INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS for Public Safety
William D. McClincy EMMCO West, Inc. Meadville, Pennsylvania
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Brief Contents
Q Part 1
Theoretical Foundations 1
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
Understanding the Student 2 Understanding the Educator 11 Theories and Philosophies of Education
Q Part 2
Educational Considerations 26
Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
Legal Considerations 27 Educational System Design 33 Accreditation 40 Facility and Classroom Setup 45
Q Part 3
Creating Lessons 51
Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12
Behavioral Objectives 52 Lesson Plans and Curriculum 59 Teaching Strategies and Methods 63 Psychomotor Skill Instruction 71 Realism 78
Q Part 4
Evaluation and Assessment 84
Chapter 13 Chapter 14
Student Evaluation Tools Program Evaluation 96
Q Part 5
Educational Resources 105
Chapter 15 Chapter 16
Multimedia Systems and Technology 106 Computers, Communication, and Distance Learning
Glossary
125
References
128
Index
130
Credits
136
18
85
116
Contents
Q Part 1 Theoretical Foundations Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Prepare Handout Materials ...................... 15 Bring Realism to the Presentation ................. 15 Razzle-Dazzle the Students ....................... 16 Be a Caring Instructor ...... 16 Use Appropriate Body Language ..................... 16 Make a Good First Impression ................... 16 Dress for the Occasion ..... 16 Call on Students by Name ...................... 16 Use Analogies................... 16 Be a Mentor...................... 17 Be a Facilitator ................. 17 Show Passion ................... 17 Summary ................................. 17
1
Understanding the Student...... 2 The Process of Learning ............. 2 Using the Senses ................ 2 Retaining Knowledge and Skills ....................... 3 Helping Students Master Skills .............................. 3 The Adult Learner...................... 4 Key Learning Concepts .............. 4 Learning by Doing ............. 4 Realism .............................. 4 Internal Motivation ............ 5 Paradigm ................................... 6 Transactional Analysis ........ 6 Learning Styles .......................... 7 Learning Style Inventories .. 7 Student Characteristics .............. 8 Educational Background .... 8 Physical Capability ............. 9 Learning Ability ................. 9 Age .................................. 10 Experience ....................... 10 Summary ................................. 10 Understanding the Educator.. 11 Instruction............................... 11 Educator Characteristics .......... 12 Be Yourself ....................... 12 Be a Role Model and a Mentor ...................... 12 Be a Professional .............. 12 Instructor Roles ....................... 14 Principles of Instruction........... 15 Instruction Tips and Techniques .......................... 15 Talk to Students ............... 15
Chapter 3
Theories and Philosophies of Education ....................... 18 Relevance of Educational Theory ................................. 18 Behavioral Theories ................. 19 Classical Learning Theory ......................... 19 Stimulus-Response Theory ......................... 19 Task Analysis Theory ....... 19 Reinforcement (Stimulation-Response) Theory ......................... 19 Cognitive Theories ................... 20 Facilitation Theories ................ 20 Constructivist Theory ...... 21 Experiential Learning Theory ......................... 21 Cognitive Learning........... 21 Psychosocial Theory......... 22
Contents
Educational Philosophies ......... 22 Idealism ........................... 22 Realism ............................ 22 Humanism (Perennialism) .............. 22 Essentialism ..................... 23 Pragmatism ...................... 23 Behaviorism ..................... 23 Reconstructionism ........... 24 Applying Educational Theories and Philosophies to the Classroom .................. 24 Summary ................................. 24
Q Part 2 Educational Considerations Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Policy Manual .......................... 36 Discipline and Performance Standards............................. 36 Written Documentation ........... 37 Institutional Finances .............. 38 Funding ........................... 38 Financial Management and Accounting ............ 38 Summary ................................. 39 Chapter 6
Accreditation ......................... 40 Introduction to Accreditation... 40 History and Future of Accreditation ....................... 40 Types of Accreditation .............. 41 Programmatic Accreditation..... 42 Self-Study Assessment ...... 42 On-Site Visit .................... 43 Formal Review ................. 43 Regulatory Accreditation.......... 43 Summary ................................. 44
Chapter 7
Facility and Classroom Setup ................ 45 Environmental Classroom Considerations..................... 45 Temperature..................... 46 Distractions...................... 46 Safety ............................... 46 Lighting ........................... 47 Smoking .......................... 48 Access to Restrooms and Refreshments ............... 48 Classroom Layout .................... 48 Lecture Setup ................... 48 Discussion Setup .............. 49 Theater Setup................... 49 Boardroom Setup ............. 49 Small-Group Discussion Setup ........................... 49 Conference Room Setup ... 49 Audiovisual Setup for Slides or TV ................. 49 Classroom Alternatives ............ 49 Summary ................................. 50
26
Legal Considerations ............. 27 Liability and Negligence........... 27 Duties of Public Safety Educators ............................ 28 Ethics ...................................... 28 Standard of Care ...................... 28 Sexual Harassment................... 28 Laws and Regulations .............. 29 Discrimination ................. 29 Fair Labor Standards Act ............................... 30 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ............ 30 Operational Regulations........... 30 Contractual Agreement .... 30 Patient Confidentiality ..... 31 Instructional Insurance ............ 31 Summary ................................. 32 Notes ....................................... 32 Educational System Design ... 33 Program Administration .......... 33 Executive Director/Dean .. 34 Program Administrator .... 34 Course Coordinator ......... 34 Instructor......................... 35 Financial Personnel .......... 35 Clerical Staff..................... 35 Facility Maintenance ........ 35 Equipment Maintenance .. 35 Specialty Personnel .................. 35
v
Q Part 3 Creating Lessons 51 Chapter 8
Behavioral Objectives ............ 52
vi
Contents
Developing Behavioral Objectives ............................ 52 Researching the Topic ...... 53 Determining the Desired Outcome ...................... 53 Writing the Objective ....... 53 Learning Domains ................... 54 Cognitive Domain ............ 54 Affective Domain ............. 55 Psychomotor Domain ...... 57 Summary ................................. 58 Chapter 9
Lesson Plans and Curriculum ........................ 59 Building a Lesson Plan ............. 59 Lesson Plan Components ......... 60 Administrative Component .................. 60 Behavioral Objectives ....... 60 Procedural Content .......... 60 Materials and Resources ... 60 Assessment ...................... 60 References ........................ 61 Lesson Plan Format ................. 61 Legal Considerations................ 61 Educational Curricula .............. 61 Summary ................................. 62
Chapter 10
Teaching Strategies and Methods ............................. 63 Teaching Strategies .................. 63 Deductive Strategy ........... 64 Inductive Strategy ............ 64 Interactive Instruction ...... 64 Experiential Learning ....... 64 Independent Study .......... 65 Teaching Methods.................... 65 Lecture............................. 65 Questions ........................ 66 Guided and Indirect Discussion ................... 66 Small-Group Interaction .. 67 Demonstration ................. 68 Field Trips........................ 68 Role-Playing..................... 68 Simulation ....................... 68
Games.............................. 70 Summary ................................. 70 Chapter 11
Psychomotor Skill Instruction ......................... 71 Skill Presentation ..................... 71 Skill Introduction ............. 72 Skill Formula ........................... 72 Learning Phases ....................... 72 Level 1: Beginner (Discovery) .................. 72 Level 2: Intermediate (Plateau) ...................... 72 Level 3: Advanced (Latency)...................... 73 Level 4: Highly Skilled (Mastery) ..................... 73 Skill Lesson Presentation ......... 73 Pre-Skill Preparation ........ 73 Full Skill Demonstration .. 73 Step-by-Step Demonstration ............. 74 Practice with Direct Supervision .................. 74 Practice with Indirect Supervision .................. 75 Independent Practice ....... 75 Evaluation........................ 75 Wrap-Up.......................... 76 Role of the Instructor ............... 76 Role of the Assistant Instructors ........................... 76 Summary ................................. 77
Chapter 12
Realism .................................. 78 Understanding the Role of Realism in the Public Safety Classroom.................. 78 Simulation Facilities ................ 79 Scenarios ................................. 79 Makeup and Moulage .............. 79 Shock .............................. 80 Lacerations ...................... 80 Moulage Wounds ............. 81 Bleeding ........................... 81 Abrasions ......................... 81 Bruises ............................. 81 Fractures .......................... 82
Contents
Burns ............................... 82 Amputations .................... 82 Sucking Chest Wound...... 83 Patient-Actors and the Surroundings ....................... 83 Summary ................................. 83
Q Part 4 Evaluation and Assessment Chapter 13
Chapter 14
84
Student Evaluation Tools ....... 85 Purpose of Evaluations............. 85 Measuring Results .................... 85 Oral Evaluations ...................... 86 Written Evaluations ................. 87 Essay Questions ............... 88 Short-Answer and Sentence-Completion Questions..................... 89 Matching Questions ......... 89 True/False Questions ........ 89 Multiple-Choice Questions..................... 90 Test Anxiety ............................. 91 Skill Evaluation (Practical Evaluation) .......................... 92 Testing Scenarios.............. 92 Critical Performance Criteria ........................ 93 Stations ............................ 93 Equipment ....................... 93 Evaluators ........................ 93 Scoring Sheets .................. 93 Test Administration ................. 94 Student Remediation ............... 94 Summary ................................. 95 Program Evaluation ............... 96 Understanding Program Evaluation ........................... 96 Defining Program Goals ........... 97 Plan of Action .......................... 97 Statistical Evaluations .............. 97 Item Analysis ................... 97 Item Difficulty.................. 98 Score Distribution ............ 98 Average Scores ................. 99 Examination Reliability .. 100
vii
Course Evaluation ................. 101 Rating Scales .................. 102 Survey Questions ........... 102 Survey Format ............... 102 Performance Evaluations ....... 103 Checklists ...................... 103 Interpreting Results ............... 104 Summary ............................... 104
Q Part 5 Educational Resources Chapter 15
105
Multimedia Systems and Technology....................... 106 Planning Educational Resources........................... 106 Behavioral Objectives ..... 106 Effectiveness .................. 107 Cost ............................... 107 Instructor Awareness ...... 107 Availability ..................... 107 Using and Designing Multimedia Systems ............................. 107 Lesson Plan Content ...... 108 Visual Image .................. 109 Videos............................ 109 Behavior ........................ 109 Audio............................. 110 Putting a Presentation Together ............................ 110 Advanced Technological Resources........................... 111 Virtual Reality ................ 111 High-Definition Television ................... 112 Computer Scratch Pads and Whiteboards .............. 112 Computer Networks ...... 113 Computer-Based Textbooks and Software .............. 113 E-Ink ............................. 113 Computer Training Equipment ................. 114 Computer Interactive Laser Disk Programs ............ 114 Satellite TV .................... 114 Summary ............................... 115
viii
Contents
Chapter 16
Computers, Communication, and Distance Learning ..... 116 Computer Processors and Connectivity ...................... 116 The Internet........................... 117 Software Applications ............ 118 Computer-Assisted Instruction ................. 118 Computer-Based Examinations ............. 118 Computer Tutorial Programs.................... 119 Review Program ............. 120 Simulations .................... 120 Computer Games ........... 120 Distance Learning .................. 121 Applicability of Distance Learning..................... 121 Learning Management Systems ...................... 122 Online Collaboration ............. 123 Summary ............................... 124
Glossary .......................................................125 References ....................................................128 Index ............................................................130 Credits .........................................................136
CHAPTER XX: Title goes here
ix
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Richard A. Hernan, Jr., Esq. for his legal expertise and assistance with the Legal Considerations chapter. Thank you to Dr. Thomas Platt, from the University of Pittsburgh Center For Emergency Medicine; Dr. George Hatch, Executive Director, CoAEMSP; and Dr. Randall Benner, Program Director, Youngstown State University, for their feedback on the Accreditation chapter.
Q Reviewers Everitt F. Binns, PhD Executive Director Eastern Pennsylvania Emergency Medical Services Council Kutztown, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Jon S. Cooper, EMT-P, NCEE Baltimore City Fire Department Baltimore, Maryland Keith I. Cox, BS, NREMT-P Special Warfare Medical Group (Airborne) US Army Fort Bragg, North Carolina T. Kevin Crump, NREMT-P, CCEMT-P Vital Response Education and Consulting Fort Worth, Texas George W. Hatch, Jr., EdD, LP, EMT-P Executive Director CoAEMSP Arlington, Texas Alan Heckman, BS, NREMT-P, NCEE Lehigh Valley Health Network Allentown, Pennsylvania John J. Suanno, NREMT-P Capital Health EMS Trenton, New Jersey Michael Touchstone, BS, EMT-P Philadelphia Fire Department Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
ix
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PART XX: Title goes here
About the Author
Bill McClincy is the Executive Director of EMMCO West, Inc., a regional EMS council located in northwestern Pennsylvania. Bill earned a B.S. in Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. in Health Services Administration from Gannon University. Since 1977, Bill has been a certified EMT in Pennsylvania where he later became a paramedic and system supervisor for a countywide EMS system. Bill has trained public safety instructors for over thirty years throughout western Pennsylvania. He has served on Pennsylvania EMS educational initiatives including statewide rollouts of training curriculums for EMS and rescue programming. In addition, Bill has assisted with the development of written examinations for the National Registry of EMTs, Atlantic EMS Council, and several educational institutions. He has served on educational EMS taskforces in Pennsylvania and Virginia designing psychomotor examination programming and was the principal investigator for a federal grant addressing the literacy and modified instructional techniques for EMS students. Recently, Bill coordinated a statewide instructor enrichment program for all certified EMS instructors in Pennsylvania. Bill is the author of several books and journal articles about public safety instructional methods and has presented at national, state, and regional EMS conferences.
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CHAPTER XX: Title goes here
xi
Foreword
Having spent almost 20 years in the field of emergency services education, I have seen many books come across my desk, but what a welcome relief to have the opportunity to experience Instructional Methods for Public Safety. The field of emergency services education has needed for years a concise, well-written, but most importantly, practical, hands-on approach to demonstrating the complexities of the education process, coupled with the challenging journey of teaching public safety personnel. I have grown tired of seeing volumes of books that claim to teach educational practices of hands-on methodology and the use of the latest in instructional modalities. Many authors claim instant success by using their products in teaching adult students. Just when I’d despaired of finding an objective, informative, and interesting text, what should arrive but Instructional Methods for Public Safety. Perhaps one of the reasons Instructional Methods for Public Safety is so objective and practical is that it is written by a public safety educator and practitioner who practices what he “preaches” and presents his classroom experience in a dynamic, enjoyable manner. Author Bill McClincy has developed his perception of how to teach adults effectively based upon years of experience in a variety of classroom and non-classroom teaching, training, and facilitating activities. The contents of this text show public safety educators—new or experienced—how to examine the strategies available to teach adults and offer a valuable “tool box” for public safety instruction. The author acknowledges the respective strengths and limitations of educational strategies as applied to public safety and provides suggestions for their effective use in various teaching and learning situations. Whether you are new to the field or an old-timer, you will have one happy adventure with this text! Everitt F. Binns, PhD Executive Director Eastern Pennsylvania Emergency Medical Services Council
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PART XX: Title goes here
Preface
Few textbooks like Instructional Methods for Public Safety have been written regarding the nuances of public safety instruction. Seasoned and new instructors will find interactive and exciting information within this textbook. The latest educational trends and information an instructor needs to know to create innovative and motivational presentations are revealed. Successful and respected educators strive for excellence in their presentations. Instructors and students bring enriched experiences to the classroom. Instructors need to know their limitations in order to be able to create instructional programs that foster behavioral changes in their students. Instructional Methods for Public Safety provides instructors with tools needed to create, improve, augment, and enrich their presentations. Instructors can blend their personalities, knowledge, and experience with these tools to create effective presentations. Quality education starts and ends with competent and knowledgeable instruction. Today’s students demand that educational programs be informative and challenging. Instructional Methods for Public Safety is a valuable resource for educators to use throughout their years of instructional experience. For quality education to occur, the starting point is with the instructor. If the instructor cannot make quality presentations, the overall learning experience is affected. Quality instruction equals a quality education. Together, they determine the quality of care or services provided in the field. This book provides the principles, practices, and procedures to become a quality instructor. Students, instructors, teaching techniques, facilities, equipment, administration, subject material, plus countless other factors influence the educational environment. To be successful, an instructor must be able to understand how these factors influence a presentation. Successful instructors are able to use these factors to their advantage and to create a positive learning experience. This book is intended to be a primary instructional reference for all public safety instructors. Whether you are a new instructor or a seasoned veteran, this textbook contains vital educational material designed for all public safety educators with examples from actual or simulated emergency situations. Public safety is a dynamic field. Whether it is EMS, fire, or rescue, new concepts and techniques are constantly being introduced. Instructors convey these innovative concepts in their educational programs. How an educator presents lesson material affects how students will learn life-saving concepts. This book provides educators with the necessary instructional skills to make learning experiences interesting and motivational. This book is a reference manual for educators. Use it as a guide to enhance your lesson presentation. Ponder, discuss, investigate, and create innovative educational programs. Use this book as your guide to become the best educators you can be. The greatest gift an educator possesses is the ability to influence the many instead of the few. Enjoy and read on so that you can become the best educator that you can be! William D. McClincy Meadville, Pennsylvania
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Theoretical Foundations
1
Understanding the Student
2
Understanding the Educator
3
Theories and Philosophies of Education
PART
1
CHAPTER
1 OBJECTIVES Q
Identify learning characteristics associated with all learners.
Q
Define the term andragogy and examine the principles of andragogy.
Q
Outline characteristics of adult learners.
Q
Define the term paradigm and discuss how paradigms influence the learning process.
Q
Identify transactional analysis and discuss its role in the classroom.
Q
Identify common learning styles.
Q
Discuss the use of learning style inventory assessments.
Q
Describe the various types of students found in public safety education.
Q
Identify the influence that students’ educational background, physical capability, learning ability, age, and experience play in public safety education.
Understanding the Student
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter considers adult learners. How adults learn and react to educational experiences is influenced by a variety of variables, including the individuals’ learning styles, paradigms, age, educational background, and life experiences. Today’s public safety classes are attended by a highly diverse group of students, making them a veritable “melting pot.” The key for an instructor is to identify the characteristics of each learner and to build a lesson that will meet the needs of each student.
Tip
Q The Process of Learning Learning is the attainment of knowledge or skills about a specific subject or process. Learning is a mental process; an instructor cannot look at a student and see if the student is truly learning. Because students use their senses to attain information and then associate that information with a previous experience (important for retention), an instructor can determine whether a student has learned the information only by observing the student’s actions. When a change in behavior is noted by the instructor (such as a student performing a skill correctly where he or she could not do so before the lesson), an instructor can assess that learning that has taken place. Creating a change in behavior is the instructor’s goal in the teaching process.
Using the Senses Students can absorb information through all of the human senses (see FIGURE 1–1). Ideally, an instructor should have students use as many senses as possible during each presentation. For example, a fire fighter must be able to feel hot spots and smell smoke, so a fire instructor should build lessons to stimulate these senses. Public safety personnel must learn to feel for abnormalities in patient assessment and use their sense of smell to diagnose incontinence, burned skin, or emesis. In general, sight, hearing,
CHAPTER 1: Understanding the Student
smell, and touch are used significantly more than taste within public safety education. Making each presentation stimulating depends on the instructor’s ability to plan events that make students use their senses.
Tip p
3
of only 10 percent of the material. Listening to a lecture provides for retention of only 20 percent of the lesson. When an instructor uses audiovisual aids and encourages students’ participation, 70 percent of the information will be retained. To achieve optimal retention (90 percent or more), students must directly experience the information.
Helping Students Master Skills (2%) (3%)
(1%)
(11%) Sight Hearing Smell Touch Taste
(83%)
Retaining Knowledge and Skills Learning and retaining information are linked. Some students may learn information, but not retain it. When multiple senses are used to learn the material, the retention of information increases. As shown in FIGURE 1–2, reading a textbook provides for retention
A critical part of public safety education is putting knowledge to work. Skill development is an active learning process (learning by doing), and the student’s intimate involvement in the learning experience dramatically increases retention. The learning curve for skill development shows that students develop skills in proportion to time (see FIGURE 1–3). From the initial point to the mastery point, the improvement of a skill keeps rising until it reaches the mastery point, which is the goal for all students. Students may eventually reach a “plateau”—a point where they continue to practice the skill, but little improvement in their ability to perform that skill occurs. Students may also reach the latency phase, when they make the same mistakes over and over. Instructors must provide positive support during these phases to show students that they are making a mistake, as they may not realize it. It may be useful to make video recordings of students performing the skill and then review the skill again with the students to help these students to visualize their mistakes and move to the mastery level.
100
Mastery Information Learned
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20
Plateau
Latency Initial
10 0
Reading
Hearing
Seeing
See and Presenting Hear
Doing
Time
4
PART 1: Theoretical Foundations
Q The Adult Learner The majority of students in public safety education are adult learners. Educational researchers have identified specific traits associated with adult learners known as andragogy (as opposed to Key Term pedagogy, which is associated with child learners). This term andragogy was introduced in 1973 by Characteristics Malcom Knowles, known as the associated with adult “Father of Adult Education,” learners. who determined that adults have unique learning needs and motivations. Although the adult learner concepts have been critically reviewed and debated over the years, Knowles’s adult learning principles continue to permeate today’s educational programs. This chapter looks at adult learning characteristics and the theoretical foundations of adult learning by asking two key questions: “Who are adult learners?” and “How do adults learn?” Malcolm Knowles identified five assumptions for adult learners: 1. Adults tend to be self-directed and should be guided to discover information on their own. 2. Adults bring enriched experiences to the classroom; activities that use these life experiences should be encouraged. 3. Adult learners have a readiness and are eager to learn. 4. Adult learners want to be able to apply the knowledge and skills they learn to their daily lives. (Adults tend to be problem-centered learners, as opposed to adolescent learners who prefer a more structured, lecture-based presentation.) 5. Adult learners have an interpersonal desire to better themselves. These principles are not unique to adult learners, as critics of Knowles are quick to point out. In fact, many of these characteristics of adult learners are (and should be) identified with adolescent learners as well. There are not significant differences in learning styles between adult and adolescent learners, as was once believed. Even so, Knowles argues that both groups should be viewed separately, noting that adult learners prefer experiential learning situations, whereas adolescent learners tend to depend upon an instructor to tell them how to learn. These adult education principles have affected today’s management of adult education courses. Instructors should gain an understanding of
these perspectives that motivate adult learners and incorporate them into their lesson presentations.
Q Key Learning Concepts Learning by Doing A basic educational principle associated with adult learners and adolescent learners is the concept of learning by doing. Years of research show that students learn and retain information best when they become active participants in the learning process. Students learn by doing! When students use knowledge in actual settings, the learning and retention of knowledge and skills approach the highest possible level of attainment.
Link In Chapter 3, the “Father of Education,” John Dewey, outlines his pragmatic educational philosophy. Pragmatists believe that learning by doing is the principal basis of learning, regardless of the subject.
The concept of learning by doing forms a key educational foundation. Acknowledging the significance of this fact, instructors should build their lesson plans around this concept. Of course, even when the instructor is armed with a well-developed lesson plan, not every presentation will attain high levels of learning and retention. The student’s motivation, the type of lesson material, and the overall curriculum design can all limit the level of learning and retention. To achieve maximum effectiveness, instructors should strive to make their lessons as close to the real thing as possible. This requires time, patience, and motivation on an instructor’s part. To create a positive learning experience, the instructor needs to design a lesson presentation that pushes students toward the higher levels of learning.
Realism Adult learners need to have practical, realistic, and challenging lessons. These learners can have difficulty imagining a piece of equipment, responding to a written scenario, or attempting to perform a skill within a pretend scenario. When adults are given a situation to which they can apply their knowledge in a practical way, high levels of learning and retention occur. Thus, the closer an instructor can make a situation to real life, the better the learning experience will be for the
CHAPTER 1: Understanding the Student
students. Realistic techniques allow adult learners to become more involved in contrived situations and increase their learning potential.
Link A myriad of realistic techniques can be used to enhance a learning experience, as outlined in Chapter 12.
When introducing a new concept, a piece of equipment, or a skill, an instructor should discuss key concepts for learning (the objectives), show any equipment, and demonstrate Key Term the skill before fully presenting the topic. This introduction referent contact establishes a referent contact. Initial visual image that During the initial demonstraserves as a model for student behavior and tion, it is critical to visually show comprehension. the information to the students. Students will then model their behaviors on this initial visual image. To maximize the learning experience, add realism to a lesson. This strategy improves both learning and retention. Instead of pretending, the students experience “almost real-life” situations in the classroom.
Tip
Internal Motivation If there is one fact that an instructor must be aware of, it is this: Adult learners cannot be forced to learn. Many adult learners are forced into educational programs against their will or counter to their best judgment. These students often display poor attitudes and antagonistic behaviors, and lack motivation in their classroom activities; not surprisingly, they also have a poor learning experience. As discussed later in this chapter, instructors need to get to know who their students are, what motivates them, and what the instructor can do to involve them in the lesson presentation. If students are mandated to attend a course, the instructor’s lesson plan should reflect that fact. For example, an instructor should not expect to be overly successful with a discussion format in a classroom of unmotivated individuals. To make a meaningful learning experience for this type of student, the instructor must redirect the student’s motivation for attending the program. Dealing with adult learners in a critical learning situation is explored in the section “Transactional Analysis,” later in this chapter.
5
For educators of adult students, it is important to bear in mind Knowles’s fifth principle, “Adult learners have an interpersonal desire to better themselves.” Generally, adult learners are attending a course to improve their knowledge of a particular subject so they can use the information in their daily lives. The majority of adult learners are not in competition to obtain the highest score on an examination, so an instructor should establish a minimum level of expected performance for adult learners. Adult learners who are motivated to learn because they desire knowledge tend to do well throughout the course, including exams. In contrast, students whose sole motivation is something other than the improvement of their knowledge (e.g., job promotion or social status) often experience difficulty throughout their learning experience. Students’ internal motivations are an essential element not only in their learning, but also throughout their life experiences. To help understand learners’ internal motivations, behavioral researchers Hackman and Oldham developed an assessment tool called the job diagnostic survey Key Terms (JDS), which measures the degree of match between job diagnostic survey individuals and their jobs. (JDS) Assessment This assessment breaks job tool that measures the degree of match assignments into their critical between individuals and psychological compon- and their jobs. ents and uses a moderating growth need strength factor known as growth (GNS) A measurement need strength (GNS). GNS of the psychological measures the psychological needs of an individual needs of an individual; it and the degree of an assesses the strong need for individual’s internal motivation. personal challenge, growth, accomplishment, learning, and attainment of professional development. In essence, GNS quantifies the degree of an individual’s internal motivation. Individuals with high GNS will find a job assignment or task challenging, whereas individuals with diminished GNS tend to be less aggressive in the pursuit of growth opportunities; lowGNS individuals are content with the status quo are reluctant to accept change. How does GNS affect educational programs? Students who exhibit high GNS may be bored by activities that are not challenging. Conversely, students with diminished GNS may feel overwhelmed by challenging activities. Low-GNS students are content with knowing the basics and will demonstrate
6
PART 1: Theoretical Foundations
diminished motivation while in the classroom. Such students will not seek out learning opportunities and are not likely to be active participants in independent discovery activities. Instructors whose students exhibit less than the highest GNS levels should use presentations that are informative and motivating but do not overly challenge a student’s abilities. Students with diminished GNS should be partnered with individuals who exhibit high GNS. Structured course activities and classroom discussions are helpful to open a dialogue between high- and diminished-GNS students. Instructors should listen to their students’ dialogue during classroom interactions. Students with high GNS will show a desire to seek out additional information, whereas diminished GNS students will express feelings of being overwhelmed and overly challenged by the course materials. A conscious awareness of an individual’s GNS orientation is necessary to improve the person’s GNS score. For this reason, instructors should plan and practice activities that challenge the individual’s abilities to help enhance the GNS score over time.
Q Paradigm In his book The Structure of Scientific Revolution, Thomas Kuhn discovered that scientists often reject information Key Term that does not fit into their paradigm Mental preexisting perception. He understanding that filters found that paradigms act as a incoming information, filter of incoming information. shapes perception, and For scientists to “see” new establishes imaginary boundaries. information, they must be willing to change their perception of what the finding should be. In layman’s terms, a paradigm comprises the life experiences, biases, and attitudes that affect the “color of the glasses/ lens” through which an individual views the world. Just as in the scientific world, paradigms have a significant influence on the educational process. Educators create behavioral objectives to predict changes in students’ behavior. When an instructor encounters a student’s behavior that is not expected, the instructor can either explore the behavior further or simply dismiss it because it does not fit the established curricula. All too often, new ideas and perspectives are ignored because they are not contained in the lesson plan. Instructors should plan activities that encourage students to explore and seek out new paradigms, thereby expanding their learning.
Transactional Analysis How adults learn and react to information often depends on their state of mind—that is, on their ego state. Eric Berne is the originator of transactional analysis, a theory of social psychology that focuses on external and Key Terms internal psychological “ego” states: parent, child, and ego state State of adult. Transactional analysts mind. note that adults are really transactional analysis three people inside one body; Theory of social at any point during a class, an psychology that focuses adult learner or instructor can on external and internal display any of these various psychological “ego” states. An instructor should states (e.g., parent, child, adult). listen to a student’s comments and try to identify the ego state from which the student is responding. Each ego state has both positive and negative aspects. The child ego state deals with emotions. In this state, a person can be playful, loving, creative, caring, fearful, angry, sad, disruptive, and so forth. Students or instructors may be 35 or 40 years old, yet act and react to situations as if they were 5 or 6 years old. Depending on the classroom activity, acting in a child ego state can be beneficial. For example, while participating in an interactive classroom game, a child ego state can bring excitement to the activity. Unfortunately, the child ego state also causes adults to react inappropriately to some situations. Thus many adults hide their child ego state and favor their parent or adult ego states. Often characterized as the “tape recorder” ego state, the parent ego state tends to be overly critical and rigid and is based on prejudged values. In the parent ego state, there is a clearly defined boundary: Cross the line, and consequences will result. The parent ego state constantly displays “prerecorded” attitudes and opinions based on parents’ and grandparents’ attitudes and values. For example, an instructor in a parent ego state might: Q Tell students how activities shall be conducted Q Reject student input Q Tell students what is correct or incorrect (demonstrating an “I’m right and you’re wrong” attitude) Q Belittle students in front of the class These behaviors are typical of someone in the “critical parent” or “pig parent” state. On the other side of this equation is the nurturing parent ego state, which is supportive and protective and provides “strokes” (physical touching or verbal
CHAPTER 1: Understanding the Student
rewards). Strokes can be either positive or negative. Regardless of which types of strokes are applied, Berne notes that individuals need strokes to survive. Learners who do not receive positive strokes will seek negative strokes, just to be recognized. Instructors should try to provide students with positive rewards whenever it is possible. The third ego state is the adult, who responds to situations in a logical and rational manner and tends to be a non-emotional state. This state has been likened to a computer, where facts and information are used to make logical decisions. Making decisions from a logical perspective is not always advantageous, however. Changing interactions from a parent or child ego state is possible by using the adult ego state. Instructors will encounter a variety of ego states in their classes. How they communicate information to their students is frequently determined by how they respond to a student’s question or verbal statement. The use of transactional analysis can be seen in the various ways that individuals handle day-today conversations in the workplace and in daily life activities. Instructors must be able to listen, understand, and respond to students by using complementary transactions and avoiding crossing transactions. Keeping an open line of communication between students and instructors ensures effective information exchange within a course.
Q Learning Styles Learners often favor a particular way to learn. For example, some may prefer reading from textbooks and completing homework assignments, while others prefer more hands-on activities. These differences reflect the individual’s preferred learning style. The three most commonly identified learning styles are auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. A fourth learning style, tactile, is often incorporated into the kinesthetic characteristic, although it is actually considered to be a separate characteristic. Auditory learners “hear” the information, visual learners “see” the information, kinesthetic learners learn through physical movements, and tactile learners learn by touch. These learning characteristics influence how a student learns and retains information. Q Auditory Learners. Auditory learners prefer hearing information, whether through instructor presentations and class discussions or by silently sounding out words as they read from a textbook. Auditory learners are good listeners and pick up information by watching and listening.
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Visual Learners. Visual learners want to see the instructor teach and will watch the instructor’s movements in the classroom. These learners will mimic their skill performance after the instructor’s demonstration. They need to see the key points highlighted on a dry image board or overhead transparency, multimedia presentation, or charts or diagrams. Interestingly, visual learners do not prefer learning material from textbooks. Q Kinesthetic Learners. Kinesthetic or tactile learners prefer learning situations that require their physical participation. These learners want to “do”; they do not want to listen to a lecture or participate in a complex textbook activity. Instructors should try to incorporate each type of learning characteristic into their classroom presentations. This will help students learn the material by using their preferred learning style. Q
Learning Style Inventories In addition to recognizing the most common learning styles, students and instructors can use specialized learning style inventories to identify their individual learning behaviors. For example, Richard M. Felder and Barbara A. Soloman from North Carolina State University have developed a written assessment called the Index of Learning Styles (ILS). The ILS measures four learning traits: Q Active/reflective Q Sensing/intuitive Q Visual/verbal Q Sequential/global Active learners tend to retain and understand the information by doing something with it. In contrast, reflective learners prefer to quietly think about the information. Similar comparisons may be made between the other assessment components. Another very popular learning style assessment was developed by David Kolb. He is noted as pioneering the learning style inventory (LSI), which identifies four specific learning modes: Q Concrete experience: learning from experiences and being sensitive to the feelings of others Q Reflective observation: observing and examining an issue from different perspectives Q Abstract conceptualization: analysis of issues, systemic planning, and developing an understanding of the information Q Active experimentation: learning by doing, ability to get things done, and being a risk taker
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Learners will pass through each of these phases as they learn information and, in doing so, tend to develop preferences for particular learning modes. The LSI groups the learning modes into four learning style types: accommodating, assimilating, converging, and diverging (see FIGURE 1–4). A learner with an assimilating learning style prefers taking the time to think about the information and learns best by reading, listening, observing, and doing. Accommodating learners prefer experiential learning situations and dislike sitting in lectures and doing book
Concrete Experience
affect how students learn information (a topic discussed further in Chapter 3). Identifying their own learning style types and personality characteristics can help both students and instructors become more effective learners and problem solvers. When conflicts of opinion occur in classrooms or in real-life situations, they are often the result of different learning styles or personality types colliding. An instructor may prefer to use one learning style or personality trait, while students prefer another style or trait. It is important to acknowledge these differences. Ideally, instructors should plan their lessons around the students’ learning styles. If conflicts of opinion occur (planned or unplanned), however, they can serve as opportunities to explore differing points of view and identify new information or applications.
Q Student Characteristics Accommodating Active Experimentation
Diverging Reflective Observation
Converging
Assimilating
Abstract Conceptualization
work. Converging learners prefer situations in which they can plan and use information to solve problems; they like to be mentally challenged by the learning experience. Diverging learners look at information from a variety of viewpoints; they prefer brainstorming activities and watching the actions of other students. A well-known affective domain assessment tool is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This instrument, which provides for an assessment of a learner’s affective domain, examines four traits (called poles): Q Extroversion (E) or introversion (I) Q Sensing (S) or intuition (N) Q Thinking (T) or feeling (F) Q Judging (J) or perception (P) For each person, a letter score is assigned for the four traits. A maximum of 16 scoring combinations (e.g., INFP or ESTJ) is possible. As an instructor, you might find it beneficial to create your own personality profile, given that an instructor’s individual traits can
Students attending public safety courses are quite diversified in terms of educa-tional background, physical capability, learning ability, age, and level Key Term of experience. Ideally, the instructor should pre-enrollment determine the makeup of questionnaire An evaluation tool used the student body before to determine the mix the course begins so that the of students enrolled. instructor can modify lessons The responses to such appropriately around the needs a questionnaire must of the students. A pre- be kept confidential enrollment questionnaire is a and the questions must comply with federal useful evaluation tool to deter- antidiscrimination law mine the mix of students and other associated enrolled in the course. All laws. information provided by students on this form should be kept confidential, and the questionnaire should comply with federal antidiscrimination law and other associated federal laws.
Link A sample pre-enrollment questionnaire can be found on the Instructional Methods for Public Safety page on www.jblearning.com.
Educational Background For some students attending a public safety course, it may be their first formal course since they graduated from high school. For other students, it may have been two or three years since their last educational program.
CHAPTER 1: Understanding the Student
Then there are students enrolled who have never finished high school—and sitting next to them may be students who are currently in college or are taking the program as part of their full-time employment. Clearly, the public safety classroom is filled with a very diverse group of students. For the students who have been out of the educational system for several years, reading and understanding textbook material, taking notes, and studying for tests can be overwhelming. Retraining, and often initial training, of good study and reading habits is as important as the lesson material itself for such students. Determining the students’ educational background can help an instructor design lesson presentations around their needs. Instead of “talking over the heads” of the students, instructors can target their lesson presentations to the students’ level of understanding. Students may also bring a wealth of informal education and personal experience to public safety courses, and the instructor should consider these experiences when planning lessons and activities. Many courses require previous training and certification. These credentials should be reviewed and validated prior to the beginning of the course. In addition, instructors should always ask students to verify their prior educational and training experiences to avoid any unsafe circumstances where knowledge is assumed. Instructors should remain aware that the medical field has its own language, and encourage students to actively study the terms and the glossary.
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Physical Capability In nearly every public safety classroom, instructors will encounter individuals with physical disabilities or underlying medical conditions such as asthma, hypertension, cardiovascular abnormalities, diabetes, recent major surgery, chronic back injury, musculoskeletal injury, and vision or hearing impairment, among others. Often, students can perform skills if they are given a modification to meet their disability. Instructors should assist these students in their attempt to learn a skill. However, if the program is intended to lead to state certification, students should be made aware that most certification examinations cannot be extensively modified. States have an obligation to uphold the public trust that certified personnel are competent to perform
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the essential skills required by a specific task. In the initial phases of a course, all students must be made aware of the functional job description that outlines the expected tasks and activities for the position.
Link Many states require students to read and sign a functional job description statement. As discussed in Chapter 4, the functional job description details tasks and activities that will be expected from a student during a course. When it is appropriate, reasonable accommodations must be afforded to the student.
Learning Ability Instructors will likely have students with widely disparate learning abilities and may have learningdisabled students as well. Learning disabilities include dyslexia, illiteracy, and other disabilities. Depending on how much formal education adult learners have, they may not have been formally diagnosed with a learning disability in the past. Many adults do not know why they cannot learn; they may have always had difficulty learning and have come to accept their learning disability. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that 10 to 20 percent of Americans older than the age of 20 are functionally illiterate. Many of these adults learn to cope with their illiteracy so smoothly that their family members, friends, and employers do not know that they have a reading disability. To instruct learning-disabled students successfully, the first step is to make sure that the students realize they have a learning disability. If they do not acknowledge that they have a problem, there is little that an instructor can do to assist them. However, if they are aware they have problems reading or comprehending material, then a reading specialist (from a local high school, vocational school, or community outreach reading program) should be contacted and asked to make a formal diagnosis. Depending on the diagnosis, students often can seek remedial training to cope with their disabilities. Unless he or she is professionally trained in special education, a public safety instructor should rely on the community’s educational resources to assist learning-disabled students.
Tip
Instructors may need to provide additional time for students with learning disabilities to complete their examinations.
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PART 1: Theoretical Foundations
For students who are not formally diagnosed as learning disabled but who may be “slow” learners or poor readers, an instructor can provide assistance while still teaching the rest of the class. To identify these students, the instructor should invite any students who are having a problem understanding the course material to see the instructor privately and should meet individually with any students who are performing poorly on examinations. Once the student realizes that a problem exists, the instructor can react to the student’s learning difficulties by modifying course materials appropriately.
Tip
“Slow” learners and poor readers may require modified lesson plans, worksheets, and reading materials.
The instructor’s reaction must be proportional to the student’s disability. If the student cannot understand the textbook material, the instructor should attempt to supply content that has a lower reading level. If the student’s problem stems from too many distractions during an examination—for example, peer pressure or time constraints—the instructor may offer the student the option of taking the test alone in a quiet room and extend the time available to complete the examination. Additional resources such as workbooks or extra practice sessions can be offered to students with problems developing their skill proficiency. For instructors who have appropriate training, conducting remedial one-toone educational sessions with individual students may be another alternative. If several students in a course are having the same difficulty, the instructor may want to consider modifying the lesson plan to include group activities. These students can be paired together so they can jointly learn the material.
Age A public safety instructor can expect to encounter students with a wide range of ages. Younger students may be less mature and more disruptive, but they are also often highly motivated, excited to have a new educational experience, and eager to participate actively in classroom activities. Older students bring a greater level of knowledge and experience, which the instructor can use to the class’s benefit. However,
older students may relate the information to their own personal experiences in a limiting way (e.g., “I remember when…” or “I’ve never had to do that…”). To address these challenges, the instructor should respond in a sincere, nonthreatening manner in a way that does not belittle the student. Older students may also be resistant to change and be hesitant to accept new or innovative techniques. Knowing that the class comprises a mixture of students, each of whom has his or her own needs, helps an instructor to balance the lesson plan for all.
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Experience The experience level of the students is a key piece of information when the instructor is designing the lesson plan. In general, students with firsthand experience require less basic information than students lacking such knowledge. It is important to balance a lesson plan to provide information to students with all levels of experience. Too much basic material will bore the seasoned students, yet is necessary for students with less experience. Through the instructor’s careful coordination and foresight, the course can become a positive learning experience for both groups. For example, some instructors have found it useful in a mixed class to design group activities that pair new students with seasoned students.
Q Summary This chapter examined the key features associated with adult learners. Adult learners bring a variety of learning experiences and emotional states to a classroom, each of which presents a different challenge to an instructor. Instructors should seek to understand the students’ perspective and respond appropriately. Teaching adult learners is both challenging and rewarding.
CHAPTER
Understanding the Educator
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WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter looks at the characteristics displayed by effective educators. Emphasis is placed on the roles and responsibilities that a public safety educator faces in the educational environments of today and tomorrow.
OBJECTIVES Q
Define instruction and the goals of an instructor.
Q
Discuss the importance to the educator of being yourself, being a role model, and being a professional.
Q
Identify positive and negative educator characteristics.
Q
Identify the many roles that an educator plays.
Q
Define basic principles of education.
Q
Identify approaches and techniques that can improve an educator’s presentation.
Educational Motto As an instructor, I will: • Be who I am and know my limitations • Possess the knowledge and skill necessary for credibility • Respect students’ knowledge, experience, and abilities • Understand the learning style differences among students • Practice and use the learning formula in my presentations • Be a mentor, role model, administrator, and any other role necessary to educate students
Q Instruction Instruction is the educational process that causes a student to learn material and/or change his or her behavior. Key Term The entire educational process is planned and implemented around changing the student’s instruction behavior. An instructor’s job is to provide students Educational process that with the experiences that will help achieve this causes a student to learn goal. Because a student must be stimulated by the material and/or change his or her behavior. subject to learn, motivating a student becomes a primary goal of instruction. A successful instructor incorporates a variety of motivational techniques in an effort to stimulate the learning process. The instructor’s role is to provide instruction. The terms “educator,” “mentor,” “coach,” and “professional teacher” are all synonymous with “instructor,” and the goal for the individuals who carry these titles is always
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PART 1: Theoretical Foundations
the same. Motivation equals learning; motivating students is a primary objective of a public safety educator. The approach an instructor uses is often based on his or her educational belief. Two of the popular philosophies emphasize the art of teaching (idealism) and the science of teaching (realism). The science of teaching focuses on the content (e.g., lesson plans and evaluation), whereas the art of teaching highlights the personality characteristics the instructor uses to present this material (e.g., if the instructor is dynamic, outgoing, and charismatic). While the content forms the heart of the lesson, many instructors are quick to note that anyone can design a lesson plan, but it takes a gifted instructor to teach the material well.
Link Chapter 3 identifies different educational philosophies instructors might adhere to.
Tip
The most important thing for an educator to remember is “Be yourself.”
The “teaching” part of the lesson is influenced by the personality characteristics of the instructor, and good instructors are willing and able to identify their personal limitations. Not every teaching strategy or method will work for every instructor. Some instructors are fantastic lecturers but have limited one-on-one teaching skills; others are great at guided discussions but feel constrained in a lecture format. Successful instructors identify those teaching techniques that make them feel comfortable.
Q Educator Characteristics Many educator characteristics—both positive and negative—influence the success of instruction (see TABLE 2–1). Being yourself, being a role model, and being a professional are essential traits that instructors must exhibit to be effective.
