawn to his “Random Thoughts” article series on “Meet Your Students.” These articles tell stories about the different learning styles of the characters. The first in the series, “1. Stan and Nathan,” is a story of two chemical engineering roommates with seemingly similar personalities.  Except for the Index of Learning Styles model dimension of Sensor vs. Intuitor. Each article focuses on a particular dimension and is very useful for me to have concrete examples provided in the storylines.

    I also came across a video interview with Dr. Felder. This was most beneficial in terms of hearing from him what each dimension in his model Index of Learning Styles. He also provided advice and valuable resources for new teachers. For example, Dr. Felder explained that most people think we need to find out the learning styles of each of our students and teach to the way they prefer for the best results. He explains this is impossible to do if there are two or more students in your class. To be successful professionals, he explains, students must be able to participate on both sides of each dimension. We, as teachers, need to touch both sides of the dimension some of the time in our teachings. Of example, a typical lecture time might include time for lecture, something to do, a question, and/or a brainstorming opportunity. These might happen individually, in pairs, groups or 3 or 4, in a think/pair/share and usually on 30 seconds to 3 minutes time.

    I also read an online article from a group of mostly Chinese professors and one Canadian. The title is “The Relationship of Kolb Learning Styles, Online Learning Behaviors and Learning Outcomes.” My interest was in how our topic of Learning Styles relates to online learning and what we might do as online instructors to best prepare our students. As discussed in the article, providing a well-rounded library of electronic documents to support the instruction will satisfy students of Abstract Conceptualization. Students geared more toward Concrete Experience will find a learning environment chalked full of communications tools and resources will be more useful. Although I have not seen any research on our particular class, it would be interesting to do a survey and see how we relate to the online material, usually having both resources available.

    The last article I’ll discuss piqued my interest in Learning Styles and how they relate technology. The article titled “An early investigation into factors in student’s choice of technology for e-learning” was beneficial as we see growth from different technologies and mediums of communications to more advanced models of use. For example, students used email 62% of the time to communicate but were more likely to use text messaging given the choice of email, texting, discussion boards, chat, etc. Currently, there are a very low percentage of students who download media (video or audio) of a lecture but given the chance, they are very likely to engage in this activity.

    I have learned that as I go forth and provide learning opportunities for my adult students, I need to keep a balanced approach to learning styles. It is beneficial to learners to be exposed to as many opportunities for growth as they can and by providing different teaching/learning styles, we open the doors for them. I also need to take into account my learning preference and, knowing what these are, be aware of any mismatches between my students and myself. As I have matured intellectually, I have noticed that my styles have changed from a more hands on approach to being more comfortable in a “heady” environment.

    References:

    Felder, R. M. (Interviewee). (2007, February 15). An Introduction to learning styles: how students learn, how teachers teach, and what usually goes wrong with the process [Video]. Retrieved from http://ctl.csudh.edu/SpeakerSeries/Felder.htm

    Felder, R.M. (1989, Spring). Meet Your Students: 1. Stan and Nathan. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Columns/Stannathan.html

    Lynch, K., Debuse, J., Lawley, M., & Roy, S. (2009, July 6). An Early investigation into factors in student’s choice of technology for e-learning. Retrieved from http://www.herdsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/conference/2009/papers/HERDSA2009_Lynch_K.pdf

    Lu, H., Jia, L., Gong, S., & Clark, B. (2007). The Relationship of Kolb Learning Styles, Online Learning Behaviors and Learning Outcomes. Retrieved from http://www.ifets.info/journals/10_4/17.pdf

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  •    321 – Assignment 1.1   

    Assignment 1.1

    It is important to know your own learning style before you begin to assess those of others. In the Course Documents please click on the link to the learning styles assessments. You will see there are a variety of them – each of you much complete the first one, “Rightbrain-Leftbrain Assessment” and then choose at least two others to complete. Once finished, submit a post thoroughly discussing the following:

    • Of the three assessments you completed, which do you feel represents your approach to learning and life the best?
    • What have you learned about your learning style?
    • How do you think you can utilize this information to help yourself as a learner? How about as an educator?

    I feel the assessment that best reflected my approach to learning and life best was the Memletics Accelerated learning Styles Inventory. Although a little more complicated and a little longer process, it reflected with more accuracy than the others. Although the others captured the essence of my learning styles, I am so close in visual and kinesthetic that the other two I took reflected different results. I also feel the Memletics assessment covered more areas related to a variety of learning styles instead of just using three categories.

    Generally, I have learned that my preference for learning is very visual and very kinesthetic. I also know I have adapted over the years to learn to adapt the other learning styles. I have also learned in the Memletics assessment that aural and verbal can be two very different things. This explains why I can listen to a piece of music and get the beat and notes almost instantly but it takes a concerted effort to remember the words.

    I can utilize these assessments to create an environment for myself that is conducive to learning that fits my style. I can also use a combination of my learning styles and mix it up every once in a while without fear that I may miss something or without fear it is outside of my comfort zone. Although I am strong in a couple areas, I don’t have any styles I just despise or cannot learn from.

