Artifact 4 - Unit Plan
AECT Standard 2: Content Pedagogy
Context & Conditions
This artifact was made during EDET 705, where we were asked to develop a unit plan. I chose my unit plan to be on the United States’ boom during and after WWII and the identity that they played on a global scale. This was targeted at 11th and 12th graders who are in US history and learning about the United States and the impact of WWII on the United States. When designing the unit plan, it was designed in Microsoft Word, where all of the information was laid out. Additionally, this assignment emphasized activating schemas, cognitivism, metacognition, and self-determination. While the unit plan never became a functional eLearning module, there was an emphasis on focus on creating self-paced learning.
Scope
The purpose of this artifact was to create a unit plan from a standard of our choice and apply cognitive theories to the activities to support the learner’s experience. This was based on a fictional unit plan that we created for EDET 705, however, with revision, this could potentially be placed into a curriculum for high school students learning about United States’ history. There were lots of new things I learned when developing this unit plan especially with the focus of cognitive neuroscience. I found this difficult, but rewarding because it shows how the designers think about how to make information effectively and improve retention rates through the purpose of neuroscience.
Role
I created the entire lesson plan from start to finish for EDET 705. I was the instructional designer and developer of this artifact. There were no subject matter experts (SMEs) used during the creation of this artifact since I had created and taught this same unit plan from my student teaching experience. I did alter it to work effectively with the assignments to fit the requirements and guidelines for these assignments. I did learn a lot from this experience doing it solo because I am interested in course design where I would have to take units and design them into courses.
Instructional Design
This artifact aligns with design phase of the ADDIE model because the lesson plan outlines the instructions, instructional materials, and sequencing were provided in the unit plan. This is clear reflection of the design phase because the instructions are being designed as a blueprint to support the learning objectives. Moreover, the unit plan focuses on sequencing the information in a effective way to support individuals. By laying out a blueprint prior to the development stage, me (the designer) can determine the sequencing of events while supporting the zone of proximal, self-determination, dual coding theory, and information processing theory for the learner. Finally, this artifact supports the design phase of the ADDIE model because I was selecting the media that would be provided in this unit plan. Selecting the media prior to developing the final product, it can help narrow down what media would best support the learner’s ability to understand the information. This artifact highlights the design phase because I am creating a blueprint of learning targets, instructional materials that support the learning targets, and the assessment (it wasn’t provided on this one). We are not creating anything yet, but laying out what would be used in the final product to see what would best support the learner.
This artifact also aligns with the Morrison, Ross, and Kemp (MRK) instructional design model by aligning the instructional strategies to support the learner’s learning based on the goals. According to Morrison, he states, “The design should activate the existing knowledge structures (i.e., recall of prior knowledge) and then help the learner to alter and encode the new structures.” (Morrison et al., 2013). The unit plan emphasizes utilizing existing knowledge structures to support the learner’s understanding of the material through neuroscience. Additionally, the design choice of using the Constructivism theory by Jean Piaget focuses on using prior knowledge to encourage students to build new information over time.
Related Performance Indicators
Creating - Candidates apply content pedagogy to create appropriate applications of processes and technologies to improve learning and performance outcomes. (p. 1)
Reflection
This artifact was fun, but I had a big learning curve throughout this experience. For starters, my knowledge of neuroscience was very limited. There were lots of new things such as active learning, how our memory is dual channel, zone of proximal, and the information processing theory. Now, some of these I have heard of as a teacher, however I didn’t understand the neuroscience behind choosing each instructional material. By doing this class, it allowed me to understand how each instructional material can impact the cognitive side to improve the effectiveness of the material being taught to the learner.
This artifact aligns with 2.1 of standard two of the AECT 2012 because we were asked to apply different neuroscience theories into our instructional materials. By understanding different cognitive theories, I was able to intentionally choose instructional materials that would support and help the learner instead of not helping them.