Link Chapter 1 mentioned the Myers-Briggs assessment, which is a powerful assessment tool that instructors can use to identify their personality traits. Knowing these traits can help an instructor decide which instructional styles to use.
Be Yourself The importance of “being yourself ” cannot be overstated. The making of an educator comes from within each individual. Each of us has our own desires, wants, and needs. Some educators teach because they have a burning desire to change the world, others because it is an assignment. Some teach to gain respect and prestige, whereas other individuals see teaching as a way to validate their own worth. To be an effective educator, you must have the personal courage to look inside yourself and discover your own motivators, and to acknowledge them for what they are. Good or bad, they are yours—they help you know who you are. It is not the acceptance of these qualities that makes a person a better instructor, but rather the honest selfassessment that provides an individual with his or her own sense of personal insight. Their personal insight allows successful educators to use teaching approaches that make their presentations truly their own. Trying to accomplish tasks beyond the reach of an instructor’s ability is counterproductive, and such overreaching is often painfully obvious to students. Using methods of instruction that feel comfortable is essential both to ensure a quality presentation and to maintain the respect of the students.
Be a Role Model and a Mentor Students are impressionable, and first impressions lay the groundwork for the entire learning experience. A bad first impression taints the students’ expectations and is nearly impossible to overcome. A good first impression allows the instructor to be “human” and to make mistakes, but encourages students to throw those anomalies out because the mistakes don’t match their “first impression” image of the instructor. Be a role model by providing correct information and demonstrations the first time they are presented, and students will follow you.
Be a Professional Students look at the instructor as the expert—that is, as the person who knows the most information. Realistically, instructors aren’t expected to be knowledgeable in all aspects of a subject, but they must know the basics and understand where to look for the information they need. Firsthand knowledge and experience are great for an instructor to possess; instructors who have firsthand experience tend to have more confidence regarding the subject than instructors who lack this experience. Firsthand experience is a requirement in classes that require high levels of safety and experience, such as
CHAPTER 2: Understanding the Educator
high-angle rescue, scuba diving, interior firefighting, or vehicle rescue. Hanging off a building, 10 stories up, is not the place to find out that this occasion is the instructor’s first time demonstrating a rescue scenario. Not every public safety course requires a high level of firsthand expertise. Instructors need to know the presentation material, and knowing the material does not always mean that they must have firsthand experience with the subject.
Tip
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Learn from Your Experiences Think back to a dynamic and unique instructor you encountered during high school, college, technical training school, or a public safety course. Which characteristics or approaches did that instructor use to motivate you to learn the material? Now recall the worst instructor you ever had. What did the instructor do to create such a poor learning experience? Was it e sier to identify the positive or negative traits? ea
TABLE 2–1 Positive and Negative Instructor Characteristics Positive Characteristics
Negative Characteristics
Is well prepared
Is poorly prepared
Is knowledgeable
Does not have sufficient knowledge
Is flexible
Is inflexible
Exudes enthusiasm; is fun to be with
Is not fun
Uses appropriate body language
Has distracting body movement (e.g., playing with chalk, pens)
Makes eye contact with students
Avoids direct eye contact with students
Uses a variety of voice inflections
Speaks in a monotone voice
Exhibits respect for students Utilizes innovative teaching methods
Belittles students; relates “war stories” and displays a superior attitude to the students Reads directly from a textbook to conduct the lesson
Employs humor during presentations
Encourages off-color humor or sexist comments
Is punctual
Is late to class
Moves throughout the classroom
Stands in one place for the entire lesson
Reinforces and provides positive feedback to students
Motivates students by threats and failure
Maintains a steady pace for the presentation
Rushes through (or drags out) part of the presentation
Dresses appropriately
Dresses inappropriately
Says nothing or pauses
Says “uh” or “um” during pauses
Varies vocabulary to fit the level of students
Uses terms beyond the level of students
Encourages student participation
Does not encourage student participation
Brings realism to presentations
Does not create realistic presentations
Supplements lesson material with varied and appropriate Reads the lesson from notes or multimedia presentations audiovisual aids
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TABLE 2–1 Positive and Negative Instructor Characteristics (continued) Positive Characteristics
Negative Characteristics
Displays a professional demeanor
Consumes alcohol before or during a presentation
Makes a relaxed presentation
Is high-strung, tense, or nervous
Stresses personal safety and watches out for students’ safety Is caring and shows compassion for students
Ignores concerns for student safety
Is likable
Is not personable
Is honest and admits when an error occurs or he or she doesn’t know the answer to a student question Is prepared for the unexpected
Pretends to know all the answers and refuses to admit mistakes
Stays calm and rational
Yells at students who perform incorrectly
Remembers to “be yourself”
Uses teaching approaches not within the personality of the instructor—those that are not the instructor’s own Does not communicate information effectively
Communicates effectively
Fails to have concern for students’ best interests
Is unprepared and inflexible
Q Instructor Roles An instructor has to wear multiple hats, filling many roles when instructing. Knowing when to wear the right hat influences the learning experience in a positive way. Instructors assume a variety of roles to encourage, motivate, evaluate, and discipline students. Some instructor roles have little benefit, however, and may even be harmful. In Educational Psychology: A Realistic Approach, Thomas Good and Jere Brophy identified five dominant instructor roles: Q Taskmaster. Sets clear standards of performance for the students to attain. Supervises all student activity. Lessons are specifically identified, and little deviation occurs within the lesson. Q Salesperson. Stresses the importance of all program information. Believes that every detail is important and is useful to the students—if not now, then later on. The lessons are taught from the perspective that if it is in the curriculum, it must be taught. Q Cheerleader. Sells the personality and friendship of the instructor to the students. The instructor encourages and provides only positive reinforcement to students. Statements are “sugarcoated” and contain little constructive criticism.
Carping critic. Insists that nothing that students do is correct; there is always something wrong. Rarely gives advice or encourages students to make corrective actions. Q Reality therapist. Supports students to learn information at their own pace. Is supportive of any actions taken by the student. Provides encouragement and corrective action, as needed. An instructor must be able to switch between these roles, depending on the learning situation. For example, if a student is having difficulty with a skill, the reality therapist role may be the most effective, whereas the taskmaster or the carping critic would be destructive in the same situation. Aside from assuming the instructor roles identified by Good and Brophy, instructors may switch between several other characteristics fluently throughout a presentation: Q Mentor Q Program administrator Q Friend Q Facilitator or experiential moderator Q Peer Q Authoritarian or disciplinarian Q Entertainer Q Judge or arbitrator Q
CHAPTER 2: Understanding the Educator
Evaluator or examination designer Q Supervisor or manager Q Public relations specialist Q Logistical specialist Q Guide Q Explorer Q Resource Q Architect Q Safety officer Q Expert Q Clerical staff Q Research analyst Q Equipment procurement and maintenance Q Any other role necessary to motivate and educate students There is no specific ranking to these characteristics, although some are clearly more important than others, such as mentoring and being a facilitator. An instructor can be expected to use any or all of these characteristics depending on the particular situation. The size and composition of an educational institute dictate how many of these instructional roles or characteristics an instructor will be required to use. In most cases, it is the lesson topic, lesson plan, and students that will dictate which hat an instructor needs to wear. Q
Q Principles of Instruction Whatever characteristics or role are used, the instructor must still teach the basics, or principles of instruction. For any topic or principle, the instructor must follow four steps: 1. Examine the principle. 2. Identify the uses associated with the principle. 3. Determine methods that can be used with the principle. 4. Evaluate how the principle was used. This evaluation process can be used to identify or assess any principle. For example, if the principle was a roll of paper towels, the instructor should consider the following aspects: 1. Examine the roll (e.g., its size, shape, and texture; its design’s suitability for cleaning). 2. Identify the uses associated with the roll (e.g., cleaning). 3. Determine methods that can be used with the roll (e.g., rip a towel off to wipe up a mess). 4. Evaluate how the roll was used (e.g., did it clean up the mess well the first time?).
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Just as principles of instruction may be used to identify objects and their usage, so they may also lessen a student’s confusion regarding a specific method of instruction. Perhaps there is a preferred way for accomplishing a task, but it may not be the only way. Identifying the basics and teaching principles, not methods, is the recommended approach. Vehicle rescue is often described as “the science of alternatives.” There are many ways to open a damaged door. Each way is correct, as long as it does not cause injury to the patient or the rescuers. The science of alternatives also applies to principles of instruction—any (safe) method of instruction is acceptable as long as the students grasp the material.
Tip
Q Instruction Tips and Techniques The techniques described in this section encompass a wide variety of personal mannerisms or “touches” that make a program special.
Talk to Students Prior to the class, during breaks, and after the class, spend time with the students. Getting to know the students’ perspective allows the instructor to better relate the lesson material during the presentation. More importantly, it shows the students that you are not unreachable and are open to discussion. It shows you care about what they have to say. This is where the “friend” instructor role is used!
Prepare Handout Materials Instructors should pull resources from various sources to create a lesson plan. Handout materials may be copied from magazines, journals, notes, or other resource materials. To improve the handout materials, spend some time organizing the material in a standard format (e.g., font style, size). Then have the handout material numbered sequentially so that both you and the students can easily reference the material. Lastly, place the material in a binder or a folder. These techniques will make your presentation appear more professional.
Bring Realism to the Presentation Make your presentations as realistic as possible. Bring in experts, go on field trips, use computer simulations, set up a teleconference, or review actual case studies to make a presentation come alive.
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Link Chapter 1 outlined an adult learner trait: Adults need realism. More ideas for making presentations more realistic are outlined in Chapter 12.
technique can help the instructor evaluate his or her body language, lesson delivery, classroom management skills, and student evaluation techniques. A Lesson’s Perspective
Razzle-Dazzle the Students To help motivate students, impress them. Pull out something from your personal “bag of tricks” occasionally. Little surprises often enable an instructor to motivate a class that is showing signs of being bored. Use multimedia presentations to spruce up a dull subject. Create a game to involve the students in the learning process. Bring in equipment such as selfcontained breathing apparatus (SCBA), bunker gear, or latex gloves when discussing these items, or contact a product vendor to demonstrate other new equipment. Use a skeleton model to discuss anatomy. Hold a review session and provide refreshments. Don’t be afraid to try something different, something out of the ordinary, or something that is just plain fun to motivate students and reinforce learning.
Be a Caring Instructor Students bring a host of personal problems into the classroom. Be understanding when a student is not performing up to his or her potential; there may be a very good reason for the student’s difficulty. Listening to the student may help both you and the student understand why he or she is performing poorly. Only when instructors recognize their weaknesses can they make realistic changes to their body language or lesson presentation.
Tip
Use Appropriate Body Language Body language is a very important part of effective communication. Not looking at students or making eye contact, or crossing your arms and appearing to have a stern look on your face when confronted by a student’s question are examples of poor body language. Even if an instructor is truly sincere, his or her body language may give an entirely different message. Body language can be controlled. Before body language can be corrected, however, it must be recognized. An excellent way to evaluate yourself as an instructor is to visually record your presentation to see the presentation from the students’ perspective. Many instructors cannot believe what is recorded. This
In the film Dead Poets Society y, Robin Williams encourages his students to develop and expand their thoughts, experiences, and knowledge. Each student is directed to rip out of his textbook a written critique regarding a particular poem. Later, Williams has each student stand on top of the teacher’s desk and look out across the classroom. He asks each student to see the classroom from a different perspective and encourages students not to just read a poem, but to express it and live out the poem. In this film, the instructor does not place barriers in front of the students, but rather encourages them to develop their knowledge and not to be happy with the basics. For instructors, expanding students’ perspective is a part of designing a quality educational program. Part of the teacher’s role is to provide opportunities for students to gain firsthand experience and draw their own conclusions. Teachers should design their presentations to allow students to express and live out their educational experiences.
Make a Good First Impression Students often judge a course by the way an instructor starts the lesson. If the introduction is bland and lifeless, chances are that many students will tune out. Start the lesson strong to get students hooked.
Dress for the Occasion How an instructor dresses can strongly affect students’ perception of the instructor. Based on the course location and the types of students attending the presentation, an instructor should determine the appropriate attire. Being inappropriately dressed for a presentation sends the wrong message to the students.
Call on Students by Name While getting to know the names of all students may be challenging, especially in large courses, it should be the goal of every instructor to learn all student names and to call each person by his or her name. This behavior shows that the instructor cares about every student and values his or her comments.
Use Analogies Students may not understand new material because they have no frame of reference for it. Offering an
CHAPTER 2: Understanding the Educator
analogy may help. For example, it may be useful to use a boiler plant to explain what happens when the body goes into shock: If the system develops a leak, the entire boiler system experiences a decrease in pressure. The regulators will turn on the boiler to increase the pressure. If the water volume is depleted, the system will fail. So, too, the body has a pump (heart), pipes (arteries, veins), and regulator (brain). Without blood in the system, the body will fail (go into shock).
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lesson’s objectives and allow students to reach their own conclusions. Being a facilitator is a vital role that instructors use as part of the experiential learning model. Instructors do not have to be the sole lecturer. Being a facilitator is a fulfilling role for both instructor and students.
Link John Dewey’s pragmatic educational philosophy is discussed in depth in Chapter 3.
Analogy is a powerful tool that instructors should use whenever possible. It makes a presentation come to life and will bring a new level of understanding to the classroom.
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Be a Mentor The ultimate positive experience instructors can create is to have students excel under their mentorship. Not every student or instructor is cut out to participate in a mentoring program. It requires a significant commitment of time, patience, and support by both the instructor and the student. Mentoring can also be done between current students or with a previous student or assistant instructor. Mentoring usually takes place in small groups or on a one-to-one basis. The instructor (or other mentor) shares in-depth knowledge of a subject and assigns students tasks that challenge their intellectual and physical abilities. As students talk about a subject and gain a greater awareness of the material, they are able to retain information better.
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Challenge yourself and your students to excel: Mentoring works!
Be a Facilitator The pragmatic’s view of instruction is that an instructor should be a facilitator of information exchange. Students should be provided the opportunity to actively participate within the lesson presentation. The instructor should help guide students to the
Show Passion Passion in instruction is evidenced by the commitment and motivation an instructor shows when teaching. Passionate instructors approach teaching with a “fire” and “intensity” owing to their commitment and love for the art of teaching.
Q Summary To be a successful educator, you should strive to adopt the positive traits outlined in this chapter. Of course, in real life, events do not always allow for the best performance. Instructors may make mistakes and are not always able to perform to the best of their ability. In these cases, be responsible, admit an error has been made, and move on. An educator who is motivated and strives for excellence approaches instructing with passion and transfers this energy to the students. An essential instructor characteristic is a willingness to be yourself. Trying to accomplish tasks beyond the reach of an instructor’s ability is counterproductive; conversely, using methods of instruction that feel comfortable is essential. Educators who are able to marry their knowledge, experience, personality, and compassion with a desire to share these characteristics with students become successful educators.
CHAPTER
3 OBJECTIVES Q
Identify the importance of educational theories and philosophies and their relevance to public safety instruction.
Q
Identify and differentiate behavioral and cognitive theories.
Q
Understand the facilitator theories of constructivism and experiential learning.
Q
Explain how educational learning theories have shaped today’s educational system.
Q
Outline the cognitive learning theories of metacognition and critical thinking.
Q
Discuss the key concepts underlying the educational philosophies of idealism, realism, humanism, essentialism, pragmatism, behaviorism, and reconstructionism.
Q
Identify how the various theories and philosophies influence the process of instruction.
Theories and Philosophies of Education WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER Educational concepts that are used in public safety programs are deeply rooted in years of educational and behavioral research. This chapter reviews theories and philosophies that influence today’s educational system.
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To understand where we have been points us ahead to where we want to be. Viewing history from this perspective allows today’s education to benefit from previous years of experience.
Q Relevance of Educational Theory The instructional methods used in today’s classroom are the result of years of educational theory and research. In the past, many notable figures— including Ivan Pavlov, E. L. Thorndike, B. F. Skinner, and John Dewey— have contributed a variety of educational philosophies that continue to influence today’s educational system. Understanding these theories may help you identify a particular philosophy (or hybrid of philosophies) that fits with your beliefs and abilities or one that you have already adopted to help you stay focused and be yourself. Use the Instructor Philosophies Assessment document on the Instructional Methods for Public Safety y page on www.jblearning.com to identify the educational theories or philosophies that most appeal to you.
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CHAPTER 3: Theories and Philosophies of Education
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Q Behavioral Theories
Task Analysis Theory
Behavioral theories deal with learning through behavioral reinforcement. These theories have evolved over several hundred years of Key Terms research.
R. M. Gagne developed the task analysis theory.3 He looked at a task (specifically one that was useful to determine skills) and Key Term broke the task into various components. To ensure skill task analysis theory development in students, Theory that breaks a an instructor needs to use task into its various positive reinforcement, es- components to examine pecially when a skill is the learning skills initially learned. The follow- required. ing questions are commonly asked as part of a task analysis: Q What is important to learning? Q What is essential to learning? Q What makes the learning task difficult (or easy)? By determining the answers to these questions, an instructor can prepare a lesson plan that better relates the needed information to students.
behavioral theories Theories supporting the idea of learning through behavioral reinforcement.
Classical Learning Theory
Ivan Pavlov and E. L. Thorndike are noted for pioneering the testing of classical learnclassical learning theory Theory ing theory. Pavlov’s famous supporting the idea dog salivation experiments that a learner can be concluded that a learner can conditioned to respond be condit-ioned to respond to specific stimuli. to specific stimuli (see FIGURE 3–1). Thorndike built upon Pavlov’s theories in his work with the concept of “trial and error.” He determined that a learner needed to be motivated to solve a problem.1
Reinforcement (Stimulation-Response) Theory
Stimulus-Response Theory E. R. Guthrie refined the classical conditioning approaches and contributed to stimulus-response theory.2 According to this Key Term theory, for every stimulus, there is a corresponding restimulus-response sponse. Guthrie found that theory Theory stating learning could occur during that for every stimulus, there is a corresponding the first contact with a response. stimulus, but that continued reinforcement was usually required to retain the information.
B. F. Skinner is noted for his work related to partial reinforcement habits reinforcement theory. His research centered on defining specific responses to stimuli (see FIGURE 3–2). The concept of behavioral Key Term shaping is also associated with Skinner. Reinforcement reinforcement theory Theory that identifies theory identifies ways that an how an instructor can instructor can influence how influence how students students learn and maintains learn. It maintains that that positive reinforcement is positive reinforcement the key to successful learning. is the key to successful In other words, behaviors learning. that are positively reinforced are more likely to be repeated.
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It is important to note that some form of reinforcement—either positive or negative—is needed for learning to occur. In Skinner’s language, students need to have a “knowledge of results” to learn. Without feedback, students develop a “numb” response, as they assume that no feedback means that it just does not matter to the instructor if learning is occurring. Instructors must be the facilitators of learning by providing students with feedback.
Q Cognitive Theories Cognitive theories stress the use of mental capabilities—that is, learning is influenced by the individual’s ability to think and discover information. Key Terms Cognitive educators have cognitive theories students discover information Theories that stress rather than relying upon the use of mental the instructor to provide the capabilities; that is, information. In a classroom learning is influenced by governed by this educational the individual’s ability to think and discover philosophy, students are information. encouraged to become active processors of information. gestalt theory Theory that looks at One of the fundamental how students group cognitive theories is the gestalt information and react to theory, which looks at how that information. students group information and react to that information.4 Perception and problem-solving skills are extensively considered in this theory. Jean Piaget is considered one of the principal researchers associated with cognitive learning principles.5 In one of Piaget’s research studies, he discovered that small children respond differently to questions than older children do because of their perceptions of the information (see FIGURE 3–3). Much of his research centered on how individuals perceive and react to information. The “right brain and left brain thinking” theory is based on medical and psychological research.7 The human brain consists of two hemispheres, the
Link In Chapter 2, David Kolb’s learning style inventory was discussed. This inventory is based on cognitive theory concepts. When learners are learning information, they process (i.e., “perceive”) information based on their learning style preference.6
right and left sides. Each side of the brain controls different emotions and behaviors, and these differences determine how individuals react to situations. In most cases, individuals will have a preferred side. Left-brain thinking tends to be objective, logical, and analytical; right-brain thinking is subjective, creative, and emotional. How a student or instructor reacts to a situation is based on which side of the brain he or she favors when processing information. To accommodate all students’ preferences, successful instructors plan lesson activities to challenge both types of thinkers. Cognitive learning is an important part of public safety educational programs. Students must be able to perform “discovery” tasks. For example, in an automobile accident, the individual must discover a safe, rapid extrication route to remove a critically injured victim. These life-and-death decisions are made through the application of cognitive learning skills.
Q Facilitation Theories Facilitation theories are relatively new in comparison to behavioral and cognitive theories. Facilitation theories recognize that students learn and retain information Students in public safety educational programs must be taught to think for themselves. Our role as instructors is to provide students with the opportunity to explore and develop these thinking processes.
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CHAPTER 3: Theories and Philosophies of Education
better and have an enriched learning experience when they are actively involved in Key Term the learning process. These theories are creating new facilitation theories paradigms for the education Theories recognizing system. Many of them are that students learn and based on educational concepts retain information better and have an enriched pioneered by Piaget and learning experience Dewey. Facilitation theorists when they are actively believe that instructors should involved in the learning be the “conductors” of the process. information exchange and that students are the “orchestra,” whose task is to focus on obtaining information.
Constructivist Theory In constructivist theory, students construct their own knowledge by trying out new Key Term ideas and approaches, based on their prior knowledge constructivist theory and experience.8 With this Theory that students approach, students apply new construct their own knowledge to new situations. knowledge by trying new ideas and approaches, Students are actively involved based on their prior when the constructivist theory knowledge and is applied to the educational experience. process: They are encouraged not to memorize information but to form an understanding of the information based on their experiences. The constructivist instructor must design program activities around the student’s prior knowledge. Instructors may, for example, use freewheeling discussions, simulations, and various problemsolving activities to encourage students to analyze and evaluate the information. In this kind of classroom, the instructor is the facilitator and encourages students to think beyond traditional information.9
Experiential Learning Theory According to John Dewey, who developed experiential learning theory, “Experience is the best teacher; in the final Key Term analysis the direct experience experiential learning may be the only dependable theory Theory teacher…people do not want that students learn to be taught, they want to information by reflecting on their past learn…the best way to learn experiences. is through experience.”10 According to Dewey’s theory, students learn information by reflecting on their past experiences.11 The learning experience is designed
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around the needs of the learner. The instructor uses role-playing, problem solving, group discussions, and self-reflection activities to allow students to discover information on their own terms.
Cognitive Learning Metacognition Metacognition was first identified by Dr. John Flavell in 1979. According to the Key Term most simple definition of this term, metacognition is metacognition The “thinking about thinking.”12 ability of an individual to The metacognitive knowledge gain and use knowledge process is related to how (“thinking about an individual is able to gain thinking”). and use knowledge. Flavell identifies three distinct variables: Q Personal knowledge. This variable looks at how an individual learns and processes information on a personal level. For example, it considers the best learning environment for the individual to comprehend information (e.g., on a treadmill in a gym or in a quiet library). Q Task. This variable relates to personal preferences of learning knowledge. Some forms of knowledge are understood and retained more easily than others. For example, some people have an easier time with biochemistry, while others more easily understand literature. Q Strategy. This variable considers how individuals use and challenge themselves with new information. Individuals may ask themselves probative questions such as “Why is this the way it is?” or “In what situation is this not the best approach?”
Link In Chapter 8, an accepted understanding of knowledge is related to Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. In a revision of Bloom’s system, Anderson and colleagues create a new Taxonomy of Educational Objectives that incorporates the metacognitive knowledge process.13 The revised taxonomy allows educators to further define their lesson presentations and target specific mental abilities. The new taxonomy can be used to look at an entire lesson plan or curriculum as opposed to just one behavioral objective at a time.
Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the process of asking probative questions, gathering information, sorting through data, logically reviewing results, and coming up with reliable
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PART 1: Theoretical Foundations
conclusions. It is akin to the processes employed during scientific research. Critical thinking is a learned Key Term ability that can be incorporated into any classroom activity. critical thinking The It prepares individuals to process of asking probative questions, make good decisions and gathering information, judgments in their daily sorting through data, lives.14 Instructors should logically reviewing plan activities to encourage results, and coming up critical thinking within their with reliable conclusions. classroom activities.
Link Chapter 10 contains specific strategies and methods that instructors can use to incorporate critical thinking into their classrooms.
Idealism Instructors favoring a philosophy of idealism tend to be highly personalized, creative, and individualized. Idealists Key Term like dealing with people, and they encourage freedom idealism A perspective that encourages of individual expression freedom of individual among their students. This expression and aims to liberal approach centers on educate students rather students, and discussion than simply imparting and open discussion formats information or training. are preferred. The goal of an idealist is to educate students rather than to simply impart information or training.
Link The art and science of teaching are discussed in Chapter 2. Idealist instructors encourage the art of teaching.
Psychosocial Theory Pyschosocial theorists such as Erik Erikson developed theories about personality development.15 Erikson, for example, believed that an individual’s personality develops in eight stages based on social experiences, going from birth to “maturity” (defined as age 65). The infant stage is characterized by trust (and mistrust), whereas the teen years focus on exploration and attempts to form one’s identity. In young adulthood, individuals learn to form loving, intimate relationships. Later stages of development focus on the individual making a positive difference in his or her life. Psychosocial theory proposes that when individuals fail to meet their own expectations, they can feel lost, weak, or confused. Individuals with a commitment to their identity are generally happier and healthier, whereas those without a strong identity may negatively be affected in their relationships, both personally and professionally.
Q Educational Philosophies In addition to these learning theories, several other educational philosophies play a vital role in the development of public safety educational programs.16 Which type of instructor will you be? The educational philosophies that you believe in will guide you to the answer to this question. Just as a political party affiliation aligns a voter’s political beliefs, identifying with an educational philosophy informs an instructor’s core beliefs and values.
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Realism Realism stresses a scientific approach to education. When this philosophy dominates, classes have clear structure, and instructors Key Term tend to be machine-like, factual, and objective. Their realism Scientific goal is to encourage a mastery educational approach of factual information and that focuses on a clear provide information. A realist structure and objective instructor prefers lectures and facts. structured demonstrations to deliver lessons through a systematic approach in which the instructor prepares information, presents it, and evaluates its acquisition. The realistic instructor’s main concern is to measure how much information was learned, not to see if the student attained an education. Such instructors feel that they are specialists or experts whose role is to provide information and tell the students the conclusions they should reach. The instructor does the work, while the students are asked to show up and listen. This approach is known as an inductive approach to learning.
Humanism (Perennialism) Humanism is known as “the discipline of the mind.” When this approach guides the classroom, the instructor encourages each student to be self-motivated and to gain an understanding of the information through mental experience using abstract thinking and imagination. Students are encouraged to think for themselves. There is little structure to this form of teaching. Instructors
CHAPTER 3: Theories and Philosophies of Education
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set few or no barriers, and the class is taught through open discussion and workgroups. Open, freewheeling discussions involve both the Key Term instructor and students, and they debate issues together, humanism A discipline eventually reaching a holistic of the mind that viewpoint. Instructors believe encourages selfmotivation to gain that the more students think an understanding of about the information and information through solve problems on their own, mental experience using the better the educational abstract thinking and experience they will have. imagination.
Essentialism Called “educational conservationists,” instructors who follow the model of essentialism believe that if the information is not Key Term immediately important, then it does not need to be taught. essentialism This approach is both very Educational logical and very rigid. Solid conservationism; the learning is stressed rather than belief that if information is not immediately entertainment. Instructors who important, then it does rely on an essentialist approach not need to be taught. believe that students need only basic, essential information. Thus they deliver information in a straightforward manner. Lectures, few individual learning experiences, and strict compliance to “the standards” are the main teaching approaches, with the goal of transmitting essential knowledge and basic skills.
Pragmatism Pragmatism (or progressivism) is identified with John Dewey, an educator noted for the concept of “learning by doing” (see FIGURE 3–4). Key Term According to Dewey, “People do not want to be taught, they pragmatism Philosophy want to learn… the best way to identified with John learn is through experience.”17 Dewey (“learning by The pragmatism movement doing”); also known as progressivism. stresses the need for students to be given an opportunity to learn the information by experiencing it. Students must be able to observe and then given an opportunity to participate. The following learning theories are associated with the pragmatism approach: Q Theory of relativism: Nothing remains static or constant.
Theory of practium: Pay attention to the present. Theory of organicism: Ideas are in process, progress, or making. Pragmatic instructors allow students to solve realistic problems through realistic approaches whenever possible. Current events, classroom freedom, individualism, and actual life experiences are controlled in an experience-centered curriculum. Instructors design and control lessons, thereby allowing students to experience the information firsthand. For example, they might provide a power hydraulic tool and ask students to identify different ways to remove a damaged door, keeping in mind safety concerns for the patient and for the rescuers. Pragmatic instructors believe that knowledge is derived from experience, but that the instructor must provide the stimulus to turn knowledge into an active learning experience. Teaching approaches include discussion groups, field trips, audiovisual aids, interactive lab sessions, and demonstrations designed to elicit questions from the students. The lecture format is used, but only to provide basic information. The more a student can participate, the better. Q Q
Behaviorism B. F. Skinner, J. Watson, and Ivan Pavlov are associated with the educational philosophy known as behaviorism. Behaviorists believe that students respond to learning situations based on their external environment. If the instructor provides positive or negative Key Term feedback, it will provoke a corresponding reaction. behaviorism Philosophy that students respond The role of the instructor is to learning situations to ensure that the learning based on their external environment is comfortable environment. and to provide positive
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PART 1: Theoretical Foundations
feedback that increases student learning and retention. To create a positive learning environment, instructors should work in clean and well-lighted classrooms that are equipped with comfortable chairs, and should use up-to-date presentation materials. Positive reinforcement must be stressed at every learning opportunity.
Reconstructionism In the reconstructionism philosophy, the instructor becomes the coordinator of Key Term information. Presentations are taught based on the needs reconstructionism of the students. Specific Philosophy in which the instructor serves goals are set and the lesson is as the coordinator developed around the needs of information, with of the students. The lesson is presentations being flexible and is driven by goals based upon the needs of that are tailored to the group the students. of students. Students must be highly motivated to learn; they are learning for a specific purpose rather than learning general information for multiple purposes. With this approach, the instructor encourages the students to look at the whole learning experience. Self-thinking and rationalizations are encouraged.
Q Applying Educational Theories and Philosophies to the Classroom Which approach describes your teaching style? Are you an instructor who teaches by the “art” of teaching, or are you more concerned with the content of the lesson? Will you encourage students to think about the information, or do you want them to learn by doing?
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Public safety educational programs have been influenced by all of the various philosophies of education. In general, instructors tend to favor one philosophy and then mix other philosophies into their lesson presentations. The instructor’s personality and the group of students are determining factors in the selection of the philosophy that the instructor uses. For example, students who have a practical orientation would be taught better using the pragmatic approach. Matching the philosophy with the teaching approach that is best suited for the students is an important aspect of the educational process that cannot be overstated.
Public safety personnel make life-anddeath decisions every day. The theories and educational philosophies presented here can help develop students’ critical thinking skills.
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Link As noted in Chapter 1, an instructor needs to know who the students are and adapt the lesson plan to the type of students being taught. Your teaching style will be influenced by your personal learning style inventory, as outlined in Chapter 2. In other words, you will likely teach other students the way you prefer to learn information. The learning style inventory is a powerful tool that instructors should use to assess who they are, so that they can better teach their students.
Q Summary These educational theories and philosophies, in addition to current research and thinking, affect the modern educational system. Knowing where we have been helps us to know where we need to be. Looking at the theories and philosophies that have shaped today’s educational system lays the foundation for tomorrow’s training programs.
Q Notes 1.
Jere Brophy and Thomas Good, Educational Psychology: A Realistic Approach (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977). 2. E. R. Guthrie, The Psychology of Learning (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1952). 3. R. M. Gagne and L. Briggs, Principles of Instructional Design (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974). 4. W. D. Ellis, A Source Book of Gestalt Psychology (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World,1938). 5. Jean Piaget, The Child’s Conception of the World (New York: Littlefield Adams, 1990). 6. David Kolb, The Learning Style Inventory (Boston: McBer, 1985). 7. Bernice McCarthy, The 4MAT System: Teaching to Learning Styles with Right/Left Mode Techniques (Chicago, IL: Excel, 1980). 8. J. Bruner, Going Beyond the Information Given (New York: Norton, 1973). 9. C. M. Reigeluth, “A new paradigm of ISD?” Educational Technology, 13–20, May–June 1996. 10. John Dewey, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (New York: Macmillan, 1930).
CHAPTER 3: Theories and Philosophies of Education 11. David A. Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1984); C. R. Rogers, Freedom to Learn (Columbus, OH: Merrill/Macmillan, 1969); C. R. Rogers and H. J. Freiberg, Freedom to Learn, 3rd ed. (Columbus, OH: Merrill/Macmillan, 1994). 12. J. H. Flavell, “Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new era of cognitive-developmental inquiry.” American Psychologist, 34, 906–911, 1979. 13. L. W. Anderson, D. R. Krathwohl, P. W. Airasian, K. A. Cruikshank, R. E. Mayer, P. R. Pintrich, J. Raths, and M. C. Wittrock, A Taxonomy of Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. (New York: Longman, 2001). 14. Peter A. Facione, “Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts.” 2009. www.insightassessment.com. 15. E. H. Erikson, Identity: Youth and Crisis. (New York: Norton, 1968); E. H. Erikson, Childhood and Society,
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2nd ed. (New York: Norton, 1963); C. S. Carver and M. F. Scheir, Perspectives on Personality (Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2000). 16. Don-chea Chu, Philosophic Foundations of American Education (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1971); John D. Pullman, History of Education in America, 2nd ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1987); John Dewey, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (New York: Macmillan, 1930); Pennsylvania Department of Health Rescue, Instructor Curriculum (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Department of Health Rescue, 1983); Jere Brophy and Thomas Good, Educational Psychology: A Realistic Approach (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977); David Kolb, Learning Style Inventory (Boston: McBer, 1985). 17. John Dewey, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (New York: Macmillan, 1930).
PART
2
Educational Considerations 4 5 6 7
Legal Considerations Educational System Design Accreditation Facility and Classroom Setup
CHAPTER
Legal Considerations
4
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter is about legal awareness for educators. The intent is to provide an instructor with a high-level overview of relevant legal concepts and principles.
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Law is not simple. It is difficult to be specific concerning the variety of legal interpretations. For specific legal issues involving instructors or educational institutions, seek appropriate legal counsel.
Q Liability and Negligence Public safety educational institutions must consider risk management, liability, and the federal rules and regulations relating to educational institutions. Liability is the responsibility that an individual assumes, or might assume, when he Key Terms or she acts, or does not act, in a given situation. liability The For example, an instructor who neglects to check responsibility that an training equipment before it was used might be individual assumes, or liable if the equipment breaks and a student is might assume, when he injured. or she acts, or does not act, in a given situation. The legal concept of negligence applies to many areas of public safety instruction. Negligence is the negligence Failure to use failure to use reasonable care to avoid foreseeable reasonable care to avoid foreseeable harm to a harm to a person or thing. An individual can be person or thing. liable if his or her act (or failure to act) causes injury, even if the harm is unintentional. There are generally four elements that must be present before a court will deem that negligence has occurred: 1. There must be a duty owed. For example, a driver owes a duty to others on the road to drive according to the rules of the road. Public
OBJECTIVES Q
Define liability and negligence.
Q
Define ethics and discuss its applicability to public safety organizations.
Q
Identify the elements of negligence and the duties instructors owe to their students.
Q
Identify “standard of care” and “standard of instruction.”
Q
Discuss sexual harassment in educational settings.
Q
Explain federal rules and regulations related to discrimination in educational settings.
Q
Describe the relevance of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act to public safety educational programs.
Q
Identify operational regulations affecting education, including contractual issues, the need for documentation, and the importance of patient confidentiality.
Q
Identify the importance of adequate individual and institutional liability insurance.
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PART 2: Educational Considerations
safety educators owe their students several duties, as discussed in the next section. 2. There must be a breach of that duty. A person must be able to show that another person’s action or inaction violated a duty owed to others. For example, it must be shown that a driver violated the rules of the road by failing to stop at a stop sign. 3. The breach of duty must cause harm to someone. 4. The person must actually be harmed.
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The bottom line for instructors is: Practice what you preach when it comes to safety.
Duties of Public Safety Educators Public safety educators are obligated to provide a safe learning environment; this is their duty. Emergency medical services (EMS), rescue, and fire educational programs are risky business. Instructors should warn students of situations or training scenarios that may cause injury, because students trust their instructors and may not always be aware of potential dangers. The classroom and access to the classroom must be safe and well maintained. In addition, stairways must be well lighted and free of debris. An educational institution must meet or exceed all local fire and safety codes. All equipment must be sturdy and free of hazards; educational programs are no place for outdated, overused equipment, such as deteriorating backboards or ropes. Instructors must be vigilant to teach proper body substance isolation (BSI) techniques and to practice those techniques within the training programs. Vehicle rescue classes pose very difficult problems, both to those practicing the extrication and to those acting as victims. A student may be injured just as badly in extrication practice as in an actual extrication situation.
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A student should be provided with a functional job description before beginning a course. Courses that allow minors to attend should inform parents of the types of activities in which their children will be participating. An instructor should not include activities that exceed a student’s aptitude based on the program’s functional job description. For example, instructors should not ask students to perform lifts
and carries that they might not be able to do without suffering a personal injury. In addition, an instructor must be vigilant to ensure that no inappropriate touching occurs during scenarios that may require close personal contact.
Q Ethics Ethics involve values relating to human conduct, specifically dealing with rightness and wrongness of actions and with the good and bad of an individual’s motives. Educators should strive to instill positive values in their students and show students an ethical approach to addressing difficult situations, working to give students a moral compass to guide them toward ethical behavior.
Q Standard of Care A standard of care is a set of criteria used to measure an individual’s actions (or inactions) in a situation. The actions that make up this standard consist of the Key Term typical response that a normal individual would have standard of care Standard used to conducted. The standard of care measure an individual’s actions (or inactions) in principle is based on nation- a situation based on the ally accepted guidelines. For typical response that a example, EMS educational normal individual would programs use a nationally have made. developed EMS scope of practice and educational standards. Although there may be additional requirements in some states, the national EMS scope of practice is viewed as a minimum standard of performance. EMS personnel are trained and provide care based on these standards and relevant state or local protocols. A public safety educator must also meet a standard of care—more specifically, a standard of instruction. For example, if a rescue instructor does not show a student how to tie a knot properly and allows the student to rappel down a building, it can be considered negligence if the student falls from the rope and is injured. Instructors must teach lesson material according to the lesson plans and to the curriculum used by an educational institute.
Q Sexual Harassment Public safety classes bring together a wide variety of students and teachers in classroom situations that
CHAPTER 4: Legal Considerations
involve physical contact, so instructors must be aware of the potential for sexual harassment. Sexual harassment takes many forms, and the behaviors defined as harassing are ever expanding. A clear Key Term type of sexual harassment sexual harassment Sex occurs when a teacher either discrimination including expressly or by implication unwelcome sexual makes an educational decision advances, requests concerning the student for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical dependent on the student’s conduct of a sexual submission to unwelcome nature when submission sexual advances, requests for to or rejection of this sexual favors, or other conduct conduct explicitly or of a sexual nature. This is implicitly affects an individual’s employment, known as quid pro quo (Latin unreasonably interferes for “something for something”) with an individual’s type of harassment. Sexual work performance, or harassment can also occur creates an intimidating, when verbal or physical hostile, or offensive conduct of a sexual nature environment. is so pervasive, severe, and persistent that it creates a hostile environment. All of the following types of conduct have been deemed sexually harassing: Q Jokes or pictures of a sexual nature Q Remarks about a person’s body or sexual activities Q Unwanted physical contact Q Subtle or open pressure for sexual favors Q Other sexually oriented behavior In sexual harassment of the first type (quid pro quo), the teacher is generally the harasser and the student is the victim. Sexual harassment of the second type (hostile environment sexual harassment) can occur between teacher and student, between student and teacher, or between two students or two teachers. Many aspects of public safety education require physical contact (e.g., hands-on patient assessment, drags and carries, SCBA buddy-breathing). The law recognizes and permits physical contact under certain circumstances without it being deemed sexual harassment. Nevertheless, all students should be forewarned about the physical contact that will happen and the fact that contact with personal body parts may occur. Likewise, parents of minors should be warned about this potential for contact. Every effort should be made to ensure that the students and teachers treat one another with courtesy and respect. Prevention is the key to avoiding problems of allegations of sexual harassment. Each educational institute should develop a comprehensive and well-
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communicated policy against sexual harassment. That policy should sensitize all involved to the problem, express strong disapproval of sexual harassment, and lay out meaningful sanctions for behaviors that violate the policy. It should also identify a procedure for resolving sexual harassment complaints. This procedure should be confidential and should not require that the offending behavior be reported first to the offending supervisor or teacher. All instructors should receive mandatory education and training about the institute’s sexual harassment policy, and all students should be given a copy of the policy and the procedure for raising complaints at the beginning of each course. There is also potential for sexual harassment outside of the instructor’s presence, during clinical or field experiences. Students must be made aware that they are covered by the institute’s sexual harassment policy no matter where the educational program takes place. Sexual harassment issues are a serious risk for public safety educators, given the nature of the instruction; these risks are reduced by the development of well-informed and wellcommunicated policies.
Tip
Q Laws and Regulations Laws apply to nearly every human activity in the United States, and public safety education is no exception. Both familiar laws (such as the wage and hours provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act) and perhaps unfamiliar laws (such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulations under the General Education Provisions Act) may have a bearing on an institute’s policies and programs. This section provides a brief overview of some of these laws and regulations. It is important to note that many of the laws outlined here apply only when there are a minimum number of employees. Proper legal counsel should be sought if any question arise as to whether these laws apply to a particular situation or organization.
Tip
There is no substitute for a consultation with an attorney who is knowledgeable in these areas of the law.
Discrimination Federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment have been on the books for nearly 40 years. State laws, which may be even more restrictive, are also in effect.
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PART 2: Educational Considerations
An employer may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.1 There can be no wage discrimination between men and women who fill substantially the same positions in the same workplace.2 There can be no discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older.3 Discrimination on the basis of citizenship is prohibited.4 The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects an otherwise qualified individual with a disability from discrimination and sets out the responsibilities of employers to accommodate disabled persons.5 Educational institutes should adopt functional job descriptions for programs that comply with the ADA and other federal and state statutes.
Fair Labor Standards Act Public safety educational institutes must be familiar with the Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets out minimum-wage and overtime standards as well as child labor laws.6 Employers must be also aware of the Family Medical Leave Act, which requires employers to provide a limited amount of leave to employees who experience a serious illness affecting either themselves or a family member or the birth or adoption of a child.7
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Instructors should be aware of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99), more commonly known as FERPA or the Buckley Amendment. This law was passed by Congress in 1974 and contains important rules for educational institutes that receive federal funds through the U.S. Department of Education. This law grants students older than the age of 18 the following rights: Q A student (or if the student is younger than 18, the parent) has the right to inspect and review the student’s educational records that are maintained by the school. Q A student (or if the student is younger than 18, the parent) has the right to request that the school correct records that he or she thinks are inaccurate or misleading. If the school refuses to amend the record, the student or parent has the right to request a formal hearing. If, after the hearing, the school still refuses to amend the record, the student or parent has the right to place a statement in the student’s record giving the student’s or parent’s version of the contested information. Q Students have a right to confidentiality of their educational records. If the student is older than 18, not even the parents have a
right to obtain this information without the student’s permission. (There are exceptions to the confidentiality rule, which may permit the release of the student’s educational information, as outlined on the Department of Education Web site.) An educational institution may disclose “directory information” without students’ consent, but this information is limited to names, addresses, dates of birth, honors, and so forth; it cannot include any information about the courses taken and grades received. A student may refuse permission to the institution regarding the release of even this directory information. Q Institutes must advise all students of their rights under FERPA on at least an annual basis. This notification may be done through letters, student handbooks, or other materials, but it is important to ensure that every student receives the information. Q Public discussion of students’ scores is prohibited. Discussion of students’ scores with third-party instructors is not permitted. Posting or orally reading students’ scores by an individual’s name is not permitted. Q A student may not be suspended without reasonable due process (respect for relevant legal rights). These are just a few examples of mandates that apply to educational settings; there are many more relevant laws that may affect educational institutions and instructors.
Q Operational Regulations The laws and regulations discussed in this section influence educational systems either directly or indirectly.
