Syllabus Design: Learning Styles
Group 1: Julee Sims, Julia Davenport, Cameron Bopp, Elaine Pippens
Ball State University
EDAC 635: Strategies for Teaching Adults
Dr. Bo Chang
October 27, 2024
Group Members | Roles | Commented On |
Julee Sims | Syllabus: Monday – Wednesday Location, Dates, and Time of Class, Objectives of Course, Learning Activities, Schedules, Strategies, Methods and Tools, Reading/Learning Materials, Assignments and Due Dates, Attendance Policy, Grading Criteria and Standards | Group 3 Syllabus Design - The Environmentally Conscious Individual: Kayla McAllister |
Julia Davenport | Introduction, Syllabus: Thursday & Friday Learning Activities, Schedules, Strategies, Methods and Tools, Reading/Learning Materials, Assignment and Due Dates, Course Instructors, Contact Information, Objective of Course, References, Overall Document Structure, Table Edits/Adds, Post to Blog/Canvas | Group 2 Syllabus Design – Emotions in Learning: Shea Harrell, Moriah Offutt, Lacey Shirk, and Samiaya Thomas |
Cameron Bopp | Rationale, Reflection, Overall Document Review | Group 2 Syllabus Design - Emotions in Learning: Shea Harrell, Moriah Offutt, Lacey Shirk, and Samiaya Thomas & Group 4 Syllabus Design - Relationship in Learning: Andrea McMurtry, Claire Presley, and Timothy Xeriland |
Elaine Pippens | Table | Group 2 Syllabus Design - Emotions in Learning: Shea Harrell, Moriah Offutt, Lacey Shirk, and Samiaya Thomas (via Zoom; per guidelines below)  |
Introduction
Welcome to our comprehensive 5-day workshop on Time Management, specifically designed for professionals at all stages of their careers who seek to enhance their productivity and effectiveness in the workplace. In today's fast-paced environment, mastering time management is crucial for achieving both personal and organizational goals. This workshop aims to equip participants with practical tools and techniques, focusing on setting professional goals, maintaining focus amidst distractions, organizing workspaces, delegating tasks effectively, and leveraging technology to streamline processes. Our objectives are to foster a deeper understanding of individual time management styles, provide actionable strategies, and create an engaging learning experience tailored to various learning preferences. Through a blend of interactive discussions, hands-on activities, and collaborative exercises, participants will leave with a personalized action plan to transform their approach to time management and boost their overall productivity.
Rationale
Our group created a five-day syllabus outline for a professional development course on improving time management skills in a workplace setting. Our goal in creating this syllabus was to properly implement learning style theory into our coursework to satisfy natural variance in preferred learning style, thereby optimizing desired learning outcomes. While designing the syllabus, we drew from several learning style models such as Kolb’s Model of Learning Styles, and Galbraith’s conceptual modalities.
The syllabus structure was created so that each day has a unique learning target. Each day’s learning target aims at focusing on one area of time mismanagement and developing ways to identify its origin and properly intervene. The lesson’s structure for each day is well rounded, including activities for hands-on activities, discussion, individualized work, topic overview through various media, and opportunities for higher order thinking and reflection. This lesson design is supportive of Kolb’s Model of Learning Styles. In particular, the lesson opener draws from this model’s theory.
The opener of a lesson should be impactful and optimize a learner’s interest in the subject. The week’s overall structure is carefully designed to not rely on one specific learning style for an introductory experience of the content that day. The design actively works to avoid the pitfall of facilitators who “tend to start with activities that represent their preferred learning style on the assumption that this is the ‘best way to learn’” (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 87). For example, after a quick overview of the course, the opening Monday has attendees watch a video exemplary of people differentiating professional and personal goals and reading about the key takeaways of the video in a complimenting handout. This lecture-based approach would be preferred by assimilative learners who like to begin by reading about the topic in order to understand where they might go next (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 87).
On other days, the opening learning tasks change to diversify other learning styles. Tuesday attendees begin with a larger discussion of the topic at hand, a preference held by divergent learners. Wednesday brings attendees directly into the problem through a hands-on activity, highlighting the strengths of accommodative learners. It is important that the lessons do not begin repetitively, as each learning style has a neutral value.
