Slide 1

Title Slide

A common problem in the analysis and design of learning interventions is the incomplete understanding of the job being trained. All too often, designers focus on what the learner needs to know in order to be successful on the job, and ignore other critical considerations.

Hello Im Ken Thomas, and Id like to welcome you to Leveraging all three learning domains in analysis and design.1What do I need to know?

So Ive asked to create training for firefighters I start my analysis by asking, what do I need to know in order to be a successful firefighter?

This is how many instructional designers start their analysis.

It sounds like a perfectly reasonable question to ask during a job/task analysis, but this is going to get me into big trouble when I actually go to build my training.2Bloom

Every instructional designer I know can recite Blooms Taxonomy they use it as a baseline in their instructional analyses and to define their learning objectives.

The only problem is that its not really called Blooms Taxonomy its called the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives of the Cognitive Domain, and it was only one of the taxonomies proposed by the committee headed by Bloom in 1956.

3Three Domains of Learning

The committee - Benjamin Bloom, Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walker Hill, and David Krathwohl proposed THREE learning domains:

The cognitive domain, which is the domain of memory and knowledgeThe psychomotor domain the domain of physical action and skill, and The affective domain the domain of attitude and feeling.

4Knowledge, Skills, & Attitudes

Designers often unknowingly refer to these domains when they talk about Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes, or KSAs.

So even though designers talk about KSAs, the only domain they can typically recite is the Cognitive or Knowledge Domain. All too often they fail to explore the elements of the psychomotor and affective domains required by the job.5What about Ability?

Did you notice I didnt include Ability as part of the KSAs? I prefer Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes, as it relates more directly to the three learning domains.

I tend to only include abilities when discussing job selection so in the case of the firefighters job, the firefighter must have the ability to carry a body down a ladder to safety in order to qualify for the job.6Simplified: Know Do - Feel

An easy way to remember this during your analysis is to ask yourself three questions

What do I need to knowWhat do I need to be able to doAnd how do I need to feel in order to be successful on this job.

Those questions will cover your KSAs, and therefore will hit all three of your learning domains.

7See the Problem?

So now can you see the problem I created when I only asked what do I need to know to be successful on this job?

Im going to end up only addressing one of the three learning domains the cognitive domain.

Before we apply all three domains to an analysis and design, lets take a moment to review the taxonomies associated with each of the domains8Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain

The taxonomy of the cognitive domain is hierarchical learners must master the lower levels of the taxonomy before they can gain mastery of the higher levels.

During analysis, you need to define the job according to the highest levels needed for success.

Then, during design, your curriculum must build the foundational lower levels and lead the learner to those higher levels of the taxonomy.9Taxonomy of the Psychomotor Domain

This taxonomy of the psychomotor domain is also hierarchical, building from the lowest levels of perception and communication, through movement, strength, and dexterity, all the way up to the operation of tools and equipment, construction, and finally art.

Although not depicted on this graphic, this taxonomy also allows for greater mastery over time through practice.10Taxonomy of the Affective Domain

And finally we have the affective domains taxonomy, which rises from basic receiving and responding, through actively valuing, to affiliating with organizations and characterizing oneself according to the value.

This ones tricky, but failing to understand the affective nature of a task or job will lead you to failure.

Lets take these for a spin11Firefighter - Cognitive

So lets work with our firefighter well start with the cognitive domain.

What must they know to be successful

Well, they must be able to analyze and predict how a fire will behave this is synthesis - a higher level knowledge so well need to build up to it upon lower levels listing what burns and what extinguishes fire describing what starts fires and how they spread.12Firefighter - Psychomotor

Just watch a firefighter in action and youll fill pages with psychomotor skills at the strength level, youll see throwing hoses, climbing ladders in full gear, and breaking down doors at the operating tools and equipment, youll see connecting hoses to a fire hydrant and turning it on.

This job is NOT just about what they know.13Firefighter - Affective

Firefighters will tell you that not everyone is cut out to be a firefighter

Think about it they are absolutely committed to protecting lives and property of others. A firefighter will charge into a burning building to save a life, putting their own life at risk on every call the heart and soul of this job lives at the affective domain.14Data Entry Tech - Cognitive

Lets try another job that of a data entry technician.

In the cognitive domain, the tech must access, log-in to, and navigate systems of varying complexity.

They have to read forms, interpret codes, and navigate to the corresponding screens and fields, then make properly formatted entries and process their data.15Data Entry Tech - Psychomotor

The psychomotor domain skills for the data entry technician will typically be limited to keyboard speed and accuracy for example, typing 45 words per minute with zero errors.

This is a case where you might want to call that an ability and make it a pre-requisite for the job. Otherwise, you could find your training very heavy on drill and practice aimed at increasing typing speed and accuracy.16Data Entry Tech - Affective

Data entry is a notoriously monotonous job with low pay. These are conditions that can lead to high error rates and low morale.

When the data entry technician sees their role as critical to the companys mission or how they directly help or harm the customer, youll tend to see higher productivity and lower error rates this is where the Affective domain comes into play for this job.17KSAs to Objectives

So with a full analysis of the job, you should see KSAs across all three of the learning domains at various levels within the taxonomies. You can then translate these KSAs directly into your Terminal Learning Objectives.

For Terminal Learning Objectives higher up in a domains taxonomy, define enabling objectives to build the foundation.18Objectives to Treatments

So now you have terminal and enabling objectives across all three learning domains your treatments should align to the corresponding domain, and the level of the taxonomy within that domain.

If the job requires breaking down a door with an axe, your objective should reflect that and your treatment should include breaking down a door with an axe, not just describing how to do it.19Call to Action

So next time youre planning your analysis and design, remember to ask all three questions

What do I need to know?What do I need to be able to do?, and How do I need to feel? to be successful on this job.

Accurately plot these within each domains taxonomy at the appropriate level, then define your objectives and treatments accordingly.

Thank you for your time and good luck.20