Contractual Agreement All students entering a public safety course have the reasonable expectation that the course will prepare them to successfully pass the final exam and to get the certificate or license that they are seeking. An institution that guarantees or even implies that certain materials will be covered or that certain certifications will be attained through or by the end of the program creates an unwritten contract with the student and may be sued if it does not meet these expectations. Many students leave jobs and enroll in courses with hopes of bettering themselves financially or pursuing their favored career. They make many sacrifices to take these courses and often pay substantial amounts of tuition. As consumers, they feel that they are entitled to
CHAPTER 4: Legal Considerations
get what they pay for. If they do not achieve this goal, they may sue. Under the doctrine of academic abstention, courts have traditionally been reluctant to get involved in Key Term suits brought by students academic abstention against schools for breach of Doctrine used by the contract. That reluctance is courts to avoid reviewing fading, however. More recently, academic decisions of courts have begun applying educational institutions general principles of contract based on institutional law to the institution–student academic freedom and autonomy. relationship, which depends on reasonable expectations. Expectations may be set by guarantees or implications found in course announcements, brochures, catalogs, bulletins, course outlines, student handbooks, or oral expressions of course administrators and teachers. A court may hold that these items and others define the reasonable expectations of the students. Note that these expectations are viewed through the eyes of a reasonable student when making a legal determination of whether they have been met, not from the institution’s perspective. To comply with relevant contract laws, the educational institution must clearly define standards for the student to continue with and pass the course and must outline a process for communicating expectations and progress to students. If a student’s performance is deficient, he or she should be given written notice of the deficiencies and ways in which they can be remediated. If a student’s performance on practical skills is substandard, an independent review by a second or third instructor should be performed. This may help to avoid any claims that personality conflicts led to the negative evaluation. If students can point to specific deficiencies in the educational program and demonstrate that these deficiencies caused the institution to fail to meet reasonable expectations, they may prevail in a suit brought against the institution for breach of a contractual agreement. Documentation is important to defend against a student’s claim that he or she did not receive adequate instruction. Therefore, instructors should create and keep several forms of documentation: Q Lesson plans and other types of course paperwork (to specify what an instructor planned to teach) Q Skill check-off sheets and critique forms (to provide validation of student abilities)
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A logbook is a great tool for selfevaluation of an instructor’s performance and can be an instructor’s life preserver when questions are raised regarding course content.
Tip
Written records of student performance on written examinations Q Logbook of training activities and additional notes of topics covered that many not be included in the written lesson plan Each time a lesson plan is used, instructors should review how well they followed it. If material was missed or should have been covered in a different manner, the next time the lesson plan is presented, the instructor will need to remember to cover those areas. A running list of dates should also be included in the lesson plan. Each time the lesson plan is presented or modified, the date should be added to the running list. Q
Patient Confidentiality During contact with a patient in either a clinical or field setting, students may be exposed to confidential patient information. Unless formally instructed, students could disclose confidential information to other students or friends and breach a patient’s confidentiality. This places the instructor, preceptors, educational institute, and clinical/field setting in jeopardy in terms of litigation. Students must be formally instructed on the need to keep patient information confidential. Many students and instructors do not understand how sensitive patient information can be or how much exposure the instructional agencies assume if there is a breach in confidentiality. Unless they are made aware of the importance of protecting a patient’s right to privacy, students may not even be aware when they have breached confidentiality. The instructor must inform the students of the need to protect the confidentiality of patient information. The privacy rules laid out in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) apply to public safety organizations. HIPAA protects the privacy of the individual by guarding any identifiable health information from unnecessary uses and disclosures. Educators should make students aware of HIPAA implications during any field, clinical, or internship experiences.
Q Instructional Insurance All instructors run the risk of being sued if someone is injured during the course. Even though the incident may not have been the instructor’s fault, he or she is not
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PART 2: Educational Considerations
protected from the litigation, which may be extremely expensive. Court costs, lawyers’ fees, loss of pay due to court appearances, and the potential damages that may be awarded may add up to significant amounts. Adequate insurance coverage for both an instructor and the educational institute are a necessity. Many educational institutes may not have any, or only minimal, liability coverage, and the instructor may not be covered by the institute’s policy. Instructors may risk their personal finances, homes, cars, and other possessions in the event that a student wins a court-awarded settlement. Instructors should ask their institute about how much liability coverage is provided. Specifically, they should ask how much coverage they will receive from the agency’s policy. For example, many policies do not pay lawyer fees and court costs that an instructor may incur in defending a lawsuit. The plan may also cover only the institute, leaving the instructor totally uninsured. Instructors and educational institutes need to limit their risks. Implementing a risk management program within an institute is one way to reduce liability exposure.
Tip
To ensure that they are covered, educators may wish to obtain personal liability insurance. These plans carry a wide range of premiums, usually varying according to the degree of liability that an instructor may have. Insurance is viewed as an instructor’s form of risk management—and it becomes an instructor’s safety net.
Q Summary Instructors must be aware of the legal issues associated with emergency education. As employees of an educational institute, they must follow employmentrelated regulations mandated by federal and state laws.
Instructors are potential targets for litigation. Instructors and educational institutes can form risk management groups to try to limit potential liabilities. Because instructors may not be covered under institutional insurance policies and could incur thousands of dollars of legal fees just to prove their innocence, they should consider obtaining personal liability insurance, which serves as a safety net for their livelihood. There are always legal risks in teaching public safety educational programs; instructors need to accept this fact and minimize their liability. Instructors who teach to the national standards, document their instruction, and provide a safe learning environment are not high-risk targets for lawsuits. It is when an instructor does not teach the correct information or provides an unsafe learning environment that potential liabilities increase.
Tip
Q Notes 1. Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, Public Law 88-352, Volume 42, United States Code. Amended 1991, Public Law 102-166. 2. Equal Pay Act of 1963, Public Law 88-38, Volume 2, United States Code, Section 206. 3. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1977, Public Law 90-202, Volume 29, United States Code, Section 621. 4. Immigration Reform and Control Act, 1986, IRCA, Public Law 99-603. 5. Americans with Disabilities Act 1990, Public Law 101-336, Statue 327, Section 42, United States Code 12101. 6. Fair Labor Standards Act 1938, Section 201-219, Title 29, United States Code. 7. Family Medical Leave Act 1993, Public Law 103-3, Title 29, United States Code 2601.
CHAPTER
Educational System Design
5
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter introduces the personnel “behind the scenes” who make an educational program happen and discusses the importance of a policy manual, discipline and performance standards, documentation, and organized program finances.
Q Program Administration Behind every educational program, there is a network of individuals who are responsible for its success or failure (see FIGURE 5–1). These people are covered under an umbrella called program administration. To conduct an entire course takes a lot of planning and administrative effort. In fact, more planning and preparation go into the administrative phase than into lesson preparation. The institutional administration includes several key roles, which may vary in terms of their titles, job descriptions, and responsibilities. The size of an educational institution often dictates how these jobs are assigned and accomplished. In many cases, they may be shared by several individuals. Instructors should know the administrative structure for their specific educational institution. The following are some of the positions most commonly associated with an educational institution: Q Executive director/dean Q Program administrator Q Course coordinators Q Instructors (primary and secondary) Q Equipment maintenance (for training equipment) Q Financial department Q Clerical staff Q Specialty personnel (guest lecturers, preceptors, medical director) Q Facility maintenance
OBJECTIVES Q
Identify administrative procedures associated with operating an educational program.
Q
Explain the approaches used in handling disruptive students in an educational program.
Q
Define due process when using disciplinary measures.
Q
Identify the roles associated with a course coordinator.
Q
Identify the roles and responsibilities of a public safety program administrator.
Q
Describe the interface between the instructors and the administrators in an educational program.
Q
Discuss the paperwork that may be required by many courses.
Q
Describe the process used to develop a budget for a course.
Q
Explain funding, other than student tuition, for operating an educational program.
Q
Explain how educational institutions advertise and promote a program.
Q
Identify quality concepts for use throughout an educational program.
Q
Explain the extra perks for students in a course.
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PART 2: Educational Considerations
Director of the Training Site Facility Maintenance
Financial
Clerical
Training Administrator
Course Coordinator
Equipment Maintenance
Instructor
Specialty Personnel
Executive Director/Dean Many educational institutions are academically linked to a university, community college, or vocational– technical school. In this type of setting, a dean or administrative director will be the individual in charge of the entire emergency service educational institution. Often, a public safety educational institution will be one of several educational institutions that are coordinated by this individual. The executive director or dean oversees the physical facilities, facility maintenance, security, and accounting and may supervise clerical staff and program administrators who manage other personnel in the educational institution. Even though delegation of authority is common, the director is still ultimately responsible for any of the personnel’s actions. The director needs to establish and follow administrative policies and procedures that coincide with the mission and goals of the educational institution. This concordance can occur only when there are open lines of communication among the institute faculty. The director becomes a focal point for the entire institute. When a problem arises that relates to institute policy, the director must render the final decision.
Program Administrator The program administrator handles the day-to-day logistical operations of the educational institution.
Duties of this individual may include the following: Q Developing the educational program schedules Q Establishing a budget for each educational program Q Establishing instructor reimbursement schedules and student tuition fees Q Identifying any costs involved in the operation of the program Q Securing funding for the program Q Advertising the program in the local community Q Hiring and supervising course coordinators, instructors, equipment maintenance personnel, and specialty personnel Q Identifying and purchasing equipment for the program Q Jointly developing program policies with the instructional staff Q Ensuring that the educational programs are complying with the minimum standards of performance Q Ensuring that instructors have the necessary resources for the program Q Reviewing course registration materials and instructor reimbursement forms Q Developing short- and long-term goals for the educational institution Q Assuming responsibility for any additional tasks as assigned by the director Because the program administrator may be dealing with multiple programs, he or she must balance equipment, personnel, and financial resources to keep an educational institution operating efficiently.
Course Coordinator The course coordinator handles many of the logistics for the program administrator. This individual serves as the immediate logistics coordinator for the educational program. Duties of the course coordinator include the following: Q Ensuring the availability of audiovisual equipment Q Copying handouts Q Making room assignments Q Arranging field trips Q Preparing examination booklets Q Keeping records for training, attendance, examination performance, instructor assignments and schedules, clinical/preceptor rotation assignments, and disciplinary reports.
CHAPTER 5: Educational System Design
Securing special facilities and training equipment Q Monitoring instructor presentations to ensure institutional standards are being met and that instructors are using accepted educational techniques Both the course coordinator and the program administrator positions are vital to the success of an educational program. Instructors rely heavily on these individuals to provide them with instructional resources for their presentations. Good logistical coordination by the course coordinator is essential for a quality learning experience. Q
Instructor The instructor is responsible for teaching students and is rarely involved in administrative details. This individual often requires the assistance of other administrative staff to secure resources, copy handout materials, provide AV supplies, and provide other support. An instructor may develop his or her own materials and may be required to submit a copy of the lesson plans to the course coordinator, who reviews the plans to ensure compliance with the institute’s goals and standards. The instructor should meet regularly with the course coordinator and the program administrator to develop and evaluate the institute’s educational policies and goals. He or she should follow policies that the educational institution has established to present the lesson material. A successful educational experience is possible only if all members of the instructional staff work together smoothly. Seeking input and jointly developing the institute’s goals are essential for maintaining open communications among the instructional staff.
Tip
In large university settings, the financial department may be an entirely separate entity. In this case, specific educational institute records may be kept and reported to the main financial department for final distribution.
Clerical Staff Many operations depend on the efforts of an efficient clerical staff to ensure their smooth conduct. Clerical staff prepare assorted educational materials, handle registration materials, record and file course documents, and perform many more tasks that keep the institute functioning. In smaller institutes, the clerical staff may also assume some of the financial responsibilities such as tracking expenditures and record keeping.
Facility Maintenance The facility maintenance staff report directly to the director. Their role is to keep the facility clean. Much of an educational institution’s image relates to its building maintenance: A dirty floor in a training room can make a negative statement to the students. Conversely, wellmaintained rooms instill a sense of quality in students and instructors.
Equipment Maintenance Equipment maintenance personnel work to preserve the life span of equipment and ensure its safety. Whether the equipment consists of CPR-training manikins or kernmantle rope, it must be inspected after each use. Potential liability exists if the equipment is not properly maintained. Aside from liability issues, public safety equipment is expensive, and most educational sites cannot afford to buy new equipment every year. Thus the equipment must be durable and needs to be adequately maintained if yearly replacement purchases are to be avoided.
Tip Financial Personnel Like any other businesses, educational institutions have bills and financial obligations, which are the responsibility of financial personnel who are supervised by the executive director. These personnel work closely with the director to ensure that funding is sufficient to cover the educational program expenditures. In smaller educational institutions, the financial personnel often handle the payroll and make payments for expenses. Accounting for each tuition dollar is essential. The financial personnel help the director coordinate the yearly schedules for the educational institution.
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In smaller educational institutions, the course coordinator or primary instructor typically fills the equipment maintenance role.
Q Specialty Personnel Based on the type of educational program, additional staff members may be required. For example, in EMS educational institutions, a program medical director (who oversees the operation of the educational program and medical instruction) and clinical and field preceptors (who ensure that the students complete required clinical and field components) are required
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PART 2: Educational Considerations
specialty personnel. Other specialty personnel may include the following individuals: Q Guest lecturers—personnel who specialize in a specific trade Q Police officers Q Hazardous material personnel Q Public utility personnel Q Stress management personnel The program administrator or course coordinator usually coordinates and oversees the use of specialty personnel and provides for their reimbursement and logistical organization. There is a lot more to public safety educational programs than just developing lesson plans and course materials. Knowing which administrative personnel can help instructors with specific tasks can help reduce anxiety and increase the quality of the overall program.
Tip
Extra Perks Instructors can provide some special perks to help enhance students’ educational experiences: • Personalized notebook and pencils • Carpeted rooms for practice sessions that require students to practice skills on the floor • Access to coffee or soft drinks during break sessions • Refreshments and lunches for students who attend special weekend sessions • Adequate parking within a reasonable distance of the educational facility Any extras that an instructor or educational institution can include will enhance the program. These extras can turn an average program into a great program.
Q Policy Manual A policy manual is an effective adjunct to oversee the administrative aspects of Key Term an educational institution; it lays out the standards policy manual Document set by the institution. A that sets the standards well-written manual profor an educational vides the instructors, course institution and outlines key policies and coordinator, and program procedures. administrator with the same set of policies to follow.
For most situations, the policy manual should answer most questions. If it does not, the administration should be asked for an opinion or interpretation. It is important that both the administration and the instructors participate in the development of a policy manual. Policy and procedures that are jointly developed stand a better chance of being followed than those that reflect only one side’s opinions. A policy manual may include the following elements: Q Administrative titles Q Course title and descriptions Q List of instructors Q Disciplinary procedures Q Records and reporting (forms) Q Flowchart of responsibility Q Administrative job descriptions Q Teaching curriculum Q Inventory of equipment Q Accreditation materials Q Quality improvement initiatives Q Budget Q Grading policy Q Dress code requirements Another key element of the policy manual is the program mission statement, which usually appears within the first several pages of the manual. The mission statement outlines the purpose and chief goals of the educational institution, for both its personnel and its students. A well-written mission statement should be no more than a few paragraphs in length. It often serves as the focal point for both short- and long-term goals: What the educational institution is accomplishing today may be the beginning of a long-range goal for tomorrow. The mission statement outlines these immediate and far-reaching goals for the institute. In addition, it should address the minimal performance standards established by the institute.
Q Discipline and Performance Standards In public safety educational programs, the scope of discipline is rather broad; it is not limited to disruptive students. An educational institution or other governing agency establishes minimum performance standards for its programs, and students who do not meet these standards may be disciplined. For example, if a student does not attain a score of 70 percent or higher on a midterm examination, the student may be dropped from the course.
CHAPTER 5: Educational System Design
A specific procedure for handling disciplinary or performance issues must be outlined in the policy manual. Most importantly, a student should not be terminated from an educational program unless there is sufficient documentation to support his or her dismissal. Students should have the right to appeal and must be informed of the appeal process that they may follow to challenge their dismissal. Should a disciplinary event occur, the student must be provided both oral and written notice of the problem and allowed to enter the appeal process; this procedure avoids the possibility that the institute might infringe on the student’s rights, thereby creating potential for legal actions against the educational institution.
Link The concept of due process, which was first presented in Chapter 4, applies to discipline and performance standards, as every student has the right to an appeal.
Great care needs to be taken when writing disciplinary and performance standards. For some offenses, an immediate dismissal from the program may be appropriate; for other offenses, complaints against students may be handled on an individual basis. The following is a list of potential areas of discipline or performance standards: Q Sexual harassment Q Psychological abuse Q Theft of property Q Destruction of property Q Cheating on examination or coursework Q Falsification of records Q Failure to maintain a minimum level of performance Q Disruptive actions during a course Q Physical abuse of other students or institute personnel Q Criminal acts, including acts of violence Q Intentional misuse of equipment or resources Q Truancy Some of these offenses are quite serious, requiring immediate dismissal or suspension. The educational institution must decide which offenses warrant immediate action and which do not. Instructors need to know the appropriate response for a given action, and these policies should be detailed. All students need to be provided with a copy of these performance standards at the beginning of a course.
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Disciplinary policies should also outline appropriate discipline for administrative staff who violate the institute’s standards. For example, if a student lodges an allegation of sexual harassment against an instructor or administrator, the policy should detail a clear course of action regarding how the institution will respond to this issue. Students should be told who to contact when an incident involving the institutional staff occurs and informed that no punitive actions will be taken against them for notifying the institute of a problem. Dealing with Classroom Disruptions Students who talk excessively during class, are chronically late for class, constantly interrupt the instructor during a presentation, or smoke during classroom activities should be disciplined by the instructor. For example, if students are talking during an instructor’s presentation, they are disrupting the entire class. The instructor should acknowledge the students who are talking, determine whether there is a problem with the material being presented, and encourage the students to pay attention to the presentation. If the talking continues, the instructor may put students on the spot by asking them to explain what is being discussed. If these casual techniques do not work, then an instructor should sit down with the offending students and counsel them on their behavior, explaining that they are disrupting the class and that their conversations are not appropriate during a classroom presentation. At this point, a written report of the session should be filed with the course coordinator or program administrator. If the disruptions continue, additional counseling sessions or other disciplinary actions may need to be taken by the institute. Only those disruptions that are of a serious or repetitive nature may enter into the formal disciplinary process.
Q Written Documentation Most educational programs generate a significant amount of records, including, but not limited to, the following items: Q Examination results Q Grievances Q Disciplinary actions Q Course rosters Q Instructor schedules Q Course rosters Q Reimbursement forms Q Lesson plans Q Clinical training forms
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PART 2: Educational Considerations
Skill verification forms Q Attendance records Q Registration forms Q Class registration materials Q Tuition payment forms Q Miscellaneous cost forms Both instructors and administrative staff share the responsibilities for completing written documentation. Instructors often are requested to complete a variety of forms during a program—for example, reimbursement forms, time sheets, student counseling forms, practical examination performance sheets, and writtenexamination results. Instructors should be aware of any written documentation that is required for their program and when these forms need to be submitted. Timely completion of administrative paperwork is necessary in most educational institutions. Q
Completion of paperwork is part of being an instructor, and instructors need to get to know the paperwork required for their educational institution.
Tip
Q Institutional Finances An institute functions according to its budget. A budget consists of more than just dollar amounts. To arrive at a yearly budget, planning and preparation are required. For example, the budget must account for the following types of expenses: Q Personnel Q Training equipment purchases and refurbishment Q Capital improvements Q Training supplies Q Office equipment and supplies A significant benefit that accrues from being part of an established educational institution is the use of in-kind services, which means that all costs (e.g., building maintenance and security, purchasing equipment) are shared across the entire educational institution. Without in-kind services, the educational institution must pay these individual costs, leaving less funding for the specific programs or resulting in increased tuition costs. If the institute is not part of a larger parent organization that provides in-kind services, then it must include detailed administrative costs in its budget.
The budget must also take into account the program schedule, assigning a dollar amount based on the number of programs that are projected for the year. Surveys and other educational research studies are needed to come up with the number of educational programs; only then can course fees and the overall budget be determined.
Tip
An executive director must know the total operating costs of the institute.
Funding The major sources of funding for most educational institutions are student tuition, grants, and in-kind services from a parent agency. Depending on how an educational institution is affiliated—for example, with a college, community college, or vocational–technical school—federal and/or state funding for training may exist. Usually these grants are paid on a reimbursement basis, which means that the educational institution is reimbursed only for the funds that it actually uses. The institute must front the initial expenditures and wait for the reimbursement, which may create a cash-flow problem. For some institutes, county governments or municipalities provide additional funding. These local funding sources are typically used to support educational programs geared toward local public safety personnel. One way these local funds are used is to defer the full tuition fee for public safety personnel attending the programs. Another alternative is to use the local funds to help support the operation of the educational institution. An executive director has key decisions to make regarding which funding options are appropriate for the educational institution. Balancing in-kind resources with federal, state, and local funding resources and then arriving at the student tuition fee are not easy tasks.
Tip
Financial Management and Accounting Regardless of the size of an educational institution, sound financial management must be in place to ensure its continued survival. Efficient financial planning, accounting, and payroll are critical financial areas. An institute should base its accounting system on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and conduct a yearly audit. In addition, monthly financial statements
CHAPTER 5: Educational System Design
should be reviewed by the institute’s administration. The ongoing success of an educational institution depends on the efficient management of the financial resources. Instructors should realize that there is a lot more to operating an educational institution than just teaching students. If tuition fees and other funding cannot cover the institute’s expenses, instructors may see their programs being canceled and the educational institution reducing the number of instructional staff.
39
administrator must plan annual budgets, pay out expenses, and audit the effectiveness of the institute’s financial management. Achieving a balanced financial report while providing quality programming is the chief goal of any educational institution.
Tip
The institute’s administration must plan yearly budgets and course schedules to fit the anticipated capital available. Similar to the educational concept of planning, presenting, and evaluating, a program
Q Summary The umbrella of administration covers a wide variety of individuals. Only through a lot of people working together behind the scenes does an educational program become a quality learning experience for students. An institute’s administration is the logistical network for an instructor. Effective program administration, combined with innovative and dynamic instructors, is a recipe for a quality educational experience.
Program Advertisement An educational institution must advertise its public safety programs to attract students to those offerings. A variety of advertisement methods may be used: • Internet, email, and text messaging • Brochures and mailings • Newspaper, training magazines, and trade journals
• Radio • Television Most institutes use several advertising options to get the message out to their target audience, which, of course, requires a substantial advertising budget. An educational institution must select those advertising options that will maximize its return from the available funding.
CHAPTER
6 OBJECTIVES Q
Define the term accreditation.
Q
Differentiate accreditation from regulatory recognition.
Q
Identify the role of accreditation within the development of the national EMS educational model.
Q
Discuss the benefits for a student graduating from an accredited educational institute.
Q
Discuss the accreditation process for public safety educational institutes.
Q
Identify the role of introspective reflection during the accreditation process.
Q
Differentiate between institute and program accreditation.
Q
Discuss the need for educational institute personnel to keep abreast of laws, curriculum updates, and state and federal regulations that affect the institute.
Q
Explore the process of establishing quality improvement initiatives within the educational system.
Accreditation
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER Many public safety educational institutions (especially those that offer courses in advanced life support) are seeking independent accreditation in addition to going through the state regulatory accreditation process. This chapter looks at types of accreditation and highlights the accreditation processes.
Q Introduction to Accreditation Accreditation is the process of certifying that a program meets required standards. The concept of attaining a national institute or programmatic accreditation recognition is an accepted practice throughout the academic profession. Within Key Term colleges and universities, the attainment of independent accreditation status is a symbol accreditation Process of certifying that a demonstrating attainment of excellence for the program meets required entire campus, as well as for specific program standards. areas. It is not uncommon that, for students to be eligible to participate in credentialing examinations, they must have graduated from an accredited program.
Q History and Future of Accreditation When accreditation began in the 1880s for regionally based educational institutes (i.e., colleges), it addressed conformance to standards and policies. Over time, the accreditation process has evolved, in the words of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, to “protect public health and safety and to serve the public interest.” By the 1950s, accreditation of educational institutes gained additional creditability through the Veteran’s Readjustment Assistance Act, in which the U.S.
CHAPTER 6: Accreditation
federal government identified independent accrediting agencies that were a reliable source for determining the quality of education. Funding to universities and educational institutes is often governed by their accreditation status, as conducted by a recognized independent accreditation agency. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) EMS Education Agenda of the Future identifies the accreditation of EMS educational institutes as one of its principal pillars. The EMS Education Agenda recommends the formation and recognition of a single national accreditation agency for these types of programs. The accreditation agency would be an independent, nonregulatory agency that would offer a national accreditation. All levels of educational programs would eventually become nationally accredited. Advanced life support (ALS) courses are likely to be the first programs to be nationally accredited, due to their course length and the type of material covered within ALS-level courses. Other reasons that ALS programs may be first reflect findings from educational research. For example, a national paramedic examination study conducted in 2002 concluded that paramedic students who attend a nationally accredited paramedic program are more likely to attain a passing score on a nationally recognized examination than those students who attend a non-accredited training program. A 2006 report titled Future of Emergency Care: EMS at the Crossroads, coauthored by the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine Committee, recommends that states require a national accreditation process for paramedic education programs. In the future, to be eligible to take the national EMS certification exam, a student must graduate from a nationally accredited EMS program. The National Registry of EMTs (NREMT), in Columbus, Ohio, has stated that after January 1, 2013, it will offer paramedic testing only to candidates who have been trained at nationally accredited institutes.
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Basic life support (BLS) courses may also eventually become accredited by a nationally recognized accreditation agency. Concerns have been expressed regarding the lack of agreement on course content and overall program length for conducting a national accreditation process for BLS programs. As a consequence, BLS courses are likely to remain being accredited by state regulatory agencies, at least in the foreseeable future.
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Q Types of Accreditation Accreditation can occur through an independent thirdparty accrediting agency or a state. Either or both types of accreditation processes may necessary. An independent, third-party accreditation process is conducted by a nationally or internationally recognized foundation or agency. An independent accreditation is not a mandated or regulatory process; rather, its primary focus is on ensuring compliance with quality and performance standards within a training institute. Public safety educational institutes that pursue independent accreditation use the accreditation process to assist their personnel in assessing the institute’s overall academic performance. Unlike independent accreditation, which is a nonregulatory review, the regulatory accreditation process is a state-regulated process. Regulatory accreditation identifies performance standards that educational institutes must achieve to operate legally within that state. This type of accreditation is governed by laws and regulations that are developed and used by a state to ensure that minimum competencies, criteria, and standards are met. A state’s regulatory accreditation process establishes a baseline of acceptable performance, whereas the independent accreditation process has an unlimited ceiling of performance parameters. In some states, the state’s regulatory accreditation is simultaneously performed in conjunction with an independent accreditation process. The regulatory accreditation process is mandated by states. The independent accreditation process is voluntary and is not mandated by state or federal laws or regulations.
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Attainment of an independent accreditation status is a milestone achievement for an educational institute. The attainment of accreditation represents an acknowledgment by an institute’s peers that the institute has achieved excellence beyond a minimal level of performance. Going through the accreditation process is, therefore, a means to verify excellence within a training institute. National independent accreditation may be either programmatic or institutional. Institutional accreditation is a form of accreditation that colleges and universities pursue for their entire campus or system. By comparison, programmatic accreditation (also referred to as specialized accreditation) assesses particular
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schools or programs that may be part of a larger university and independent educational institutes. Most public safety institutes pursue programmatic accreditation rather than institutional accreditation. Quality Improvement Regardless of the type of accreditation process, regulatory or independent, quality educational programming is an inherent responsibility of an educational institute. Instructors, faculty, and program administrators must jointly act to support quality improvement. Quality improvement assessments should occur throughout an educational program, identifying both positive and negative aspects of a program. Assessing and maintaining a high degree of educational excellence within an educational program is everyone’s responsibility—the director, coordinators, instructors, support staff, and students all need to be involved in the quality improvement program. Engaging in the independent accreditation process helps an educational institute evaluate its attainment of excellence. The process enables an educational institute to introspectively assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Identifying benchmarks and establishing attainable goals, which are created, implemented, measured, reviewed, and then reintroduced, are hallmarks of the continuous quality improvement cycle in motion.
Link Program evaluation is discussed in further detail in Chapter 14.
A typical programmatic accreditation process takes from 12 to 18 months to complete. The accreditation earned through this process remains valid for 5 years. Several types of costs are incurred when an institute seeks programmatic accreditation. For example, there are fees associated with the initial application process, site visitation, annual fees, and reaccreditation. Throughout an accreditation period, an accredited institute must provide progress reports to the accrediting agency. A programmatic accreditation is a dynamic process, and one that doesn’t end with the initial accreditation. The ultimate goal of the accreditation process is to improve an educational institute’s overall quality and the services provided to its students. Meeting this goal requires a commitment to establishing a best practices philosophy. Each year, the institute must submit performance reports, exam results, and improvement survey results to the accrediting agency to demonstrate its ongoing excellence. The programmatic accreditation process examines all aspects of the program, including administration and faculty, curriculum, resources and facilities, internships, equipment, and other considerations. Each of these elements requires specific types of supporting documentation. Information provided as part of the self-study assessment is then confirmed by the onsite inspection team. The on-site inspection team reviews the self-study information and compares it with their observations and interviews with the institute’s students, faculty, and administrators. Finally, the accreditation agency creates an assessment and report (findings letter) based on a review of the data collected from the self-study and on-site assessments.
Self-Study Assessment
Q Programmatic Accreditation The Committee on Accreditation of EMS Professions (CoAEMSP), part of the Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, is the only accredited agency related to the EMS profession in the United States. Approximately 280 paramedic educational institutes in the United States are accredited by CoAEMSP, and another 20 are currently in various stages of the accreditation process. Programmatic accreditation is divided into three sections: 1. Self-study assessment 2. On-site visit 3. Recommendation of the accrediting agency
The starting point for a programmatic accreditation is the self-study assessment. This assessment critically evaluates an educational institute from within itself. Only the educational institute can identify answers to the assessment. Many of the answers may not be easily known or readily identified. A self-study assessment may take a year or more to complete.
Link The self-study assessment identifies key organizational positions such as the program director and medical director, discussed in Chapter 5. Documentation of each individual’s credentials and experience is required with the submission of the self-study report.
CHAPTER 6: Accreditation
As part of self-study assessment, the educational institute must submit various assessments, questionnaires, and documentation to the accrediting agency. If processes do not already exist, then the educational institute needs to develop a plan to implement those processes. Finding and addressing program limitations or weaknesses are some of the immediate benefits of seeking program accreditation. The benefits of accreditation become apparent when an educational institute identifies a better than average level of competency, has students excel on national certification exams, and has graduates who attain success within their profession.
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recommendation of accreditation status to the board based on its evaluation. Three options for accreditation are possible: Q Accredit Q Do not accredit Q Accredit with stipulations Finally, the accreditation agency’s board reviews the recommendation and determines an accreditation status. In the case of CoAEMSP, the agency must then submit its recommendation to the parent organization, which issues the final accreditation status. This status is forwarded to the members of the on-site team and to the director of the educational institute. The report is reviewed for its accuracy and can be challenged by the educational institute.
On-Site Visit The on-site visitation is conducted by representatives from the accrediting agency. A typical visitation takes about 2 days. Members of the on-site team are provided copies of the executive analysis survey and any necessary documentation. These visitors then interview key staff and faculty members to form an image of the educational institute, review any issues identified within the executive analysis, and gather statements in support of the information provided in the self-study assessment and accreditation application. In addition, the on-site team reviews an institute’s progress toward the betterment of its educational program by examining the following issues: Q Student completion and dropout rates Q Post-course employment of graduates Q Quality assurance program The on-site visitation provides a means for validation of these kinds of program activities. The on-site visitation should not be a surprise; it serves to validate the information provided by the educational institution during its self-assessment. Educational institutes can download sample on-site evaluation forms, including sample survey analysis forms, from the CoAEMSP Web site at www.coaemsp.org.
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The on-site team develops a report of observations and documentation from its visit and submits this report to the accrediting agency.
Formal Review Q
The reviewing agency reviews the report created by the on-site team and makes a
Q Regulatory Accreditation Each state’s regulatory process for accrediting an educational institute is determined by that state’s own rules and regulations. As previously noted, some states utilize a national accreditation agency as the basis for their accreditation. The main emphasis of regulatory accreditation is based on compliance with statewide rules and regulations. Regulatory accreditation may consider the following areas: Q Facility • Complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act • Meets fire and safety codes • Has sufficient classrooms for the types of educational courses being offered • Includes sufficient support aids within classrooms (e.g., dry image board, audiovisual equipment) Q Curriculum • Complies with the state-mandated training curriculum and scope of practice • Meets the recommended number of contact hours by the state curriculum Q Documentation • Demonstrates an adequate instructor-tostudent ratio • Has a policy manual • Includes facility and clinical agreements • Adheres to dismissal policies • Outlines rules of conduct and student rights • Lists successful completion criteria • Includes financial and administrative polices consistent with state regulations
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Administration • Includes a credentialed training administrator and course coordinator • Has qualified and credentialed instructors and lab assistant instructors These examples reflect some of the kinds of regulatory components that may be assessed by the state. In addition, a self-assessment process, similar to the self-study assessment used within an independent accreditation, may be required. In most cases, this selfassessment is used for ALS programs, rather than BLS educational courses. A regulatory accreditation process usually includes the requirement for a site visitation. This visitation is designed to examine the components identified within the regulatory application that has been submitted. Frequently, files are requested at random and are checked for compliance with a state’s required documentation. For example, a state may require that proper documentation (e.g., functional job description, course roster, student registration form, criminal history form) has been completed for each student. Q
For an educational institute to conduct public safety educational courses, a regulatory accreditation must be attained in most states. The regulatory accreditation process assesses minimum performance standards and establishes an acceptable threshold for the educational institute to meet.
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During the regulatory accreditation process, the quality and performance of a training institute may be assessed by examining the number of students enrolled, student course completion rates and eligibility for state examinations, and the number of students who pass or fail the state certification examination. This information may then become part of the public record.
Q Summary Accreditation recognizes that an institute meets required quality and performance standards. Historically, only colleges and universities were accredited, but accreditation is becoming a widespread qualification for many types of educational institutions. Accreditation may be either programmatic or regulatory. Programmatic accreditation is the most commonly pursued option for public safety educational institutes. It includes three components: a self-study assessment, an on-site visit, and a formal review and recommendation. Regulatory accreditation establishes a baseline level of performance parameters. Two types of regulatory accrediting agencies may carry out the assessment— independent third-party agencies and state agencies. Laws and regulations define specific requirements and performance standards for educational institutes. Accredited institutes are recognized by their peers as possessing excellence and quality within their educational programs. Studies confirm that students who attend independent accredited educational institutes are more likely to receive higher national exam scores and achieve improved academic performance than students who attend nonaccredited programs. For this reason, national agencies are recommending that states consider adopting independent accreditation for ALS education programs. Not all educational institutes are capable of attaining and maintaining a national accreditation. For example, BLS courses do not have sufficient content and contact hours to meet the existing independent accreditation process. Future educational institute accreditation processes will identify new levels of performance and excellence for institutes to achieve.
CHAPTER
Facility and Classroom Setup
7
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER Whether a class takes place inside or outdoors, the classroom environment should be designed to support an effective learning experience. This chapter examines the physical environment of a classroom.
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Q
Identify typical public safety classrooms and training sites.
Q
Outline environmental factors that can influence a learning environment, including temperature, distractions, safety, lighting, smoking, and access to restrooms and refreshments.
Q
Understand the importance of providing adequate supervision and consideration for safety.
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Examine various classroom layouts and identify the ideal use for each setup.
Q
Become aware of various classroom alternatives, including breakout rooms, computer labs, and distance learning.
The learning environment should be free from distractions that might adversely affect a student’s ability to concentrate on the lesson material.
Q Environmental Classroom Considerations Educational sessions may be held in a traditional classroom setting or at specialty outdoor facilities such as burn buildings, rappelling towers, or auto salvage yards. Both types of locations are affected by a variety of environmental factors: Q Temperature Q Distractions Q Safety Q Lighting Q Smoking Q Access to restrooms and refreshments A traditional indoor classroom should be comfortable and have good lighting. It should also provide access to a variety of media, educational resources, and training supplies. Instructors may set up their classrooms to reflect the needs of their lesson plans.
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OBJECTIVES
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PART 2: Educational Considerations
Temperature When working indoors, the instructor should try to ensure that the classroom is kept at a comfortable temperature. Studies show that the ideal test-taking temperature is approximately 67°F; temperatures above or below that level may diminish students’ ability to concentrate. Opening windows, closing doors, adjusting the heat or air conditioning, and turning fans on or off are immediate ways an instructor can affect the climate of the room. Because instructors often walk around while they are talking in the classroom, they may not have an accurate perception of the temperature and should adjust the temperature to accommodate the majority of the students. If a room cannot be cooled adequately, consider whether the session might be moved to an area that is cooler or even outdoors under the shade of a tree.
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If a building is continually too cold or too warm, the instructor should bring this problem to the attention of the administration. When the temperature, on a consistent basis, is adversely affecting students, the instructor will hear about it. Perhaps maintenance personnel can adjust the room’s temperature, or the class can be moved to a different room free of the climate problem. Instructors cannot control the outdoor temperature, but they can influence how students adapt to the outdoor conditions. When an environment is too hot or cold, it can adversely affect a lesson presentation. Several considerations can help lessen the effects of these environments: Q Appropriate dress for both students and instructors Q Protection from the elements or sun (e.g., shaded areas) for briefings and review sessions Q Access to water and appropriate fluids Q Cooling machines, water hoses, or spray bottles for hot environments; warming areas, burn barrel, or heaters for cold environments Q Access to an air-conditioned or heated building or apparatus In very hot as well as cold environments, it is important that the students and faculty drink plenty of fluids. The instructor needs to anticipate the climate for the program and prepare enough refreshments (including water and electrolyte solution, when appropriate) for both students and faculty.
An instructor should be prepared to react to changing environmental situations. Just because a session starts out with tolerable conditions, it does not mean that the conditions will not change; they likely will, and usually not for the better. In these cases the instructor must be ready to implement measures to ensure the safety and comfort of students and fellow instructors.
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Distractions Anything that interferes with a lesson presentation is considered a distraction. Distractions commonly encountered in public safety educational programs include pagers, radios, phones, sirens, students or personnel walking in the hallway, excessive talking in class, and noise outside the classroom. Any of these factors can derail the lesson presentation. An educator may be able to control some of these distractions, while others must be tolerated. For instance, an educator cannot stop a freight train’s whistle and noise from interrupting the class, but it may be possible to move to a different room or plan breaks around the train schedule. Outdoors, traffic noise or people talking and walking near training facilities may be distracting but are not within the control of the instructor. In this situation, the educator must do his or her best to adapt the presentation and minimize distractions.
Safety Educational environments must be safe. Indeed, student and instructor safety is more important than any educational component of a lesson. Traditional classrooms, for the most part, are safe learning environments. A classroom facility must meet local safety codes and be free of any known structural problems, such as weak flooring or leaky ceilings. Classrooms with structural problems should not be used. Effective learning cannot occur when a presentation is being conducted in an unsafe classroom environment.
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Safety is the number one concern of any public safety educational program; everything else is secondary.
In outdoor environments, the instructor must pay close attention to the safety of everyone participating in the lesson presentation. Additional attention is warranted for field evolutions where fighting live fires,
CHAPTER 7: Facility and Classroom Setup
rappelling, or extrication of live victims from wrecked vehicles is being performed. This is not to say that accidents cannot occur in a controlled setting—they can and they do. The following environmental factors should be considered when working at outdoor sites: Q Extremely dry conditions Q Unstable rock formations, ground, or loose soil Q Extremely windy conditions Q Poisonous plants, insects, and animals Q High or fast-moving water Q Ice or snow Q Poor weather conditions Q Traffic Any of these factors can influence the educational activity. Everyone involved with the training activity should be made aware of the potential hazards. The Importance of Outdoor Classroom Safety An educational session was held at a traditional twostory fire station equipped with a brass fire fighters’ pole. A breakout station was placed in the room with the fire pole. During the session, a student fell down through the pole hole into the truck room and received minor injuries. Taking precautions might have prevented this accident—for example, holding the breakout station in a different pole room, erecting a barrier, or warning students of the hazard.
Satellite training facilities and resources need to be inspected for safety. Measures needed to secure a site might include, for example, removing vehicle gas tanks, reinforcing floors, creating emergency exits, and identifying water supply sources. Potential Injuries Some types of injuries are especially common in public safety educational programs: Q Back injury (from lifting patients or equipment beyond the individual’s capability) Q Cuts or lacerations (from broken glass, sharp metal, uncovered sharps, or unprotected knife or ax blades) Q Eye or skin injuries (from gasoline, hydraulic fluid, battery acid, or hazardous materials, spilled on gloves or clothing and then wiped onto the skin or into the eyes) Q Soft-tissue injuries (from falling through floors or off ladders or being hit by falling debris) Q Contamination (from unsterile needle sticks, manikins, or IV fluids)
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The potential for accidents can be reduced by mandating and enforcing appropriate protective clothing and equipment (e.g., SCBA, bunker gear, sharps containers, and examination gloves) and safety standards.
Safety Officer The safety officer is an invaluable individual when it comes to field activities. The safety officer is a third Key Term party, divorced from the session, whose sole task is to safety officer Third observe, identify, control, and party whose sole task alleviate any safety hazards, is to observe, identify, control, and alleviate any even if it means stopping the safety hazards. educational session. Because he or she has an extensive knowledge of the type of evolutions being performed, the safety officer has total control over the situation. The presence of this individual adds an extra level of safety to the session. A third-party safety team should be used for especially hazardous activities. For example, live burns, simulated vehicle accidents, high-angle rescues, or confined-space rescues require the presence of veteran emergency personnel. These personnel must have the use of separate emergency resources (e.g., water supply, rescue equipment, rescue lines). Because students are learning how to use the equipment or to follow specific procedures, failures in their performance often occur. The safety team is there to protect the students and instructors in such circumstances.
Lighting The indoor classroom should have sufficient lighting so that students can easily see the material. A room should not be too dark except when audiovisual equipment is being used. Just like in a theatrical setting, an instructor can use lighting to influence the lesson presentation. Instructors need to realize how lighting affects the educational atmosphere and how they can create the mood for a lesson presentation. If a classroom has variable incandescent lights, these lights can be dimmed for audiovisual aids, as in a movie theater, whereas activities such as taking written examinations, learning a skill, or presenting a tabletop demonstration require full-strength lighting. Any special lighting considerations should be included in the lesson plan.
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PART 2: Educational Considerations
Good lighting helps improve safety and prevent lost equipment, and it can be manipulated to create specific realistic settings.
Of course, real-world vehicle accidents, fires, and rescues do not happen only in well-lighted areas. When outdoor facilities are being used for training purposes, supplemental lighting must be considered. If late-day sessions are likely to extend into evening hours, lighting of the training areas will be necessary. Generators, lights, and cords will be required, in addition to the lighting available on rescue apparatus. Conversely, in some situations, instructors do not want the environment to be well lighted. For example, the smokehouse building should be free from any light sources. The darker a smokehouse is, with the addition of sufficient quantities of heat and smoke, the more realistic a practice situation becomes for the students.
Smoking Most training institutes do not permit smoking inside the building or allow it only in specially designated rooms. During a class session, a “no smoking” policy should be in effect. Smoking is extremely annoying to those who do not smoke, and it creates an unnecessary distraction. Students or instructors who smoke should do so during breaks in designated smoking areas. Specific smoking areas should also be established at outdoor training sites. Again, no smoking should be permitted during training sessions. In many field sessions, hazardous materials are present (e.g., gas, oils, kerosene), and great care must be used to limit the exposure of these materials to a fire source. Given the potential safety concerns associated with most public safety educational programs, smoking during a practice session is an unwarranted hazard.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the training facility must be accessible to handicapped students. As outlined in Chapter 4, an instructor needs to offer assistance to the handicapped student as warranted.
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At outside sites, the instructor may wish to provide refreshments, snacks, box lunches, or transportation to restaurants.
Q Classroom Layout The classroom needs to be set up to fit the lesson presentation. For practical skills sessions, the tables and chairs should be pushed off to the side. FIGURE 7–1 identifies popular classroom setups, each of which has a specific purpose. Based on the type of lesson presentation, an instructor may need to set up the room several times during a class session.