While varying the introduction to each lesson was important to the design of the syllabus, it was equally important to integrate the full breadth of the learning cycle into each lesson. According to MacKeracher (2004, p. 82), “Facilitators should develop a variety of activities that offer all learners some opportunities to use their preferred learning styles.” The lesson designs were meant to draw on both concrete and abstract experience and provide opportunities for both reflection and active experimentation to find areas all attendees could be comfortable contributing to.
For example, while Thursday’s lesson begins with a larger discussion on the importance of delegation and why they may mismanage delegating tasks, the entirety of the lesson cannot fixate on reflection and abstract conceptualization. Attendees are then tasked with actively experimenting with the ideas they brainstormed during the discussion through a series of hands-on role-playing exercises. By drawing on concrete experiences from their work life, reflecting on those experiences and brainstorming practical solutions, then acting out and experimenting on how those solutions would play out the students complete the learning cycle and satisfy the preferences of all types of learning styles within the lesson.
Similarly, in Monday’s lesson outline, students begin with a video lecture outlining the key goals of that day's lesson. This method appeals to assimilative learners and is a familiar structure for most people. Attendees then move to a discussion of their own professional goals and begin to brainstorm ways to create an effective plan of action to achieve these goals. This activity is designed to bridge the gap between assimilative and convergent thinking as attendees are asked to reflect on the concrete experiences of their work life and begin to reflect on their goals and how to achieve them. This forces them to apply logic and the concepts they will be learning and pushes them towards forming an abstract conceptualization of a plan of action.
Later in the day, attendees will create a plan through some media, a task which may be preferred by individuals who enjoy doing tasks greater than planning tasks, such as accommodative learners. The last task on Monday will be for attendees to present their plan of action and receive feedback from the instructor and other attendees. This action brings their plan into active experimentation, where their ideas are experimented on and are weighed against reality. Being that this last task asks attendees to work individually, can be completed through a variety of media, and is being evaluated by their peers through logical analysis of their plans, it will be preferred by attendees who are convergent learners (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 91).
Another important course design choice is to provide opportunities for varying individuals to lead a learning task. The goal was not to rely on learners applying their new skills solely through individual work. This decision was made because we wanted to create opportunities for learners to refine areas of the learning cycle they are not as proficient in while not feeling overwhelmed or anxious about the process. Each part of Kolb’s Learning Cycle has areas of strengths and weaknesses, for example, “learners who avoid developing abstract ideas are often afraid that their ideas will be carved in stone” (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 89). To alleviate some of this potential stress, several of the assignments are created to be group activities.
According to Mackeracher (2004, pg. 87), “Mature learning groups function best when different individuals can take leadership for different aspects of the learning cycle.” For example, during the Friday lesson the primary activity where students would apply what they are learning is a small group project where students are asked to create and reflect on a plan around a technology designed to help them more effectively schedule. The groups were created based on a survey that helped the facilitators identify their preferred learning styles. The varying tasks they are asked to complete allow them to each lead a section of their preferred learning style while still participating in the entire learning cycle. The reason it was decided to not have only group work is because some individuals have a primary learning style where they do not prefer group work, such as convergent learners (MacKeracher, 2004, p. 91).
Attendees are also presented with a variety of perceptual modalities through the week’s activities. A multisensory approach was created to better reinforce the desired outcomes through the preferred modality (Lawson, 2015, p.33). There are introductory video visuals, printed hand-outs, opportunities for discussions and lectures for aural learners, interactive activities such as action plan critiques, and class reflections, tactile activities such as opportunities to present assignments through creating models and reorganize workspaces, and finally kinesthetic activities such as acting out sketches and games.
For one concrete example, the training on Wednesday exemplifies a lesson plan which complements each person’s preferred modality. The objective of the day is for attendees to identify and apply techniques to de-clutter their work environment to manage time more effectively. They play a quick game to introduce the concept of finding items in a cluttered environment (kinesthetic). The activity later provides hands-on real-life practice of what is being taught (tactile). The trainer demonstrates how to effectively begin organizing a work environment (visual). Printed copies of suggestions of how to begin the activity are given out (print). All directions would be given vocally as well as shown physically (aural). In between activities the trainer would facilitate reflection, and the learning tasks would be done in small groups (interactive).
