Whole Task Approach to Holistic Learning of Vocational Competences

Tang Buay Choobuaytang@gmail.com

Institute of Adult Learning, SingaporeAdult Education Network Special Interest Group (Instructional Design)

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Outline

• Recap: Concept of competence• Holistic Education vs Holistic Learning of Competence• Why Holistic Learning of competence?• Whole Task Approach to Holistic Learning of

Competence• Components of a Whole Task• Holistic Design for complex competence-based learning

– an introduction

Recap: Instructional Design for Competence-based learning

Key purpose

To facilitate learner acquisition of competence

Activity: What is a competence?• Think… On your own think about

– What is the definition of competence?– What are the elements of competence?

• Write… Write your views on a piece of paper

• Show… Upon signal from the facilitate, show your views to your group members

• Discuss and negotiate… Within your group, discuss and come to a consensus on the definition and elements of a competence

• Share… Present your group’s view on a flipchart. You can use any format, text, pictures, diagrams….

Strategy: Show Down

Nature of competence

Knowledge

SkillsAttitude

Competence

Methodological competence

Technical competence

Social competence

Personal competence

Professional Action Competence

vs

Ability to perform workplace task Ability to perform task at the workplace

vs

Nature of competence – Important considerations for competence-based instructional design

Methodological competence

Technical competence

Social competence

Personal competence

Professional Action Competence

Ability to perform task at the workplace

1. Workplace context frames task-> Learning should be authentic

2. Workplace standards determines “Ability” -> Assessment should be authentic

3. T M S P are applied holistically in an integrated manner to perform the task at workplace

-> Learning and Assessment should be holistic/integrated.

4. Integrated application of several Competence Elements is required -> Appropriate sequence of learning & scaffolds needed to promote systematic acquisition and integration - > Learning materials should support development of mental model for integrated application

Holistic Learning and Holistic Education

• In your view, is there a difference between Holistic Learning & Holistic Education?

• If yes, what are the differences?

Why Holistic Learning of Competence?

• Read the story “Every Curriculum Tells A Story” by Roger Schank

http://www.socraticarts.com/docs/SCCwhitepaper.pdf

Activity: What is wrong with the curriculum?• There are 3 problems with this curriculum:

– Fragmentation – learners unable to integrate the different pieces of content into coherent and meaningful wholes;

– Compartmentalization – learners unable to integrate the different elements of the target competences, namely Knowledge, Skills, and attitudes (or T M S P); and

– Low transfer of learning - Learners unable to apply their learning to perform at the workplace or to new problems/situations

(van Merriënboer, 2006)

• In your groups, discuss and cite examples from the story to illustrate each of the problem.– How should the curriculum be designed to avoid these problems?

Why Holistic Learning of Competence?

Theoretical Basis

• Gestalt theory

• Situated Learning

• Adult Learning

Brain-based perspective• Proposes that learning is about grasping of a

structural whole

• A "Gestalt" is an integrated whole system of integrated parts, and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

• Proposes 5 gestalt factors. Each factor is a condition that helps one perceive situations as a whole or totality.

• Factor of Similarity proposes that like parts tend to be grouped together in cognition. Hence, learning is facilitated if similar or related ideas are linked together as a whole and contrasted with opposing or complementary sets of ideas.

Gestalt

Why Holistic Learning of Competence?

Theoretical Basis

• Gestalt theory

• Situated Learning

• Adult Learning

How learning takes place perspective• A group of learning theories that posits that

learning should be situated within authentic activity, context, and culture.

• First proposed by Lave and Wenger as a model of learning in a community of practice

• Example of subsequent theories include• Cognitive Apprenticeship (Brown, Collins &

Duguid) – emphasises importance of situating learning in authentic real world tasks

• Anchored Instruction (Cognition & Technology Group at Vanderbilt)- proposes that learning should be situated or anchored in real life problem situations or tasks.

Why Holistic Learning of Competence?

Theoretical Basis

• Gestalt theory

• Situated Learning

• Adult Learning

How adults learn perspective• Transformative Learning

• Process of using a prior interpretation to construe a new or revised interpretation of the meaning of one’s experience in order to guide future action" (Mezirow, 1996: 162).

• Suggest that learning for adults begins with a real life “disorienting dilemma”

• Context-based Learning (recent theories in adult learning)

• learning is a social, constructed phenomenon

• Same concept as Situated Learning

Why Holistic Learning of Competence?

Practical Considerations• Task Complexity

– Performing a sub-skill in isolation is different from performing it in the context of the real world task

– Automaticity of a sub-skill achieved through isolated practice is often not transferable to the context of performing within the real world task.

• Complexity and variability of the real world context– Need to learn and apply the knowledge and skills to varied set of, and/or

complex, real-world contexts and settings

Demands of Learning Transfer

Highly Simple Procedural-based- Very near transfer

Highly Complex Principled-based- Very far transfer

Increasing need for holistic learning

Whole Task Approach

• Focus on the overall goal to be attained throughout the entire process.

• A work place task ( or whole task) that is assignable and has meaningful work outcomes are used to frame learning

• The workplace task is learned as a whole instead of discretely as a set of individual sub-skills, where each part of the learning is taught in relations to the whole task.

Whole Task Approach

Some models and frameworks• Cognitive Apprenticeship (Collins, Brown & Newman, 1989), • Constructive Learning Environments (Jonassen, 1999), • Goal-Based Scenarios (Schank, Berman, & MacPerson, 1999)• 4C/ID-model (van Merriënboer, J. J. G, 1997)• Pebble-in-the-Pond (Merrill, 2000)

• Read the reading materials at http://www.delicious.com/buay/SIG

• In your group, discuss and create a graphic representation to depict your understanding of your group’s assigned model.

• What is used to situate the whole task?• What constitute the “content” to be learn?• What are the instructional design process/elements/components?

• You may want to use an online graphic representation tools, e.g. • Mindmesiter - http://www.mindmeister.com/• Prezi - http://www.prezi.com/

Thank you