Lecture Setup
Discussion Setup
Theater Setup
Boardroom Setup
Small Group Discussion Setup
Conference Room Setup
AV Setup for Slides
AV Setup for TV
Access to Restrooms and Refreshments The instructor should ensure that students have access to restroom facilities. Regular breaks in sessions, usually one break every 1 to 1½ hours, should be scheduled to allow students time to go to the restroom or take a breather. Outdoor training facilities often do not have immediate access to restrooms. When access to permanent restroom facilities is not possible, portable restroom facilities should be considered. If the training institute does not have access to vending machines, the instructor may suggest that the class bring in a coffee maker and establish a coffee fund.
Lecture Setup The lecture setup is frequently used when students are taking lecture notes or taking a written examination. Tables and chairs face in one direction, toward the instructor’s table or lectern. This room setup does
CHAPTER 7: Facility and Classroom Setup
not encourage active student participation. Instead, students sit back in their chairs, take notes, observe the instructor, and answer occasional questions.
Discussion Setup In the discussion setup, the students move their chairs into a large circle. This arrangement is ideal for open discussions.
Theater Setup The theater setup is designed for an instructor to present material, while being able to interact with the students. For presentations that deal with an informal subject, this arrangement is a perfect choice. It also can be used for demonstrations, providing that the material presented is large enough for everyone to see.
Boardroom Setup The boardroom style arranges students around a large center table. This setup is ideal for lessons requiring an abundance of student interaction and group discussions. Soft lighting may help to relax the students and encourage group discussion. This setup is not effective with large groups, however, because the length or width of the table defeats the purpose of the student interaction.
Small-Group Discussion Setup In the small-group discussion adaptation of the boardroom setup, students are divided into small groups and arranged around a number of tables. This arrangement encourages independent group activities or can be used to display tabletop models. When practice groups are part of the lesson plan, the classroom may be divided into small practice groups without tables. This model may also be used outdoors without tables.
Conference Room Setup The conference room setup arranges students in a U-shape around a number of tables and directs their attention toward audiovisual materials. This setup is frequently used for demonstrations because it eliminates visual obstructions (e.g., other students’ heads) and encourages face-to-face discussion within large groups.
Audiovisual Setup for Slides or TV There are numerous ways to set up a classroom for an audiovisual presentation so that every one can see the program material. Figure 7–1 shows sample
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arrangements for slide or overhead use or television viewing. Room Etiquette Regardless of the room setup, certain rules of room usage should be followed to avoid complaints from other instructors, students, or maintenance staff: • Have the room set up prior to the students’ arrival. • Make sure that there are enough chairs and tables for all students. • Straighten up the room for the next instructor and ask students to police the classroom area before they are dismissed. • Never leave a room in worse shape than when you found it.
Q Classroom Alternatives Many educational institutes have more than one classroom available for instructor use, including smaller rooms for breakout practice sessions. Breakout rooms tend to be less noisy than a classroom in which all the students are practicing at the same time. For examination purposes, breakout rooms become a prerequisite. Computer labs may also be essential for providing computer-based programming, Internet access, and access to supplemental textbook CD-ROMs or Web sites. Instructors need to pay attention to room details to ensure a quality program. The equipment inside the room is just as important as the room setup and environment.
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More and more educational materials are becoming available via electronic media. For example, many universities and other educational entities now offer courses via the Internet or by satellite. These distance learning courses allow students to complete training at home, usually at a time when it suits the student. Not all courses can be taught by these electronic methods, however. For skills -based programs, a formal classroom environment with a “live” instructor will still be required. Traditional classroom environments will likely include increased computer access points as more electronic educational resources are developed for public safety courses.
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Link Distance learning opportunities (classrooms without walls) are discussed in more detail in Chapter 16.
Q Summary Public safety instructors may use indoor classrooms, outdoor training sites, breakout rooms, or computer labs for their lessons. Every type of classroom has its own kind of environmental considerations, including safety concerns and potential distractions. A variety of classroom layouts may be used to provide the ideal setting for a presentation. Instructors should realize the importance of creating a learning environment that encourages and supports safe and effective instruction.
Creating Lessons
8 9 10 11 12
Behavioral Objectives Lesson Plans and Curriculum Teaching Strategies and Methods Psychomotor Skill Instruction Realism
PART
3
CHAPTER
8 OBJECTIVES Q
Define behavioral objective.
Q
Identify and describe the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning domains.
Q
Identify critical thinking skills for the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning domains.
Q
Describe formats for developing behavioral objectives.
Q
Identify the four components of a behavioral objective: audience, action, content criteria, and condition.
Q
List action verbs for cognitive, psychomotor, and affective objectives.
Q
Describe the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives for developing behavioral objectives and lesson plans.
Q
Discuss and compare the original Bloom’s Taxonomy with the updated taxonomy.
Q
Analyze how objectives affect the entire lesson plan, curriculum, and educational process.
Q
Describe the process used to develop and write behavioral objectives.
Behavioral Objectives
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter focuses on establishing the starting point for a lesson plan. The lesson’s objectives determine the degrees of learning and instructional processes that are used to conduct the lesson presentation.
Q Developing Behavioral Objectives Just as a building contractor uses construction blueprints to build the house, so an instructor builds a lesson plan from behavioral objectives. Behavioral objectives enable the instructor to develop the Key Term lesson plan, select appropriate teaching strategies or methods, and evaluate the learning experience. behavioral objectives Behavioral objectives are measurable statements Measurable statements of an anticipated educational outcome from of an anticipated a lesson plan or a curriculum. To use another educational outcome analogy, behavioral objectives are the compass from a lesson plan or a curriculum. that a ship’s captain uses to steer the ship. To develop behavioral objectives for a lesson plan, the instructor must imagine designing a presentation for a particular topic, using the following steps: 1. Researching the topic 2. Determining desired outcome 3. Writing the objective
CHAPTER 8: Behavioral Objectives
Researching the Topic The instructor should ask probing questions about the topic. For example, if the instructor was creating a lesson about application of a short wraparound backboard device, he or she might research the following issues: Q What is a short wraparound backboard device? Q Who uses this device? Q What affects this device? Q Who regulates this device? Q Which standards exist regarding this device? Q Which applications are appropriate for using this device? If a topic has never been taught before, the instructor must find the answers to these questions. In the public safety industry, there are volumes of books and reference materials that may contain all the answers to these questions. Previously, instructors in the United States relied upon a national set of training curricula related to EMS—namely, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Standard Curriculum for an EMS course. These existing training curricula are in the process of being replaced with a set of national practices and standards. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published the EMS Educational Agenda for the Future: A Systems Approach in 2000. Since then, this agency has created several companion documents, including National EMS Scope of Practice, National EMS Educational Standards, and Instructional Guidelines. These documents are not training curricula; rather, states, territories, educational institutes, and instructors are expected to create the curricula based on the national practices and standards, plus any additional criteria identified by state or local authorities that are related to the scope of care for public safety personnel. Many states and training institutes have already developed training curricula for public safety educational programs. As a consequence, instructors associated with fire, EMS, or rescue need to be familiar with their local, state, or institute’s specific curricula. In addition, operational guidelines, protocols, treatment practices, scopes of practice, laws, rules, and regulations may all influence how and which practices or standards should be followed. These sources should be reviewed during the research phase for the topic.
Determining the Desired Outcome Once the research phase is complete, the instructor must use critical thinking to determine which behavioral change is desired from the students. In
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essence, what does the instructor want the students to learn from this presentation? The answer should consider the potential audience and their learning abilities.
Writing the Objective An objective should be a complete sentence that includes four components: 1. Audience (subject) 2. Action (behavior) 3. Content criteria (object) 4. Condition (performance standard) The NHTSA uses an alternative ABCD approach for writing objectives. This approach asks instructors to consider the Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree (e.g., “The audience e will do the behaviorr in this condition circumstance to degree e level.”).
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For example: At the conclusion of the spinal stabilization lesson, students will be able to recognize situations in which the short wraparound backboard device is indicated with 100 percent accuracy. In this behavioral objective, the four parts are all present: 1. Audience: students who have completed the spinal stabilization lesson 2. Action: recognize 3. Content criteria: situations in which the short wraparound backboard device is indicated 4. Condition: 100 percent accuracy
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To determine whether learning has occurred, a measurable change in the student’s behavior must take place.
Audience The audience component sets any additional requirements, information, or other details that help to clarify the behavioral objective for the students. It may not always be present, based on the material being presented, but often it is included in the title of the lesson plan. Action The action states the behavior or activity that is to be learned by the student. It must be measurable or observable. The action component establishes the type of learning that an instructor wants the students
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to accomplish. For example, the instructor may desire that students not just recognize situations, but also demonstrate the application of the wraparound short backboard per manufacturer specifications or skill sheet performance criteria. A single skill or knowledge activity may have multiple objectives associated with it. Content Criteria The content criteria state the object of learning. These criteria are a factor in determining the level of information that a student is expected to attain. Performance Standard A performance standard establishes the minimum performance criteria that will be accepted whenever a student is asked to perform a competency-based objective. It is generally assumed that the performance standard is evaluated at 100 percent, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Setting performance standards establishes a degree of competency that an instructor can use to measure the degree of behavioral change. A number of variables—time, accuracy, and quality of workmanship—are considered in conjunction with a performance standard. Abbreviating Behavioral Objectives The terminology in behavioral objectives can be abbreviated when appropriate. For example, the acronyms SWBAT (“students will be able to”) or LWBAT (“learner will be able to”) may be used in place of those words. The performance standard may also be omitted if it uses the default of 100 percent. When the objectives are contained within a specific lesson plan targeted to a specific audience, the audience may also be omitted. An abbreviated objective might have the following form: SWBAT: • Recognize situations in which the short wraparound backboard device is indicated. • Apply a wraparound short backboard per manufacturer specifications.
Q Learning Domains Behavioral objectives cover three learning domains: Q Cognitive Q Affective Q Psychomotor
Cognitive Domain The cognitive domain is related to an individual’s use of mental “thinking” abilities to solve simple to complex problems. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (see TABLE 8–1) explores the cognitive domain. This taxonomy, created in 1956, consists of multiple layers of information, which are built upon each other, from the most basic “knowledge” (recall) to the most complex “evaluation” (problem solving). When the behavioral objectives are created, the instructor must determine the level of learning difficulty. An instructor’s teaching strategies or methods, lesson materials, and examinations are fashioned from these j objectives.
Link For more sample verbs for writing cognitive, psychomotor, or affective objectives, see the Instructional Methods for Public Safety page on www.jblearning.com.
In 2001, Dr. David Karthwohl and several other educational theorists modified the original Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives to expand its scope (see FIGURE 8–1). Several levels were revised: Q Knowledge became Remembering. Q Comprehension became Understanding. Q Application became Applying. Q Analysis became Analyzing. Q Evaluation became a level 5 task. Q Synthesis moved to the highest level and became Creating. The most significant difference between the original and revised taxonomy is the addition of the cognitive content (nouns). Not only do the verbs control the level of difficulty for an objective, but in the revised taxonomy the noun (cognitive criteria) influences the behavioral objective’s difficulty level. In the revised taxonomy, knowledge is identified within four levels: 1. Factual: The basic elements that a student must know to solve problems 2. Conceptual: Interrelationships between factual elements 3. Procedural: How something is done (e.g., methods, skills, or inquiry) 4. Metacognitive: Self-awareness of one’s own knowledge abilities FIGURE 8–2 identifies a matrix for the new taxonomy. Across the top are the six taxonomy levels and along the side are the four knowledge elements.
CHAPTER 8: Behavioral Objectives
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TABLE 8–1 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Definition
Example
Sample Verbs
Knowledge
Ability to assemble terms or facts, memorize material, and recall information
Identify the wraparound short backboard device.
List Define Recall State Recite
Comprehension
Ability to use knowledge and interpret or translate the information (i.e., understand the meaning of information)
Recognize situations where the wraparound short backboard is indicated.
Explain Summarize Describe Restate Interpret
Application
Ability to use knowledge and comprehension to apply information to new situations
Illustrate situations of poor application of the wraparound short backboard.
Solve Illustrate Apply Put into practice
Analysis
Ability to break down information into components and determine how each component affects understanding (i.e., looking at elements and the relationships)
Analyze situations when a wraparound short backboard is or is not indicated.
Organize Analyze Compare Contrast
Synthesis
Ability to reassemble the information in a new manner using abstract thinking and creativity
Describe a scenario that illustrates other uses of the wraparound short backboard device.
Design Hypothesize Discuss Devise
Evaluation
Ability to make judgments, critiques, or appraisals of the information
Following the completion of the scenario, evaluate the use of the wraparound short backboard device on an entrapped vehicle crash victim.
Evaluate Judge Defend Justify
Creating Evaluating Analyzing
objectives for an entire lesson presentation. The sample wraparound short backboard objectives in Figure 8–2 are used to show how the revised taxonomy may be used.
Tip
Both of the cognitive taxonomies are effective tools. Instructors can use either taxonomy to create a lesson’s cognitive objectives.
Applying Understanding Remembering
Such a matrix allows an instructor to view the levels of cognitive knowledge being learned by a student. It is especially useful for viewing all of the knowledge
Affective Domain The affective domain deals with an individual’s expressed interest, ambitions, attention, values, awareness, interpersonal communications, and feelings. These emotional behaviors are essential to the overall learning experience. Educational classrooms are not sterile, non-emotional environments. Instead, students and instructors express empathy, fear, joy, excitement, sorrow, regret, distrust, plus other emotional states as part of the educational experience. Instructors can use these emotional states and design presentations to accentuate these affective elements.
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2001 Revised Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Cognitive Dimension
Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluation Creating
1 Factual Conceptual Procedural Meta-Cognitive
2
4 3
Examples of Matrix 1. 2. 3. 4.
... to recognize situations to use the wraparound short backboard ... illustrate situations of poor application of the wraparound short backboard ... analyze situations when a wraparound short backboard is or is not indicated ... prepare a scenario that illustrates other uses of the wraparound short backboard device
The taxonomy of the affective domain identifies five levels of understanding (see FIGURE 8–3): 1. Receiving: Students are aware of something in their environment; they pay attention and display a willingness to learn. 2. Responding: Students display an acknowledged behavior with the learning experience and participate when provided an opportunity. 3. Valuing: Students show an active involvement or commitment or passion toward a topic or concern. 4. Organization: Students accept a new value as theirs and set specific goals. 5. Characterization: Students compare and contrast their values to others and use their new value.
Tip
Characterization
Organization
Valuing
Responding
Receiving
The instructor must use keen observation skills to identify a student’s reaction to a situation.
The following action verbs are associated with the affective domain: Q Accept Q Participate Q Share Q Judge Q Attempt Q Challenge Q Praise Q Volunteer
Here are some examples of affective domain objectives: Q The student freely volunteers for extra-credit projects. Q The student attempts to explain information without guidance from the instructor. Q The student accepts responsibility to act out the role of the crew chief during the scenario. Q The student participates in scheduled activities with vigor and energy.
CHAPTER 8: Behavioral Objectives
When students learn information, they encounter and react to information in multiple learning domains. The three domains have been separated in this chapter to focus attention on the unique characteristics associated with each domain; in practice, an instructor might use all three domains to teach the basic concept.
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Tip
Naturalization
Mastery
Articulation
Precision
Psychomotor Domain The psychomotor domain incorporates both cognitive “mental processes” and affective “emotional elements” and places them into a physical state of motion. Using an individual’s innate fine and complex motor sensory/ skill abilities, written forms of knowledge are placed into a physical state of practice (e.g., activities on the training room floor). There are four components to this domain: 1. Gross motor skills: The ability to move arms, shoulders, and legs. 2. Fine motor skills: Using hands, fingers, hand– eye coordination, and hearing to accomplish delicate procedures. 3. Verbal communication: Using speech to deliver a specific message or statement. 4. Nonverbal communication: Facial expressions, gestures, and other body language.
Link Teaching psychomotor skills involves several important steps on the part of the instructor. These steps are explained in detail in Chapter 11.
FIGURE 8–4 shows how a student goes through five learning phases when learning a skill: 1. Imitation: Observes the skill and attempts to repeat it 2. Manipulation: Performs a skill based on instruction rather than observation 3. Precision: Performs a single skill or task correctly 4. Articulation: Combines multiple skills 5. Naturalization: Performs multiple skills correctly all the time Before a skill objective can be written, the instructor must identify how a student should perform a skill. This is accomplished through task analysis, which identifies the steps involved in performing the
Manipulation
Imitation
Initial Skill
skill. For example, setting up/assembling the power hydraulic spreading tool system, performing onerescuer CPR, or connecting a fire hose to a hydrant and flowing water all would require a detailed description of the tasks that need to be completed in a specific sequence. Not all skills use a step-by-step approach, however; for complex skills, an instructor might be interested in a comprehensive skill approach. Consider these examples: Q Step-by-Step Skill Approach Two rescue students will be given a complete air chisel system and air supply. The students will identify which student will operate the tool and which student will operate the air supply. Both students will demonstrate the correct assembly sequence of the air chisel system beginning with the following steps: • Wear full protective clothing. • Connect the air regulator to the air supply. • Close the regulator valve and turn on the air supply and confirm the incoming pressure (in pounds per square inch [psi]). • Connect the high-pressure air chisel hose to the regulator and to the air chisel hammer. • Engage a chisel blade, suited for the type of metal to be cut, into the chisel hammer and manually ensure that the blade is engaged, constantly pointing the hammer at the ground. • Identify the type of metal, set the regulator gauge to the proper setting, and open the regulator flow valve.
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The instructor must be familiar with the skills that will be performed and write the behavioral objectives corresponding to the task analysis, including compliance with any conditions or performance standards.
Tip
• Cut the metal sufficiently to accomplish the intended objective. • Avoid prying with the chisel while cutting. • Disassemble the system by closing the air supply valve and relieving the pressure through the air hammer pressed against a hard object. Then disassemble the device in the reverse order used for assembly. Q Comprehensive Skill Approach The rescue captain will demonstrate an effective size-up and identification of potential hazards throughout the simulated vehicle crash scenario, while coordinating personnel and equipment/ resources to effect the access, disentanglement, and safe extrication of the patients from inside the vehicle. A skill objective is written in the same format as the knowledge objective. When writing a skill objective, the objective must be specific, so that all components to be learned are identified. Additionally, any physical capabilities or other components necessary to perform the skill should be identified.
Link The theory underlying task analysis is presented in Chapter 3.
When writing a task analysis, an instructor should envision an individual who has no training. Each step of the skill must be clearly identified. With a well-written task analysis, a student should be able to practice and perform a skill.
Tip
Action verbs associated with the psychomotor domain included the following: Q Demonstrate Q Practice Q Apply Q Perform Q Display Q Show Q Assemble
Q Summary Behavioral objectives are the starting point for lesson plan development. After researching the topic and using the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning domains to identify the desired outcome, the instructor should write the objective using specific, identified verbs and content criteria with measurable objectives in a format that is commonly used by educators.
Link To better understand objectives, complete the objective exercise located on the Instructional Methods for Public Safety page on www.jblearning.com.
CHAPTER
Lesson Plans and Curriculum
9
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER A lesson plan provides an instructor/educator with a road map of instruction for the lesson presentation. This chapter identifies the processes used to create a lesson plan.
Q Building a Lesson Plan With the behavioral objectives in place, the educator has the blueprint he or she needs to create the lesson plan. A lesson plan is akin to a building contractor’s list. A building contractor knows what he or she wants to build in the end (i.e., home, building, or something else) and uses the contractor’s list to identify building supplies that will be required, plan the steps of the construction, and coordinate personnel resources, subcontractors, building inspections, and schedules. Likewise, a lesson plan helps an instructor identify the components needed to organize and present a lesson. The lesson plan lists administrative items, objectives, procedural content, material/resources, teaching methods, and assessment/evaluation tools. A well-written lesson plan paves the way for quality instruction, which is the mission of any educator.
Tip
Pre-made lesson plans can serve as a starting point, but they do not reflect an instructor’s teaching abilities. Ultimately, the actual lesson plan should be based on the instructor’s personality and teaching style.
OBJECTIVES Q
Identify the role of lesson plans within a course.
Q
Identify the essential components of a lesson plan and their key elements.
Q
Identify the variety of lesson plan formats.
Q
Describe how lesson plans fit into the development of an institute’s curriculum.
Q
Discuss the legal/recordkeeping aspects of a lesson plan.
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Q Lesson Plan Components A lesson plan assembles a lesson’s components into an organized format. Common components of a lesson plan include the following items: Q Administrative issues Q Behavioral objectives (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) Q Procedural content Q Materials and resources Q Assessment Q References
Link A lesson plan documents what was taught, and this type of documentation may be necessary in the event of litigation (discussed in Chapter 4). For this reason, the lesson plan should always identify the date and location that the lesson plan was presented, the audience, and any references. Should the content of the lesson plan ever be questioned, this information will be invaluable to the instructor.
into an outline format or takes a form as simple as a bulleted list of key topics, a structured approach should be used to assemble a lesson’s information. The following elements are commonly associated with this component: Q Main presentation material (outline, bulleted points, or structured notes) Q Lecture notes (personal, style-oriented notes) Q Procedural notes (details regarding breaks, teaching methods, room setup, and other logistical issues) Q Oral discussion questions Q Linking of previously learned material or additional material in future lessons Q References For any skills that will be included in the lesson plan, this section may specify details about the steps and physical movements associated with the skill, plus any cues to correct errors or alternative methods. It may also include a description of how this skill will be practiced and supervised.
Materials and Resources Administrative Component This component introduces the lesson plan. It may include the following items: Q Lesson plan title Q Instructor’s name Q Educational institute name Q Total time for the lesson Q Number of instructors Q Lesson plan number (if it is one of several lesson plans) Q Date the lesson plan was initially developed, plus any revision dates
Behavioral Objectives The behavioral objectives (outlined in Chapter 8) identify the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor objectives for the lesson. They should be listed separately for each domain to reinforce which learning domains are being taught. Objectives, as well as the lesson plan as a whole, are written for the students. The phrase “Students will be able to…” (which may be abbreviated as “SWBAT”) should be the opening line of the objective section to reinforce the target audience for the objectives.
Procedural Content The procedural content outlines the lesson plan’s substantive material. Whether the material is placed
Any materials and resources that are needed within a lesson presentation should be listed in this section. A bulleted list or checklist format is easily read and may include items such as the following: Q Equipment needed (medical, fire, or rescue training equipment) Q Administrative materials (e.g., number of student exams, handouts, course evaluation forms) Q Reference materials (e.g., handouts, questionnaires, examples) Q Support materials (e.g., audiovisual equipment, computer hardware/software, special facilities) The materials and resources section could also be called the “logistics section” because it answers the questions “When?”, “Where?”, and “How many?” This list may help lessen any panic associated with forgetting a crucial piece of equipment for the lesson presentation.
Tip
Assessment A variety of assessment components can be included within a lesson presentation. Whether these items are oral or written, an instructor uses some form of assessment tool to see if learning is occurring. Listing key questions or assessment activities in this component area can assist an instructor in keeping on target with the lesson presentation.
CHAPTER 9: Lesson Plans and Curriculum
References The instructor may draw on a variety of sources to create a lesson plan. These references should be listed in the references section. This bibliography may include books, scopes of practice, regulations, protocols, journal articles, and independent research studies, among other resources.
Link A lesson plan template to help instructors create their own lesson plans and a continuing education presentation approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of EMS, which includes a complete lesson plan and accompanying PowerPoint presentation can be found on the Instructional Methods for Public Safety page on www.jblearning.com.
Instructors are the “building contractors” Tip for the course, so whatever construction materials are needed to make a presentation work, that’s what is needed. Instructors need to design and make lesson plans work for them.
Q Lesson Plan Format It is up to an instructor to decide how to incorporate the components of the lesson plan into lesson plan format. Templates may be useful tools for instructors while they are developing their lesson plans. Many different online resources and software programs offer templates; instructors should select whatever lesson plan template works best for them. An instructor will often develop a personal preference for the placement of the lesson plan components. Each of the lesson plan components is selected and placed into the lesson plan based on the instructor’s needs. The type of lesson plan format will be tailored to each instructor.
Q Legal Considerations A lesson plan is more than a teaching document! Just as public safety personnel complete a patient care report as their form of legal, written documentation of their actions, so the lesson plan is an instructor’s legal document to attest to what was and was not taught to students. If something isn’t written down in the lesson plan, it probably wasn’t taught! One issue to be considered is the need to incorporate, within the lesson plan, a note section that identifies the date and location that the lesson
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plan was presented and the audience to whom it was presented. Any updates or revisions to the lesson plan should be documented by inclusion of a revision date and a summary notation of any revisions. Any relevant references should also be cited. Should the content of the lesson plan ever be questioned, this information will prove invaluable to an instructor. Lesson plans should be kept on file by the instructor and/or the educational institution. In the event that legal action is taken against the instructor or the educational institute, the lesson plan may become a critical piece of documentation. When writing a lesson plan, an instructor must ensure that the information is technically correct not just for educational reasons, but also for legal purposes.
Tip
Q Educational Curricula Within accredited educational institutions, instructors create their lesson plans Key Term within the context of that institute’s curriculum. In curriculum A specific relation to public safety set of learning programs programs, the curriculum that include teaching (plural = curricula) is often methods, lesson referred to as the specific set plans, and assessment of learning programs that methods. include teaching methods, lesson plans, and assessment. This section looks at the formation of public safety educational program curricula.
Tip
An educational institute’s curriculum is its mission statement for education.
With the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) implementation of the EMS Education Agenda of the Future over the coming years, public safety instructors in the United States will no longer have a national standard teaching curriculum to utilize. Instead, instructors and educational institutes will need to create a revised set of lesson plans, based on the NHTSA’s National Scope of Practice, Educational Standards, and Instructional Guidelines. The EMS Education Agenda for the Future will dramatically alter how instructors and educational institutes design future lesson plans and curricula.
Tip
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Link Another component of the EMS Education Agenda for the Future is related to the establishment of a national accreditation process (discussed in Chapter 6). As part of an accreditation or recognition process, the educational institute’s core and program curricula are reviewed. The curriculum should ensure that competency is achieved within the revised national scope of practice, educational standards, and guidelines.
When the lesson plans are integrated into the educational institute’s curriculum, the overall level of difficulty for a program’s curriculum can be determined using the behavioral objectives. When instructors are invited to participate in the creation of an educational institute’s curriculum design, they can collaboratively decide on teaching approaches, lesson plans, and course materials for inclusion in the new curriculum. Public safety educational programs are integrated into 2-year technical schools, community colleges,
and associate and bachelor’s degree programs in public safety at accredited universities. The curricula offered by these programs include both core and programspecific curricula. This trend is a signal to public safety instructors that these educational programs are attaining a professional education stature.
Q Summary This chapter examined how an instructor designs and formats lesson plans, and then integrates them into a larger educational program. Lesson plans are vital in the overall creation of an educational institute’s program curricula. They have predictable components that outline key concepts and materials and may be put into a wide variety of formats. Instructors must be able to integrate their lesson plans into the educational institute’s larger curriculum, while incorporating relevant standards and guidelines of the field under consideration.
CHAPTER
Teaching Strategies and Methods
10
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter looks at strategies and methods of instruction. Instructors need to determine the methods of instruction that fit who they are to effectively convey information to their students.
Q Teaching Strategies In simple terms, a teaching strategy is the approach used to present the lesson material. The process, or manner, an instructor actually uses to teach material is called the method of instruction; it is discussed later in this chapter. Five teaching strategies are commonly used: Q Deductive strategy Q Inductive strategy Q Interactive instruction Q Experiential learning Q Independent study These five teaching strategies are not individual, freestanding approaches. Rather, contained within each strategy is a variety of teaching methods that may allow the instructor to blend various approaches. Instructors who use a variety of teaching methods, from several strategies, are likely to achieve an ideal balance between efficient use of classroom time and level of retention.
Tip
Instructors should try to use a variety of teaching methods and blend their concepts and methodologies.
OBJECTIVES Q
Compare and contrast the inductive and deductive teaching strategies.
Q
Identify the benefits and drawbacks of interactive instruction, experiential learning, and independent study teaching strategies.
Q
Describe the following teaching methods: lecture, questions, guided and indirect discussion, small-group interaction, demonstrations, field trips, roleplaying, simulation, and games.
Q
Compare the various methods of instruction and identify their strengths and weaknesses.
Q
Identify strategies and methods as they work together to create a presentation.
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Deductive Strategy The deductive strategy, also referred to as direct strategy, features input and Key Term guidance from the instructor. The instructor provides the deductive (direct) lesson material, performs any strategy Teaching demonstrations, and states strategy featuring input and guidance from the the lesson’s conclusions for instructor. the students. In this model, the students are passive participants; the instructor does the work for them. This strategy is useful when a large number of items must be covered in a limited amount of time. The deductive strategy can be effective for providing information and demonstrating step-bystep skills. It does not actively involve the students in the learning process but may work for a particular lesson, depending on the behavioral objectives, type of students, and personality characteristics of the instructor. The deductive strategy is efficient in its use of classroom time. Because it does not actively involve the students in the learning, however, it often results in poor to moderate retention of the lesson material.
Inductive Strategy The inductive strategy (also called the indirect strategy or the problem-solving, decision-making, critical-thinking, or discovery approach) relies on active Key Term student involvement. With this inductive strategy student-centered approach, Teaching strategy that the instructor has minimal relies on active student input into the learning process. involvement; also Instead, students research the called indirect strategy or problem-solving, material and develop their decision-making, criticalown conclusions. Students thinking, or discovery are active participants in the approach. learning process and retain more information than with the deductive approach because they are experiencing the learning.
Link The inductive strategy closely follows the pragmatic philosophy and John Dewey’s concept of learning by doing (outlined in Chapter 1).
With the inductive strategy, the instructor becomes a facilitator, coach, and mentor to offer guidance or assistance to the students in their creative endeavors. The instructor may offer students constructive comments
and encouragement and may ask questions to stimulate discussions. By the end of the lesson, the students should reach or exceed the lesson’s objectives. The inductive strategy is dynamic and encourages students to research and sometimes identify new ideas or techniques. Instructors who use this approach must be adaptable to alternative concepts. If a student’s conclusion is not identified in the lesson plan, that discrepancy does not mean it is not acceptable. Instructors who use the inductive teaching strategy must be well versed in current research concepts. They must also be able to adapt to new paradigms because such approaches are discovered within this teaching strategy. Inductive lesson takes a great deal of time, and additional time should be allotted for students to access reference materials, computers, and other resources during the course of their research.
Tip
The principal disadvantage of the inductive strategy is the amount of classroom time required to accomplish the lesson assignment. It takes a lot of time for students to research and formulate their conclusions. Unfortunately, many curricula, educational institutes, and instructor schedules do not provide adequate time or monetary resources for instructors to conduct extensive inductive educational sessions.
Interactive Instruction Interactive instruction is a teaching strategy that places students into specialized workgroups. Similar to what Key Term happens with the inductive approach, students are active interactive instruction participants in the learning Teaching strategy that places students into process. The instructor specialized workgroups. selects students for the workgroups. As the group forms and discusses issues assigned by the instructor, the group develops its own personality. The instructor facilitates learning by allowing the group to explore and investigate lines of research of its own choosing. An instructor must be diligent in monitoring the dynamics within the workgroups. It is up to the instructor to identify specific workgroup topics, assign students to particular workgroups, and identify the work product schedules and dates for formal presentations.
Experiential Learning Most adult learners have amassed a lifetime of learning experiences. Instructors can use these experiences to
CHAPTER 10: Teaching Strategies and Methods
their advantage by tapping into them and building their lesson presentations around the students’ experiences. In experiential Key Term learning, students share their personal experiences and act experiential learning out these events in a roleTeaching strategy playing scenario. For example, in which students if students have experienced share their personal experiences and act out an automobile accident, these events in a rolethey may act it out and share playing scenario. their thoughts, impressions, memories, and their overall experience of the accident with the rest of the class. Although this model has a high level of retention, it does require more time for an instructor to plan, conduct, facilitate, observe, and summarize findings.
Link Certain teaching strategies may work better for different types of learners. Experiential learning is especially useful for “hands-on” (kinesthetic) learners (discussed in Chapter 1).
An instructor who uses experiential learning must be prepared for the unexpected. One student’s experience may be different from another’s. Given the multiplicity of perspectives, the instructor will need to facilitate discussions among the students and focus the students toward a conclusion.
Tip
Independent Study With the independent study approach, each individual student has a specific assignment to complete. Students work by themselves on an assigned project and Key Term present their findings to the independent study class. When the instructor Teaching strategy uses an independent study in which specific strategy, students become assignments are responsible for making their developed for an individual student. own decisions, analyzing problems, formulating an action plan, and carrying out the plan. Students are encouraged to become self-sufficient and work at their own pace to react to new information and challenges. The instructor serves as a logistical support network for the students. Resources and access to materials are crucial for this strategy to be successful. An instructor should observe and ask questions of students
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conducting independent studies to ensure that they are not moving away from the lesson material. This concept works especially well for computer learning stations, where just the computer and the student are interacting. Many students are intimidated when working with other students; independent study allows these students to work on their own and develop answers to study questions posed by the instructor. This strategy is not appropriate for every student, however. The instructor must be selective as to which students should participate in this approach. The independent study strategy is often used in conjunction with other strategies, with some students being selected for independent study while others engage in experiential learning or interactive instruction. Independent study has its limitations. In particular, not every subject is amenable to teaching via this method. Thus instructors need to identify appropriate subjects that can be taught through independent study, and then incorporate this method into their presentations accordingly. For example, use of the independent study method may be blended into a presentation using the lecture, demonstration, and guided discussion methods.
Q Teaching Methods An instructor should use a variety of teaching methods during a lesson presentation to make it exciting, motivating, and informative. To blend teaching methods, the instructor needs to have an understanding of each of the methods of instruction discussed in this section. Each method has its own unique uses. An instructor should become familiar with a variety of methods of instruction and know when to use each method.
Lecture In the lecture approach, the instructor presents facts, terms, and general information on a particular subject. Lecture is the most frequently used teaching method. When they enter the classroom, many students have an expectation that the instructor will provide the lesson material, and many instructors feel compelled to use the lecture method for presenting the majority of the course material. The lecture method is most closely associated with the deductive strategy because students are passive participants in the learning experience. Instructors may use a dry image board or a multimedia projector to emphasize important points. For the majority of the presentation, students sit and listen to the information.
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Link Lectures typically produce a 20 to 30 percent rate of retention, as noted in Chapter 1.
Innovative instructors use the lecture method as a stepping stone for their presentations. To increase their retention of information, students should become active participants within the lesson presentation. Educational resources such as computer programs, simulations, and other multimedia resources can engage the students in this process. Classroom management techniques, such as walking around the classroom and asking challenging questions, may help the instructor to incorporate other instructional methods within the presentation.
Questions A key aspect of ensuring successful crossover between methods of instruction is the instructor’s ability to stimulate classroom discussions with well-phrased questions. Asking questions provides immediate feedback so that instructors can assess whether learning is occurring. Questions can be formed from any of these four categories: Q Recall (knowledge) Q Convergent (comprehension and analysis) Q Divergent (critical thinking/brainstorming/ problem solving) Q Value (beliefs, sensation, feelings) Questions are designed to stimulate a response from the students. For example, recall questions are an excellent way to do a quick review of previously learned material. Convergent, divergent, and value questions are useful to encourage student participation.
Tip
A series of well-designed questions can springboard a presentation into other teaching methods.
When asking questions, the instructor should provide sufficient time for students to respond. Recall questions tend to encourage rapid responses, whereas questions posed at the critical-thinking level take time for students to form their responses. A delayed answer or no answer provides the instructor with valuable information about the learning activity. If students cannot answer simple recall-level questions, then a review of the lesson material may be required. The instructor may try rewording the question, but should avoid watering down the question because this
defeats the purpose. He or she should offer positive reinforcement and encouragement to all answers (correct, incorrect, or partially correct) by saying something like, “Great!” or, “That’s not the answer we were looking for—good try, though. Any other ideas?” When posing questions, an effective practice is to call on a student for the answer before asking the question. This allows the student the opportunity to focus on the question and formulate a response.
Tip
Guided and Indirect Discussion The guided and indirect discussion formats are closely associated with the inductive teaching strategy. In these discussion formats, the instructor acts as both facilitator and moderator. Guided discussion requires instructors to moderate and, often, participate in a discussion. The instructor may play “devil’s advocate” to stimulate the discussion and guide it in the preferred direction. The instructor can steer the students toward the desired outcome and should use predeveloped questions to stimulate discussion among the students. If there is no discussion, the instructor must be able to switch to an alternative teaching method. Conversely, if students become so involved in the discussion that they get off track and begin discussing unrelated issues, the instructor must intervene and refocus the discussion onto the desired topic. In the indirect discussion method (or discovery approach), students seek out their own answers to a lesson’s questions. The instructor provides students with broad objectives on which to focus. The students’ task is to research the topic, ask questions, and find the answers. Throughout this process, the instructor facilitates access to informational resources for the students. He or she does not participate in the discussion unless students reach a critical point that warrants the instructor’s input. Instead, the instructor freely roams from group to group, monitoring the students’ interaction, acting as a third-party reviewer of the material, and judging students’ presentations. With this teaching method, the students are the active participants and the instructor assumes a passive role in the learning process. Some instructors express reservations about using this approach because they perceive it as relinquishing their control over the lesson material. This approach does have control built into it: In fact, instructors need to be more aware of the material that is being researched
CHAPTER 10: Teaching Strategies and Methods
and presented than they do when they are the chief presenter. The instructor must be able to judge the content of each student’s presentation and ensure that it meets the lesson plan’s objectives. To ensure that he or she is capable of doing so, the instructor does a lot of preplanning, research, and construction of discussion questions before the lesson is conducted. Guided or indirect discussion methods allow students to be actively involved in the lesson presentation. The more involved students are in a lesson, the better the learning experience becomes for the students.
Tip
Small-Group Interaction In the small-group interaction method, students are separated into small learning groups ranging from four to six students. Students who may be intimidated by discussing ideas in front of the whole class may feel more comfortable participating in the learning
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experience in these smaller groups. Small groups can be used for discussions and other classroom activities that require students to reach a group consensus decision. In this technique, the instructor establishes clear and concise objectives, sets a time frame for groups to resolve the issues, and provides any educational resources or other materials that the groups may require. The instructor may provide a mission statement or purpose statement for each group that outlines the directions for the discussion and may appoint a timekeeper to monitor the time allotted. Once the small-group activity begins, the instructor’s role is to monitor each group’s activities. When the time expires, the instructor conducts a debriefing session in which a spokesperson from each group presents the findings of the group. Following all of the groups’ final presentations, the instructor summarizes the activity and offers final comments. Small-group interaction may benefit from use of a motivational aid to encourage student participation, in the form of a reward or recognition. Rewarding
Jigsaw Method The jigsaw teaching method is an example of smallgroup interaction that is designed to promote teamwork and individual responsibility. In the jigsaw method, individual students present their “piece” of information to a small workgroup. Students learn from one another and gain understanding of the “bigger picture.” Each student shares an equal amount of individual responsibility for ensuring that the group obtains the knowledge necessary to successfully complete the activity.
4. The instructor ensures that each student understands his or her assignment.
The following steps are used to set up a jigsaw classroom activity:
7. Each student returns to his or her “home group” and presents the findings to the other members of the group.
1. The instructor assigns students into small groups (four to six students per group) based on the students’ academic and classroom abilities.
5. The instructor provides any resource materials or research facilities required. 6. The instructor forms “expert groups” for each assigned number (e.g., the students assigned to “prevention” from each group come together to discuss the assigned material and develop a common understanding about the topic).
8. The group members develop a consensus document, identifying the entire concept (e.g., heart attack).
2. Each group elects a group spokesperson. 3. The instructor selects a topic to be learned and provides each student with a specific objective on a general subject. For example, if the instructor has selected the subject of heart attacks, the objectives might be as follows: • Student 1: prevention of a heart attack • Student 2: signs and symptoms of a heart attack • Student 3: BLS treatment for a heart attack • Student 4: ALS treatment for a heart attack • Student 5: Advanced treatment for a heart attack
9. The instructor conducts an assessment (e.g., examination) on the subject or a group debriefing session to allow representatives from each group to discuss their impressions and information on the subject. The jigsaw concept is an interactive method of instruction, in which students become the teachers and share their knowledge with their fellow students. The instructor, in turn, acts as the logistical coordinator and monitors the group’s activities. He or she should be prepared with the latest technology and information about the subject being learned. This approach is timeconsuming but leads to significant student learning and retention.
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student participation in small-group activities may also help encourage student participation in future group activities. The rewards do not need to be overly expensive or complex. An acknowledgment by the instructor for outstanding participation by a particular group of students may be enough; candy, inexpensive prizes, or public recognition on a bulletin board may also serve this goal.
Demonstrations Students are impressionable. How an instructor initially presents a skill or piece of equipment (i.e., making referent contact) often determines how students will use that skill or equipment during practice sessions. The use of demonstrations in educational programs is more than just a “show-and-tell” process, however; a lot of planning and preparation goes into a demonstration to get it right the first time. The five steps involved in a demonstration are outlined here: 1. Prestaging the equipment 2. Preparing resources and personnel 3. Making referent contact (i.e., showing and telling students what is to be learned: “Here is a backboard device; now we are going to show you how this device is used”) 4. Demonstrating the entire skill (at full speed) without interruption (as it would be used in a real-life situation) 5. Providing a step-by-step review of each step used to perform the skill Before the instructor begins a demonstration, he or she needs to ensure that all students can see it. Small items may not be suited for a large-group demonstration; thus small-group demonstrations may be required in some circumstances. If assistant instructors are helping with the presentation, practice performing the demonstration together before doing it live in front of the class.
speed. Creative enhancements, such as patient-actors and realistic surroundings, can be included to mimic real-world settings. Ideally, the instructor will perform a live step-by-step demonstration of the skill after the multimedia presentation ends. Students will mimic and model their own skill performance based on the image presented by the instructor. The instructor must ensure that correct information is provided to the students; otherwise, students will not know how to perform the skill correctly on their own.
Tip
Field Trips If instructors cannot bring real-life situations to the classroom, then they can take the classroom to the real-life situations. It is difficult to bring wrecked cars into an indoor classroom, and for practicing rescue skills, outdoor settings are required. Field trips allow students to experience real-life situations in controlled settings. Public safety programs rely upon the use of field settings for many of their educational activities. The instructor needs to prepare for the field trip by taking these steps: Q Identifying specific goals for students to accomplish during the trip Q Making travel arrangements and obtaining permissions Q Considering restroom facilities, meal arrangements, and water and fluid replacement solutions Q Ensuring that the site poses no safety/liability risks or potential hazards or that, at the very least, these risks are minimized Q Moving and setting up any necessary equipment Q Assigning assistant instructors to supervise the activities and briefing them on their duties
Tip
Demonstrations bring real-life equipment and techniques directly in front of the students. The instructor may use either a deductive strategy or an inductive approach to present the demonstration. The initial presentation is usually deductive, but as the step-by-step demonstration unfolds, inductive concepts can be included. A multimedia presentation can be used to introduce a complete skill that is performed at full
Tip
Unless the instructor takes care of the logistical details, a less than effective learning experience will result.
Link Outdoor educational sessions provide both challenges and opportunities, as discussed in Chapter 7.
Role-Playing Public safety educational programs are excellent settings for the use of role-playing sessions. A role-
CHAPTER 10: Teaching Strategies and Methods
playing session includes either the instructor or student(s) acting out a predeveloped presentation. The script identifies specific wording that each participant should use during the presentation. The instructor develops the script to fit the lesson plan material. Instead of the instructor giving a lecture or starting a discussion to engage students, the roleplaying session provides the same content material delivered by a lecture, but the students become the presenters of the material. The script identifies the words that each person should be saying. It also specifies the body movements, clothing that may be worn, various props, and the physical surroundings for the situation. A role-playing session can become a realistic learning experience for students: They become active participants in the lesson presentation, and the instructor becomes a resource for the students’ interpretation of the script. Students should have sufficient time to review and practice the script. Various groups of students can be given different role-playing scripts, and then they can present the role-playing presentations to one another. Although role-playing is not appropriate for every subject, many topics—such as radio communication, scene control, legal presentations, and interpersonal communication—are excellent choices for role-playing sessions. When instructors develop the lesson plan material, they should identify topics that could be used for role-playing. The more planning and preparation an instructor puts into a role-playing script, the better the learning experience will be for the students.
Simulation Simulations are “instructor-created environments” in which students are asked to perform various skills
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to solve problems. The simulation differs from a roleplaying session in that it does not use a script. Instead, the simulation uses a scenario. A scenario provides the students with a basic oral description of a scene. For example: You and your partner are dispatched to a back alley. Police have secured the scene. You find a 20-year-old male who has been assaulted and is lying face down. The scenario provides the instructor with vital signs information for the simulated patient-actor. The makeup, moulage (mock injuries), props, and patient programming are identified. Specific treatments, equipment to be used, and the evaluation components are included in the scenario.