The decisions made in our course syllabus design were made to optimize attendee learning outcomes by ensuring that each participant’s learning style was addressed. We completed this task by creating learning targets for each day that introduced topics at different points of Kolb’s Learning Cycle. Attendees would then perform all the parts of the learning cycle throughout the entirety of each day, participating in concrete experiences such as lectures and watching peer presentations, engaging in reflective observations with those media, creating their own ideas and plans during abstract conceptualization and putting those ideas into action through active experimentation. In completing the entirety of the learning cycle, while finding opportunities for individual and group work, as well as a variety of options in which they can complete said work, attendees will find some are to satisfy their preferred learning style while also challenging the areas they can improve upon in a low-stress environment. The implementation of each task is directed to providing various perceptual modalities to engage the participants with, including aural, visual, tactile, kinesthetic, interactive, and printed modalities.
Syllabus for Time Management Workshop
Course Instructors
Julee Sims, Julia Davenport, Cameron Bopp, and Elaine Pippens
Contact Information
Location, Dates, and Time of Class
Location: Ball State University, Pittenger Student Center, Cardinal Hall A
Dates: January 20 – 24, 2025
Time: 09:00 – 14:00 (Lunch: 11:30 – 12:30)
Objectives of the Course
The primary objective of this 5-day Time Management workshop is to empower professionals with the skills and knowledge necessary to enhance their productivity and effectiveness in the workplace. By the end of the course, participants will:
Set Professional Goals and Create a Plan of Action: Develop clear, achievable professional goals and outline a strategic plan to reach them, ensuring alignment with personal and organizational objectives.
Manage Distractions and Maintain Focus: Identify common distractions in the workplace and implement techniques to minimize them, fostering an environment conducive to sustained concentration and productivity.
Organize Your Workspace: Learn effective organizational strategies to create a functional workspace that enhances efficiency and reduces clutter, enabling better workflow.
Master the Art of Delegating: Understand the importance of delegation and acquire skills to delegate tasks effectively, maximizing team strengths and improving overall productivity.
Leverage Technology: Explore various tools and technologies designed to streamline processes and enhance time management, allowing for more efficient task completion and communication.
By focusing on these key areas, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of their individual time management styles, equipping them with actionable strategies to transform their approach to work and achieve greater success in their professional lives.
Learning Activities, Schedules, Strategies, Methods and Tools
Day and Topic | Activities |
Monday
Setting Professional Goals and Creating a Plan of Action |
Break for Lunch 11:30 – 12:30
|
Tuesday
Identifying the Source of Distraction and Proper Remediation Strategies
|
In small groups, participants will create and present a quick role-playing activity (sketch) to demonstrate some of their distractions at work. Groups will have 20 minutes to create the sketch, and 5-10 minutes to present to the class. Break for Lunch 11:30 – 12:30
|
Wednesday
Organizing Your Workspace
|
Participants will break up into groups of two. Each group will have a certain timespan to organize the messy workspace they were assigned. Break for Lunch 11:30 – 12:30
|
Thursday
Delegating
|
Participants will break up into two small groups for role-playing exercises. Each group will receive a brief overview of a scenario that requires task delegation. Within their groups, participants will do the following:
Break for Lunch 11:30 – 12:30
|
Friday
Utilizing Technology to Create a Digital Calendar and Networking |
In small groups, participants will collaborate to choose a project and utilize the tools introduced during the workshop to create a comprehensive plan. Each group member will delegate tasks based on their preferred skills and learning styles, ensuring everyone contributes effectively. Possible roles may include:
To form groups, participants will answer a few questions indicating their preferred learning styles. This will help ensure a diverse mix of skills and approaches within each group.
Break for Lunch 11:30 – 12:30
|
Reading/Learning Materials
This course does not require you to purchase any books or materials. Handouts and any necessary learning materials will be provided.
Monday:
Online Learning Style Quiz: https://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/#google_vignette
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Assignments and Due Dates
Monday: Identify and present your professional goals along with a plan of action to achieve the goals. Be creative in how you present your project. The presentation should be no more than 5 minutes long. This assignment will be completed during class on Monday, with presentations of their plan and goal obtainment occurring after the lunch break.