    As an educator, I need to be aware that people do have different learning styles and to not stick to one or two ways of presenting material just because I am comfortable with that particular style(s). It is good to mix it up a bit so everyone gets a boost at some point.


    I ended up taking the Index of Learning Styles Inventory as provided by Dr. Felder also. In taking this assessment, I was torn by almost every question of the 44 provided. The instructions were to “choose the [answer] that applies more frequently.” My results were very skewed to, yes, my preferential mode of learning but I don’t think it accurately reflected my actual learning styles given the scales used in the results.  I feel a better approach would have been to separate each question into a scale in and of itself and then average the to to come up with a more aligned learning styles assessment.

    For example, the first question was:

    I understand something better after I
    (a) try it out.
    (b) think it through.

    I really do both of these to different degrees! So I would re-frame this one question into two and average the results:

    I understand something better after I try it out: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree
    I understand something better after I think it through: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly agree

    If I chose agree, giving me 3 points for the first question and strongly agree for the second question for 4 points, I can then average these on the scale pushing my preference toward thinking vs. trying.

    Results of the first way:
    <— Thinking (Reflective)  – X – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – Trying (Active) —> (very skewed)

    Results of the second way:
    <— Thinking (Reflective)  – - – - – - X – - – - – - – - – - Trying (Active) —> (more on target with my actual learning preference)

    Part of the reason I bring this up is, as I age, I am finding myself sliding in different categories more and more. It is a growing process that doesn’t have a definitive beginning or end.

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  •    311 – Assignment 1.4   

    Assignment 1.4 – Group Project

    This assignment will be one that you will work on in an assigned group, and you will work on it all four weeks. The final result will be a presentation of your group’s new and improved theory of learning. Throughout this course you will learn about different learning theories and models – some of them are easy to understand, some are not so easy to understand; some of them contain information that truly applies to adult learners, some of them don’t.


    Group Members:

    Jason , Nancy , Joy , Paul , Rosia



    Introduction:

    Welcome to our Concept Attainment Model, “Colorful Paths of Learning” presented by Jason, Nancy, Joy, Paul, and Rosia. Our model uses color to support visual direction of changes in the learning process.  Each change of color represents a new section of concept attainment (guessing, testing, conforming, and changing information).  Please take a casual stroll through our connecting paths of learning, which eventually leads to confirmation, conclusion, and feedback.


    Modified Scientific Method Model of Learning

    Model Diagram



    Explanation


    1) Acquire coded or uncoded input either internally or externally.

    2) Ask a question about the input: “How?”, “What?”, “When?”, “Who?”, “Which?”, “Why?”, or “Where?”

    3) Do research to find out if the question you are asking has been suitably answered.

    4) Ask “Does a suitible answer exist?”

    4a) If “Yes”, ask “Were other questions raised in the process of your research?”

    If “No”, the Current Behavior Continues. Nothing changes.

    If “Yes”, other questions were raised, we can return to the beginning of the cycle of having Aquired Input.

    5) If “No”, Construct a Hypothesis, or educated guess about how things work: “If I do ~this~, then ~this~ will happen.”

    6) Develop a plan in how you will answer your question.

    7) Test your hypothesis. If possible test with all possible scenarios. Also try to test using methods that are measurable and will give quantifiable results.

    8 ) Analyze the results of the test to draw a conclusion.

    8a) If the conclusion is one that is not expected, rethink the process and return to constructing a new hypothosis.

    9) If the conclusion is one that is expected, report the results to others.

    10) Obtain external input as feedback.

    10a) If there are other questions raised as a result of the external feedback, return to the beginning of the model and restart the cycle.

    If there were no other questions raised as a result of the external feedback, continue current behavior.



    Examples


    Example #1

    1) Central Campus in Sioux City has closed, ending an entry-level cooking program for high school students

    2) Can we replace it and expand it with a cooking program for mainline and at-risk high school students at a different site?

    3) There are excellent programs in Des Moines, Omaha, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, and Lakes College with magnet schools for culinary and other vocational arts. All of these are associated with post-secondary culinary/vocational programs at the local community colleges.  There are no Iowa records of successful high school programs (other than the most basic consumer science cooking classes) without a supporting community college to help handle the academic, clerical and lab support work such a programs demands.

    4) Sioux City does NOT currently possess any culinary programs in post-secondary education and there is NO high school program for advanced culinary studies.

    5) The first step is to create a interest in the high schools and the community colleges.  The next step is to get the correct city organizations involved. The third step is to work as an “expert” in these groups to facilitate the end result of high school and community college culinary programs.  The forth step is to make sure I have all my certifications in line so I can work in these organizations I am helping create.