Link Simulations need to be realistic. Chapter 12 presents information about how to create realistic scenarios.
Using a simulation brings an entire learning experience together for a student, by incorporating the knowledge and skills that have been presented throughout the educational program.
Tip
A scenario is a highly interactive learning tool. The instructor sets up the scenario and the students respond to it. In short, a scenario enables students to learn by doing. When carried out correctly, a simulation can be as close to the “real thing” as one can get in the educational setting.
Sample Role-Playing Scenario Chief (anxious): Chief 42 to communications. Communications (calm): Go ahead, Chief 42. Chief: On location of a fully involved two-story structure fire. The fire is in both floors and it’s spreading into adjacent buildings. Communications: Okay, Chief 42. Do you request additional fire units in addition to Companies 42, 36, EMS 22, and Police 122? Chief: Respond Companies 20, 33, and Chief 2 to this scene.
Communications: Received, Chief 42. Communications to Companies 20, 33, and Chief 2, respond to a structure fire assisting Chief 42. The scenario can progress from this point by having additional students act out the roles of the responding units and then simulate communications at the fire scene. Students fill the roles of the chief officer, the communications dispatcher, and the emergency responders to the simulated fire scene. With realistic props, such as working portable radios, students can experience the feelings that Chief 42 and other responders are experiencing within the script.
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Games
Q Summary
Students are often highly motivated to learn material when they can enjoy their learning experience. Games provide a way for an instructor to present lesson material using a nontraditional approach, which adds amusement to the learning experience. Learning and having fun are ingredients for a positive learning experience. Crossword puzzles; word searches; instructor-made versions of Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy, Concentration, and Scrabble; and commercially available computer games and simulations for educators are all ways to actively involve students in the learning process. Competition between different groups of students adds to the game. Learning becomes fun, and this motivated activity encourages students to participate and learn the material at the same time. An entire program cannot be all fun and games, of course, but an instructor needs to plan activities to encourage student participation. Using different games throughout a course can help students learn and retain information. It is just another way to teach lesson material.
Instructors have a wide variety of teaching strategies and methods at their disposal for creating informative and motivational presentations. Many instructors try different methods of instruction each time they present a lesson in an effort to improve their presentation style. In any event, they should use teaching approaches that match their personality and can adapt or blend any of the methods presented in this chapter. Every method of instruction has both strengths and weaknesses, and a method that works well for one instructor may not work for another instructor. Even a lesson plan written for one group of students may not work for another group of students taught by the same instructor. Instructors have a duty to provide the highest-quality educational experience possible. Selecting and using appropriate methods of instruction are key parts of providing quality educational experiences for public safety personnel.
Tip
For review sessions, instead of repeating the lecture material, use a game to review the same material.
CHAPTER
Psychomotor Skill Instruction
11
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER Performance of skills is part of almost every public safety educational program. This chapter looks at the methods used to present and use psychomotor methods of instruction.
Q Skill Presentation Skills are a critical component of any public safety educational program, and instructors must be able to teach their students to perform those skills well. Skill presentations require extensive preparation on the part of an instructor. Before the session begins, the instructor should set up any necessary equipment, prepare lesson materials, brief assistant instructors on the lesson plan, practice the skill with the assistant instructors, and prepare the classroom area with equipment. An instructor should teach a skill by highlighting the principles underlying the skill, rather than specific methods of performing a skill. Principles are the basic components of a skill and rarely change. Conversely,
Tip
Students’ skill performance can be influenced by their surroundings. A prerequisite for any skill is to have enough space to practice the skill.
Link As noted in Chapter 9, the lesson plan provides the logistics for the skill presentation. The task analysis, outlined in Chapter 4, explains how students should complete the skill.
OBJECTIVES Q
Identify the stages of a skill presentation.
Q
Outline what happens during each stage of a skill presentation.
Q
Identify the learning phases that students go through to master a skill.
Q
Identify the roles that instructors need to play during skill practice sessions.
Q
State the role that assistant instructors play in successful skill development.
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methods are variable and dynamic. For example, in the case of opening a jammed car door, the principle would be to safely remove or open the door without causing injury to a victim, while minimizing the time and effort required by rescuers. The methods to accomplish this task range from the use of a power hydraulic spreading tool to the use of a wrecking bar. Once the instructor is prepared, there are several stages in presentation of a skill: 1. Skill introduction 2. Complete demonstration of the skill 3. Step-by-step demonstration 4. Practice with direct supervision 5. Practice with indirect supervision 6. Independent practice 7. Evaluation of the student’s skill performance 8. Wrap-up
Skill Introduction At the beginning of the presentation, the instructor should provide an oral explanation of the skill before launching into the demonstration. Students need to have some form of previous experience or knowledge to build on, and the oral explanation gives the students information to look for during the skill presentation. Instructors should direct students to any critical areas to which they should pay attention during the presentation. It is important to indicate that if students have a question during the demonstration that they should wait until the end of the demonstration to ask, rather than interrupting the skill presentation. It is quite possible that the question may be answered by seeing the entire skill presentation. More important, a student’s question during a full skill demonstration will interrupt the entire demonstration and reduce its impact.
Educators should observe students as they perform the skill and note their ability, confidence, and other aspects of their mental state. These observations focus on the form of the skill—the affective component. Skills should be performed with ease and without a great deal of exertion. Because emergency scenes are ever-changing, skills must also be adaptable. Students need to be able to demonstrate the ability to perform the skill when they are faced with a situation that may not be like the textbook model. To ensure that they can meet this standard, students should be given opportunities to adapt a skill to a less than ideal setting in the educational session.
Q Learning Phases To achieve mastery of a skill, students proceed through several steps: 1. Beginner (discovery) 2. Intermediate (plateau) 3. Advanced (latency) 4. Highly skilled (mastery) Sometimes these steps are obvious; at other times they merge together. Students tend to learn skills at different paces, so that members of the class may not always reach the same level of attainment simultaneously.
Level 1: Beginner (Discovery) At the beginning, students use the instructor’s skill demonstration as their guideline to begin practice and discover the correct methods for performing a skill. Working with the assistant instructors, students use a step-by-step approach to begin their learning process. They tend to learn the skill rapidly in this phase and make many errors. During this stage, the instructor should be a caring and understanding coach. Helping the students put the skill together with improved speed and fewer errors sends the students on to the next level.
Q Skill Formula
Level 2: Intermediate (Plateau)
To perform a skill well, students need to be able to demonstrate speed, accuracy, form, and adaptability when performing that skill. Through the practice session, students need to work toward achieving the speed and accuracy shown during the full demonstration.
This second phase of learning can be very frustrating for students because the learning process is much slower than in the previous stage. Students move from the step-by-step approach to a more integrated skill approach in the intermediate level of learning. While in this stage, students may frequently repeat the same mistakes over and over. The instructor supervising the groups should be supportive and stress the use of mental images. It may be helpful to use a video camera to help the students see their mistakes and correct them.
Tip
The formula for skills is: Skill = speed + accuracy + form + adaptability
CHAPTER 11: Psychomotor Skill Instruction
Level 3: Advanced (Latency) At this level, students have usually progressed to indirect practice sessions. Students strive to improve their overall skill performance. Often, some will experience small errors that require an instructor’s input and support, but for the majority of the students, a skill should be approaching the mastery level of performance. During this stage, students focus on improving the speed and accuracy of the skill, as well as its form. At this stage, however, performance of the skill should be fluid and almost second nature. Adaptability is introduced at this stage by changing the situations, altering the learning environment, or limiting the equipment available with which to perform the skill.
Level 4: Highly Skilled (Mastery) Once all the components are successfully demonstrated, the student enters the mastery level. A student at the mastery level performs the skill with 100 percent confidence. The skill performance is secondary to other events happening around the student and occurs flawlessly and with techniques that appear to be effortless. When confronted with a less than ideal setting, the student is able to adapt quickly. The speed, accuracy, form, and adaptability components are all at the level needed to perform the skill correctly. In some educational programs, students may not reach this level of performance due to constraints on practice time, instructor reimbursement schedules, educational facilities, and practice sessions, as well as peer pressure from seasoned personnel. Although the instructor may attempt to control many of these factors, not all are within the instructor’s scope. Even so, both instructor and students should understand that victims trapped in a motor vehicle, for example, expect a mastery-level performance from the rescuers. It is up to an instructor to provide the educational— and practice—opportunities needed for students to attain the mastery level.
Q Skill Lesson Presentation The skill lesson plan identifies how the lesson is taught. Included within the lesson plan is a component called the task analysis, which explains how a student should complete the skill. The task analysis identifies both mental images and physical movements that are used to perform a skill. It breaks a large skill into separate component parts. When writing a task analysis, an instructor should envision an individual who has no prior experience with the skill. Each step of the skill
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must be clearly identified. With a well-written task analysis, a student should be able to practice and perform a skill until he or she has reached the mastery level. Skill presentations require extensive preparation on the part of an instructor. From the classroom environment to the equipment, all components of the lesson need to be ready before the class begins. Although the lesson plan provides most of the logistics for the lesson presentation, actually setting up equipment, preparing lesson materials, briefing and practicing the skill with assistant instructors, and preparing the classroom area for the session can take significant amounts of time.
Pre-Skill Preparation When performing a skill, it is important to inject as much realism into the exercise as possible. The environment in which a skill is performed can affect the student’s performance. Remember that adult learners do not relate well to unrealistic situations. Thus, as a part of their learning process, realistic situations need to be used whenever possible. An essential part of the pre-skill preparation involves preparing the students. An explanation of the skill session should be provided before the initial demonstration of a skill takes place. Remember the concept of a referent contact—that is, students need to have some form of previous experience or knowledge to build on. An oral explanation of the skill gives the students information to look for during the skill presentation.
Full Skill Demonstration The full skill demonstration is considered the most important phase of skill instruction. During this part of the lesson, the instructor presents the skill at the speed and with the accuracy that are expected from public safety personnel in real-life settings. Students will remember how an instructor performed the skill and will try to mimic the instructor’s movements when they practice. If the skill was performed incorrectly by the instructor, chances are that the skill will likewise be performed incorrectly by some students. Some instructors skip over the full demonstration component and move directly to a step-by-step Because adult learners do not relate well to unrealistic situations, educational courses should use realistic situations whenever possible.
Tip
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demonstration of the skill. As a consequence, the students never see how the skill is supposed to look at real speed, and the initial skill becomes a key reference for students. Doing it right the first time is essential not just in education, but in real-life settings. Of course, doing the skill right the first time is not an easy task. Instructors must practice performing the skill before making the actual presentation. Some instructors use videos of a skill to ensure that their presentation is accurate. It is essential to demonstrate the skill being done right the first time and not to leave the students with half an image of the skill, as can occur when presenting a skill using the step-by-step approach. Once the full demonstration begins, complete it without interruption. Many times an instructor will start demonstrating a skill and partway through will stop and begin providing commentary on the specific components of the skill. This defeats the purpose of performing a full demonstration. Do the full demonstration, either live or on video, and then follow it up with a live, step-by-step demonstration. Using a two-step instructor demonstration first allows students to see how to perform the skill at “real-time speed,” and then shows them the intricacies of how the skill was actually performed.
Tip
Step-by-Step Demonstration Immediately following the full demonstration, the instructor should perform a step-by-step demonstration of the skill. The step-by-step demonstration breaks the skill down into its component parts. The presentation occurs at a much slower speed than the full demonstration. During this process, students are encouraged to stop the instructor and ask specific questions regarding specific action steps. The step-by-step demonstration should be a live presentation whenever possible. The instructor and student interactions are key ingredients in learning a skill. Students should be encouraged not to leave with any unanswered questions. If a student does not understand the skill components, then the instructor should repeat the components that are causing the confusion. An unanswered question at this point may influence how a student performs the skill in the future. When possible, the primary instructor and assistant instructors should perform the skill together. Often, while the assistant instructors perform the skill, the primary instructor may give an oral description of
the skill’s components. This format allows the primary instructor to maintain a proper position in front of the students, while monitoring both the students and the assistant instructors.
Practice with Direct Supervision Supervised practice sessions are important for ensuring that students thoroughly understand the skill and are essential in the initial phases of a student’s skill development. The ideal time to start practicing a skill is immediately following the instructor’s skill demonstration. Students are usually eager to learn the skill at this point. Whenever possible, the instructor should plan the practice sessions in conjunction with the skill demonstration. Students rarely achieve perfect skill performance during the first practice session, so the instructor should coach students by offering guidance and support without criticism while noting students’ mistakes. The skill instructor needs to be a supportive coach for the students during this phase of the learning process; now is not the time or the place for criticism. Instructors need to offer guidance and support, while gently pointing out mistakes. They should aim to provide students with realistic feedback, explain the skill components that were done correctly and incorrectly, and offer suggestions for improvement. Students need to have knowledge of their results if they are to improve their skill performance. Usually, it is best to wait until students have finished the skill presentation to correct a mistake—unless their error poses a threat of injury or harm, of course. Students may come to recognize their own mistakes during the course of their practice. They often need to fail, so that they can do the skill correctly the next time. The key role for an instructor is to provide the students with honest and sincere input that is balanced and constructive. Instructors should also monitor students for fatigue and plan rest periods between practice sessions. Students who are making errors because they are fatigued and frustrated should be given an extended break. During the break, the instructor should help the students form mental pictures of how the skill should be performed. Being a coach means looking out for every student’s best interests. Instructors should encourage students to make the best use of their practice time and discipline students who are using this time as a break. Students not actively practicing a skill should watch other groups performing the skill because seeing how other individuals perform a skill can enhance a waiting student’s performance.
CHAPTER 11: Psychomotor Skill Instruction
The waiting students can use this time to mentally review how to perform the skill. They should be able to form a mental image of how they will perform the skill when it is their turn. It is not necessary to have an instructor for every pair of students who are practicing the skill. Depending on the curriculum, a 1:4 or 1:6 ratio may be appropriate; the ratio is based on the type of educational program activity. The instructor should consult the educational institute’s curriculum to ascertain the specific instructor-to-student ratio required for the program.
Practice with Indirect Supervision Indirect practice is used in educational programs after students have begun to perform a skill with improved accuracy and speed. For continued skill development, students should practice without an instructor directly looking over their shoulders. The instructor should ensure that all activities are safe and become an observer of the general classroom activities, instead of watching individual groups of students. An assistant instructor may provide individualized instruction to students having difficulty with a skill and should allow the rest of the students to practice without individualized attention. Instructors should provide more advanced students with challenging situations to allow them to experiment and adapt their skills to solve difficult scenarios.
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Video-Recording Skill Practice Using a video-recording system can improve students’ skill performance by allowing them to see themselves performing the skill. Students can review and critique their own performance. This video also serves as an independent record of independent practice and can allow students in a supervised practice session to pinpoint any habitual mistakes. For independent study sessions and for students with learning difficulties, the use of a video image should be considered an essential adjunct to classroom learning.
Tip
Students should be given opportunities to adapt a skill to a less than ideal setting in an educational session.
Evaluation The skill examination is designed to assess students’ mastery of the skill by having them physically demonstrate the performance of a skill. Evaluation is a valuable learning tool because all students need feedback to improve their performance. A fair skill evaluation can provide a student with important information about his or her overall performance and should note both positive and weak aspects of a skill performance.
Tip
The skill evaluation is a benchmark for students to see where they are at a given time and where they need to be.
Independent Practice Independent study allows students to learn knowledge or skill subjects by themselves. After students have demonstrated satisfactory performance in front of an instructor, they may be considered candidates for an independent study session. This type of skill practice may not be suitable for all types of skills (e.g., fire suppression) and is generally advised only for skills that require just one or two individuals and do not pose a safety risk (e.g., mouth-to-mask ventilation on a manikin). Instructors should consider using this type of activity in a presentation whenever the lesson material allows. Independent practice may be a useful tool for advanced or highly motivated students, allowing them to enhance their skill practice sessions while other students practice in a supervised setting. The independent skill session is also an ideal time for the use of a stationary video camera, which allows students to view and critique their own performance.
Instructors can use two approaches to assess a skill: evaluating the process or evaluating the end product. Process evaluation looks at a skill from a stepby-step component viewpoint (e.g., How well does the student perform the various components? Did the student perform them in the correct order?). The end-product evaluation looks at the skill performance from a broad perspective and identifies and measures critical performance standards (e.g., How does the student use the skill components to solve the entire scenario?). In the latter approach, critical performance criteria specify the performance steps necessary for correct performance of a skill. A student’s ability to use creativity, resourcefulness, and inventiveness influences whether a skill is performed correctly. The two evaluation approaches should be used separately. The process evaluation approach, for example, is ideal for initial practice sessions. The endproduct approach can be used to evaluate a student’s
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overall ability to perform a skill in real-life settings at the end of a course. Too often, practice sessions are geared toward what students need to know for a certification examination. Instead, instructors should prepare students to use their skills in the field. Countless factors can influence students’ performance during an examination, including anxiety, the educational setting, and the realism and appropriateness of the scenario. If students are taught to do the skill right in the field, they will likely do it right for an examination. Support from the instructor is essential for a student’s success. If an entire class is performing the skill poorly or incorrectly, the method of instruction should be reviewed.
Tip
Wrap-Up Toward the end of a practice session, the instructor should have students help wrap up the activity—for example, servicing a fire engine, cleaning hoses, restacking/replacing the hose onto the bed, servicing SCBA masks, refilling oxygen cylinders, cleaning portable pumps and generators. Instructors must leave time during a skill practice session to ensure that students can return an engine or other equipment to ready status. Restoring the equipment after the session ends should be a whole-class effort.
a long way toward improving a student’s performance. Indeed, students are unlikely to improve their performance unless they receive objective feedback (both positive and negative) from their instructor. If an instructor is not sincere and concerned about a student’s performance, trust will never develop, and the student is unlikely to achieve mastery-level performance. Public safety instructors need to become respected coaches during skill-focused educational sessions. Just like coaches of sports teams, these instructors should strive to develop trust and respect. Successful athletic coaches are respected by their players and communicate openly, identifying mistakes and ways to improve. They provide encouragement and praise in addition to constructive criticism to improve performance. So, too, must public safety instructors because their students can improve their skills only if they have an accurate knowledge of their performance.
Link As noted in Chapter 2, the instructor may become a “carping critic” or “taskmaster”; these roles offer little constructive support to students and should be avoided when teaching a skill. Likewise, being a “cheerleader” or a “salesperson” can be bad. Telling the students only what they did correctly and not identifying the areas of poor performance can negatively affect their performance.
Overlearning and the Drill Paradox An interesting paradox arises in learning a skill. After a student performs a skill correctly one time, he or she goes into an overlearning phase. Overlearning is not bad. In fact, it tends to result in improved skill retention. Nevertheless, there is a point when overlearning becomes overkill. Students in overkill gain little or no growth from practice sessions. Continuous practice sessions, such as drill sessions, can cause overlearning to occur. When the instructor has the students perform the skill over and over again, even when the skill is performed correctly, it becomes boring and little improvement will occur. Drilling students begins to cause errors, often due to the students’ fatigue. Both overlearning and drill take time away from other areas of learning. An instructor must recognize the signs of fatigue and modify the p actice session to meet the students’ abilities. pr
Q Role of the Instructor During a practice session, an instructor needs to provide challenging situations for the students to solve. Constructive encouragement from the instructor goes
Q Role of the Assistant Instructors Assistant instructors can greatly influence how students perform a skill because they monitor large portions of practice sessions. Of course, the lead instructor cannot hope to supervise every group of students or every assistant instructor. Assistant instructors must be trusted to share similar information that the primary instructor would normally present. The assistant instructor should mirror the instructional style of the primary instructor to avoid confusion. Select the assistant instructors wisely. A supportive and caring primary instructor is meaningless if an overly critical assistant instructor is actually working one-on-one with the students. The role of the assistant instructor should not be underestimated. Successful programs are based on the quality of their instruction— and good primary instruction is canceled out by ineffective assistant instructors’ presentations. Prepare the assistant instructors with the same care that is put into designing the lesson plan. The end result may be an improved program and better assistant instructors.
CHAPTER 11: Psychomotor Skill Instruction
A good assistant instructor should have the following characteristics: Q Possess a teaching style similar to that of the primary instructor Q Demonstrate proficiency in performing the skills he or she will be teaching Q Have at least minimum education at the level of instruction that he or she will be teaching (e.g., an EMT training an EMT) Q Demonstrate a desire to improve personal skill proficiency Q Be mature Q Be a positive role model Q Be motivated for the educational experience (i.e., not motivated by other intrinsic factors such as ego or monetary reimbursement) Q Be available for educational sessions Q Demonstrate an understanding of instructional methods used to instruct skill sessions Q Be a respected public safety officer within his or her local area Just because an assistant instructor can perform a skill in a field setting, it does not mean that he or she can teach the skill in an educational setting. In other words, not every good field provider becomes a good instructor. Assistant instructors need to be exposed to formal teaching approaches when they are asked to teach skill sessions to ensure maximum learning effectiveness among the students.
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Plan meetings with the assistant instructors to review the skills that will be taught in the educational program. Making sure that the assistant instructors know what you want the students to learn is a step in the right direction.
Tip
Q Summary Skills are a crucial component of any public safety course. Presenting skills occurs in several stages, including initial preparation, complete demonstration of the skill, step-by-step demonstration of the skill, practice sessions, evaluation, and wrap-up. The goal should be for all students to achieve the highly skilled (mastery) level of performance. Achieving this goal may require a great deal of practice and a supportive and understanding instructor who provides accurate feedback and constructive criticism. Assistant instructors also play a vital role in the development of students’ skills. Quality care and performance begin with quality education, and students need to be provided with the best possible opportunity to reach this goal.
CHAPTER
12 OBJECTIVES
Realism
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter focuses on creating and using realism concepts in educational settings. Adult learners need realism if they are to effectively learn information. Realistic concepts should be a part of every lesson presentation. Providing actual contact with realistic-looking situations helps prepare students for real-life experiences.
Q
Discuss the role of realism in classrooms.
Q
Identify various ways to introduce realism in a lesson.
Q
Review the creation and use of scenarios in classroom settings.
Q
Define the terms makeup and moulage.
Link
Q
Identify types of simulation supplies.
To find detailed photographs demonstrating examples of realism, makeup, moulage, and simulation scenarios, go to the Instructional Methods for Public Safety page on www.jblearning.com.
Q
Address the role of props and facilities.
Q
Identify the importance of acting out the scenario by the actors.
Q
Identify and describe injuries and emergency conditions that can be effectively simulated:
Q
•
Shock-like appearance
•
Abrasions
•
Burns
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Sucking chest wound
•
Lacerations
•
Fractures
•
Amputations
•
Bruise
Identify when and where to use realism concepts.
Q Understanding the Role of Realism in the Public Safety Classroom Adult learners need realism in their educational program if they are to have an effective learning experience. Realistic concepts involve much more than just dumping fake blood onto a simulated patient. Public safety environments are themselves realistic settings, owing to the presence of burn buildings, cliffs and hillsides, firefighting apparatus, various types of equipment, and even lab specimens. An instructor needs simply to look within the classroom to identify equipment and concepts to use. Realistic concepts should be a part of every lesson presentation. Providing actual contact with realistic-looking situations helps prepare students for reallife experiences. An instructor’s role, then, is to use realistic equipment, situations, and course materials that simulate real-life settings.
Tip
The role of realism is to bring the real-life situations into a controlled learning environment.
CHAPTER 12: Realism
Public safety instructors have a wealth of equipment and resources available to them as realism tools—for example, using actual lab specimens for an anatomy course or contacting the electric company for a hands-on demonstration of handling downed power lines. The resources for creating realism are within every instructor’s reach. All that instructors need to do is to spend a little time to identify how they can use realism in their lesson presentation.
Q Simulation Facilities Some educational institutes are fortunate to have simulation facilities. The types of facilities that are available to many public safety classes include the following structures: Q Smokehouses Q Burn buildings Q Rappelling towers Q Hazardous material pits Q Propane fire simulators Q Driving simulation rooms Community colleges, state firefighting academies, and even local services agencies, such as electric utility companies, may have these types of facilities as well. When instructors do not have access to a permanent simulation facility, they must use facilities that are not intended for the intended use and, in such cases, must be very safety conscious. A full safety check of the structure will be necessary for any nonpermanent simulation facility. Sometimes steps may need to be taken to enhance the safety of the structure, including making additional exits from the structure, placing ventilation holes in the roof, positioning escape ladders at the second-floor windows, having interior safety crews in the building at all times, identifying a secondary water supply source, and keeping a separate set of fire suppression equipment from that being used in the educational activity. All of the instructors need to be acutely aware of the potential dangers when using an off-site learning environment. For medical training programs and vehicle rescue courses, automobiles, trucks, or buses are used. These, too, need to be free of potential hazards. Gas tanks and other flammable liquids should be removed from the vehicles. Vehicles placed on their sides should be stabilized before a patient-actor is placed inside. Fully charged handlines and backup rescue crews and equipment should be ready in case a problem arises during an educational session. When using any uncontrolled simulation facility, such as wrecked vehicles, the instructor must be able to anticipate,
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and attempt to prevent, a hazardous situation from developing. A safety officer should be identified to observe the overall activities. Safety remains the number one concern.
Q Scenarios The scenarios should be written in conjunction with the lesson plan. Before placing a patient-actor inside an overturned vehicle, a written guideline should be developed for creating a realistic setting. Even indoor classroom sessions should use predeveloped scenarios. Such a written explanation identifies the actions for the instructor, the students, and the patient-actors so that everyone (including the safety officer, backup rescue personnel, and assistant instructors) knows what to expect. It also identifies the equipment and resources needed for the simulation.
Q Makeup and Moulage Makeup (cosmetics) and moulage (molds, plastics, or rubber-styled injuries) can be used together to create realistic-looking injuries. A variety of makeup and moulage products can be used to simulate injuries (FIGURE 12–1): Q Grease liners (white, Q Mortician’s wax blue, red, yellow, Q Coagulated blood brown, black, natural) Q Ashes, charcoal, dirt Q Compact/base Q Vaseline foundation Q Cosmetic mask Q Red fingernail polish Q Simulated bones Q Latex adhesive Q Bleeding wounds Q Glycerin Q Bleeding bags Q Cotton balls Q Laceration moulage Q Tissue paper Q Fresh link sausage Q Plexiglas Q Cold cream Q Alka-Seltzer tablets Q Plasteline Q Amputation moulage Q Latex gel effects Q Evisceration moulage Q Q-tips Q Fresh rack-of-ribs Q Stipple sponges Q Scissors Q Combs Q Wooden/plastic tongue Q Eyeliner (blue and red) A variety of wounds can be made with these products. For example, instructors frequently simulate the following injuries or conditions in their educational scenarios: Q Shock-like appearance Q Fractures Q Lacerations Q Burns Q Abrasions Q Amputations Q Bruises Q Sucking chest wounds
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sweaty. To achieve a shock-like appearance on a patientactor, apply a thin coating of grease, powder, or other makeup product onto the face, ears, neck, hands, arms, and legs. Any body part that is immediately exposed or will be exposed during an assessment needs to be made up. This thin coating should be blended into the patient’s skin so that no blobs or streaks are obvious. If using blue-based makeup, use only a very small amount of blue and carefully blend it into the base makeup; otherwise, the actor will look like a Smurf! To finish off the shock-like appearance, apply either water (from a water bottle with a spray button) or glycerin onto the exposed body surfaces. Be careful to avoid spraying these products in the actor’s eyes, nose, ears, or mouth.
Lacerations
If an instructor can become proficient at developing these eight simulations, most other simulations will be created without too much difficulty. The best advice when using makeup products is to be conservative in the application of makeup. Too little can be corrected; too much is usually much more difficult to correct. Before applying any makeup or moulage products to a patient-actor, ask the actor if he or she is allergic to cosmetic-based or latex products. Also inform students that the simulated victims have been made up with cosmetic and latex products. When possible, before applying makeup to an actor in the scenario, have the actor apply a very thin coating of cold cream to the areas that will be made up. This helps the actor to clean up after the simulations are completed. Before applying any makeup or moulage products to a patient-actor, ask the actor if he or she is allergic to cosmetic-based or latex products. Many of these products can be irritants, and the last thing an instructor needs is for the actor to develop a true anaphylactic shock condition. It is also important to inform students participating in the session that the simulated victims have been made up with cosmetic and latex products.
Tip
Shock Both medical emergency and trauma patients experience poor tissue perfusion. With this condition, the patient’s skin color becomes pale, and in severe cases the skin appears gray or bluish. The skin is usually cool and
There are many ways to apply makeup and moulage to simulate lacerations. Commonly used approaches include plasteline, mortician’s wax latex, or small plastic moulage wounds. Use of plasteline or mortician’s wax allows other injuries to be added to a basic laceration—for example, Plexiglas, bleeding lines, or even bone fragments. Note that male actors with hairy arms, legs, chest, or back may not be the best choice in patient scenarios involving lacerations. One of the first applications to the site is a thin coating of latex glue. Once dry, the latex tends to hold the wax onto the skin, especially when dressings are applied repeatedly to the area. Depending on how large the laceration will be, take a walnut-size amount of the plasteline or wax and roll it around in your hands. This action softens the material and allows for a smoother application. Flatten it out and apply it to the site. Using a wooden tongue blade or an artist’s knife, smooth it out evenly onto the site. You can then take the edge of the blade and draw a jagged line to simulate the laceration site. It may be necessary to heighten the believability of the laceration by making a lip along the edge of the laceration. When using the natural color grease liner or cosmetic foundation, apply a color that closely matches the actor’s skin color. When using plasteline, brown or dark brown colored plasteline can be added for this purpose. Blend the colors together until they match the actor’s skin color. To add color to the laceration, use red liner, red fingernail polish, or warmed red latex gel in the line that is cut into the wax. The last component to apply is the coagulated blood in the wound. It is important to apply the blood only when the patient-actor is lying in the position
CHAPTER 12: Realism
indicated by the scenario. Add small amounts of blood to the laceration; gravity will do the rest. After each group of students has worked through the scenario, the blood will need to be reapplied to the actor. When warmed red latex gel is used, only a little blood usually needs to be reapplied. As mentioned earlier, either bone fragments or Plexiglas may be added to the laceration to enhance the realism of the scene. Once the laceration has been made, the bones or Plexiglas can be inserted. The laceration lip can be pushed into the bones or Plexiglas to hold them in place. Red grease liner, fingernail polish, or warmed red latex gel can be added to both the laceration and the bone or Plexiglas fragments. Caution needs to be used so that a real laceration does not occur. Be sure enough plasteline or wax surrounds the objects to hold them in place. Just as in the basic laceration, coagulated blood is applied to both the impaled object and to the laceration. Use gravity to let the blood flow from the wound, and apply the blood only after the patientactor is fully positioned. Otherwise, the blood flow may not match the simulation.
Moulage Wounds Stick-on moulage wounds are preformed wounds that are applied directly onto the patient-actor’s skin. A thin coating of glue or double-sided tape will hold the wounds in place. These simulated wounds vary in size, usually from 1 inch to 6 inches in length. When simulation blood is added, the wounds take on a very realistic appearance. They can be affixed to the actor’s body with either plasteline or wax. Fastener-type wounds are less realistic than the stick-on wounds. Fastener-type wounds are positioned on the actor’s arms, legs, face, back, or chest; an adjustable strap holds them in place. The patientactor’s clothing can be placed over them and then cut to disclose the wound. Many of these devices have bleeder lines that allow blood bags to be connected to the wounds. The actor can squeeze a pumping device to simulate an arterial bleeding injury. Because of the bulky nature of these moulage devices, they have lost favor with many instructors. The plastic and fake appearance of these wounds does not render the amount of realism that the other types of makeup and moulage devices provide.
Bleeding To make a laceration look even more realistic, use a combination of bleeding bags, simulated blood, warmed red latex gel, and coagulated blood. For
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venous bleeding, use the coagulated blood, thick simulated blood, or red latex gel. For arterial bleeding, a bleeding bag with simulated blood is used. Bleeding bag lines can be hidden underneath a wound. The line can be taped onto the patient-actor, the plasteline or wax applied, and an impaled object or bone fragment applied on top of the line. The actor then simulates severe arterial bleeding when students begin the simulation. The bleeding needs to look realistic and be appropriate for the scenario.
Tip
Avoid getting simulated blood onto human hair or onto clothing. Simulated blood products do stain.
Abrasions Abrasions do not require extensive preparation or creativity. Using a stipple sponge and red grease liner can make abrasions. Depending on the scenario, additional black or brown color and dirt or charcoal can be added as a final touch. Even some dabs of simulated blood add realism to the injury.
Bruises A variety of bruises can be created from various makeup supplies. Grease liners (blue, red, yellow) can be used individually or mixed together. Eye shadow liners (blue, dark red, green, yellow) can be applied with cosmetic brushes and mixed together. If a bruise is several days old, it will take on a yellowish green coloring, combined with a dark blue or purple coloring. Eyeliner colors of yellow, green, and purple can be applied with a cosmetic brush to simulate such injuries. Grease liners can be combined to make different shades of colors. For example, a dab of yellow and blue will make a light shade of green. Apply a light coating of yellow first and then blend it in; then apply the light green and blend it in. Combining blue and red makes a light purple color. Apply a small amount of the purple liner to the middle of the bruise site. Both these approaches work equally well to make a realistic bruise. To simulate more recent bruises, use red and blue colors without any premixing. Blend the colors onto the skin. Apply a red eye shadow or grease liner first, and then blend in the blue. Recent bruises have bolder colors than week-old bruises. For the instructor, it is very important to determine the type of injury indicated in the scenario so that the right type of bruise can be made.
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Fractures Plasteline or wax can be used to simulate closed or open fractures. To do so, apply the material and smooth it out; next apply an additional piece on top of the initial coating. Natural coloring is then applied to blend the material into the patient-actor’s skin color. A closed fracture should appear swollen and deformed. A compound fracture can have pieces of simulated bone embedded into the simulated injury. Add several lacerations and simulated blood for the final touch. Even a hidden bleeder line can be added to heighten the realism of the scene. Moulage fracture wounds and fastener-type wounds may also be used to simulate compound fractures. The moulage wounds can be either glued directly to the skin or combined with plasteline or wax. The fastener-style moulage is applied, and clothing is positioned over the moulage. Simulated blood and bleeding bags are used as final touches of realism.
Burns To do an effective burn simulation, the characteristics of the burn and the setting in which the burn occurred must be known. The scenario directly affects how a burn is made up. The smell of burned pieces of clothing and hair, combined with the grotesque appearance of the burn itself, makes a burn one of the most emotionally challenging injuries for public safety personnel to treat. These emotional factors can be duplicated through the use of realism concepts. The scenario must identify the fire setting, time of exposure to the fire source, actions to escape the fire taken by the victim, and the degree of burns that the victim received. For example, a flash fire victim will probably have burns only to exposed skin surfaces— that is, burns to portions of the face, ears, neck, legs, and arms. In this type of fire, a person would likely raise the arms to protect the eyes and face. Thus the burn area needs to be on the portion of the arm that would have been exposed had the victim raised his or her arms to cover the face. This is just one example of why it is important for the scenario to guide the instructor through the creation of a burn simulation. After reviewing the scenario, the instructor can identify the type of burns, locations, and other injuries that will be simulated. For example, a patient will likely have varying degrees of burn to an upper right arm as the result of coming in contact with a motorcycle exhaust pipe during an accident. Thus a simulation for this scenario will need to include first-, second-, and third-degree burns; dirt and gravel in the burn area; and simulated blood coming from the burn area.
One method for creating a burn is to use makeup products. Vaseline, tissue paper, grease liners, charcoal, dirt, and creativity may be used as well. Other makeup items for creating burns might include liquid latex, clear or scar latex gel, or various moulage devices. The burn area is identified and a thin layer of Vaseline is applied to the area. (Cosmetic mask or other products can be substituted for the Vaseline.) Next, ripped pieces of tissue paper are applied to the Vaseline area, and then an additional thin coating of Vaseline is applied on top of the tissue paper. Using a pencil or pen, begin to lift up the tissue paper into little mounds and place small tears in the paper; this creates second- and thirddegree burn areas. Next, add color to the wound. Red grease liner is used to add the first-degree areas as well as to create localized trauma. Taking dabs of the liner and dotting the outer area of the burn can add the red coloring to the burn. Both brown and black grease liners are then used to highlight the second- and third-degree burn areas. Dirt and gravel are added to the entire burn area. The finishing makeup is to apply coagulated blood. Additional touches of realism, such as burned clothing and hair, contribute the sense of smell to the burn. As grotesque as a burn looks, the smell of burned clothing and hair proves to be the truly overpowering factor for many rescuers. These realism factors are added by burning portions of clothing that will be used for the scenario. Burned hair clippings can be placed in a dish near the patient-actor, or they can be laid on top of the simulated burn. These finishing touches will create a burn simulation that is as close to being real as most rescuers will ever want to encounter. Creating a burn, as the previous example suggests, takes a great deal of time. Sometimes, however, instructors may not have the time to make up a burn. Moulage wounds and fastener-type burns may be the answer in such cases. Although not as realistic as the instructor-created injuries, they can provide some sense of realism.
Amputations Both makeup and moulage are used to create an amputation. Additionally, various props that simulate amputated body parts are used. By combining these items, realistic-looking injuries are made. Moulage fastener amputations are used to simulate arm and leg amputations. For arm amputations, the patient-actor’s arm is placed into a flexed position and taped in place; the moulage fastener amputation is then placed over the bent elbow and arm, and the moulaged arm is placed into the shirt sleeve. The result is only the
CHAPTER 12: Realism
amputated stump appearing from the shirt sleeve. A bleeding bag can be used to simulate arterial bleeding from the amputation. A fake hand or forearm can be positioned near the patient-actor, and simulated blood can be applied to it to add some realism. Makeup products may also be used to effectively simulate an amputated body part. For example, a thumb amputation can be easily created using some wax, tape, grease liners, simulated blood, and a simulated thumb. The patient-actor’s thumb is flexed inward toward the palm; tape is used to hold it in place. Next, a piece of wax is molded onto the bent thumb. Natural grease coloring is blended into the wax to match the patient-actor’s skin color, and red liner is added to the bent thumb to simulate the detached portion. Simulated blood is added as a finishing touch. The fake thumb is placed near the actor. The rest of the realism is up to the actor to simulate.
Sucking Chest Wound The sucking chest wound is probably one of the easiest simulations to create. Combination of plasteline or wax, an Alka-Seltzer tablet, and some simulated blood can create a realistic-looking sucking chest wound. The plasteline or wax is applied to the chest, and a depression the size of a nickel is made into the wax. Next, break pieces of an Alka-Seltzer tablet off and insert them into the depression. Pour several drops of diluted simulated blood onto the tablet and watch the area bubble. One tablet may last up to 45 minutes. Responders often encounter subcutaneous emphysema in a patient with a sucking chest wound. A nifty way to simulate this condition is by using plastic packing air bubbles. Position a sheet of these bubbles onto the chest, and then have the actor wear a shirt over the bubbles. As a student assesses the chest region, the bubbles will pop and move around just like real subcutaneous emphysema. This finding will help the students identify the sucking chest wound.
Q Patient-Actors and the Surroundings Aside from makeup and moulage, using patient-actors and having good physical surroundings will create an atmosphere of realism. Not every simulation should be held in a classroom. If students are to experience scenarios that closely match those found in the real world, realistic patient-actors and surroundings are a necessity. Based on a written scenario, a patient-actor is selected, programmed, made up, and positioned in an
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appropriate environment. This actor needs to be the right sex and age and, most important, able to portray the scenario correctly. The actor’s personal display of acting skills should be appropriate for the scenario. If a man has a fractured femur, he is usually in severe pain. He yells out in distress and screams loudly when the leg or body is slightly moved. Patient-actors need to display this same realism when they are being treated. Moreover, the actor needs to display the correct responses to the student’s assessments. Based on the scenario, a patient-actor may become unconscious on direction from the instructor. The actor must be briefed in reference to the entire scenario. Any medical history, allergies, medicines, chief complaints, and the onset of the symptoms need to be known by the patient-actor. The instructor also needs to assess the actor’s vital signs so that he or she can determine whether the students are, in turn, assessing the actor’s vital signs correctly. These elements make the patient-actor believable and realistic. One other element is key to adding realism to the scenario—appropriate surroundings. If the actor is simulating a drug overdose patient, the setting is enhanced if drug paraphernalia is found lying around the simulation scene. Placing a patient with gastrointestinal bleeding inside a small bathroom setting is more realistic than positioning him or her in the middle of a classroom. Placing props and the patient in an appropriate setting completes the elements needed for effective realism.
Q Summary Adult learners require realistic experiences if they are to learn effectively. For this reason, instructors need to include realistic learning experiences in their presentations. Realism not only includes makeup and moulage, but also encompasses the surroundings, patient-actors, and teaching aids used. Achieving this kind of realism requires creativity on behalf of the instructor. A variety of cosmetic and moulage products is available to create the injuries and symptoms identified by the scenario. Without effective acting by the patientactor, however, even the best makeup will have only a mild impact. The patient-actor needs to act out the scenario. To help him or her to do so effectively, props are used to make the scenario come to life. The more realistic the learning experience becomes, the better the overall learning experience becomes. Because adult learners learn best by doing, the ultimate goal is to make the learning experience as realistic as possible.
PART
4
Evaluation and Assessment
13 14
Student Evaluation Tools Program Evaluation
CHAPTER
Student Evaluation Tools
13
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter presents valuable evaluation tools with which to assess the amount of learning that has occurred within a lesson or within a course. Evaluation is intended to ensure that educators are providing effective instruction.
Q Purpose of Evaluation Evaluation is a critical piece of the educational experience because it measures a student’s progress toward the behavioral objectives for the lesson. The evaluation process serves as a feedback mechanism for both the instructor and the students. Through the process of evaluation, students and instructor alike can identify areas of weaknesses and strengths, for individual students as well as for the entire class, including measuring the instructor’s effectiveness. Although evaluation should not be viewed as a sole indicator of instructor performance, it can be used to highlight positive and negative levels of performance that can be explored by other program evaluation mechanisms. The evaluation process itself is a learning experience.
Q Measuring Results The formal evaluation process assesses knowledge (comprehension) and practical (psychomotor) aspects of the learning process. To state that a student learned a subject, a change in the student’s behavior must be observed. Whereas an educational system or certifying organization may have its own examinations, instructors can develop their own variety of evaluation tools to assess students’ behavioral changes.
OBJECTIVES Q
State the need to evaluate students.
Q
Identify the role of behavioral objectives in evaluations.
Q
List types of evaluation tools for both oral and written examinations.
Q
Describe the factors that should be included in examination directions.
Q
Explore various types of written examination questions.
Q
Outline the strengths and weaknesses of original and standardized examinations.
Q
Explain the steps required to develop a practical examination.
Q
Identify the role of test anxiety during evaluations.
Q
State the role of the instructor during an examination.
Q
Identify the use of remediation to improve student performance.
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Regardless of the type of evaluation tool being used, an examination must be an objective assessment— that is, without bias or prejudice and impersonal. Depending on the type of examination, there may be some degree of subjectivity when an instructor’s attitudes, opinions, or values influence the judgment of student performance. Practical and value-based assessments are inherently subjective. Subjectivity cannot be totally erased when using many examination formats (i.e., essay or practical evaluations), but it can be minimized. To assess basic comprehension, an instructor may use written examinations that include multiplechoice questions. Essay questions can be useful tools to evaluate high levels of comprehension, asking students to analyze or synthesize information they have learned. Despite their subjectivity, essay and completion examinations allow students to show their creativity and problem-solving abilities.
Link Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, presented in Chapter 8, may be used to identify an appropriate evaluation mechanism and determine the difficulty level of evaluation questions.
Some of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives may be helpful in creating evaluation tools: Q Knowledge: “Can you list the organs associated with the digestive system?” Q Comprehension: “Your engine is the firstarriving unit on a fully involved one-story house fire. You are the engineer. Which of the following is not your responsibility? A. Setting the pump in gear. B. Priming the pump. C. Grabbing the attack line and ladder. D. Establishing a water supply.” Q Application: “Your EMS crew has been dispatched to a high-rise building for an elderly female lying at the bottom of a stairway. Outward rotation of the patient’s right leg is immediately apparent, and the patient complains of severe pain in the upper right leg and hip. There is no loss of consciousness. How will you proceed?” Q Analysis: “The use of high-pressure hoses versus high-volume hoses for direct fire suppression has been the subject of debate for many years. Compare the two approaches and identify the positive and negative aspects of both approaches.” Q Synthesis: “You are the rescue captain at the scene of a motor vehicle accident. A car has
Q
plunged into a creek and all but the roof of the car is submerged. Victims are presumed to be trapped inside the car. You have the resources of a complete heavy rescue unit. Which means of access and disentanglement would you choose?” Evaluation: “You are dispatched to an isolated portion of your coverage area. A painting crew has been working on a 70-foot-high tension tower. One of the crew has become unconscious and is suspended by his ladder belt, which is clipped to the side of the tower. A rain storm is approaching with lightning and high winds. How would you effect a rescue in this situation?”