Tuesday: Groups will create and present a sketch to demonstrate common distractions in the workplace. The sketch should include all group members and be 5- 10 minutes in length. It should represent real life situations in the workplace. This assignment will be executed during class on Tuesday, with presentations of the sketch occurring after the group has finalized their sketch. This will occur before the lunch break.
Wednesday: Groups of two participants will be given a messy workspace to organize. The group will show the class how they utilized what they have learned about effective organization to create a functioning and organized workspace. This will be a hands-on experience using real life workspaces. This assignment will be carried out during class on Wednesday, with presentations of the final organized workspace taking place after the lunch break.
Thursday: Participants will break into two small groups to engage in role-playing exercises centered on task delegation. Each group will receive a brief overview of a scenario that requires effective delegation of tasks. Within their groups, participants will first identify the tasks that need to be accomplished and rank them from most important to least important. Each participant will then draft their own “to-do” list that aligns with their prioritized tasks, ensuring clarity and organization. Finally, participants will justify their priority rankings and discuss their reasoning with the group, fostering understanding and collaboration. This assignment will be completed during class on Thursday, with presentations and reflections taking place after the lunch break.
Friday: Participants will collaborate in small groups to choose a project and utilize the tools introduced during the workshop to create a comprehensive plan. Each group member will delegate tasks based on their preferred skills and learning styles, ensuring that everyone contributes effectively. Possible roles within each group may include Project Planner, who will be responsible for creating the plan; Reflection Writer, who will document the planning process and decisions made; and Outliner, who will develop an outline of the plan, breaking it down into actionable steps. To form groups, participants will first answer a few questions to indicate their preferred learning styles, promoting a diverse mix of skills and approaches within each group. This assignment will be conducted during class on Friday, with presentations of the group projects scheduled for after the lunch break.
Grading Criteria and Standards
Upon completion of the 5-day workshop, all participants will receive a certificate of completion. You must complete all five days and all five assignments to receive your certificate.
The recording of lectures and class discussions is NOT permitted. The selling of lecture notes and class materials are also NOT allowed.
Attendance Policies
This workshop is offered during regular business hours, so we adhere to your company’s employee attendance policy. You should clock in and out as you would for a normal workday. Any absences will be reported to the company for their records. If a participant cannot make it to the workshop, they will need to notify their supervisor, as well as the director of the workshop. This is a five-day program, and upon completion, participants receive a certificate. Any absence will require the participant to retake the workshop. If you are tardy or must leave early, you should reach out to your facilitator to discuss your options for completion.
Reflection
Highlights
The course syllabus our team worked on was designed to focus on implementing various learning style strategies based on Kolb’s Learning Cycle and Styles, as well as others. This forced our team to be creative in how we presented each day’s lesson as well as to think of each lesson as completing the entirety of the learning cycle. We did not want to fall victim to any of the common facilitator issues mentioned by MacKeracher, such as focusing too heavily on one learning style or opening each lesson in the same way.
The goal was always to include opportunities for people of all preferred learning styles to take leadership roles in the lesson, while also incorporating opportunities where people can improve their ability to participate in non-preferred styles. This had us trying to think of more interesting ways to present the learning tasks each day, incorporating some sort of kinesthetic or hands-on activity in what would otherwise be a boring seminar. Another highlight in the way we approached this assignment is that we took a lot of the ideas surrounding multimodal learning and connected them to learning styles. The idea being that by providing information and activities in each lesson that run the gamut of perceptual modalities, you would always satisfy the range of learning style interests amongst the students.
Process
Our team began this assignment by delegating tasks between our group members. We were able to come to a common agreement on which tasks we would be responsible for, which allowed us to focus on what needed to be done. Then, an outline was created from previous exemplar syllabus designs we had access to. This allowed the entire group to work on a singular document, which made it easier to view and comment on each other’s drafts.
To help us coordinate outside of our working document, a group member began a group text as well. We found that communication outside of our email and the document was particularly helpful as it allowed us to make decisions on our topic and communicate important information more effectively than through our school mediums. Deciding on a direction for the course, both the topic and the breadth of timespan and what will be covered also made the task easier. Due to several task items needing evidence from the course plan, it was important that the outline of what will be done is completed quickly so that other members can begin working on their responsibilities.
