Page 106 - International Journal of Process Educaiton (Special Issue)

Figure 4

Figure 5

Book Validation Innovation

Foundations of Mathematics (Fremeau, 2005) Identify and Correct the Error (see figure 4)
Foundations of Algebra
(Ellis, Teeguarden, Apple, & Hintze, 2013)

Solving Real Problems in Chemistry A “Got It” section gives students an opportunity to validate the
(Goodwin, Slusher, Gilbert, & Hanson, 2009; learning they have done during the activity by solving an additional
Goodwin, Hanson, & Wolfskill, 2012) problem

Foundations of Learning (4th ed.) The Learning Process Methodology includes Step 13: “Validation of
(Redfield & Hurley Lawrence, 2009) Learning”

Quantitative Reasoning and Problem Solving A “Troubleshooting” section gives students an opportunity similar to
(Ellis, Apple, Watts, Hintze, Teeguarden, that found in Identify and Correct the Error, except that there is only
Cappetta, & Burke, 2014) one problem offered and it is much more extensive, requiring that
students potentially validate multiple aspects of the problem.

A “Hardest Problem” section challenges students to create the
hardest problem they can, using what they have learned in that
activity. This helps them to validate that they have learned by
successfully transferring their learning to a new context.

Clear Expectations: determine whether our learning performance is finished,
Defining and Describing the Target let alone whether we have learned?

(see also Performance Criteria) Simply telling students that we expect high-quality
performance from them isn’t nearly enough; they need to
“The first step is, of course, seeing that goal or target. know what constitutes such a performance – what that looks
After all, the better you can see a target, like. For this reason, exemplars and models are invaluable.
the greater your chances of hitting it.” Additionally, having an exemplar to refer to makes it much
easier to write performance criteria; after all, those criteria
–Foundations of Learning (4th ed.) simply describe the kind of and level of performance
(Redfield & Hurley Lawrence, 2009) we’re seeking. This holds true across academic levels,
from the program level, to the level of a course, and finally
While much about performance criteria is covered in the down to the level of individuals and teams (see Figure 6).
Performance Criteria section, a best practice is to keep In each instance, where the methodology recommends
in mind that, in the terms of the quote above, we have to brainstorming, being able to look to a clear example of
see the target in order to have a hope of hitting it. This the level of performance being sought not only helps the
is why Step 5 of the Learning Process Methodology individual writing the criteria, but it gives a performer an
is “Performance Criteria: Determine specific desired example of the ideal performance to use as a model or
outcomes used to measure and gauge performance” exemplar.
(Leise, Beyerlein & Apple, 2007). If we don’t know what
the outcome or end is supposed to look like, how can we

104 International Journal of Process Education (February 2016, Volume 8 Issue 1)