Evaluations should be objective assessments, without any bias or prejudice. An instructor’s attitudes, opinions, or values should not influence his or her evaluation of a student’s performance.
Tip
Q Oral Evaluations Oral questions are a powerful evaluation tool. Instructors who can mix oral questions into the flow of their lesson presentation can accomplish learning and evaluation at the same time. Instructors use oral questions to stimulate discussions, clarify points of concern, review previously learned material, and evaluate the overall instructional effectiveness. When asking an oral question, an instructor should follow these guidelines: Q Place oral questions in the lesson plan at the point of the lesson where he or she intends to ask them. Q Form oral questions from the behavioral objectives for the lesson. Q Challenge students to use their problem-solving abilities. Q Avoid overwhelming students with too many questions. Q Allow students sufficient time to respond to the questions. (If students cannot answer, try rephrasing the question or review the material relating to the question.) Q Provide positive reinforcement of the student’s answer. (Even a student’s wrong answer can be used to provide positive reinforcement. An example would be, “No, that’s not the exact answer that I was looking for . . .”) Q Ensure that all students have a chance to answer questions; do not rely on any one student to take the lead in answering questions.
CHAPTER 13: Student Evaluation Tools
If students cannot respond to simple knowledge questions, this failure may indicate that learning is not taking place. In such a case, the instructor should review and remediate the previously covered material.
be contracted by being exposed to the patient’s body fluids?”
Tip
Arthur Carm and Robert Sund outlined the formats that are often used to ask oral questions: Q Recall (simple knowledge recall): “What is the meaning of a placard that is red and has white lettering and blue bars?” Q Convergent (asks for knowledge at comprehension, application, and problemsolving levels): “You are at a one-vehicle crash. The vehicle is a midsize car. The victim is inside, and the driver’s door is jammed against a tree. Which means of access could you use to reach the victim?” Q Divergent (problem solving and inquisitive; “Why?” or “What if?”): “If a chlorine tanker truck wrecks in the middle of the downtown business district on a weekday and begins leaking, how would you respond?” Q Value (addresses student feelings, attitudes, or opinions): “How would you feel about treating a patient with a disease that is fatal and could
Q Written Evaluations Written examinations are the most widely used evaluation tool. Unfortunately, many students do not perform well on written exams. For example, students who are psychomotor oriented in their daily jobs will likely do better on a practical examination or on an oral examination. Conversely, these same students may do badly on the written examination, in part due to the lack of written stimulation in their daily lives. Instructors need to have a “blueprint” to follow when developing an evaluation tool. For written examinations, this blueprint should consist of the lesson’s objectives and take into account the time spent covering the lesson material. The instructor needs to have enough questions to ensure adequate coverage of the material addressed during the lesson. The number of examination questions should reflect the weight and amount of time given to each topic during classroom time. FIGURE 13–1 shows an example of the relationship of the lesson objectives, class time spent on those objectives, and the taxonomy of educational objectives for the creation of the blueprint.
Test Blueprint Example Section | Examination
Content Areas
Topics: Anatomy and Physiology, CPR, Airway Management Concepts and Treatments
Number of Objectives
Anatomy and Physiology CPR and Airway Number of Questions on Exam 100
26 45
87
Amount of Time
37% 63%
3 hr. 14 hr.
18% 82%
Taxonomy Level K C A AN S E 26 20
8
17
Anatomy and Physiology
CPR and Airway
37
63
Percent Exam Questions
Anatomy and Physiology CPR and Airway
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PART 4: Evaluation and Assessment
Tips for Creating Written Examinations • Identify the knowledge and information that are important to know. • Design the examination around the students’ characteristics. Their age and ability level, as well as the rationale for giving the examination, become important determinants. • Avoid excessive language; use only as many words as are necessary. • Do not use direct quotes from the textbook, such as leaving a key word out and inserting a blank line. The meaning of the statement is easily lost when using this technique. • Do not write questions that are related so that an incorrect answer to one question makes the rest of the answers incorrect. • Avoid providing the answer to another question in a different section of the examination. • Design the question and possible answers so that there is only one “best” or correct answer to the question. • Avoid inserting a negative word or phrase into a positive statement to make it incorrect. • When formatting the examination, do not have questions or answers run over onto the next page. This is especially important for matching and multiple-choice questions.
Well-written directions are critical for all examinations so that students know what is expected of them. Directions should include the following elements: Q Advice. Direct the student to read the whole question before answering. Q Method of documentation. Inform the student where answers should be marked (e.g., answer booklet, separate sheet of paper, directly into the computer). Q Time. Specify the time allowed for the examination. This information, combined with a stating of the time, allows the student to budget time for the examination. Q Instructor assistance. State which questions and concerns may be raised during the examination. For example, if a question is not legible or a word is misspelled and causing confusion, the student should be able to ask the instructor. In contrast, asking what a key term means would not be appropriate. Q Starting the examination. Identify the specific procedures that you want followed for starting
the examination. For example, “Start the examination only when instructed.” Q Ending the examination. Specify if students may leave once they complete the examination or if they should wait until everyone finishes, and explain how they should hand in their examinations. In addition, the instructor should develop an answer sheet. Such an answer sheet may be used for any type of examination question and can be formatted in a variety of ways, depending on the type of exam. Computer answer sheets are designed for an “optiscanner” computer system. Instructors who do not have access to a computer entry system may use a manual punch-out answer key to place over the answer sheet and mark incorrect responses. Answer keys make correction easier, allow exams to be used multiple times, and reduce reproduction costs for the examination. Some instructors find it useful to provide scratch paper so that students can make notes, draw diagrams, or do calculations without marking up their answer sheets.
Tip
Written examinations may include a variety of question formats, such as essay, short answer, sentence completion, matching, true/false, and multiple choice. Each type of question has its strengths and weaknesses, as outlined in the following sections.
Essay Questions The essay examination is a powerful evaluation tool, but the instructor needs to be aware of the performance levels of the students before deciding to use this format for evaluation purposes. The essay examination is not for every group of students, however. Because essay examinations can provide students with the ability to express creative thinking, for example, they work extremely well for evaluating small groups of students. Instructors benefit from the short preparation time needed to create the examination, as compared to the lengthy time it takes to write a multiple-choice examination. Several limitations are associated with the essay examination. A critical limitation is the subjectivity inherent in this format. For example, the instructor’s opinions or attitudes toward a student can influence the instructor, thereby affecting the student’s score. Other factors—such as grammar, spelling, and writing style—are often evaluated with the overall content
CHAPTER 13: Student Evaluation Tools
that is being assessed. Additionally, essay questions are time-consuming for both the instructor and the student. If a student does not completely understand the meaning of the essay question, the student’s answer may not even be close to the answer that the instructor is seeking. When creating essay questions, an instructor must decide which objectives are the most important for the students to know and ensure that only those objectives are covered in the essay test. The time allotted for the examination becomes a factor in how the exam is developed. For example, if there is 1 hour of classroom time for an examination, then the essay exam should consist of two or three short questions. Tips for Creating Essay Questions • State the specific content of the information being asked. For example, suppose a question states, “Identify the operation of a fire extinguisher.” This question can be interpreted in many ways. For example, is it a dry chemical extinguisher or an Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) water extinguisher? A better way of writing this question is “Describe the procedure for using an AFFF water extinguisher on an oil fire.” • Use descriptive words: define, outline, select, and compare e or contrastt. These terms provide a student with a working idea of the answer that is being sought. • Limit the scope of the student’s answers. Clearly state the length of the answer. This gives the student a framework for responding to the question. On the examination form, limiting the space to write the answer can be a helpful tool to define a student’s response. • Allow sufficient time for the students to respond to each question. Short-answer responses that should be approximately half a page long will take students 10 to 15 minutes to write. Fullpage responses can take 20 to 30 minutes to complete. • Write the “perfect” answer to each question. Reference the objective on which the question is based. Prewritten answers will improve an examination’s validity.
To evaluate essay questions, it is very important to limit subjectivity. It may be helpful to use the answer key created when the examination was developed and compare each of the student’s answers to the key words and concepts contained within the answer key. Instructors may find it is useful to hide or cover the
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student’s name when reviewing the essay to avoid any bias. Although the handwriting of the student can still be recognized in many cases, hiding the name helps reduce the “halo effect.” A third-party instructor who does not know any of the students may be asked to correct the examinations to reduce the chance of any bias. To assist a third-party instructor, the creation of a scoring system is often useful. Identifying key words will permit easy correction of the examinations. Whoever grades the examinations should grade only one question at a time for all the examinations to promote an equal grading pattern for the answers to that question on all the examinations. Instructors should provide written comments on the student’s answer sheets and clearly identify the correct answer. Correcting essay examinations can be a challenging proposition for an instructor. Ensuring that the subjectivity of the grades is kept to a minimum is not easy, and it takes a lot of time to grade essay examinations.
Short-Answer and Sentence-Completion Questions Short-answer questions usually require a student to write one or two sentences to answer the question; sentence-completion questions ask for one- or twoword answers. Both types of questions are mainly used for quizzes or small-unit examinations. They have several advantages because they are easy to create, accurately assess student comprehension (by eliminating the “guess factor” associated with multiplechoice, matching, or true/false questions), and can test multiple objectives. Additionally, they are more objective than essay exams. The main disadvantage of these types of questions is that they may allow students to simply memorize information, without developing a depth of knowledge. As with other test formats, an answer key should always be created along with the exam to ensure objectivity in evaluating student responses.
Matching Questions Matching questions ask students to match a phrase or statement (in one column) to a list of potential answers (in a second column). When using this type of format, the instructor must clearly specify whether an answer can be used more than once, what each column means, and where students should write their answers.
True/False Questions When an instructor has a lot of factual material to review, true/false questions may be useful because they
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Instructor-Made or Standardized Tests Throughout all aspects of education, a lengthy debate has been going on for years concerning the use of standardized examinations versus teachermade examinations. Advocates on both sides of the issue have noteworthy perspectives. Proponents of the teacher-made tests maintain that teachers best know their students’ educational strengths and weaknesses. They believe that they can design the examination to meet the learning capabilities of their students. A teacher-made examination measures the educational growth of a specific group of students. Proponents of standardized examinations counter that a standardized test provides a more objective review of the student’s learning growth. In addition, a standardized examination can provide a state- or national-based form of measurement. Commercially made examinations are available for both EMS and fire educational programs. Some computer test banks are keyed to specific textbooks or curricula. With these “semi-standardized” examinations, an instructor does not make the questions, but rather selects questions that a professional educator created. In addition, nationally accredited examinations are available for EMS and fire service personnel. For example, the National Registry of EMTs examination is a well-accepted evaluation for EMS personnel. For the fire service, the Fire Fighter I and Fire Fighter II certifications are employed as evaluation strategies. State certification examinations are another example of standardized examinations. The primary purpose of a national or state examination is to measure whether a student meets a minimum level of performance. These examinations offer little or no direct feedback on specific questions that are missed, however. Instead, the major learning benefit associated with a standardized examination is the experience of taking the examination. Both teacher-made and standardized examinations have their place in the educational process. Students and instructors should understand the benefits and the drawbacks of these examinations. Instructors must make sure that students know what to expect from each examination format before they take the examination.
can assess a great deal of subject matter in a very short time. However, because each question may have only one of two answers (either true or false), students may guess the correct answer without actually knowing the material. Students who know how to take a true/ false exam can improve their guessing by looking for certain key words (e.g., always, never, usually). Another
pitfall is that students may simply memorize the lesson material without gaining true understanding—that is, they may cram their short-term memories with factual information that, unless it is reinforced, will be forgotten soon after the exam.
Multiple-Choice Questions The basic format of a multiple-choice question consists of two parts—a question or statement (stem) and a set of answers (one correct answer and several distracters). Although this is the most popular type of examination, multiple-choice questions are also the most challenging examination for an instructor to write. The question or statement must clearly identify the background information needed to answer the question. If the question is well written, a student should have a working idea of the answer without even looking at the possible answers. The key is to have the incorrect answers, known as distracters, be totally incorrect but believable. Commonly used multiple-choice examination formats include best answer, sentence completion, question, and interpretive.
Link The Instructional Methods for Public Safety page on www.jblearning.com includes examples of all types of examination questions.
No specific number of distracters is required, although most instructors include four, five, or six possible answers. It is best to ensure that each question does not provide answers to other questions on the examination and to balance the placement of the correct response (e.g., don’t have 90 percent of the correct answers be “B”) to reduce the “guessing factor.” The instructor should always highlight (i.e., make bold, underline, or all CAPS) key words in the question or statement that could affect the response (e.g., all, not, except for, best, but). With multiple-choice questions, it is important that the question or statement and all the possible answers stay on the same page to avoid confusion. The distracters must be related to the subject being evaluated; however, they must also be 100 percent incorrect. There can be only one correct answer. The correct answer should be the same length as the distracters. Oftentimes, students can guess the right answer by looking at the longest answer. Whenever possible, limit the use of “All of the above” or “None of the above” as distracters. These distracters do not add to the difficulty of the examination.
CHAPTER 13: Student Evaluation Tools
The difficulty of an examination question is initially determined by the behavioral objective that is being evaluated. A knowledge-level objective will be easier to answer than a problem-solving-level objective. Adding to the objective’s difficulty is the discrimination between the correct answer and the distracter. The closer the distracter is to the correct answer, the more difficult the question. During a post review of an examination, the item difficulty for a question can be statistically identified. Designing good multiple-choice questions is not an easy task. Instructors must set aside sufficient time to create the examinations. Each exam should fairly and accurately evaluate the student’s learning growth. Evaluating students with an objective evaluation tool allows the instructor to closely monitor the learning growth of all students. The multiple-choice
examination provides the avenue for an objective review of the students, which is a key goal when using any evaluation tool. For each multiple-choice question, the instructor should allow at least 1 minute of examination time to complete. Thus a 50-question examination will take 50 minutes to complete.
Tip
Q Test Anxiety A major factor contributing to a student’s performance on an examination may be the amount of test anxiety the student experiences. Test anxiety has both psychological and physiological effects. The signs of test anxiety vary among students. Compulsive
Tips for Students: Preparing for an Examination These guidelines should be shared with students during the first week of an educational program, or at least prior to the first significant examination. Having the students perform to the best of their capabilities is what an instructor wants. Knowing how to take an examination can improve a student’s performance on the examination. • When preparing for an examination, study for short periods of time, days in advance, instead of cramming the night before. Short-term memorization of the information provides only temporary retention of the information. For public safety personnel, this can mean disaster. These personnel need to know the information all the time, not just for short periods of time. • Review all notes, textbook materials, and any study guide materials. Use of small study groups of three or four people who get together to discuss the information will encourage retention of the information. • Physically prepare for the examination. Attempt to have a stress-free day. Get a good night’s sleep the day before the examination. Eat a light meal before the examination. Try to exercise before the examination; increased cardiovascular perfusion provides more blood supply to the brain. • Bring examination equipment to the exam. A wristwatch is suggested so that questions can be paced. Bring several sharpened pencils. Make sure the lead is dark enough for the examination answer sheets if computer answer sheets are being used. Leave textbooks and notes outside the testing area; they do not provide any benefit at the test.
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• When taking a true/false examination, look for key words. Absolute words (e.g., only, alone, all, none, always, neverr) tend to be part of false statements, whereas open terms (e.g., should, may, sometimes, most, some, often) tend to indicate true statements. • Multiple-choice questions consist of two parts: a statement or question and a series of answers. Read the question or statement first; some students have found it useful to cover the answer selections with a piece of paper during this stage. Find key words and phrases that identify the answer. Look at the grammar for the question and identify whether it is a singular or plural answer format. Then think of the correct answer and look at all the answer selections. Only after reading all the answers, place the correct answer onto the answer sheet. If your answer does not exactly match the examination answers, begin to eliminate those answers that are totally incorrect. Formulate an educated guess at the answer once the answer possibilities have been reduced by this process of elimination. • Use a piece of scrap paper during the examination. Mark down questions that cause concern during the examination. Skip questions that are troublesome and answer them at the end of the examination, time permitting. Remember that studies have shown that your first impression is usually the correct impression. Change an answer only if the first answer is definitely not the right selection.
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behaviors or nervousness are commonly observed. Physiological reactions such as frequent urination, sweaty palms, nausea, vomiting, and increased pulse and blood pressure are often observed. The more important the examination (for example, a final or certification examination), the more stressful the response displayed by students. Normally anxious students are affected more significantly and actually perform more poorly on these types of examinations.
Tip
When used correctly, examinations are both a learning tool and an evaluation tool.
provide an overview of the examination objectives for each station and explain how he or she will disclose examination scores. Instructors must factor an anxiety component into their evaluation of the students. Whether it is a practical or written examination, consider poor performance on an examination due to test anxiety if other objective explanations prove to be unfounded. Test anxiety is a reality, and its effects should not be overlooked or underrated.
Q Skill Evaluation (Practical Evaluation)
An instructor can take several steps to reduce the amount of test anxiety for students. Specific methods include the following: Q Adequately prepare the students for taking the examination. State the number of questions on the exam as well as the type of examination format, such as multiple choice, true/false, or essay. Q State the content information being evaluated (e.g., a specific chapter of the text). Knowing which information will be covered helps reduce the fear of the unknown, which is a major factor contributing to test anxiety. Q Reassure students against the fear of failure. Many students are overwhelmed by this fear. State the percentage of students who pass the examination on the first attempt if this statistic is known. Note whether a retest option is available. If this is a modular examination, what is the impact of a poor score on the remaining portion of the course grade? Q Clearly state the directions for the examination. Remember that when a student is under stress, normal instructions may be misinterpreted. Be specific and repeat important instructions. Students need to be instructed on when to start, how much time is allotted for the examination, and what to do after finishing the examination. Q Calm the student, in a quiet setting, and explain that this is an opportunity to shine, not a chance for failure. For practical examinations, a student’s anxiety level for an examination can be lessened by a calm and reassuring description of the evaluation process. Instructors should provide a briefing that outlines the number of stations, student rotation pattern, grading criteria, and retest options. The instructor should also
Periodically throughout a program, there should be an assessment of each student’s skill proficiency. To design a skill evaluation or practical exam, an instructor should do the following: 1. Develop testing scenarios 2. Identify critical performance criteria 3. Determine the number of stations necessary 4. Prepare equipment needs 5. Select instructors to be station evaluators and, when appropriate, secure the services of a safety officer 6. Design evaluation scoring sheets
Link As discussed in Chapter 11, two practical tools are used to assess skills: end-product evaluation and process evaluation.
Testing Scenarios A testing scenario defines the performance expectations for the students. The following items are typically included in a scenario: Q Lesson or section name Q Expected performance objectives Q Scenario Q Supplemental scenario information (e.g., patient’s vital signs, hose pressure, scene safety) Q Number of victims Q Makeup/moulage/props Q Station equipment Q Victim programming Q Number of station evaluators Q Scoring criteria
CHAPTER 13: Student Evaluation Tools
Critical Performance Criteria The instructor should identify the number and types of behavioral objectives that are skill oriented and decide which skills can be evaluated by which evaluation tool.
Stations To determine the correct number of testing stations, the instructor should consider the critical performance criteria and include enough stations to allow students sufficient time to perform the skill. Equipment and resource limitations may place restrictions on the number of stations, as may the availability of evaluators. Instructors must identify those skill stations that can be accomplished in the time allotted for the class session given the available resources.
Link Every attempt should be made to include realism in each phase of the evaluation process. As discussed in Chapter 12, realism may include actual equipment, made-up patient-actors, smoke, fire, wrecked vehicles, dim lighting, and burned clothing, among other props.
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It is very important to use evaluators who can provide an honest review of the students. Steps should be taken to avoid evaluator bias, thereby ensuring fairness. Ideally, the evaluators should not have any ties to the class, either professionally or personally. “Machine-like” evaluators who record only facts—not subjective viewpoints—can help increase objectivity in the practical evaluation. Some evaluators feel uneasy assigning weak or poor scores to students and try to justify the poor performance with excuses: “In a real setting, she wouldn’t do that” or “He had the basic concept; it wasn’t really that bad.” When an evaluator makes these types of comments, a red flag should go up and the lead instructor should closely review that evaluator’s findings. Evaluators demonstrating these characteristics will commonly overrate the performance of the students, which directly reduces the validity of the evaluation and increases its error rate. Using critical performance criteria helps to reduce this kind of error. Conversely, the instructor should be wary of evaluators who believe that all students are average and who do not identify strong or weak performances. Clearly written skill checklists (discussed in the next section) may help lessen this tendency.
Equipment The instructor should make a list of all necessary equipment and lay out the equipment at the stations before the examination. During an examination, a piece of equipment may break and need to be replaced, so additional equipment should be placed in reserve. The instructor should ensure that the equipment for the stations is in good working order. Testing the equipment before the examination (e.g., checking fluid levels in engines, air supply in air bottles, and electric supply in battery-operated equipment) can minimize equipment breakdowns during the examination. Instructors need to see the students using the equipment, not pretending to use it.
Evaluators The validity of evaluations depends on the evaluator’s ability to observe, accurately recall, and interpret the information. Evaluators should provide both positive and negative feedback, use objective-based skill criteria, and desire that the educational program produce quality-trained individuals. Ideally, evaluators should recognize when students are excessively nervous and attempt to calm them down, and should allow students an opportunity to perform the skill without interrupting the evaluation to correct student mistakes.
The purpose of the evaluation is to identify both positive and negative aspects of the learning experience. An evaluator should refrain from interrupting the students during the examination.
Tip
Scoring Sheets Scoring sheets enable the evaluator to observe and record specific behaviors (i.e., skills) performed by the student. A well-prepared checklist provides the evaluator with specific behaviors to observe during the skill and an easy mechanism for recording student performance. Depending on the type of evaluation, the scoring sheet may contain broad objectives and critical performance criteria (for an end-product evaluation) or specific steps within a skill (for process evaluation) along with a numeric or letter scoring system. The purpose of an evaluation is to measure students’ ability and identify how to improve their performance. Terms such as “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” are often used as grade indicators in this setting. An unsatisfactory score means that certain skill components were not performed correctly. This outcome differs from “failure,” which denotes finality
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and offers no chance for improvement. If a student attains an unsatisfactory score, he or she must be made aware of the error or errors committed during the test. Full knowledge of the results is a key aspect of learning a skill. Students need to know what they did correctly, what they did incorrectly, and what they can do to improve their performance the next time. They deserve honest input from their instructors. If the instructor says nothing, students may assume they performed the skill correctly. Both positive feedback and constructive criticism are required.
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q Test Administration The following administration details need to be addressed before the examination is given: Q Examination starting time Q Length of time for the exam Q Examination location that is free of distractions Q Room setup (Try to have one chair length between students when possible. Ensure that there is enough space for the examination and that extra tables and chairs are available.) Q Equipment and supplies required for the exam Q Examination security (e.g., numbering exam booklets) Q Sufficient number of copies of the exam Q Selection or design of answer sheets Q Schedule of evaluators, victims, and safety personnel for the practical examination Q Payment schedule for practical examination personnel Q Answer key for the examination Q Evaluation forms for the evaluators Q Policy for satisfactory and unsatisfactory skill performance Q Evaluation policies for the examination and the grading of the examination Q Policies for students caught cheating during the examination Q Preparation of the students for the examination Numerous administrative tasks need to be handled during the examination. These tasks include the following: Q Greeting the students and assigning seats. Q Checking in pagers, cellular phones, and radios. Students should be instructed to turn off these devices during the examination due to the distraction that they cause. The potential exists for these devices to be not only
Q
Q
Q
a distraction during an exam, but also a source for coded information. Handing out pencils, answer sheets, and scrap paper. Taking attendance and ensuring admission of students to the examination. Completing administrative portions of the answer sheet (e.g., name, ID, date). Providing specific instructions for the examination (e.g., policy for questions during the exam, time limit for the exam, bathroom excuses, starting the examination, what to do with the completed exam and materials, how to color or write the answers onto the answer sheet, what students should do for ripped or blurred examination copy). Setting up an administration area for the return of the examination materials. Passing out the examination booklets only when the examination is about to start. For examination security purposes, have each student record the examination booklet number on the answer sheet. When students return the examination materials, count the booklets to ensure that all are present and accounted for. Monitoring the students during the exam (especially for wandering eyes and cheating).
Q Student Remediation Regardless of the type of examination, not all students will prove successful in meeting the performance expectations. As students analyze their performance, the educator can play a pivotal role in providing and reinforcing specific educational content to help the students learn the lesson’s information and engage in introspection. An educator may wish to identify any areas of poor performance on the examination and meet with the students to review the relevant course material. Asking divergent questions (e.g., what if, when, why) is an excellent way to open a discussion between the instructor and the students. Remediation should not be based solely on the poor performance areas from the examination because an instructor will often identify additional educational content that can be discussed. The remediation process is a great opportunity for reviewing key lesson plan objectives. Instructors may elect to use review puzzles, games, or Internet lesson assignments in these kinds of remediation sessions. Some educational institutions incorporate remediation sessions into their schedules. In some cases, remediation is scheduled by the educator out of a desire
CHAPTER 13: Student Evaluation Tools
to see students excel. Remediation sessions usually occur before or after a scheduled class session. These sessions tend to have a small student-to-instructor ratio. Upon completion of the remediation, students may take a makeup evaluation to measure the degree of learning that has occurred since the initial evaluation. In this way, remediation of the material helps to complete the learning process.
Q Summary Many different evaluation tools can be used to assess a student’s learning development. The key is for the instructor to know when to use each of the tools. When creating an examination, the lesson objectives should be reviewed before any questions are written. Oral questions, practical evaluations, and written examinations are all means of evaluating student performance. Each of these tools has a specific purpose. Instructors need to select the right tool for the job—in this case, the right tool for the lesson objectives. Choosing the right tool is essential. The administration of an evaluation is not a simple process. Many components must be prepared before the evaluation takes place. Policies for the exam,
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checklists, examination copies, and so on must all be developed before the evaluation can begin. In addition, during the actual evaluation, additional administrative procedures are needed to ensure the validity of the outcome. Practical evaluations are an extremely useful tool for determining skill competence. Through the development of testing scenarios, instructors and evaluators can assess student performance. Test anxiety is an often-overlooked factor that affects students’ performance during examinations. Test anxiety has real physiological and psychological effects on students, and the instructor should keep a keen eye out for these effects. This factor needs to be taken into account when reviewing the performance of a group of students. Evaluation is a necessary component in the education process. Learning is largely an invisible process, but changes in a student’s behavior are not invisible. Without evaluation tools, an instructor would have no way of telling whether a student has learned the material. No single evaluation tool can hope to encompass the whole learning potential of a student, however. Only after multiple forms of evaluation tools are used can an instructor really know whether a student has learned the information.
CHAPTER
14 OBJECTIVES Q
Define the purpose of program evaluation.
Q
Identify the role of program goals and a plan of action in program evaluation.
Q
Explain how to perform statistical analysis on student examinations, including item analysis, item difficulty, score distribution, average scores, and examination reliability.
Q
Identify the role of student opinions, instructor performance, course coordination/ administration, and institute/ facilities in course evaluation forms.
Q
Describe the role of performance evaluations in overall program evaluation.
Q
Translate the results of the evaluation into definitive actions.
Program Evaluation
WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER This chapter discusses the tools needed to determine the validity, reliability, and effectiveness of a program and its evaluation tools.
Q Understanding Program Evaluation Program evaluation tools are designed to assess the performance of the course. They identify strengths and weaknesses of a course and assess student attitudes. Program evaluation may consider the following aspects of the course: Q Performance Q Reliability or consistency Q Facilities and equipment Q Reputation of the program Q Conformance with standards Q Response to needs of the students and the community at large Program evaluations are designed to look internally at the institute’s objectives (e.g., How did the program measure up? Were the goals met?) and externally at students’ opinions and community-wide impressions (e.g., Did the program meet your expectations? What did you like or dislike about the program?) to determine the overall degree of excellence within the program. Program evaluations are a continual process; a key aspect of a program assessment is to provide ongoing evaluation throughout the whole course, not just at the end of the course.
CHAPTER 14: Program Evaluation
Assessments during the program allow any potential errors to be identified and corrected before the course ends. Assessments during the program gauge where the institute stands in respect to its goals.
Tip
Q Defining Program Goals A program evaluation looks at the level of proficiency that the students, instructors, and administrators have attained. Specific program goals and benchmarks are set for specific educational departments. These goals should be assessed both during the program and at its conclusion. The goals that are established must be measurable and attainable. Just as behavioral objectives define the goals for a lesson, so the goals and benchmarks for a program set the educational standards for that program.
Tip
The following are examples of program objectives: Q Upon completion of the EMT basic educational program, the course’s final written examination will be administered. Minimum passing score for the examination is 75 percent, with an ideal class average of 80 percent. Q All classroom areas will be free from outside distractions. Q Instructors will provide a 10-minute break every 1 to 1½ hours of classroom instruction. Q The course coordinator will be present for at least 85 percent of the class sessions. Goals that are set too high or too low for the type of course and students being taught are not helpful; the same is true of goals that cannot be evaluated. The preceding goals can easily be measured by using a statistical review of the examination results, student surveys, or an administrative review of time sheets. Program goals should be written well before a program starts, ideally by a group of instructors and course administrators. They may encompass the institute’s goals for a particular time period as well as long-range program goals to help guide overall student and instructor performance.
Q Plan of Action The plan of action, or strategy, should be developed at the same time as the program’s goals. This document outlines how the program goals will be assessed and identifies the evaluation tools that will be used to
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obtain this information. A variety of methods may be used in program evaluation. Some institutions use the final examination results as the benchmark for the assessment of a program’s effectiveness; others use student opinion surveys; in still others, a course coordinator monitors the actual instruction and rates the instructor’s performance. No one evaluation tool can capture the entire picture of an educational program’s overall performance. Together, program evaluations can determine the overall program quality, assign accountability for poor student performance, and outline ways to improve the program. Commonly used evaluation tools include statistical evaluations, student surveys, and forecasting surveys (which are sent to the community to identify future educational needs and to assess the reputation of the institute). Each tool provides different types of information. Only after reviewing all the information can any conclusions be reached regarding the final evaluation.
Q Statistical Evaluations One of the areas that educators most commonly examine when assessing an institute’s or program’s quality is the written examination scores. A written examination is designed to objectively assess the degree of learning that has occurred. Because it is based on the course curriculum or textbook, the results on this examination are one of the first indicators that is reviewed. Of course, test results alone are not a sufficient measure of overall program quality. Performance evaluations of the instructors, opinion surveys of the students, and course coordinator reports regarding student grievances should also be considered.
Item Analysis An item analysis is a listing of each student’s answer to a particular question. This evaluation tool is useful because examinations may Key Term be flawed. Performing an item analysis of the examinaitem analysis A listing tion can determine whether of each student’s answer it measured what it was sup- to a particular question posed to, had poorly worded used for evaluation. questions, did not contain the correct answer, or had other problems. An item analysis should be done for every examination. For example, if less than 50 percent of the students answered a particular question correctly, the question should be reviewed for problematic sentence structure, misspelling, or lack of a clear answer. If a particular question was answered correctly by almost
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all students, it should also be reviewed to determine if it is too easy or was given away by another question in the examination. If item analysis reveals an incorrect question, all the scores for the examination should be adjusted (e.g., by dropping the question from the examination and recalculating students’ scores).
Tip
Item analysis can indicate how well the students understood the course material. The wealth of information provided by the item analysis makes it worth the time it takes to create this kind of analysis.
Item Difficulty Exam questions should be reviewed for level of difficulty. Building on the information provided by an item analysis, each question should be examined by looking at the number of correct answers (see TABLE 14–1). A high item-difficulty score means that it is an easy question. Conversely, a low item-difficulty score indicates a difficult question. Identification of the item difficulty can enable the instructor to improve an examination for future use by linking the item difficulty to the test blueprint. For each question, an item-difficulty score can be identified (the last column in Table 14–1). When it comes time to modify an examination, the instructor can look at this score and insert a new question with a similar item-difficulty score. This allows the examination blueprint to remain nearly unchanged. The ideal examination will demonstrate balanced item-difficulty scores. As a general guideline, any item that has an item difficulty score of less than .55 should be reviewed for question validity. At .55, almost half the group answered the item incorrectly. An examination that consists of questions with itemdifficulty scores ranging between .60 and .95 has a
normal distribution of scores and is considered to be a balanced examination. Balancing the question difficulty using an itemdifficulty analysis offers a clear-cut way to determine the actual item performance for each question. When an examination is used repeatedly, a sense of how a class should perform on the examination can be predicted. This enables the instructor to look at the performance of one class versus another class. The comparison between the two classes allows the instructor to gauge each class’s performance for a particular point in its education. Changes can be based on this comparison, if deficiencies are noted between the two classes. Item difficulty is a powerful tool with which to evaluate each question on an examination. Instructors should realize its usefulness and routinely analyze examination questions in this way. The objective information provided is invaluable in determining the validity of the examination.
Link Another way to determine a question’s level of difficulty is to use specific verbs from Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, presented in Chapter 8.
Score Distribution Score distributions may be depicted in many ways. One popular method utilizes a listing of high to low scores in one column. Then, beside each score, a second column lists the number of students who attained that score on the examination. An example of such a distribution is shown in TABLE 14–2. This list of numbers is not easily visualized when it is collected as a random set of numbers. If the numbers are placed onto a chart, however, the resulting graphic provides a visual description of the students’ scores. Recording the scores on a chart is a common method for showing how well students performed.
TABLE 14–1 Sample Test Item Analysis Question Number
Answer A
Answer B
Answer C
Answer D
Answer E
Item Diffifulty
1
0
2
10
3
5
.50
2
2
2
8
8
0
.40
3
1
5
4
6
4
.25
4
0
0
2
17
1
.85
5
4
8
4
3
1
.40
Note: Correct answers are in bold.
CHAPTER 14: Program Evaluation
TABLE 14–2 Sample Score Distribution Score
Number of Students
10
1
9
0
8
2
7
4
6
3
5
2
4
1
3
0
2
2
1
0
0
0
Note: The main cluster of students falls between 8 and 5, as shown in bold. Educators like to see a perfect distribution of scores—referred to as a normal distribution—from an examination. In a normal distribution, the majority of the scores cluster around the average score for the examination. The mean, or average score, is positioned in the center of the distribution. In ideal circumstances, 95 percent of the class will have scores within the major area covered by the distribution, which leaves only 2.5 percent on each side of the curve for extremely high and low scores. FIGURE 14–1 shows the normal curve.
4.5 Frequency
4 3.5 3 2.5
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In practical applications, the normal distribution is not the rule, but rather the exception. Most examination distributions do not conform to the normal distribution. They can be off in one direction, either to the high side or to the low side. Often, the scores may vary so dramatically that there is no clustering of the scores. Whenever these situations occur, the distribution is said to be skewed. Two specific types of skews are important to an instructor: a positive skew and a negative skew. The information from a skewed distribution can immediately alert an instructor to a potential problem with an examination. With a positive skew, very few scores appear toward the top of the distribution, and the majority of the scores are below the mean. Interpreting the score distribution chart reveals potential causes of this distribution. Perhaps the examination was too difficult for the majority of the class. To determine this, look at the individual student scores. In particular, examine the scores of those students who were performing exceedingly well before the exam and those who were performing poorly before the test. Compare their performance on the examination. If the individuals who were expected to do well on the examination actually did poorly, it could be an indicator that the examination was too difficult. A negative skew has the opposite effect of a positive skew. In a negative distribution, scores for the majority of students are above the mean. An immediate interpretation is that the examination was too easy. Only a few individuals scored poorly on the examination. A negative distribution needs to be subjected to the same kind of investigative review as a positive skew; that is, the instructor needs to review the scores and to validate the examination results. If an examination has overevaluated or underevaluated students’ knowledge, then it has not fairly represented the amount of learning achieved by that group of students. For this reason, instructors should routinely review the distribution results.
2
Average Scores
1.5 1 0.5 0 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Quiz Score
7
8
9
10
For an instructor to assess the true average score for an examination, the mean, mode, and median scores should be calculated. In a normal distribution, all three should be found on the center line that divides the distribution. In a skewed distribution, each of these values may have a different line location within the distribution. An instructor should use the measurement that best represents the distribution of the students’ score as a gauge of the test’s effectiveness.
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Mean The most commonly used measurement for the average score is the mean. It is calculated by adding up all the Key Term scores from the examination mean A value calculated and dividing by the total by adding up all number of students who took the scores from an the examination: examination and dividing Total scores ____________ by the total number of = mean number of students students who took the examination.
The mean offers a crude estimate of how the students performed on the examination. With skewed distributions, however, the mean does not reflect all students’ scores because just one or two extremely high or low scores may raise or lower the mean significantly. In other word, the mean will move with the extreme scores and will not reflect the achievement attained by the majority of the students. For this reason, an instructor should not use the mean as the only measurement; the mode and median also need to be assessed.
Mode The mode is defined as the most commonly occurring score in the examination. Key Term To determine the mode, count the number of student mode The most scores for each examination commonly occurring score. The largest number of value in a set of values (e.g., scores on an single examination scores is examination). the mode. If the majority of student scores are clustered in a distribution, the likelihood of the mode appearing in that cluster is high. If the distribution is skewed, the mode may appear anywhere. In a very large distribution, multiple modes may exist. FIGURE 14–2 shows the mean and the mode for a distribution of exam scores. The mean is the more reflective average score for the distribution. More than 11 students attained at least the mean score, whereas only 4 students were at a score of 18. The mode does not reflect all the student scores for this distribution. Median The median score is a more involved measurement than either the mean or the Key Term mode. The median score is the score located exactly in median The score in the middle of the distribution. the middle of the score It is based on a percentage of distribution for an the total number of students examination. taking the examination. To
4.5 Mode
n = 20 Frequency
4 3.5 3 2.5
Mean
2 1.5 1 0.5 0 8
10 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 Student Scores 25-Question Examination
calculate the median score, the first step is to create a column called a “cumulative frequency” (cf ) by adding up the number of student scores at each level. The top value is equal to the actual number of students who took the examination. Then, each cumulative score is divided by the total number of students taking the examination. The score that is found at the 50 percent indicator is called the median score. Many educators refer to the C% column as a percentile. Percentiles show student scores based on a 100 percent scale (see TABLE 14–3). Notice that the median score is between the scores of 15 and 16 in Table 14–3. A statistical method is used for determining the exact score. For the purpose of this example, it is important to note that the mean and the median are nearly identical. Thus, for this distribution, either the mean or the median score would be equally reflective of the actual average score for the distribution. Identifying the true average for the students’ scores assists the instructor in locating the correct average for the distribution. As noted earlier, the mean may be significantly affected by just one or two extraordinarily high or low scores. To find the true average score requires all three measures—mean, mode, and median—to be assessed and compared. At that point, the instructor can select the measurement that best reflects the average score for the distribution.
Examination Reliability Statisticians use a variety of measurements for determining whether an examination is reliable. They
CHAPTER 14: Program Evaluation
TABLE 14–3 Average Scores Score
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Student Grades
Score Frequency
Cumulative C% Frequency (cf) (Percentile)
22
1
20
100%
21
1
19
95%
19
2
18
90%
18
4 (mode)
16
80%
17
1
12
60%
16
2 (mean)
11
15
3
9
55% (median 15–16) 45%
14
2
6
30%
12
2
4
20%
10
1
2
10%
8
1
1
5%
apply these measurements to evaluate whether the examination has consistency among the questions. Through the use of a mathematical formula, a determination of the examination’s reliability is made. One of the formulas most frequently used for this purpose is the Kuder-Richardson reliability formula, which determines the internal consistency of the examination. The scoring range is from 0 to 1. An examination is said to be reliable at .60 and higher. Educators also measure an examination’s reliability through repeated administrations of an examination. Theoretically, if an examination is given to a group of students one week, and the same examination is given to the same students a week later, the scores should be nearly identical. Although public safety instructors would not perform this type of educational test in their classes, an instructor should keep track of an examination’s performance each time it is administered. Although different students are taking the examination, if the material presented in the course is the same, the scores on the examination should be similar. This can be a factor to look at when evaluating a program. Instructors should check the reliability of their examinations. Assessing the examination reliability is part of ensuring a valid measurement of a student’s learning experience.
An instructor needs to provide a fair grading system. When an instructor assigns a score, he or she can use one or two scoring categories—either a letter grade or a numerical score. The letter grade (A, B, C, D, F) is probably more familiar to most adult learners, while the numerical score (out of 4.0 or 100 percent) is closely associated with institutes of higher learning. The instructor needs to clearly identify which grading system will be used at the beginning of the class and define what is considered a passing score. An instructor should try to limit the use of the term “failure” when describing inadequate performance and instead use a term such as “unsatisfactory,” which is interpreted as not meeting the accepted criteria at that specific time. Whether a practical or written examination is being administered, the instructor must maintain a consistent scoring system. Some students will use scores as a competitive gauge to better their own personal performance. The majority of students, however, will use their scores as a gauge of their individual position in the class.
Link Adult learners are not necessarily motivated by grades, but rather are motivated by the desire to learn new information, so they can better perform their daily jobs. More information about adult learners is presented in Chapter 1.
Q Course Evaluation In addition to statistical evaluation, course evaluations are a helpful tool for assessing whether a program has achieved its established goals. Responses to objective questions posed to students and faculty can identify how the institute is meeting the goals. Unlike direct observation of students, instructors, and administration, course evaluations are not affected by evaluator subjectivity. Course evaluations should contain the following key elements: Q Student opinions Q Instructor viewpoints Q Course coordinator/administration views Q Institute/facilities The survey could be a comprehensive form that asks questions about each of these four categories, or it can be specifically geared to just one category. This second approach is more time-consuming, but it provides better information.
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The survey is an aspect of the program evaluation strategy. With the development of the evaluation strategy comes the development of specific surveys that will be used to determine the effectiveness of the program. Because this is an overall program evaluation, the questions are directly associated with an established goal or standard for the educational institute.
Rating Scales Several rating scales may be used in surveys. The most commonly used scales are the numerical rating scale and the graphic rating scale. The numerical scale is the simplest type. The following is an example: 5 = Outstanding 4 = Above average 3 = Average 2 = Fair 1 = Poor For example: The primary instructor’s preparation of course material was: 1 2 3 4 5 The quality of the audiovisual materials was: 1 2 3 4 5 A program administrator can quickly tally this kind of data and identify the common trends and opinions expressed in the survey. If, for example, two surveys were administered, one designed for students and the other designed for instructors, it would be appropriate to assess the same objectives for both surveys. The responses to the same objective from the two different perspectives can then be compared. The numerical rating scale would make this type of comparison very easy to conduct because specific values are listed on the rating scale. The graphic rating scale is not as defined as the numerical version. It uses a line graph to plot the respondents’ answers to a specific question. With this rating scale, it is possible to obtain values that are between a given value (e.g., 3.3, 4.5, 2.3). Instead of locking a respondent into a specific number, a specific value assessment for a question can be attained. Although this rating scale is much more difficult to use for tallying purposes, the information it provides better reflects the respondents’ actual opinions for the question. A variation on the two previously mentioned rating scales is the multiple-choice rating scale. It is written using the same format as a multiple-choice
examination; that is, specific answers are pre-identified. The respondent selects the answer that meets his or her opinions. On a typical form, four answers are pre-identified and a fifth answer left blank. When respondents believe that the pre-identified answers do not accurately reflect their opinion, they can write in a unique response. The following is an example of a multiple-choice survey item: 1. The audiovisual materials that were used during the program were • Poor. Most were old and outdated. They did not enhance the course material. • Fair. A few of the audiovisual materials were outdated, but overall they complemented the lesson material. • Good. The materials were current and enhanced the lesson materials. • Excellent. Greatly enhanced the course materials. (Write in the response on the attached form.) The responses to a multiple-choice survey are very easy to tally. If necessary, the questions can be reworded to allow a comparison between two different categories—for example, students and instructors. The preselected responses allow a respondent who is not familiar with educational concepts to respond to the question. The downside to using preselected responses is that the survey author points a respondent toward a conclusion that may not totally reflect the individual’s opinion. The respondent often selects an answer simply because he or she does not want to write in a response. For this reason, care must be used when analyzing the results of a multiple-choice survey.