While working on each of our responsibilities, each group member had to manage their time based on their individual schedules. Personally, I needed to find longer chunks of time to work on my responsibilities as it was inefficient to work on it while in between other tasks. However, other team members may not have had the time to schedule this way and scheduled time whenever they could work on the project. We also found it helpful in dividing the responsibilities as it forced members to read through each person’s work, offering new perspectives on ideas, particularly where we could better implement various learning styles in our lessons.
Table 1. Summary of Syllabus Design
| Aims you wish to achieve in your design | Main theoretical ideas (You can cite some ideas from your Theory Review paper) | Main activities in your syllabus (should reflect the rationales) | Main methods/tools/strategies in your syllabus (should reflect the rationales) |
1 | To Accommodate Assimilating Learners | Assimilating learners are information oriented. They are precise, logical, and prefer a clear explanation and understanding about want they are learning. They are analytical and interested in abstract ideas. | The attendees will watch a video on the difference between personal and professional goals, how to set career goals, how to tame work distractions, how to prevent distractions, the art of delegation, and a video on how to declutter. | There will be a handout for the attendees to read on the first day of the training. This will accommodate those who are assimilating learners. There will be a short summary and lectures on time management at the beginning of each day along with a video presentation to support the lectures. |
2 | To Accommodate Divergent Learners | Divergent learners are usually imaginative, like to generate ideas, and prefer to work in groups. | The attendees will have the opportunity to work in small groups on multiple occasions throughout the 5-day workshop. | Each participant will work in a group designing their own to-do lists. This to-do list will help them prioritize their daily tasks and ensure clarity and organization. |
3 | To Accommodate Accommodative Learners | Accommodative learners are often people oriented, and they identify by a hands-on approach. They like to engage in concrete and abstract experiences. | The attendees will have hand-outs to complete, role playing exercises, and small projects that require participation. | This will be a hands-on activity. The attendees will be able to create and present real-life distractions in the workplace. They will create a sketch to demonstrate common distractions in the workplace and take part in a scavenger hunt exercise to organize a messy workspace. In addition, role-playing exercises will be provided that are centered on how to delegate. |
4 | To Accommodate Convergent Learners | Convergent learners prefer to work with things rather than people. They like solving problems and technical tasks. | The attendees will create a digital calendar. | Creating this digital calendar will be an individual exercise that will consist of utilizing their problem-solving skills to navigate the application while choosing the best ways to integrate the tools available. |
References
Lawson, K. (2015). The trainer's handbook (4th ed.). Wiley Professional Development (P&T).
MacKeracher, D. (2004). Making sense of adult learning (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press.
Group 1,
ReplyDeleteThank you for creating a syllabus based on the learning styles. Most to all syllabus and lesson plans should hit the different learning styles because not one learner is the same as another. The differentiation within your syllabus is clearly outlined in your summary table. I appreciate that you took the time to really know how to connect and provide information to all learners.
You did such a great job,
Kayla
Using learning style theory, your syllabus does a fantastic job creating a time management course fit for various students. Whether students are accommodating, divergent, assimilative, or convergent learners, adding in many activities each day (e.g., hands-on tasks, group discussions, and reflective exercises) has the chance to build actual connections. Given Kolb's Learning Cycle's appearance across the course, your team seems to grasp it well. For instance, including tactile and visual components consistent with ideas of adult learning. This method will probably provide an inclusive environment where individuals may increase their time management abilities in ways that fit their particular preferences and talents.
ReplyDeleteI loved the practial hands-on approach by having them organize messy workspaces! This was very interactive and I appreciate how the first day puts the participants in the mindset of applying the workshops to their own goals. I also liked how this project inherently taught people how to work with others, which is inevitable in each workspace or classroom. Love the table and schedules as well!
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job making sure you connected with all learning types. By incorporating all different preferences on Wednesday, you have really helped provide everyone with an option. I also like the idea that you make sure the entire learning cycle was completed each day. This seems like a great way to optimize each day. Your schedule of activities was well detailed and thought out!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great plan for a course on time management using the learning style theory. I like the detail in your syllabus and the extent to which you covered the basis behind your decisions for the course in your rational. I enjoyed ways you were involving the students in this course with real life applications they can use after taking the seminar. Well done
ReplyDelete