    6) PLAN:

    a) Get Community Colleges (Western Iowa Tech & Northeastern College) to do feasibility studies on a Culinary Program – DONE

    b) Speak to Sioux City IA high school Superintendent and South Sioux City NE high school Superintendent about starting the high school Culinary Program – DONE

    c) Get tri-state educational committies to explore the importance of vocational specialty schools in the Siouxland region. – DONE – Meetings have begun.

    d) Find a central location for high school culinary programs – IN PROCESS – Visiting sites and doing feasibility studies for both sides of the river (IA & NE) need sites.

    e) Get entry-level community college programs started. IN PROCESS – Nebraska will be visiting a site I have rented and will be visiting my current class to observe.  Iowa is still not proceeding, but I have not given up.

    f) Get Vocational Certification Board (American Culinary Federation) group going for Siouxland so we have a licensing body – IN PROCESS – I am collecting names of Chefs, Educators,  Food Service Vendors and Hospitality Professionals to create our own chapter.

    7) TEST:My current program in the pilot for the initiative.  The next test will be a feeder program in the Northeastern Community College in South Sioux City to begin feeding students to the big school in Omaha NE.  The next test will be to begin the pilot culinary programs in the two high schools.

    8) The analysis to date shows great progress.  The high schools are interested in expanding the program.  The restaurant public want to sample more of the students offering. The Nebraska Community College program is functioning well, but the students are disappointed that they have to go to Omaha for their second year.  The Iowa Community College must get  involved soon for this tri-state effort to be a success.

    9) Reporting the Results to the school districts and community colleges.  Reporting the results to community action agencies and Juvenile Court Services.  Reporting the results to the local newspapers.

    10) The feedback was that we must expand the program and the Western Iowa Technical Community College in Sioux City Iowa must get on-board.

    10a) The city fathers want to know if we can open a student-run restaurant.  Oh my goodness, we are back to the starting point!

    Example #2

    1) As input, I see a pet therapy team at the local library participating in the “Paws to Read” program. There are many children there and it seems to be a very successful event.

    2) I ask myself, “Could I be a pet therapy handler?”

    3) I talk to the team at the library. I also look online for information about what it takes to become a pet therapy handler.

    4) I ask myself, “Does the research I have just completed tell me I could become a pet therapy handler?” If the answer is yes, there is no need to do anything else I have just answered my initial question. This may raise another question and bring me back to the beginning of the cycle. If the answer is still questionable, I need to for a hypothesis.

    5) Hypothesis: If I study and practice, then I can become a pet therapy handler.

    6) I develop a plan that consists of reading and participating in training events.

    7) I then engage and test the plan.

    8) If the results of my test are not what I expected, I will 8a) rethink and determine if I need a new hypothesis. I may keep my same hypothesis or change it and go on to develop a different plan and test.

    9) If the results are expected, I will report the results to my peers and institutions that may need my skills.

    10) After review of their feedback, I will see if any questions were raised. If none, I will continue on as a pet therapy handler (or not depending on my outcome!) If there were questions, this would be input for a new cycle. For example, the feedback might be: You would be a good tester/observer.

    Example #3

    1) As input, I am given an assignment to write a research paper about learning styles.  In an effort to successfully execute the assignment I go to the public library to obtain sources.

    2) I ask myself, “What books are available at the library that would be relevant to my topic?”

    3) I utilize the public library computer system to determine available books, by typing in a variation of “learning styles” in the “subject” search box.  I determine the books available at the library and write down title, author, and call number information necessary for obtaining and borrowing the books.  I also reference the library map to determine how I can reach my chosen books.  Likewise, I communicate with library personnel to understand the layout of the library.

    4) I ask myself, “Does the research I have just completed enable me to obtain the books I desire to successfully execute the research paper assignment?”  If the answer is yes, then the initial question is answered.  This may raise another question and bring me back to the beginning of the cycle (1).  If the question is still questionable, I need to continue by creating a hypothesis.

    5) Hypothesis:  If I locate and obtain the desired books, then I will be able to successfully execute the assignment.

    6) I develop a plan that consists of locating the books in the library, assessing my findings, and checking out/borrowing books from the library.

    7) I then engage and test the plan by reading and referencing the books while formulating notes for the assigned research paper.  Writing the research paper ensues.

    8) If the results of my test are not what I expected, I will 8a) rethink and determine if I need a new hypothesis.  I may keep my same hypothesis, or change it and go on to develop a different plan and test.

    9) If the results are expected, I will confidently turn in my learning styles research paper to the facilitator.

    10) After review of the facilitator’s feedback, I will see if any questions were raised.  If none, I will continue my methods when seeking out sources for research paper assignments.  If there were questions, this would be input for a new cycle.  For Example: The facilitator’s feedback includes, “In the future, when writing research papers, you should use a variety of mediums to obtain your resources.  In addition to books, you could offer relevant sources in the form of journals, websites, articles, etc.”



    Sources


    Escoffier, Georges-Auguste. The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery. Translated by H. K. Cracknell and R. J. Kaufman. London: Heinemann, 1979.

    Kendall, J. S., & Marzano, R. J. (2007). The new taxonomy of educational objectives. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

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