Survey Questions The key to a successful survey is the way the questions are written on the survey form and interpreted by the person completing the survey. Program evaluation questions are based on accepted educational concepts or on an accepted curriculum. In other words, the goals for a program become the evaluation mechanism for the program. Each question covers a specific goal. The question is to be written in simple English. Just like written examination questions, a program evaluation question should be a complete sentence whenever possible. Remembering these concepts can increase the validity of the survey.
Survey Format The following basic guidelines are used by most surveys. First, the overall survey should appear simple,
CHAPTER 14: Program Evaluation
not overwhelming. Many surveys are too complex in their appearance. The respondent should be able to look at the survey and readily identify the information being requested. In addition, the questions must be written to the point. There is no need for fancy terms or lengthy sentences. The questions for a survey should be based on accepted educational objectives or accepted standards. Second, only one rating scale should be used. This consistency will lessen the respondent’s confusion as to which rating scale is being used for a particular section. The evaluator should write the rating scale at the top section of each page of the survey. If the rating scale has the scale built into each question—for example, in graphic type—then the respondents have all the information they need right in front of them. Third, because subjectivity can influence a survey, the respondent should remain anonymous. Thus a survey should not request the name of the respondent. A sound survey is a reflection of the survey’s directions. Students or faculty members often complete surveys with no monitor present to clarify a particular question. The directions to a survey must contain enough details so that anyone who completes the survey can do so without difficulty. Poor directions result in poor information because the respondent, if unsure or confused, may provide inaccurate information. This invalidates some of the information gathered from the survey. The use of these guidelines not only helps in writing a survey, but can also lead to improved validity for the survey. A survey is constructed to assess the opinions of a group of individuals. From this survey, key programming decisions will be made. If a survey has inaccurately assessed the individuals, then the decisions may be made in error. Care must be used when developing, using, and evaluating with a survey. The information attained from a survey should be helpful, not harmful. The survey can only collect opinions from the respondents. Often, this information is not enough to base program changes on. Another evaluation tool, a performance evaluation, can provide more substantial information on which to base program revisions.
Q Performance Evaluations A performance evaluation is a tool that can provide more in-depth information than is possible to collect via a survey alone. The categories used in such evaluations are the same as those for the surveys. Performance evaluations can be conducted among students,
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instructors, course administration, or facilities. The difference between a performance evaluation and a survey is that a trained evaluator physically monitors each group. The monitor uses prepared objectivesbased checklists. As with the survey approach, these objectives reflect the broad goals of the educational institute. The approach used to evaluate students’ performing skills is the same as that used in the program evaluation. The same pitfalls also apply, however (e.g., the halo effect, subjectivity, and poor evaluators). As with any educational evaluation, the information that is obtained through this method needs to be closely examined. The performance evaluation is a tool that, when used in conjunction with a survey, can provide answers to objectives not addressed by the survey. The use of a performance evaluation versus the use of a survey differs somewhat, as can be seen in the following example. Suppose students provide their impressions of the instructor’s performance on a survey. They may not be able to fairly or objectively assess the abilities of an instructor, however, nor do they know what should and should not be taught to a class. To obtain this information, an educationally oriented evaluator needs to monitor various class sessions. The instructor can be evaluated by this impartial evaluator, and the information collected in this manner can then be compared with the students’ impressions.
Checklists Checklists may be written either based on the main goals for a program or to reflect accepted standards of performance. Both of these elements are important when developing instructor, administrative, and facility checklists. The instructor, administrative, and facility checklists are written in nearly the same format; the significant differences between them reflect the objectives being assessed. The performance evaluation for the instructor is nothing more than a modified survey. With this type of tool, a trained evaluator measures the performance of an instructor against specific educational objectives. Most checklists consist of the following components: Q Basic demographic data Q Date(s) of the evaluation Q Evaluator(s) name Q Rating scale Q Specific objectives Q General comments Q Strengths/weaknesses Q Tally column
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Didactic presentation Q Skill presentation For administration checklists, objectives oriented to assess customer satisfaction are often used. Either the administration is seen as responsive to a customer’s needs (for example, students, faculty, or the community), or there is a lack of adequate support provided to the customer. These business concepts are appropriate objectives to utilize when assessing the performance of the administration because any educational program inevitably has bureaucratic aspects. For example, how the paperwork is handled often affects the quality of instruction. How can paperwork affect a program? Perhaps handouts should be made but are forgotten. Audiovisual equipment that was supposed to be in the classroom may be missing. Maybe the classroom is too small for the size of the class. The list goes on. All of these details are administrative in nature, and all influence the quality of the program. Because of their impact, administrative staff members should be assessed in the same manner as other program components are. The administrative assessment being referred to here is an overall assessment—one that is not targeted at a specific individual’s performance. Such an assessment should focus on those administrative tasks that directly affect the classroom programs. Q
Q Interpreting Results In ideal circumstances, a committee consisting of faculty, administration, and members from the community at large should review the program material. This committee should look at the areas of concern that have been identified in any of the assessments. For example, a “No” response to a question about the adequacy of the audiovisual materials used in the classroom is a potential area of concern. Cross-checking the various surveys—for example, student opinion and instructor surveys—may provide additional information about the area of concern. In addition to negative responses, positive achievements should be reviewed. For example, if a program goal was “Students will achieve a score of 80 percent or higher on the state certification examination,” and the
class average was 82.4 percent, then this is a positive achievement. The people involved in the program should be given praise for meeting this goal. Once the committee has reviewed both the positive and negative aspects of the program, then a final report needs to be written. In this report, findings related to each assessment area are summarized. Then, a discussion of the positive and negative aspects of the program is required. The report concludes with a plan of action, or program recommendations. This plan of action specifies which parts of a program need to be changed to correct a problem or to improve the educational experience. As stated in the first section of this chapter, to have a quality program, assessment and reassessment of the program are required. This means rewriting objectives, policies, and procedures; fixing broken equipment and buying new equipment; and redefining the assessment process so that these improvements can be assessed in the next program. Only with objective input gathered through a program assessment process can the quality of a program be improved. In addition, numerous other benefits, aside from improving the program’s quality, can be gained from the program evaluation.
Tip
Q Summary A quality program leads to quality education, which leads to an improved level of performance by the graduating students. This relationship translates into improved public safety employees, which means a better level of service throughout the public safety system. To assess overall program quality, evaluation tools must be applied to determine whether educational programs are meeting their goals. Statistical evaluations may address item analysis, item difficulty, score distribution, average scores, and examination reliability. These measures should be combined with course evaluations and performance evaluations. The results of program evaluations should be reviewed carefully, and the evaluation team should make recommendations for improvements, including the development of a plan of action.
CHAPTER 15: Multimedia Systems and Technology
Educational Resources
15 16
Multimedia Systems and Technology Computers, Communication, and Distance Learning
PART
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5
CHAPTER
15 OBJECTIVES Q
Identify and discuss the role of the instructor in becoming a user of multimedia systems.
Q
Analyze how instructors select multimedia aids for a lesson.
Q
Identify uses for multimedia in the public safety classroom.
Q
Examine equipment and resources available for today’s and tomorrow’s classrooms.
Q
Identify normal operation of multimedia equipment and provide troubleshooting tips in the event of malfunctions.
Q
Identify educational resources available to public safety instructors.
Q
Describe how media use can be a motivator for students.
Q
Compare and contrast the forms of media and identify their strengths and shortcomings.
Q
Identify the costs associated with the forms of media.
Q
Examine the influence that computer technology has had on the use of multimedia programming in the classroom.
Q
Identify supportive multimedia equipment.
Q
Describe and discuss the creation of multimedia programming.
Q
Identify multimedia resources available through the Internet.
Q
Describe today’s and tomorrow’s technologies that influence educational practices.
Multimedia Systems and Technology WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER Throughout our daily life activities, educators and students are exposed to a variety of multimedia and technology resources. Today’s students look forward to learning situations that motivate and challenge their learning abilities. This chapter addresses the use of multimedia systems and technology that can assist in creating lessons to meet these goals.
Tip
Regardless of the multimedia or technology system considered, it must fit into the lesson plan. These tools are designed to support the lesson material, not to take its place!
Q Planning Educational Resources Planning a lesson’s educational resources is done when the lesson plan is being written. Some of the factors influencing which resources are appropriate are the program’s behavioral objectives, the media effectiveness, costs, and the instructor’s awareness of multimedia systems, in addition to availability of the resources.
Behavioral Objectives How a behavioral objective is written can influence which types of resources are used to achieve that objective. For example, if an objective states “Students will evaluate the performance of Rescue Company A personnel at the scene of a motor vehicle crash,” an instructor might consider the use of any of the following resources: Q Dry erase boards (or chalkboards or SmartBoards) Q Drawings or digital photos of an accident scene Q Review of communication center audiotapes Q PowerPoint presentations focusing on accident scenes Q Actual video of an accident scene Q Computer simulation/reenactment of an accident scene Q Field exercise with a simulated accident scene Q Ride-along program with a metropolitan-based rescue service
CHAPTER 15: Multimedia Systems and Technology
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An instructor could use any of these visual resources or teaching methods to meet this objective.
Effectiveness The effectiveness of an educational resource is an important consideration when selecting options for use in conjunction with a public safety course. In relation to the rescue objective, for example, a varying level of student involvement is possible, ranging from passive to interactive. Viewing photos and listening to an audiotape are the least interactive methods of student engagement. Viewing, discussing, and evaluating a videotape of an accident scene or using a computer accident simulation program would be more interactive, kind of a “middle-of-the-road” choice. Participating as an observer at a rescue simulation or at an actual rescue scene would be the most effective. Note that all of these educational resources meet the rescue objective. The effectiveness of a media resource is measured in terms of the amount of student involvement and the overall learning potential. For this rescue objective example, from an educational standpoint the most effective resources would be either the rescue simulation or the ride-along program. Although an educational resource may be effective, it may not practical. Cost, availability of the resources, lesson-plan time constraints, and the instructor’s familiarity with the educational resources may all influence the effectiveness of an instructional resource within the actual classroom. Oftentimes an instructor must compromise on the level of effectiveness based on these types of factors.
Cost There are always costs associated with educational resources. Even though a visual resource may be an effective resource, its cost may preclude its use. For example, it may cost as much as $50,000 to outfit a classroom with a variety of educational resources such as dry erase board, projection screen, multimedia projector, and training equipment (FIGURE 15–1). The institute may also offer video or audio libraries, computer-enhanced instructional aids (e.g., whiteboards, interactive computer software, Internet applications), televisions, sound systems, interactive
Link Instructions for using and troubleshooting multimedia systems can be found on the Instructional Methods for Public Safety page on www.jblearning.com.
computerized training manikins, computer labs/ simulation rooms, and multimedia rooms. All of these items cost money to acquire.
Instructor Awareness An educational institute may have state-of-the-art educational resources available, but if an instructor does not know how to use them, their value is greatly diminished. It is an instructor’s responsibility to become aware of and familiar with the use of the educational resources available through the educational institute. Knowing which resources are available helps instructors to incorporate these resources into their lesson plans.
Availability Just because an educational institute owns a particular educational resource, it does not necessarily mean that the resource will always be available for an instructor’s presentation. As soon as an instructor identifies an educational resource that is needed for a lesson presentation, that resource should be acquired or reserved for the time and date of the lesson. Instructors need to make sure they have adequate preparation time, classroom time, and logistical resources available to the supportive resources.
Tip
Q Using and Designing Multimedia Systems Today’s public safety courses, textbooks, and instructional resources take advantage of a variety of multimedia systems. For example, multimedia presentations may incorporate written text, charts, Internet hyperlinks, photos, video, or audio within a single presentation format. Instructors need to be
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familiar with the kind of multimedia software and hardware that their educational institute utilizes. Tomorrow’s Resources Today Many of the educational resources found in today’s classroom will be considered “ancient relics” in the classroom of the future. Although a resource may still be physically usable, the educational appropriateness of the resource may make it unusable. For example, an instructor might use human anatomy flip charts to teach a human anatomy presentation—or, alternatively, he or she might use a computer program that has a zoom feature to look at specific anatomic structures, pronounce medical terms, and show animated 3-D images of the human anatomy. New and improved gadgets will always be emerging to replace an old standby educational resource.
A PowerPoint or multimedia presentation, like any other media or educational resource, should complement—not replace— an instructor’s lesson plan.
Tip
The first step in the creation of a multimedia presentation is to create a storyboard. Based on this storyboard, a lesson plan can then be scripted. A Key Term storyboard uses the content from the lesson plan as the storyboard Chart of basis for the creation of a audiovisual behaviors multimedia presentation. It associated with the development of a identifies lesson plan content, multimedia presentation. visual images (text/photo/ full motion), audio, and behaviors (visual transitions between images) that are used to express the lesson’s information. FIGURE 15–2 is an example of a storyboard.
Lesson Plan Content The lesson plan content contains the information that is to be included within the image. This information should be short, concise, easily read, visually pleasing, and specific in its content. Wordy text and complex images are not easily viewed by students. The use of bulleted lists that highlight the main topic or subtopic help to keep both instructor and students focused on the message being presented. Keep it simple!
Storyboard Example Storyboard Title___________________________ Date Developed:___/___/_______ Lesson Plan Content
Visual Image
Behavior
Audio
Creation of a storyboard
#1 Title image with text: “Creation of a Storyboard”
Fade-in transition to blank screen
None
Colorful text
Circular introduction of title image with emphasis 5 seconds into slide
Word Art–style text Blue bubble background throughout images SWBAT identify the components of a storyboard
#2 Bullet list of the four components of a storyboard
Corner left/up transition to visual title
Lesson plan content
Title and bullets
Visual image
Lesson plan, visual image, behavior, audio
Introduce each bullet with mouse click
Behavior
None
Zoom right (fast) each bullet
Audio Lesson plan content is the actual content for the image: should be short, concise, and specific; wordy images are not easily viewed (“It’s the information that’s important”)
#3 (Copy) Bullet list of the four components BOLD bullet 1
Dissolve into image #3
None
CHAPTER 15: Multimedia Systems and Technology
Visual Image A visual image comprises the text, photographs, charts, diagrams, full-motion video, and other elements that are seen within a presentation. For each image, countless visual components must be considered (e.g., background, colors, text style, photographs, diagrams). The primary visual focus should be an oblong rectangle centered in the middle of the screen. Because most visual learners tend to focus their sight toward the middle of the screen, the most important information should be concentrated toward the center of each image. Copyright Considerations Use of any photos, clip art, diagrams, or charts should be preapproved by the owner of the image—a consideration that is particularly important if financial compensation is being afforded to an instructor. A variety of copyright-free images is available on the Internet or from vendors for use in multimedia presentations. Photos of “actual” incidents should be carefully selected so as to not infringe upon a patient’s rights or otherwise raise legal concerns.
Photos inserted into multimedia computer programs need to be in a compatible digital format (e.g., JPG, TIF, PNG, BMP, or GIF file extensions). A digital camera can be used to customize images for multimedia presentations; many digital cameras export their images in the JPG format. Depending on the quality of the photo image, the instructor may be able to insert the image directly into a presentation. The number of pixels contained within an image correlates to the sharpness of the image, as well as to its size: The more megapixels, the sharper the image, but the more megabytes of memory required to store the image. Sometimes, photos may need to be enhanced, cropped, or reformatted before they can be used. A variety of photo editing programs can be used to tweak an image so as to make it more appropriate for a presentation.
Videos Full-motion digital video is being used more often in multimedia presentations in today’s classrooms. Internet sites such as YouTube and access to video recorders provide easy access to digital-format videos. Use of a downloaded video browser (e.g., QuickTime, iTunes, Media Player) enables digital videos to be incorporated within almost any multimedia presentation. Videos with an AVI format extension
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usually work with most media players, for example. Sufficient computer processor speed, video, and audio cards are required to show full-motion videos, however. In addition, large amounts of memory (measured in megabytes and gigabytes) are needed to display some full-motion clips. Incorporating the videos within the actual presentation makes for a more smoothly flowing presentation. With the click of a mouse, the video can play. Then, with another click, the presentation can move onto another topic. Be aware that incorporating videos in this manner does significantly increase the amount of memory needed for program storage and slow the overall computer processing speed. Potential compatibility issues may exist between multimedia presentation systems, computers, and software. For example, a presentation may work perfectly on one computer, yet not work at all on another computer. Some digital video works with one type of multimedia projector but not another. Differences in versions of software can cause problems within a presentation as well. Video cards need to be capable of running full-motion video without dropping a video signal. The instructor should address all of these technical issues before attempting to make a multimedia presentation. If at all possible, the computer/multimedia projector system used to create the multimedia presentation should be used to present the presentation. This will lessen the chance that many of these technical issues will crop up unexpectedly. Otherwise, instructors should plan on troubleshooting their presentation before they use it.
Link Additional troubleshooting tips may be found on the Instructional Methods for Public Safety page on www.jblearning.com.
Behavior The behavior component of the storyboard defines and identifies the actions of the images. Animations, transitions between image components, and transitions between images are all behaviors that can be planned. These behaviors add movement and character to a multimedia presentation. Instead of a “point-and-click” slide-type presentation, animation features enable a variety of special effects to be used to enhance the flow of the presentation. Transitions between images enable a presentation to flow from one image to another and
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occur without gaps or breaks in the information. And when needed, breaks in the presentation can occur just by lengthening the time between images—thereby providing a natural break! Through trial and error, an instructor can learn to create smooth transitions between multiple images and content contained within individual images. For example, if an image repeats the same title over and over, a smooth transition is to have no transition effects between slides. In other words, only the key bullet points appear to change, even though multiple images are actually being shown. As another example, consider a single image that incorporates multiple content images. Through the animation feature, each individual content image can be shown separately and its behavior controlled. It can appear, fly from one side to another, disappear on the click of a mouse, or park itself at a desired final location on the image. It can be timed to appear after another image is clicked with the mouse, or the entire presentation can be animated to move from slide to slide using a timer feature. All of these behaviors can be identified and described within the storyboard. Clip art components may also exhibit animated behaviors. GIF file extensions are commonly used to animate various forms of clip art. Instructors may use a variety of computer software programs to create their own GIF images; animated objects are available from commercial sources as well. Interspersing a few of these animations throughout a presentation helps to add character to a presentation—but too many become a distraction! Thus there is a time and a place for these kinds of visual aids in a multimedia presentation. Computer software often dictates whether and how well animations will perform within a presentation. For example, image animations created in Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 will work in PowerPoint 2007, but animations created in PowerPoint 2007 may not work in PowerPoint 2003. An instructor should prepare his or her multimedia presentation with knowledge of the type of computers and multimedia projectors being utilized so as to minimize these compatibility issues. Depending on the software, additional animation buttons and animations may be included within a presentation. If a program will use a self-tutorial style of presentation, advance buttons can be placed onto each screen; that is, a forward, back, home, or end button can appear on each image to allow the user to control the flow of the presentation. Special animation features can also be used to move objects around an image. Check your computer software application for the availability of these advanced components.
Audio The audio component identifies any audible voices, sounds, and noises that are a part of the presentation. Animated clip art or image animations have the option of including sounds, for example. Use of a few sounds is probably acceptable, but audio components tend to become annoying when there are too many animated noises. There are noises and sounds that are appropriate for public safety presentations. Lung sounds, noisy respirations, 9-1-1 calls, or radio dispatching are examples of sounds that can be incorporated into a presentation. In addition, full-motion video clips or animated image presentations often have a narrator who explains the action. The common types of audio files have a WAV extension or might have an MP3 extension. Both can be used within a multimedia presentation but may need to be played with specific music players. Instructors need to be familiar with the type of media players that their computer and multimedia systems support. Sometimes instructors will animate a multimedia presentation and include music clips. Any use of music clips, unless they are not copyrighted, needs to be preapproved by the owner of the copyright. This also applies to sound clips that may be found on various Internet sites. Many multimedia software programs have the capabilities to record audio and animations into a multimedia presentation. These presentations are principally used for self-tutorial types of programs. An instructor can “present” the lesson presentation and then advance the images to match the lesson presentation. This application has specific uses and is software specific.
Q Putting a Presentation Together A storyboard provides a basic framework for a multimedia presentation. Knowing which technologies exist, how to use them, and how to integrate them into the presentation is a key step in designing an effective multimedia presentation. This chapter has already identified some the types of technology that are available. To bring a multimedia presentation to life requires an instructor to be a showman, while being tech-savvy at the same time. The showman instructor introduces the multimedia presentation to the audience. As a ringmaster, the instructor keeps the presentation moving from topic to topic with ease. Even when a technology glitch occurs, he or she is able to keep the present-ation moving and not dwell on the technology issue. The showman
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displays confidence in his or her presentation ability and doesn’t use multimedia images as a supportive crutch to present the lesson material. That is, the multimedia presentation is used to support the instructor’s lesson plan, not to replace the lesson plan. The tech-savvy instructor should be able to identify which multimedia equipment is needed and how it is set up, pretest it, troubleshoot any hardware and software issues, and pack and unpack the multimedia equipment. It is important for all instructors to be familiar with the multimedia equipment they plan to use before they encounter it in the classroom. The following is a listing of basic multimedia equipment components: Q Laptop computer with a high-speed processor, audio/video card, enough gigabytes of memory, latest version of computer software application being used (e.g., Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote), QuickTime software or other type of multimedia player, internal or external DVD player, and an external speaker jack or multimedia output Q Multimedia projector that has internal or external speaker capabilities, sufficient lumen power (brightness) for the room size, focus/ zoom capabilities, fixed or mobile unit location, wireless remote (projector and/or computer), and necessary cables (e.g., for the monitor, power, multimedia) Q Power/surge strip and extension cords sufficient to set up the system; power cord protectors or tape (e.g., duct tape) to prevent people from tripping over the power cords Q Wireless mouse (USB) to advance the images, if not contained with the multimedia projector system Q External speakers with cables and power supply Q Presentation table of sufficient size to position the computer, projector, and speakers Q Projection screen, either stationary (fixed) or portable, of a size large enough to display images throughout the room Q USB flash drive (containing the presentation material) An instructor should be well versed in the setup Key Term of the computer and mulUSB flash drive timedia projector system. Portable data file system He or she should set up the size of a car key that the room and prepare can hold electronic data the multimedia projector files such as documents or slide presentations. system. The computer and projector system should
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be tested and left turned on, set to the opening of the computer presentation prior to the start of the presentation. Technology glitches (e.g., full-motion video appearing on the computer screen but not through the multimedia projector) should be addressed without causing interruption to a presentation. This glitch is a common one and can usually be corrected by depressing the Fn button and the numbered function key (e.g., F1, F2, F3) with the icon of a computer screen. Simultaneously pressing these keys usually fixes the issue and displays the image on the projector. It may take several times pressing both buttons for the screen to change. At the end of a presentation, the projector should be allowed to cool down and then be carefully placed into a carrying case, if it is a portable system. The cables should be coiled separately and placed into the carrying cases as well. Storage of a multimedia or technology system should be accomplished in a manner that prevents it from being damaged when being moved to and from an educational site. Knowing how a multimedia presentation will be shown, which equipment is available, and how to design and incorporate special effects to enrich a presentation requires that the instructor be a showman and tech-savvy to be effective. Kiosk Messages As students or participants enter a classroom, display of an introduction kiosk is often appropriate. A kiosk message is nothing more than an informational message that appears on the multimedia projector system. It gives participants something to watch. The kiosk may consist of announcements for future educational events or news about the educational institute. Oftentimes trivia topics are used to get participant attention and participation. These topics can be either related or unrelated to the main presentation topic.
Q Advanced Technological Resources A wide variety of advanced technological resources exist that, although not readily available, provides a wealth of options to public safety instructors in their presentations.
Virtual Reality Virtual reality is a truly amazing computer-based concept. Its applicability, coupled with the potential uses of this technology, is endless. Through the use of computer-created images, an individual is taken
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into realistic situations without leaving a room. Fullmotion computer images coupled with digital sound and a variety of computer sensors are combined to create real-life experiences and situations. Military or commercial airline flight simulators are frequently used as a starting point for a comparison to the virtual reality experience, although virtual reality is much more than that. The hardware of the virtual reality system enables a person to feel like and become an active participant in the computer simulation. Most of these systems consist of a closed helmet, which is positioned over the eyes and allows the wearer to see only the images displayed on small stereoscopic screens. Stereo headphones provide the digital sounds. Through special sensors positioned onto the individual’s hands, torso, and legs, the virtual reality system allows a person to escape from reality into a computer-generated environment. Individuals, once in the simulation, can control their movements in the simulation environment. The hand sensors permit objects to be picked up and moved around in the virtual world. Leg sensors allow a person to walk through the simulation. Once in the virtual world, a person becomes a part of the simulation. Real-world applications of this technology are endless. Japanese, British, and U.S. companies, for example, are using this technology in a variety of fields. From walking prospective homeowners through a floor plan to providing teenagers with the ultimate computer-game experience, virtual reality programming is being produced around the globe. What benefits can public safety instructors expect from virtual reality systems? This technology very well could turn the present-day educational process upside down. EMS students could pick up defibrillator paddles and defibrillate virtual-reality patients. Fire fighters could hold simulated hose lines and battle a virtual-reality fire. Rescue students could rappel off a virtual-reality cliff and rescue an injured hiker. Students will be able to experience real-life events before they actually occur. When used in this manner, virtual reality can be a tremendous resource and teaching tool for instructors. The cost of a virtual reality system remains quite high today. Like other technologies, however, the systems will become more affordable over time. If there is one emerging technology that public safety instructors should watch, it is virtual reality.
High-Definition Television A key element in the expansion of computerizing classrooms will be monitors that display realistic
images. High-definition television (HDTV) is dramatically improving the quality of the picture shown on television monitors. This technology uses digital information to display the enhanced pictures. Television sets use vertical lines to display an image. On a standard television set, there are about 480 resolution lines; on an HDTV set, there are 2,000 resolution lines. Owing to the better resolution, the pictures shown on HDTV appear as clear as a photograph. The HDTV receives digital information from fiber-optic telephone lines, from cable TV, or by satellite. Through the use of digital transmission, an increased amount of information can be managed, in addition to the television images presented. The potential for HDTV is unlimited. Currently, HDTV is being used to enhance computer-graphic images, especially the graphic images known as holograms. These 3-D images require a high-resolution screen to provide adequate detail. Additionally, HDTV monitors are being used to enhance computer networks. Traditional television and computer monitors cannot handle the increased amounts of data that computer networks now require; in contrast, HDTV is designed to handle this increased volume of information while providing an improved visual image. To “see” an image requires a screen, of course. Most HDTVs use large flat screens, which come in sizes ranging from 16-inch screens to 60-inch or larger screens. The picture quality on these models is equal to real-life environments. This realistic quality cannot be matched by traditional television sets. Flat-screen television can support a variety of formats. DVD, video, HDTV, and computer inputs can be used to present images on the flat screen. A separate tuner source is required to receive digital and HDTV signals. Augmenting the flat screen are equally impressive audio surround-sound systems. The sensory experience is truly awesome when the two systems are combined.
Computer Scratch Pads and Whiteboards A scratch pad is a computer display screen that reads information that is written directly onto it via an electronic pen. These pads are flat screens whose dimensions are approximately 12 inches by 12 inches by 2 inches. A live whiteboard is a larger screen, approximately 3 feet by 4 feet in size. Both can be linked together, or they can be used independently. Instead of using paper, students can use a scratch pad to take notes or prepare information. When the systems are linked together, both the instructor and
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the students are able to see the information at the same time. And when they are tied into an Internetbased system, students at satellite locations can write comments directly onto their screens and have them be transmitted throughout the network to the other boards. The large whiteboard’s surface looks like a normal dry image writing board, but the instructor uses dry image–type pens to write lesson material onto the board. At the same time, the lesson material can be seen on computers found at distance-learning locations miles away or by students located within the same classroom. These electronic whiteboards are linked to a computer network system that allows an instructor to visually communicate material to all of the students. The electronic image writing “whiteboard” is not an inexpensive piece of equipment, but the educational institute and its instructors need to assess the benefits of having this board. From an instructor’s viewpoint, it is a dream come true. From a program administrator’s perspective, it is a monetary issue. The board enhances the information exchange between the instructor and the students. It is obviously a great enhancement to a classroom. The cost of the unit may prohibit many educational institutes from acquiring it, however. An analysis of how and where it will be used is useful in the assessment of the board.
Computer Networks Cyber-networks can greatly improve the information exchange between instructors and their students, but the potential uses of HDTV, scratch pads, and live boards are even more expansive. Instead of a single class being networked, the potential exists for multiple classrooms to be linked together. One instructor could instruct hundreds of students at the same time. Students could be interconnected and communicate from either their scratch pads or live boards while hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. The networks can be fiber optically, cable, or satellite linked. The state of Virginia, for example, uses satellite transmissions to deliver TV presentations to rural public safety providers. With a satellite system already in place, enhancing it to use a computer network is a consideration for the future. Students in a rural classroom, for example, could use computer scratch pads to communicate with a larger class of students in an urban classroom. The potential number and variety of uses for these computer networks are endless. Currently, a tremendous initial investment is required to outfit
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classrooms with the necessary hardware and software. As technological advancements continue, these initial costs will likely decline. The need for quality information will make these computer systems the norm for classrooms in the future.
Computer-Based Textbooks and Software Instead of reading this textbook in a paper format, a student could view it on a computer or on a hand-held notepad known as an e-book Key Term reader. Embedded assets such as video clips and other inter- e-book An electronic activities, coupled with the textbook or other written full textbook content, make material that is available this an innovative computer- in a digital format. based learning approach. The e-book notepad is capable of holding several complete textbooks. Textbooks, novels, newspapers, and magazines can be downloaded into the e-book. Full-time students will enjoy one of the key advantages of the e-book—a lighter weight book bag. All of the textbooks needed for a semester could be stored within the palm-held e-book reader (FIGURE 15–3). In fact, textbook manufacturers are already converting paper-based textbooks into the digital e-book format. Disadvantages of the e-book include the lack of a printed copy and the cost of acquiring the e-book and reader. Once accustomed to using the e-book, users tend to prefer it to their printed textbook counterparts.
E-Ink E-ink uses a flexible thin display. Electric charges, positive and negative, are passed through individual cells that change color, which allows the display to
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change shapes and form different letters. The film that is used to display images is “paper thin.” The display is flexible and can be bent without causing a loss in information. As with e-books, newspapers, magazines, novels, and textbooks can all be downloaded onto the e-ink display. Owing to the flexible display, reading from the display is similar to reading information from a newspaper.
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Both e-ink and e-books are alternatives that are moving students and instructors toward a paperless classroom.
E-ink has recently partnered with e-book manufacturers to create a thin e-book product line that can download book files from Internet sites. E-ink technology has enabled e-books to be easier to use than ever before.
Computerized Training Equipment Training programs have used computer-enhanced training manikins and equipment for some time. In addition, computers control more and more equipment used by public safety personnel in the field. Medical training programs have seen probably the largest use of computer technology, but fire and rescue training programs do not lag far behind. Training equipment should match the equipment that is actually being used by field personnel. Even training manikins should be realistic and accurately report a student’s performance. The computer chip, used in training and field equipment, has begun to make another historic change in how field personnel perform their jobs. Medical training equipment such as CPR manikins, ECG dysrhythmia generators, defibrillators, automated external defibrillators, external pacing units, automatic blood pressure and pulse monitors, pulse oximeters, and end-tidal CO2 monitors are incorporating more and more computer enhancements. Medical simulation manikins are also becoming more common; these manikins can simulate various medical emergency or trauma-related situations. Fire and rescue training and field equipment have been enhanced by computer technology as well. This equipment includes computerized pump panels, motion detector devices, hazardous material monitors, thermal detection units, atmospheric monitors, and specialized communication equipment for use with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) systems.
Computer Interactive Laser Disk Programs A computer interactive laser disk (or interactive video disk) brings full-motion video to the fingertips of a student. Instead of viewing still photos, graphic images, text screens, or drawings, students sit in front of a “computer television.” With most television programs, you cannot control the action. With a computer laser disk interactive program, however, the student controls everything simply with the click of a mouse button or a touch of the screen. The laser disks used for most systems are commercially made and are designed for a national audience. The cost of a learning station runs from $6000 upward, and commercially made laser disks start at approximately $450. These expenses may be worth it because studies have shown that these programs lead to higher rates of recall and retention among students who use these technologies than among those who are taught by lecture and videotape methodologies. A reduction in instructor-led educational time is noted, mainly because students can use the system at their own pace. Ultimately, this method of instruction may be more cost-effective and is often a preferred method of instruction. Owing to the growth of personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, and online social networking applications (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, Twitter), multimedia communication is becoming the norm.
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Satellite TV Limited only by the number of satellite receiving locations, an instructor can educate numerous students simultaneously in multiple worldwide locations using satellite TV. When multiple classrooms are linked together at the same time, students can learn material jointly, even if they are hundreds of miles away from one another. Although this is an expensive venture for a single educational institute, satellite learning (also referred to as distance learning) can be a way to present the same lesson material to multiple students at the same time. Satellite programming is an option worthy of consideration. Some universities, school districts, hospitals, and state agencies already offer satellite programming. Sharing the costs between several educational institutes can make this programming an affordable venture. Enhanced systems allow the instructor and students to communicate audibly and visually. Additional enhancements include linking a
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whiteboard to the system so that the classrooms can collectively share the same written information. Numerous methods for conducting a satellite program are available. Often, a “keynote presenter” delivers the main lesson material in the satellite session. At each satellite receiving location, local-level instructors then review and expand upon the keynote presenter’s material. An adaptation might be to have the main presentation outline how to perform a particular skill and then have local instructors actually conduct hands-on skill sessions. The logistics associated with satellite-based education often limit the use of this technology. Broadcast and receiving equipment is expensive, and satellite time is often limited. Studio and video production costs must also be incurred. When carefully planned and used, however, satellite programming can be an invaluable educational resource.
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Wireless Internet access enables businesses and educational institutes to expand access to their products or services.
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Q Summary Although the use of various media resources enhances educational programs, the instructor must select those forms that will meet the lesson objectives, will be effective in delivering the message, and will be available for the presentation. Each media resource has both positive and negative aspects. Media and educational resources are adept at stimulating and motivating students, however, and media can deliver a message in a way unlike any other technique. An instructor who selects and uses media and educational resources effectively is likely to have a classroom full of motivated and educated students. Technology is playing a key role in students’ and instructors’ lives. Every day some form of technology is being used to expand access and communications among humans. Media aids and technology are tremendous assets to an instructor, when used properly. Regardless of how wonderfully prepared the multimedia presentation, it should never be a crutch or replacement for an instructor. Rather, a multimedia presentation or audiovisual aid is intended to complement the presentation made by the instructor and to keep the focus on the content of the lesson plan.
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16 OBJECTIVES Q
Identify the roles that computers have in our society.
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Describe the evolving role of technology and the use of computers.
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Explore the orientation and knowledge necessary for students to use a computer.
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Explore the use of computer communication systems.
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Identify forms of distance learning systems, including learning management systems (LMS), webinars, and online educational programming.
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Discuss the logistics of creating and using online educational programming.
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Review and discuss online educational research studies.
Computers, Communication, and Distance Learning WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER Public safety organizations rely on computer technologies every day: 9-1-1 systems (computer-aided dispatch), pagers, portable radios, trunk-aided radio networks, mobile data terminals, automated external defibrillators (AEDs)—the list goes on and on. Computer technologies are now a common feature within the public safety classroom. This chapter looks at the uses of computers, communication systems, and distance learning.
Q Computer Processors and Connectivity How quickly a computer responds to its software applications and to Internet applications is in part determined by the size of its microprocessor and by its connectivity to the Internet. This section looks at the computer within a computer—that is, the microprocessor or central processing unit (CPU)—and the “means” by which the computer is connected to the Internet. If a computer was a NASCAR Sprint Cup car, we would look under the hood to see how big the motor (microprocessor) is to assess the potential power of the computer. The quickness of a computer’s processor is determined by looking at the megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz) value for the processor. The higher the hertz (Hz) rating, the greater the quickness potential for the computer. For example, a 450-MHz processor works more slowly than a 1.5-GHz processor. The quickness and responsiveness of a computer application count when we are assessing the power of the computer, regardless of which computer software is being used. This consideration is especially important when using graphic-intensive software applications or multimedia presentations. Before using a specific computer application, check the software documentation for the minimum memory, random access memory (RAM), and microprocessor requirements. If a computer’s processor size (Hz) or
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RAM is not large enough, the computer application may not operate as it was intended. Minimum memory and processor information are usually found on the software’s packaging material. The other component that affects the speed of a computer is the computer’s connectivity to Internet applications. Connectivity is directly related to bandwidth—which dictates the amount of data that can be sent through a network or modem connection. Bandwidth is measured in bits per second (bps). The higher the bps, the more information that can be transmitted. Several variables must be considered when discussing bandwidth. For example, the types of connections used between the Internet and the end user’s computer are key elements. The number and type of network connections (dial-up modem, asymmetric digital subscriber line [ADSL] connection, wireless phone, satellite, or a cable-access connection), type of Internet browser connection (e.g., Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Netscape Navigator), and in-facility connections (e.g., wireless router, Ethernet) can all affect the speed with which data are received and transmitted.
Q The Internet Today’s Internet grew out of computer systems that the U.S. military and military contractors used during the Cold War. Originally, educational institutes used the Internet structure to share projects with government agencies and with one another. In 1991, the Internet was declassified. Private corporations invested money and resources into the Internet as it evolved into the “information superhighway.” In simple terms, the Internet consists of multiple groups of computers, known as networks, that are connected together. These networks use a common computer language (such as Hypertext Markup Language [HTML]) to communicate with one another. The Internet is based on 1960s and 1970s computer technology (ancient history in computer terms), so this computer language inevitably places limitations on what can and cannot be done on the Internet. Supplemental software has been created to operate programs outside the actual Internet environment. If an Internet site has flashy graphics and interactive programming, the site is likely using supplemental software. Information can be located on the Internet by using a search engine. This kind of searching tool has the ability to look for specific words or phrases that
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are contained within an Internet site. Multiple types of search engines exist. Examples of general information search engines include Yahoo, Bing, Excite, Lycos, Google, Ask, and AltaVista. Specialized search engines, such as Big Foot and Info-Space, are used to locate people and addresses. Map Quest and Expedia are search engines that identify map locations, directions, and addresses. Additional search engines can locate telephone numbers, pictures, graphics, dictionary terms, Web addresses—the list goes on and on. A trick of the trade is to use very specific terms when searching for information about a topic via a search engine. Use quotation marks around terms and a plus sign between key terms to limit the search. Depending on the search engine, a search by keywords—as is possible with Google, for example—can help focus the search and obtain only the desired responses. Whether the traditional Internet or the next-generation Internet is considered, the potential uses of this technology are seemingly endless. Every day, more users get connected and use the Internet. E-mail (electronic mail) is a frequently used Internet component. To stay in touch with someone only requires a cell phone, BlackBerry, or personal digital assistant (PDA). E-mail, text messaging, and blogging have significantly changed how businesses and educators communicate with clients and students. If students have questions about their assignments, the instructor is likely to have an e-mail or a text messaging address that students can access to request clarification. Not all correspondence is capable of being e-mailed, but more information is certainly being sent via some form of digital means. Adobe’s PDF (Portable Document Format), for example, enables a document that exists in printed form only to be either saved or scanned into a digital format. The PDF document can be attached to an e-mail, used as a virtual document, or downloaded from a Web site using a separate program called the Adobe PDF Reader. The basic Adobe PDF Reader program is available on Internet application sites and is usually a free download. The ability to get information about anything, anytime you need it, is one of the key attributes of the Internet. Sales catalogs, businesses, libraries, government agencies, and educational institutes can be accessed via the Internet 24 hours a day. Universities and educational institutes (including sites oriented toward public safety) have online education programs available for personnel who do not live a 9-to-5 lifestyle. For example, college credits and continuing education credits are often available from these Internet sites.
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URL Suffixes .org = nonprofit organization .edu = educational organization .gov = government agency .net = local computer network .mil = military .com = commercial site
Throughout this section, the term “Internet site” has been used. To exist on the Internet, a site must be identified by an address or location. A site listed on the World Wide Web will have a specific address called a uniform resource locator (URL). An example is the Jones and Bartlett Publishing URL address: http://www.jblearning.com. The first part of the address, “http://” refers to the computer language used to exchange information—Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The “www” refers to a site being listed on the World Wide Web (WWW). Anyone who is connected to the Internet, no matter where that user is located, can access a WWW site. If a site does not include the “www” identifier, it may be accessible only to local network users. Following the initial Internet URL address, there may be a series of symbols (/, ~), numbers, and additional file location information. This information is needed to access the exact URL. Every letter, number, and symbol is important and has to appear in the correct sequence to connect to the desired URL. It can be very frustrating to find that a letter, number, or symbol has been transposed and prevented access!
Q Software Applications Computer software programs abound. Any work accomplished on a computer is made possible by some form of computer software. Software programs are constantly evolving. As new computer hardware is developed, so are computer software applications. Software applications use the computer’s microprocessors to perform specific functions. Commonly used software includes word processing, data management, and visual presentation applications. Examples include Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint), Adobe Acrobat and Reader, Word Perfect, Open Office, and multimedia software such as Picture Mate, Photo Shop, paint programs, clip art, Real Player, and QuickTime, as well as many other options. Because
so many software applications are available, educators must expect to familiarize themselves with the specific software applications that are used by their educational institutes. Each type of software requires a working knowledge of its use. For example, educators often use Microsoft PowerPoint during their classroom presentations. Meanwhile, they may use Microsoft Word, Excel, or Access software to develop lesson plans, prepare course materials, track equipment inventories, and manage student performance. A wealth of textbooks, online courses, in-person educational programs, and self-instruction tutorials are available to learn the howto’s of each of these software applications. Educators should be comfortable using the software that is used to conduct educational courses within their educational institute.
Computer-Assisted Instruction Computers are a tremendous resource, but ultimately using these tools is no different from using any other instructional aid. A lesson’s material must still be presented by an educator. Computer-assisted instruction is a catchall term that is used to describe a variety of computer-based instruction options. Although some programming is designed for educator use, most is designed for student use. Examples include the following options: Q Computer simulations, games, and animations (which allow students to solve real-life problems or react to situations without ever leaving the classroom) Q Online Internet resources (which bring worldwide access to the latest news, techniques, and technologies) Q Computer interactive examinations Q Computer interactive laser disk programs and DVD programs Q Virtual reality programs Q Computer-interfaced manikins Q Satellite and compressed video systems Q Online collaboration and meetings Q Distance learning The availability and type of computers and support equipment within an educational institute dictate which types of computer programming possibilities exist at that institution.
Computer-Based Examinations Several computerized examination formats are available to public safety educators.
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Linear Examination Instead of completing a paper-and-pencil test, students may take their written exams on a computer. To do so, they log on to the computer examination program. A series of computer screens takes a student from question 1 through question 100 and then back and forth among the questions as the student desires. When the student is finished, the computer tabulates the score and the student can immediately see his or her score. At the same time, the computer records the examination score in a computer file for the instructor to reference after all students have completed the examination. A variety of optional enhancements can be incorporated into the linear computer examination format. For example, during initial learning, the computer examination can be modified to work in a tutorial mode. When a student incorrectly answers a question, the computer can immediately show the student a passage that contains the correct answer. Audio and video animations can be added to the examination as well—for example, a heart can be shown pumping or lung sounds can be heard. Additional enhancements may include digitized photographs and video clips. Some linear computer examinations incorporate a random question selection process. With this format, examination questions are pulled from a bank of questions and are randomly assigned to each student. Students can be sitting side by side and answer completely different questions when this methodology is used. Linear examinations are readily found at various Internet sites. The computer programming used for these examinations enables educators to change and design the examination format in many ways to suit their needs. Each educator should review each question and determine its appropriateness for his or her examination. Linear exams very much mimic static written examinations, but take advantage of the flare and use of a computer. Linear examinations, by their very design, are not as intuitive as computer adaptive testing (discussed in the next section).
testing process in lieu of administering written examinations. The computerized examination process requires students to take their written examination at an authorized computer testing center. Once a student’s identity is confirmed by the testing center, he or she takes a seat at a computer and logs on to the computer testing program. The actual examination is administered using a computer adaptive testing program, which adjusts the difficulty level of the questions to meet an individual student’s level of performance. After several introductory questions and answers are provided, an individual student’s level of performance is determined. The computer adaptive testing program then begins to increase the difficulty level of each question. As a student answers questions correctly, the computer adjusts the questions presented to meet or exceed the performance level that has been previously displayed by the student, as part of an intuitive process that occurs between the computer and the student. The computer adaptive examination ends when an overall satisfactory performance level is reached and/or the maximum number of questions is reached. Depending on the type of computer adaptive examination and the testing center’s policies, a student can often ask for his or her examination score, usually for an additional fee. Otherwise, a student waits for the exam results to arrive in the mail. A benefit of this type of testing realized by the National Registry of EMTs is the increased security of the computerized examinations. The computer examinations take place within a secure testing center and are conducted by professional examination monitors. An especially important factor is that the computer examination eliminates the various forms of examination cheating that are associated with traditional written examinations. The developmental costs and the security of these computer adaptive examinations do not make them cost-effective for most educational institutes to use. As technology improves, however, such computer adaptive examinations may become more common within educational institutes.
