3.1 Introduction
3.1 Introduction ‘What is the difference between the mental gymnastics of thinking up a design and the mental gymnastics of working out a design?’The question took me by surprise. It came from a teacher on the second day of a Think Tank workshop in Friedberg, West Germany. It took me by surprise because, until then, […]
3.7 Some tips Chapter 3
3.7 Some tips Chapter 3 1. As you work out a design, think now and again of exciting a learner response in an unusual way: listening to silence; reading a ‘difficult to read’ text by starting with the last chapter; mentally practising a manual operation with the eyes closed. 2. Be very suspicious of the […]
2.1 Introduction
2.1 Introduction A glass jar stands on my desk. It is labelled ‘Think Tank’ and contains a piece of white cotton wool. From time to time it makes an excursion with me to a three-thy workshop for teachers on the subject of design decision-making at activity 4 of the course and lesson design process described […]
2.5 Referent 3: An appropriate model (an existing design)
2.5 Referent 3: An appropriate model (an existing design) Thinking up a design takes time: before the optimum design is found, a lot of mental effort will be demanded. It can be nice to have something to accelerate the process. This is what referent 3: an appropriate model is for. By using an ‘appropriate model […]
2.6 Referent 4: A response environment organizer
2.6 Referent 4: A response environment organizer Sometimes in thinking up a design, you can have the best didactical intention (referent 1) in mind, your specification or databank (referent 2) filled with the right needs, an existing design (referent 3) sending out interesting signals, and yet you are still waiting — waiting for that ‘click’ […]
2.7 Case study no. 2: Fighting forest fires safely
2.7 Case study no. 2: Fighting forest fires safely On repeated occasions in 1964 on the shuttle flight between La Guardia airport New York and National airport Washington DC, I was struggling with a course design problem. It seemed relatively simple and yet the solution (the choice of a plan, structure and strategy of instruction […]
Foreword Tony Earl
Foreword Tony Earl One of the greatest gifts each of us has is our intuition. This book is about the combination of intuition, creativity and logical thinking in solving one of the trickiest problems in the development of successful courses and lessons: the problem of making an optimum choice of design for the instruction that […]
Acknowledgements Tony Earl
Acknowledgements In putting together the ideas in this book, I have enjoyed the encouragement and support of the Department of Research and Development in Higher Education at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. In writing the book my special thanks must go to a colleague Ans Ronduite. Without the special quality of her critique […]