eJournal Entry 3

I need to add a bit of information I think I left out from my last post. The school where I will be completing the Instructional Design for is mostly Hispanic (61%), White (24%) and Black (14%). The other 1% is Asian and Native Americans. The learner population I will designing the model for are male and female 7th and 8th grade students whose ages range from 12-15 years. 

At the beginning of the year they all are eager to be at a new school.  Their first visit to the library is always an exciting one as they see the new books we have and the activities and resources we have available.  When I explain about the Destiny Card Catalog System, the Dewey Decimal system and how to locate books in the library they just appear to be lost.  The students are aware of the cataloging system they just do not know how to use it on their own nor do they have any knowledge of Dewey.  They understand there is an order we use but they don’t understand how Dewey is involved or how the system works. The Ebsco databases are not used until later in the year but having an understanding now will prepare them when the time comes to use the resource.

All of our students love electronic devices (computers, Ipads and cell phones) and have a strong knowledge base to support their use.  Class assignments which use are very motivating.  They are also very computer literate and love working with programs that are geared toward something they are interested in and interactive.  I believe they will react positively to the design model since this is a topic that will help them become more independent in the library.

These students on the 2011 TAKS test scored very well, Math-80%, Reading-86% and Writing -95%.  The results for the new STARR test  in 2012 were much lower probably due to the new format and style of questioning.  The results were not listed but our principal said they fell around of 25 -30% for each subject.  Our learners tend to be very social,  they have varied interests, are visual learners with short attention spans. I plan to use a Cognitive Apprenticeship in my instructional design.  I believe as the textbook states (p.136) “the important aspect of this approach is for the learner to operate as a ‘member of a larger community of practice” and through this they will “begin to assume greater responsibilities  in that community”. 

After some research on mental models, I believe I understand how they would affect the instructional design. According to the article,  “Visualizing Mental Models: Understanding Cognitive Change to Support  Teaching and Learning of Multimedia Design and Development”, the author defines mental models as “ having become known as a summation of all of a person's thoughts and understandings on a subject.. . . . Mental models are incomplete, unstable, easily confused, and based on superstition instead of scientific fact. Despite these limitations, mental models play a very important role in understanding human cognitive change”.  I believe the students have some knowledge on The Dewey System, Destiny, and Databases.  The information I present will only help the students organize and and regroup the new information to fit with the old and put into some sort of order so they find it helpful when they use the library.  It will clarify what they already know.

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MPJH 2011 AEIS:
http://mpisdjhs.sharpschool.net/UserFiles/Servers/Server_6676955/File/Accountability/2011%20AEIS%20JH.pdf
Mt. Pleasant ISD District Statistics
http://www.mpisd.net/information/district_profile/district_statistics/
“Visualizing Mental Models: Understanding Cognitive Change to Support Teaching and Learning of Multimedia Design and Development”
http://itforum.coe.uga.edu/paper111/McNeil.pdf