Computer Adaptive Testing Computer adaptive testing is already used within a variety of professions (e.g., nurses, physicians, lawyers). This examination format is used for both state and national credentialing examinations, including EMS certification. The National Registry of EMTs, for example, now uses a computer adaptive
A tutorial program combines written material, highquality graphic pictures, and an oral narrative. As a student reads through several computer screens of information, a series of questions is asked about the information that was just read. If a student answers the questions correctly, the computer acknowledges the student with a congratulatory prompt on the screen.
Computerized Tutorial Programs
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If the student misses a question, the computer returns to the point in the computer text where the answer is highlighted. The student rereads this section and the program continues. Within the next question section, the question that was previously missed is asked again. Tutorial programs usually offer several presentation formats. One format consists of written text without oral enhancements. Another option is to have specific words (called “hot words”) enhanced, which allows the student to hear the pronunciation of a word and then to see and hear the definition of the word. The final option is to have the entire written text orally read to the student. The graphic and text computer screens usually remain in the same format no matter which option is selected. Tutorial presentations start with a visual or oral introduction of the program and then provide directions for the use of the program. Photographs of accident scenes, pieces of equipment, or images of injuries can be incorporated into the text screens of tutorials as necessary. Digital photos usually do not require additional hardware for their display. However, they do take up computer memory, so it is important to make sure that the computer has sufficient memory to store and display these images. Tutorial programs need to be closely reviewed by an educator. If a program contains material that does not meet the lesson’s objectives, it should not be used. Computer programs are no different from any other teaching adjunct. Tutorial programs can be motivational learning tools for students, but some students want to have more interaction and less text material. For these students, a review program may be a more appropriate choice.
Review Program The review program, often called the drill-andpractice program, is a type of software that presents a student with a series of questions and computer text screens. The content of the program centers on asking the student probative questions and providing help screens when a student responds inappropriately to a question. These types of programs are excellent choices for students who want to refresh their knowledge of a subject. They are ideal for examination preparation. Although these programs are not examinations per se, because they are learning tools, they fall into the review category. Computer graphics and digital images are often included to improve the quality of these programs. Educators may wish to use these programs with
students who have a good knowledge of the material and do not need visual or oral assistance. Once these students use the review program, they are probably ready for the next two types of programs, simulations and computer games.
Simulations A simulation allows students to explore and problemsolve realistic situations. Using a computer simulation is one way to encourage high levels of comprehension, while having fun doing it. An enhanced simulation includes pictures and diagrams that enhance this narrative description. The narrative could be a medical, trauma, fire, or rescue simulation. As the student answers questions, the computer revises the situation. Appropriate actions improve the situation, while inappropriate actions worsen the situation. Consider the following example: You and your crew respond to a reported stabbing in the alley next to the BP Bar. Police are on the scene, and the scene is safe. You find a male, about 20 to 25 years old. He is supine, rolling side to side, obviously in distress; he has a blood-soaked shirt and pants. Which of the following options might be your first action? A. Perform a primary survey B. Implement appropriate universal precautions C. Conduct a head-to-toe survey D. Request a backup
Computer Games Computer games represent an enhancement to the simulation concept. What is the difference? The competitive aspect—points are awarded for successful performance. A student may play to beat another student’s score or may try to beat the clock, resolving the problem before it is too late to save the patient or building. In the latter concept, points are deducted from the initial total (e.g., the clock ticks down). If the right steps are not taken, large chunks of time are deducted. When correct procedures are initiated, no deductions occur. Competition adds to the motivation level. The educational value is improved and the students are able to interact. They enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that they are doing something with their knowledge. Not every session or subject is suitable for a computer game. Moreover, commercially made games are relatively scarce. By far, there are many more simulations and review programs than there are computer games. The trend is clear, though: Computer
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games will become more readily available for public safety instructors. An example of computerized gaming technology is Zero Hour: America’s Medic. This single-player simulation game allows the student to apply his or her EMS skills as a medical first responder within a virtual environment. This program, which offers multiple scenarios and patients to treat, resides on a learning management system (LMS) at George Washington University. There is a fee associated with use of the program. As with other forms of educational programming, simulations and games need to be reviewed to determine whether their content is appropriate for the educational course. Many programs may not be suitable for an educator’s lesson plan. In addition, the cost and availability of the programs and the availability of computers may inhibit the use of these programs.
Q Distance Learning More educational programming is becoming available through distance learning, which replaces face-to-face educational courses with Internet and satellite distance learning. Colleges, high schools, trade schools, manufacturing-business firms, and governmental agencies are all offering their students distance learning for initial training and continuing education. Via computers or video/audio systems, classrooms that are located many miles apart are being taught simultaneously. Distance learning may take any of several forms: Q Satellite receivers Q Two-way audio Q Two-way audio and video Q Combination of video, telephone, or Internet access Q Internet collaboration Distance learning with video and audio allows the lead instructor to broadcast the presentation to one or more locations. Each receiving location usually has a local instructor/facilitator. Following the broadcast, the local instructor can conduct hands-on activities or answer questions about the presentation. In two-way learning systems, students can ask questions of the lead instructor. This form of distance learning is much more expensive than other forms of distance learning, such as Internet collaboration sessions. Urban, suburban, and rural training sites can all benefit from this type of teaching. Such an approach
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requires a commitment from both the educational institute and its instructional personnel. In addition, significant initial and recurring costs must be factored into the decision to use this teaching approach.
Applicability of Distance Learning The underlying premise of a distance learning system is to bridge the physical distance between educator and student through the use of some form of technology. Distance learning programs are best suited for didactic lessons. The availability, applicability of the subject material, and costs associated with distance learning technologies directly influence the type of distance learning system that a public safety educational institute offers. The type of distance learning technology that will be used is the first item that an educator should identify when planning for this kind of program. Distance learning systems vary in terms of the level of their interactive qualities. Such programming can be live synchronous learning or be available in a recorKey Terms ded format asynchronous learn-ing, such as through a synchronous learning learning management system. Live learning such For either a live or recorded as is possible with a presentation, the educator is compressed video feed, online collaborative located at a primary location learning between and, through technology, students and instructors, is connected to multiple or a live webinar utilized students, perhaps hundreds in distance learning. of miles away. Distance asynchronous learning learning programs allow the Online learning educator and students to application that is not interact even though they live, such as a learning management system. are not in physical contact with one another. A live distance learning course may use a combination of satellite, Internet, or telephones to enable questions to be asked and answered by the learner and educator. Good communication between the educator and his or her students is essential when distance learning is undertaken. The use of whiteboards and collaborative sharing of computer files are possible in many distance learning systems. For prerecorded distance learning courses, online blogs, chat rooms, message boards, or e-mails between the educator and the students are some of the technologies that provide for an almost real-time interaction. Because distance learning systems may vary dramatically, the following sections identify some
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commonalities among distance learning systems to which an educator may be exposed.
Learning Management Systems One of the most popular e-learning systems is the learning management system, which provides a means for educators to manage online learning applications. Key Term Note that some other types of learning management e-learning programming are system (LMS) An online considered synonymous with learning application LMS programming—namely, that enables access to the course management educational content. system (CMS) and the virtual Such an asynchronous system of learning learning environment (VLE). permits cognitive LMS enables online education content to be accessed of students, at a time and by students through an location that are convenient on-demand process. for the student. Most LMS programs are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. LMS presentations allow for a consistent educational program that can be viewed by multiple students. LMS programs can be written using a variety of formats, such as Microsoft PowerPoint or Word, Apple QuickTime, Adobe PDF, and Flash video, plus other compatible formats. LMS programs should meet the SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) standards, which ensure client and hosting compatibility for online learning systems. These standards enforce consistency between the LMS and computer operating systems and software. A relatively new programming format is IMS Common Cartridge, which may enable LMS programs in the future to reside on multiple computer systems. Despite the SCORM standards, not every computer is capable of receiving LMS programming. Instead, specific computer and Internet connection capabilities are identified for each LMS program. As mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, the capabilities of a computer’s internal processor and the speed/bandwidth of the computer’s Internet connection can affect the type and quality of LMS programs that can be viewed. Too little Internet bandwidth or insufficient computer processor speed can cause a presentation to experience frequent interruptions during an LMS video or live presentation, for example. LMS programming not only allows a student easy access to learning, but also provides for the automated management of the student’s data by educators and administrators. Encrypted within the LMS programming are evaluation and management
standards for students to attain. An LMS administrator can monitor an individual student’s progress within an LMS program. From a quality assurance perspective, being able to monitor a student’s progress within an online learning environment is very important. For example, a student’s procrastination within an LMS course can be quickly identified and addressed by the lead educator. Also, a student’s progress toward another LMS course is automatically monitored through computer coding, such that the student is not allowed to proceed without attaining satisfactory performance scores on the previous LMS course. For the LMS administrator, any student or any class’s online educational experience can be monitored to determine their overall performance, including monitoring the message boards and chat rooms that are often part of an LMS program. The educator or administrator of an LMS program can assign rights and privileges to both students and faculty members within the program. For example, the user name and password may be assigned by the LMS administrator. Access to areas of an LMS program can be restricted, based on the types of educational programming that are offered to a student. The online educator can monitor the progress of his or her students and can follow up with students who appear to have poor performance. LMS programming is typically created from an already established educational program. Through the use of audio, video, animations, video clips, and computer-based interactive behaviors, an LMS program is created that matches the educator’s lesson plan. The creation of an LMS program utilizes a similar type of production process as is used in creating motion pictures and television. A script—in this case, the educator’s lesson plan—is used as the basis for the LMS program. Visual images and audio are identified for each individual image. Computer behaviors, such as advance, backward, forward, pause, and action button responses to multiple-choice questions, are programmed into the program as well. An LMS program’s visual images are usually developed first, along with specific computer behaviors. Audio is then dubbed over each image. Finally, the LMS programming is tested for its behaviors and reviewed for its accuracy. Only then will the educator or LMS administrator upload the programming onto the LMS, at which point students or faculty with authorization can view the LMS programming. Some institutions use “hybrid” learning programs, in which only a portion of the course is offered online, while remaining portions of a course are conducted
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within a traditional classroom. This combination of remote learning and “in-person” learning allows educators to create an effective learning environment for their students. LMS and online programming are not without limitations and have been the target of some criticism. Of chief concern to some educators is the loss of the “artisan educator.” Educating students is both an art and a science. LMS programming primarily focuses on the science of instruction; the personalized approach to education is somewhat lost owing to the impersonality of the medium. In some forms of LMS courses, oneto-one communication between the educator and the student is not possible. This is not the case in all LMS courses because many do provide some means of communication between student and instructor. A significant limitation of a linear LMS program is that teaching directed at the psychomotor and affective education domains is not possible within such a program. These educational domains require students to have some form of physical skill demonstration or personal interaction between an educator and a student. For sharing straight rote didactic material, however, LMS is an excellent delivery medium. Of course, as has been noted in other chapters of this textbook, the learning and retention of information by public safety students require more than just rote memorization. For this reason, instructors and educational institutes should attempt to augment online LMS courses by including opportunities for one-to-one educator and student interactions. A student who uses online educational programs, based on their design alone, is likely to retain more information than is possible by just reading from a textbook. A study by the U.S. Department of Education published in 2009 affirms these suppositions. The Department of Education conducted a meta-analysis of online education programs. A critical finding was that students who took all or Key Term part of their instruction from online courses performed blended learning better, on average, than those Learning approach taking the same course in a in which traditional face-to-face presentation. Also, classroom sessions are combined with learning students who took a blended management software learning course, which is programming. This a combination of online approach has been and face-to-face teaching, proven to be more appeared to do the best of all. advantageous than traditional learning The report further identified approaches. that programs that use video or online quizzes as part of
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the LMS program do not appear to enhance the overall learning experience. This finding is contrary to what were generally accepted online learning concepts. The overall conclusion of the Department of Education study was that online learning alone is not superior to live instruction, but when online learning is partnered with live in-person instruction it appears to produce an ideal learning environment. One key factor affecting the utility of online learning is the student’s level of computer literacy. Computerized learning is not for every student. LMS, as well as other forms of computer distance learning, requires at least average computer skills. Some students are not comfortable reading and learning from online systems because they prefer to have written textbooks. Educators and institutes should carefully screen student candidates for LMS or other online programming. Online education is not right for every student, nor is it appropriate for every subject. Educators and program administrators need to carefully review proposed LMS and online programming to ensure they have the right course matched up with the right students.
Q Online Collaboration Distance learning is not a new educational concept. What is new is the variety of technologies that is allowing ever more educational institutes to offer distance learning. Historically satellite or compressed video systems have been used to conduct longdistance meetings and educational sessions. Instead of an instructor traveling to a variety of locations and conducting the same educational program, the use of live video educational seminars allows a consistent presentation to be heard by countless students at the same time, with those students being located at many different off-site locations. These types of distance learning systems require the assistance of technicians on both ends of the activity, however. In addition, the transmission equipment is expensive and the time of the video conferencing session is limited by the transmission costs. The target audience sometimes has not had easy access to locations that are capable of receiving these types of distance learning sessions, especially in rural communities. In recent years, live distance learning presentation challenges have been greatly reduced through the use of Internet meeting systems. Web meetings are no longer expensive propositions. With the advent of “Web 2.0” collaboration tools, along with the development of open-source applications, a stable, robust, and scalable distance learning option is now affordable and readily
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accessible to students within their own homes. These technology advancements enable businesses and educational institutes to effectively conduct two-way communication distance learning sessions using the Internet as their main platform. Internet sites such as Microsoft Live Meeting, Go To Meeting, Webex, DimDim, Skype, and Yugma are examples of Internet-based distance meeting software programs. The minimum hardware needed to operate these types of systems consists of an audio headset and a video camera (webcam) on each computer. The access fees to conduct these online meetings are affordable and represent just a fraction of the costs associated with satellite or compressed video systems. Some online systems allow telephone access to the online meetings, where audio transmission is not available; thus a student can watch an online presentation and still listen to the presenter. Screen icons may allow online interaction with the presenter. These icons control the audio, video, files, and dialogue between the meeting participants. Sharing computer files, seeing presentations (e.g., PowerPoint slides, Excel spreadsheets), and participating in a collaborative activity are all possibilities with today’s online presentation software. With some meeting software, such as Webex, a presenter, with a participant’s permission, can assume control of a student’s computer. This feature is particularly useful when troubleshooting a computer software issue or illustrating a specific process for a student to see. The growth of synchronous learning systems opens up distance learning possibilities for both instructors and educational institutes. With the affirmation that online hybrid learning, combined with traditional instruction, offers key benefits to students, the expansion of distance learning systems will likely continue within educational institutes in the future.
Q Summary Since the 1970s, there has been a tremendous explosion of computer technology. Today’s palm-
size computers can do as much or even more than a roomful of computers did in the past. Computers are a part of most individuals’ daily lives. The trend is clear: Computers will become more powerful and will be widely available to the general population. The Internet has changed how students and educators learn and explore information. Educators who underutilize computer resources will likely be less effective in tomorrow’s classrooms. More emphasis is being placed on the use of computers and technology in all phases of public safety education. The affirmation by the U.S. Department of Education of the importance of “blended” online and traditional education supports the continued use of computer technologies in today’s and tomorrow’s classrooms. LMS programs will play a pivotal role in today’s and tomorrow’s educational systems. Educators will be needed to write and oversee the administration of LMS courses. Distance learning is and will continue to be a partnership between online and face-to-face learning. The affective and psychomotor learning domains cannot be tapped into via online learning applications, however; thus these educational domains will still require skilled educators—“artisans”—to teach public safety students the abilities they need to succeed. Today’s basic computer software programs, such as computer reviews, simulations, and games, represent a quantum leap ahead from traditional teaching concepts. Educators need to use their present-day knowledge effectively in teaching students, but they also need to expand their horizons by probing the future of computer-enhanced instruction. Tomorrow’s classrooms will not have fewer computers; they will have more. In some cases, there may not even be four-by-four walled classrooms, but instead Internet webinar sites will be used. Instructors who are computer illiterate need to work on honing their computer literacy skills because tomorrow’s classrooms and learning environments will demand this capability.
Glossary
academic abstention Doctrine used by the courts to avoid reviewing academic decisions of educational institutions based on institutional academic freedom and autonomy.
critical thinking The process of asking probative questions, gathering information, sorting through data, logically reviewing results, and coming up with reliable conclusions.
accreditation Process of certifying that a program meets required standards.
curriculum A specific set of learning programs that include teaching methods, lesson plans, and assessment methods.
andragogy Characteristics associated with adult learners. asynchronous learning Online learning application that is not live, such as a learning management system. behavioral objectives Measurable statements of an anticipated educational outcome from a lesson plan or a curriculum. behavioral theories Theories supporting the idea of learning through behavioral reinforcement. behaviorism Philosophy that students respond to learning situations based on their external environment. blended learning Learning approach in which traditional classroom sessions are combined with learning management software programming. This approach has been proven to be more advantageous than traditional learning approaches. classical learning theory Theory supporting the idea that a learner can be conditioned to respond to specific stimuli.
deductive (direct) strategy Teaching strategy featuring input and guidance from the instructor. e-book An electronic textbook or other written material that is available in a digital format. ego state State of mind. essentialism Educational conservationism; the belief that if information is not immediately important, then it does not need to be taught. experiential learning Teaching strategy in which students share their personal experiences and act out these events in a role-playing scenario. experiential learning theory Theory that students learn information by reflecting on their past experiences. facilitation theories Theories recognizing that students learn and retain information better and have an enriched learning experience when they are actively involved in the learning process. gestalt theory Theory that looks at how students group information and react to that information.
cognitive theories Theories that stress the use of mental capabilities; that is, learning is influenced by the individual’s ability to think and discover information.
growth need strength (GNS) A measurement of the psychological needs of an individual and the degree of an individual’s internal motivation.
constructivist theory Theory that students construct their own knowledge by trying new ideas and approaches, based on their prior knowledge and experience.
humanism A discipline of the mind that encourages self-motivation to gain an understanding of information through mental experience using abstract thinking and imagination.
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Glossary
idealism A perspective that encourages freedom of individual expression and aims to educate students rather than simply imparting information or training. independent study Teaching strategy in which specific assignments are developed for an individual student. inductive strategy Teaching strategy that relies on active student involvement; also called indirect strategy or problem-solving, decision-making, critical-thinking, or discovery approach.
paradigm Mental understanding that filters incoming information, shapes perception, and establishes imaginary boundaries. policy manual Document that sets the standards for an educational institution and outlines key policies and procedures. pragmatism Philosophy identified with John Dewey (“learning by doing”); also known as progressivism.
instruction Educational process that causes a student to learn material and/or change his or her behavior.
pre-enrollment questionnaire An evaluation tool used to determine the mix of students enrolled. The responses to such a questionnaire must be kept confidential and the questions much comply with federal antidiscrimination law and other associated laws.
interactive instruction Teaching strategy that places students into specialized workgroups.
realism Scientific educational approach that focuses on a clear structure and objective facts.
item analysis A listing of each student’s answer to a particular question used for evaluation.
reconstructionism Philosophy in which the instructor serves as the coordinator of information, with presentations being based upon the needs of the students.
job diagnostic survey (JDS) Assessment tool that measures the degree of match between individuals and their jobs. learning management system (LMS) An online learning application that enables access to educational content. Such an asynchronous system of learning permits cognitive content to be accessed by students through an on-demand process. liability The responsibility that an individual assumes, or might assume, when he or she acts, or does not act, in a given situation. mean A value calculated by adding up all the scores from an examination and dividing by the total number of students who took the examination. median The score in the middle of the score distribution for an examination. metacognition The ability of an individual to gain and use knowledge (“thinking about thinking”). mode The most commonly occurring value in a set of values (e.g., scores on an examination). negligence Failure to use reasonable care to avoid foreseeable harm to a person or thing.
referent contact Initial visual image that serves as a model for student behavior and comprehension. reinforcement theory Theory that identifies how an instructor can influence how students learn. It maintains that positive reinforcement is the key to successful learning. safety officer Third party whose sole task is to observe, identify, control, and alleviate any safety hazards. sexual harassment Sex discrimination including unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment. standard of care Standard used to measure an individual’s actions (or inactions) in a situation based on the typical response that a normal individual would have made. stimulus-response theory Theory stating that for every stimulus, there is a corresponding response.
Glossary
storyboard Chart of audiovisual behaviors associated with the development of a multimedia presentation. synchronous learning Live learning such as is possible with a compressed video feed, online collaborative learning between students and instructors, or a live webinar utilized in distance learning. task analysis theory Theory that breaks a task into its various components to examine the learning skills required.
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teaching strategy The approach used to present the lesson material. transactional analysis Theory of social psychology that focuses on external and internal psychological “ego” states (e.g., parent, child, adult). USB flash drive Portable data file system the size of a car key that can hold electronic data files such as documents or slide presentations.
References
Accrediting Council of Independent Colleges and Schools. The History of Accreditation (Washington, DC: www.acisc.org, 2009). R. J. Armstrong et al. Developing and Writing Behavioral Objectives (Tucson, AZ: Educational Innovators Press, 1970). E. Aronson and S. Patnoe. The Jigsaw Classroom: Building Cooperation in the Classroom, 2nd ed. (New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 1977). Benjamin S. Bloom. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Book 1. Cognitive Domain (New York: Longman, 1956). Darrell Cain. The Explained Effects of Computer Mediated Conferencing on Student Learning Outcomes and Engagement [Doctorial dissertation]. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, April 2005. Arthur A. Carm and Robert Sund. Developing Questioning Techniques: A Self-Concept Approach (New York: Merrill, 1971). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Professional Nurse Law, PL 317, No. 69. John Dewey. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (New York: Macmillan, 1930). P. Dickison et al. “Program Accreditation Effect on Paramedic Credentialing Examination Success Rate.” Prehospital Emergency Care, 10:224–228, 2006. Manal El-Tigh. Department of Instructional Design: Development and Evaluation (Syracuse University, NY: 2003). www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Guide .shtml. EMS Education Agenda for the Future (Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2000). Thomas Good and Jere Brophy. Educational Psychology: A Realistic Approach (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1977).
Anita J. Harrow. A Taxonomy of the Psychomotor Domain (New York: David McKay, 1972). Honolulu Community College Faculty Guide (Honolulu, HI: 2009). http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/ committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/ lesspln1.htm. W. Kaye et al. Resuscitation, Vol. 21 (Limerick, Ireland: Elsevier Scientific, 1982), pp. 67–87. Jerrold E. Kemp. Instructional Design: A Plan for Unit and Course Development (Belmont, CA: Fearon/ Janus/Quercus, 1977); Fox Valley Technical College, its.foxvalley.tec.wi.us/ iss/curricassessment/column.html, 2000. Malcolm Knowles. The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (Houston, TX: Gulf, 1990). David A. Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1984). David A. Kolb. Learning Style Inventories, 3rd ed. (Boston: Hay Resources Direct, 1999). D. Krathwohl, B. Bloom, and B. Masia. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 2: Affective Domain (New York: David McKay, 1956). G. Frederick Kuder and M. W. Richardson. “The Theory of the Estimation of Test Reality.” Psychometrika, Vol. 2 (Greensboro: University of North Carolina at Greensboro, September 1937). John D. Lawther. The Learning and Performance of Physical Skills, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1977). Barry M. Leiner et al. “Lesson 2: History of the Net.” A Brief History of the Internet (Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina, 2000). William J. Mehrens and Irvin J. Lehmann. Measurement and Evaluation in Education and Psychology (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1978).
References
Bizhan Nasseh. Internet Generation and Adult Learners Will Create Major Challenges for Higher Education Institutes in the 21st Century (Muncie, IN: Ball State University, 2009). National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. Future of Emergency Care: EMS at the Crossroads (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2007), pp. 125–126. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. EMS Education Agenda of the Future, National Scope of Practice, EMS Educational Standards (Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2009). www.ems.gov. National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education. Second Estimate (Washington, DC: Office of Vocational and Adult Education, June 1990). National Registry of EMTs. Computer Adaptive Testing: Initiated Pearson VUE Testing Sites, 2007. New York State EMS Certified Lab Instructor Curriculum. New York State Department of Health for the Training of Labs Skill Session Instructors, 1988. Pennsylvania Department of Health. LMS Program (Harrisburg, PA: Bureau of EMS, 2009). http:// www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view .asp?q=241223. Pennsylvania Department of Health. Training Institute Accreditation Policies (Harrisburg, PA: Bureau of EMS, 2007).
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Pennsylvania Department of Health. Vehicle Rescue Curriculum (Harrisburg, PA: Bureau of EMS, 1999). Policy Statement from the National Registry of EMTs Regarding ALS Examinations Beginning January 1, 2013 (Columbus, OH: National Registry of EMTs, 2008). George D. Pozgar. Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration, 3rd ed. (Rockville, MD: Aspen, 1986). Saskatoon Public Schools, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, 2009. www.spsd.sk.ca/index .aspx?section=contact. Gilbert Sax. Principles of Education and Psychological Measurement and Evaluation, 3rd ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1989). Robert N. Singer. Motor Learning and Human Performance, 3rd ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1980). M. K. Smith. “Curriculum Theory and Practice.” The Encyclopaedia of Informal Education, 2000. www.infed.org/biblio/b-curric.htm. Teacher Education Module Series: Develop a Lesson Plan, Module B-4 of Category B—Instructional Planning (Columbus: Ohio State University, National Center for Research in Vocational Education, 1977). U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies (Washington, DC: 2009).
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Index
Index Figures and tables are indicated by f or t following the page number. Abrasions, 81 Academic abstention, 31 Accounting, 38–39 Accreditation, 40–44 formal reviews, 43 future of, 40–41 history of, 40–41 on-site visits, 43 programmatic, 42–43 quality improvement, 42 regulatory, 43–44 self-study assessment, 42–43 types of, 41–42 Action component of lessons, 53–54 ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), 30 Adaptive testing, 119 Addressing students by first names, 16 Administrative responsibility, 33–35, 34f Adult learners, 4 Advanced phase of skill instruction, 73 Advertisement of education programs, 39 Affective domain, 55–56, 56f Age of students, 10 Agreements between school and students, 30–31 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 30 Amputations, 82–83 Analogies, 16–17 Andragogy, 4 Anxiety over tests, 91–92 Application of educational theories in classroom, 24 Appropriate dress, 16 Articulation, 57 Assessment, 60. See also Program evaluation; Student evaluation tools Assistant instructors, 76–77 Asynchronous learning, 121 Audience of lesson, 53 Audio component of presentations, 110 Audiovisual classroom setup for slides or TV, 49 Average scores, 99, 101f Beginner phase of skill instruction, 72 Behavioral objectives, 52–58 abbreviating, 54 action component of lesson, 53–54 affective domain, 55–56, 56f audience of lesson, 53 cognitive domain and, 54–55, 55f, 55t, 56f content criteria of lesson, 54 lesson outcomes and, 53
for multimedia systems and technology, 106–107 performance standard of lesson, 54 psychomotor domain, 57–58, 57f researching lesson topics, 53 writing lesson objectives, 53–54 Behavioral theories, 19–20 Behavior component of presentations, 109–110 Behaviorism, 23–24 Being yourself (educators), 12 Bleeding, 81 Blended learning, 123 Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, 54, 55t Boardroom classroom setup, 49 Body language, 16 Boredom, 16 Bruises, 81 Burns, 82 Caring for students, 16 Carping critic role of educator, 14 Characterization level of understanding, 54 Checklists for program evaluation, 103–104 Cheerleaders, educators as, 14 Chest wounds, 83 Classical learning theory, 19, 19f Classrooms. See also Facility and classroom setup alternatives to, 49–50 disruptions, 37 distractions, 46 educational theory applications in, 24 layouts, 48, 48f safety, 46–47 temperature, 46 Clerical staff, 35 Coaches. See Educators Cognitive domain, 54–55, 55f, 55t, 56f Cognitive learning, 21 Cognitive theories, 20, 20f Computers, 116–124 adaptive testing, 119 asynchronous learning, 121 blended learning, 123 computer-assisted instruction, 118 computer-based examinations, 118–119 computer-based textbooks and software, 113 computer processors and, 116–117 connectivity and, 116–117 distance learning, 121–123 games, 120–121
Index interactive laser disk programs, 114 Internet and, 117–118 learning management systems (LMSs), 122–123 linear examinations, 119 networks, 113 online collaboration, 123–124 processors, 116–117 review programs, 120 scratch pads, 112–113 simulations, 120 software applications, 113, 118–121 synchronous learning, 121 training equipment, 114 tutorial programs, 119–120 URL suffixes and, 118 whiteboards, 112–113 Conceptual knowledge, 54 Conference room classroom setup, 49 Confidentiality, 30, 31 Connectivity, 116–117 Constructivist theory, 21 Content criteria of lesson, 54 Contractual agreements between school and students, 30–31 Copyrights, 109 Costs of multimedia systems and technology, 107, 107f Course coordinators, 34–35 Course evaluation, 101–102 Critical performance criteria, 93 Critical thinking, 21–22 Curriculum, 61. See also Lesson plans and curriculum Deans, 34 Deductive strategy, 64 Demonstrations, 68 Design of educational system. See Educational system design Direct strategy, 64 Direct supervision, 74–75 Discipline standards, 36–37 Discovery phase of skill instruction, 72 Discrimination, 29–30 Discussion classroom setup, 49 Disruptions in classroom, 37 Distance learning, 121–123 Distractions in classroom, 46 Documentation for program, 37–38 Dress, appropriate, 16 Drill-and-practice programs, 120 Drill paradox, 76 E-books, 113, 113f Educational background of students, 8–9 Educational conservationists, 23 Educational curricula, 61–62 Educational motto, 11 Educational philosophies, 22–24 behaviorism, 23–24 classroom application of, 24 essentialism, 23 humanism, 22–23
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idealism, 22 perennialism, 22–23 pragmatism, 23, 23f realism. See Realism reconstructionism, 24 Educational resources. See Computers; Multimedia systems and technology Educational system design, 33–39 advertisement, 39 clerical staff, 35 course coordinators, 34–35 deans, 34 discipline standards, 36–37 equipment maintenance, 35 executive directors, 34 facility maintenance, 35 finances and funding, 38–39 financial personnel, 35 instructors, 35 performance standards, 36–37, 54 policy manuals, 36 program administration, 33–35, 34f program administrators, 34 specialty personnel, 35–36 written documentation, 37–38 Educational theories, 18–22, 24 behavioral, 19 classical learning, 19, 19f classroom application of, 24 cognitive learning, 20, 20f, 21 constructivist, 21 critical thinking, 21–22 experiential learning, 21, 64–65 facilitation, 20–21 metacognition, 21, 54 psychosocial, 22 reinforcement, 19–20, 20f relevance of, 18 stimulus-response, 19, 19f task analysis, 19 Educators, 11–17 analogies, use of, 16–17 assistant instructors, 76–77 being yourself, 12 body language and, 16 boredom, as issue for, 16 calling students by first names, 16 as caring instructors, 16 characteristics of, 12–14, 13–14t dressing appropriately, 16 duties of, 28 as facilitators, 17 first impressions and, 16 handout materials and, 15 instructional role of, 11–12 instruction tips and techniques for, 15–17 as mentors, 12, 17 passionate, 17 as professionals, 12–13 realistic presentations and, 15 as role models, 12
132
Index
Educators (Continued) roles of, 14–15, 35, 76 talking to students, 15 Ego state, 6 E-ink, 113–114 Environmental considerations of classroom setup, 45–49 Equipment maintenance, 35 Equipment skills, 93 Essay questions, 88–89 Essentialism, 23 Ethics, 28 Etiquette for classroom use, 49 Evaluation. See Program evaluation; Student evaluation tools Evaluation of skills mastery, 75–76 Evaluators, 93 Examinations. See Student evaluation tools Executive directors, 34 Experience level of students, 10 Experiential learning, 21, 64–65 Extra perks, 36 Facilitation theories, 20–22 Facilitators, educators as, 17 Facility and classroom setup, 45–50 audiovisual setup for slides or TV, 49 boardroom format, 49 classroom alternatives, 49–50 conference room format, 49 discussion format, 49 distractions, 46 environmental considerations, 45–49 etiquette for room usage, 49 injury potential, 47 layouts, 48–49, 48f lighting, 47–48 refreshments, access to, 48 restrooms, access to, 48 safety, 46–47 safety officers, 47 small-group discussion format, 49 smoking, 48 temperature, 46 theater format, 49 Facility maintenance, 35 Factual knowledge, 54 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 30 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 30 Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 30 Field trips, 68 Financial management, 38–39 Financial personnel, 35 Fine motor skills, 57 First impressions, 16 First names, calling students by, 16 Flash drives, 111 Formal accreditation reviews, 43 Fractures, 82 Full skill demonstration, 73–74 Funding, 38 Games, 70, 120–121
Gestalt theory, 20 Goals of programs, 97 Grades and grading system, 101 Gross motor skills, 57 Growth need strength (GNS), 5 Guided discussion, 66–67 Handout materials, 15 High-definition television (HDTV), 112 classroom setup for, 49 Highly skilled phase of skill instruction, 73 Humanism, 22–23 Idealism, 22 Imitation, 57 Independent practice, 75 Independent study, 65 Indirect discussion, 66–67 Indirect supervision, 75 Inductive strategy, 64 Injuries in classroom, 47 Institutional finances, 38–39 Instruction. See also Teaching methods defined, 11–12 principles of, 15 tips and techniques for, 15–17 Instructor-made tests, 90 Instructors. See Educators Insurance, 31–32 Interactive instruction, 64 Intermediate phase of skill instruction, 72 Internal motivation, 5–6 Internet, 117–118 Inventories, learning style, 7–8, 8f Item analysis, 97–98, 98t Item difficulty, 98, 98t Jigsaw method, 66 Job diagnostic survey (JDS), 5 Key learning concepts, 4–6 Kiosk messages, 111 Knowledge, retaining, 3, 3f Lacerations, 80–81 Latency phase of skill instruction, 73 Laws and regulations, 29 Layouts of classroom, 48, 48f Learning abilities, 4–6, 9–10 Learning by doing, 4 Learning domains, 54–58, 55–57f, 55t Learning management systems (LMSs), 122–123 Learning phases of skill instruction, 57–58, 57f, 72–73 Learning process, 2–3 Learning styles, 7–8, 8f Learning through senses, 2–3, 3t Lectures, 65–66 setup for, 48–49 Legal considerations, 27–32 ADA, 30 contractual agreements, 30–31
Index discrimination, 29–30 duties of public safety educators, 28 ethics, 28 FERPA, 30 FLSA, 30 FMLA, 30 instructional insurance, 31–32 laws and regulations, 29 for lesson plans and curriculum, 61 negligence and liability, 27–28 operational regulations, 30–31 patient confidentiality, 31 sexual harassment, 28–29 standard of care, 28 Lesson plans and curriculum, 59–62. See also Behavioral objectives; Psychomotor skill instruction; Teaching methods; Teaching strategies administrative component of, 60 assessment and, 60 behavioral objectives and, 60 building lesson plans, 59 components of, 60–61 content of, 108 format for, 61 institutional curricula, 61–62 legal considerations for, 61 materials and resources for, 60 objectives of, 53–54 outcomes of, 53 procedural content of, 60 references and, 61 Lesson presentation, 73–76 Levels of learning, 57, 57f Levels of understanding, 56 Liability, 27–28 Lighting in classroom, 47–48 Linear examinations, 119 LMSs (learning management systems), 122–123
copyrights and, 109 costs of, 107 e-books, 113, 113f effectiveness of, 107 e-ink, 113–114 high-definition television (HDTV), 112 instructor awareness and, 107 interactive laser disk programs, 114 kiosk messages, 111 lesson plan content and, 108 planning for, 106–107 presentation integration, 110–111 satellite TV, 114–115 scratch pads and whiteboards, 112–113 storyboards and, 108, 108f training equipment, 114 USB flash drives, 111 using and designing, 107–110 videos and, 109 virtual reality, 111–112 visual images and, 109 Multiple-choice questions, 90–91
Maintenance of facility and equipment, 35 Makeup, 79–80, 80f Manipulation, 57 Mastery phase of skill instruction, 73 Matching questions, 89 Mean, 100, 100f Median, 100, 101t Mentors, 12, 17 Metacognition, 21, 54 Mode, 100, 100f Motivation, 5–6 Motto, educational, 11 Moulage, 79–80, 80f, 81 Multimedia systems and technology, 106–115. See also Computers advanced resources, 111–115 audio and, 110 availability of, 107 behavioral objectives, 106–107 behavior component of presentation and, 109–110 computer-based textbooks and software, 113 computer networks, 113
Paperwork, documentary, 37–38 Paradigms, 6–7 Passion in instruction, 17 Patient-actors, 83 Patient confidentiality, 31 Perennialism, 22–23 Performance evaluations, 103–104 Performance standards, 36–37, 54 Perks, 36 Personnel, non-instructional, 35–36 Perspective, 16 Philosophy of education. See Educational philosophies Physical capability of students, 9 Plan of action, 97 Plateau phase of skill instruction, 72 Policy manuals, 36 Pragmatism, 23, 23f Precision, 57 Pre-enrollment questionnaires, 8–10 Presentation integration, multimedia, 110–111 Presentations, realistic, 15 Pre-skill preparation, 73
Naturalization, 57 Negligence, 27–28 Networks, computer, 113 Non-instructional personnel, 35–36 Nonverbal communication, 57 Objectives of lessons, 53–54 Online collaboration, 123–124 On-site accreditation visits, 43 Operational regulations, 30 Oral evaluations, 86–87 Organicism, 23 Organization level of understanding, 56 Outdoor classroom safety, 47 Overlearning, 76
133
134
Index
Principles of instruction, 15 Privacy, 30, 31 Procedural content of lesson plans, 60 Procedural knowledge, 54 Professionals, educators as, 12–13 Program administration and administrators, 33–35, 34f Program documentation, 37–38 Program evaluation, 96–104 average scores, 99, 101f checklists, 103–104 course evaluation and, 101–102 defining program goals, 97 examination reliability, 100–101 interpreting results, 104 item analysis, 97–98, 98t item difficulty, 98, 98t mean, 100, 100f median, 100, 101t mode, 100, 100f performance evaluations, 103–104 plans of action, 97 rating scales for, 102 score distribution, 98–99, 99f, 99t statistical evaluations, 97–101 student grades and, 101 survey format, 102–103 survey questions, 102 Programmatic accreditation, 42–43 Psychomotor domain, 57–58, 57f Psychomotor skill instruction, 71–77 assistant instructor’s role in, 76–77 drill paradox, 76 evaluation of, 75–76 full skill demonstration, 73–74 independent practice, 75 instructor’s role in, 76 introduction of skills, 72 learning phases of, 72–73 lesson presentation, 73–76 overlearning, 76 practice with direct supervision, 74–75 practice with indirect supervision, 75 presentation of skills, 71–72 pre-skill preparation, 73 skill formula, 72 step-by-step demonstration, 74–75 wrap-up of, 76 Psychosocial theory, 22 Quality improvement, 42 Questions classroom, 66 examination, 88–91 survey, 102 Rating scales, 102 Realism in educational settings, 78–83 abrasions, 81 amputations, 82–83 bleeding, 81 bruises, 81
burns, 82 chest wounds, 83 defined, 4–5, 22 fractures, 82 lacerations, 80–81 makeup, 79–80, 80f moulage, 79–80, 80f, 81 overview, 78–79 patient-actors, 83 scenarios and, 79 shock, 80 simulation facilities and, 79 surroundings, 83 Realistic presentations, 15 Reality therapists, educators as, 14 Receiving level of understanding, 56 Reconstructionism, 24 References for lesson plans, 61 Referent contact, 5 Refreshments, access to, 48 Regulations, 29, 30 Regulatory accreditation, 43–44 Reinforcement theory, 19–20, 19f Relativism, 23 Reliability, examination, 100–101 Remediation, 94–95 Researching lesson topics, 53 Responding level of understanding, 56 Restrooms, 48 Retaining knowledge and skills, 3, 3f Review programs, 120 Role models, 12 Role-playing, 68–69 Roles of educators, 14–15 Safety in classroom, 46–47 Safety officers, 47 Salespersons, educators as, 14 Satellite TV, 114–115 Scenarios, 79 Score distribution, 98–99, 99f, 99t Scoring sheets, 93–94 Scratch pads on computers, 112–113 Self-study assessment, 42–43 Senses, learning through, 2–3, 3f Sentence-completion questions, 89 Sexual harassment, 28–29 Shock, 80 Short-answer questions, 89 Simulations, 68–69, 79, 120 Skill evaluation, 92–94 Skill formula, 72 Skill lesson presentation, 73–76 Skills. See also Psychomotor skill instruction introduction of, 72 mastering and retaining of, 3, 3f presentation of, 71–72 Slides, classroom setup for, 49 Small-group discussion, 67–68 classroom setup for, 49 Smoking, 48
Index Software, 113, 118–121 Specialty personnel, 35–36 Standardized tests, 90 Standard of care, 28 Standards of discipline and performance, 36–37 State regulatory accreditation, 43–44 Stations, testing, 93 Statistical evaluations, 97–101 Step-by-step demonstration, 74–75 Stimulus-response theory, 19, 19f Storyboards, 108, 108f Strategic plan, 97 Student characteristics, 8–10 Student evaluation tools, 85–95 computer-based, 118–119 critical performance criteria, 93 equipment use, 93 essay questions, 88–89 evaluators and, 93 instructor-made tests, 90 matching questions, 89 measuring results of, 85–86 multiple-choice questions, 90–91 oral evaluations, 86–87 preparation tips, 91 purpose of evaluation, 85 reliability, 100–101 remediation and, 94–95 scoring sheets, 93–94 sentence-completion questions, 89 short-answer questions, 89 skill evaluation, 92–94 standardized tests, 90 test administration, 94 test anxiety, 91–92 testing scenarios, 92 testing stations, 93 true/false questions, 89–90 written examinations, 87–88, 87f Students, 2–10 adult learners as, 4 age of, 10 characteristics of, 8–10 educational background of, 8–9 experience of, 10 helping students master skills, 3, 3f internal motivation and, 5–6 key learning concepts, 4–6 learning ability of, 9–10 learning by doing, 4 learning process, 2–3 learning styles, 7–8, 8f paradigms and, 6–7 physical capability of, 9 realism and, 4–5, 22 retaining knowledge and skills, 3, 3f
senses, learning through, 2–3, 3f transactional analysis and, 6–7 Sucking chest wounds, 83 Surroundings, scenario, 83 Surveys, 102–103 Synchronous learning, 121 Talking to students, 15 Task analysis theory, 19 Taskmaster role of educator, 14 Teachers. See Educators Teaching methods, 65–70 demonstrations, 68 discussion, guided and indirect, 66–67 field trips, 68 games, 70, 120–121 jigsaw method, 66 lectures, 65–66 questions, 66 role-playing, 68–69 simulation, 68–69 small-group interaction, 67–68 Teaching strategies, 15–17, 63–65 deductive strategy, 64 experiential learning, 21, 64–65 independent study, 65 inductive strategy, 64 interactive instruction, 64 Technology. See Computers; Multimedia systems and technology Temperature in classroom, 46 Testing. See Student evaluation tools Textbooks, computer-based, 113 Theater classroom setup, 49 Theoretical foundations of learning. See Educational philosophies; Educational theories Transactional analysis, 6–7 True/false questions, 89–90 Tutorial programs, computerized, 119–120 TV, classroom setup for, 49 URL suffixes, 118 USB flash drives, 111 Valuing level of understanding, 56 Verbal communication, 57 Videos, 109 Virtual reality, 111–112 Visits on-site for accreditation, 43 Visual images, 109 Whiteboards, computer, 112–113 Wrap-up of skills instruction, 76 Written evaluations, 87–88, 87f Written program documentation, 37–38
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Photo Credits
Chapter 3 3-1 © Novosti/Photo Researchers, Inc.; 3-2 © National Library of Medicine; 3-3 © Bill Anderson/Photo Researchers, Inc.; 3-4 © A. H. C./age fotostock Chapter 15 15-1 © Lisa F. Young/ShutterStock, Inc.; 15-3 © Photosani/ShutterStock, Inc. Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs and illustrations are under copyright of Jones & Bartlett Learning, or have been provided by the author.
