Month: October 2022

Merrill’s five principles:

• learners are engaged in solving real-world problems

• existing knowledge [and skill] is activated as a foundation for new knowledge [and skill]

• new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner

• new knowledge is applied by the learner

• new knowledge is integrated into the learner’s world

As a student, I totally understand how learning is promoted. Merrill’s first principles are accurate and correct to point out what can we do to promote our learning. When the learners know something new, they are learning. The learners will have a grasp of knowledge if they use it again and again through solving problems or as a foundation for new knowledge. Merrill’s first principles summarize the process of learning from getting new knowledge to hold the new knowledge.

Here is my planning process for learning Python:

Computer science learning is more practical because it can easily connect to real-world problems; for example, sort data in a file, or summarize grades. When the learners study Python, they must write codes by themselves. First, they should understand how to write the code, and then, they need to use it and run it. When they write codes and run them in the software, the process is interactive. I plan to let the learners use Python to make a simple game including the conditional statement and loop. It can help the learners understand which code is in the part of conditional statement and which part is in the loop and how the order of lines affects the output.

References

Merrill, M. D. (2002). First Principles of Instruction. ETR&D, 50, 3. pp. 43-59.

As we all notice, all presentations in The World’s Worst Powerpoint Presentations are messy and hard to read, not only for abled people, but also for disabled people. There is too much information in one slide and no highlights for main ideas. These presentations are lack of organizations and cleanliness. They are missing multiple principles, such as the Coherence Principle, the Signaling Principle, the Segmenting Principle, the Modality Principle, the Multimedia Principle. Furthermore, they do not focus on alignment, so they look very complicated and messy. And there is no negative space for most of them, these presentations are full of information and pictures.

For my infographic created in Canva, I focus more on design principles, for example, alignment, repetition and balance. I use these three principles to make my visual picture more organized. The use of color which are green and yellow keeps the visual harmony. There is not too much negative space but still some space between elements. The Signaling Principle makes my infographic simple and clear. It emphasizes the main idea I want to say. Also, the Spatial Contiguity Principle and the Multimedia Principle combine the texts and visuals. Text is next to the visual. Based on the Pre-Training Principle, readers can easily understand what I am trying to say. These fruits are well-known by everyone. The whole view of picture is easy to read and understand.

Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning is used to design a universal learning environment for everyone. There are multiple learning methods that different people focus on. While some people like study in class with the teacher’s speech, some people are more comfortable with study online through videos and articles. There are differences between disabled people and normal people as well, such as hearing impairment, visual impairment. Universal Design for Learning tries to combine different people’s learning methods into a general framework.

Inclusive Design

Like Universal Design for Learning, inclusive design contributes to make a learning resource that fits everyone; for example, video with subtitles and images helps people who have hearing impairment understand what is talking about in the video, and Text to Speech tools helps people who have visual impairment understand texts. Inclusive design is not only a method to help study, but also a way to remove differences and biases between disabled people and normal people. At least in the field of learning, there is no exclusion for different groups of people.

As I mentioned before, text to speech is a great tool to help people who have visual impairment. Even though I do not have visual impairment, I can use text to speech as well. I have tried this before when I was learning English. It is helpful for my listening ability. But for me, the voice and tone are very important. I barely absorb information from the speech when the voice is low and tone is flat, and I may fell asleep quickly with this kind of speech. If the voice is emotional and goes up and down, it is more attractive for me.

References

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_6S6eUjT88