Philosophy of Program Planning/Adult Education
My teaching and programming philosophy is that learning should be learner-driven and sensitive to learner’s needs, wants, and desires. I best align with the correspondence theory of behaviourism because of its built-in cause and effect processes. Most learning occurs through social and environmental interaction. When students are encouraged to collaborate and cooperate productively and are positively reinforced, they feel their voice is heard, and their capacity for learning increases. By establishing fair and consistent guidelines and rules for every learning activity, students are shown respect and value for their presence and time. In turn, they learn to respect themselves, others, and their community (Martinez, n.d.)
Rationale for the Model of Program Planning
The program planning model chosen is Dr. Rosemary Caffarella’s Interactive Model of Program Planning which combines the classic and the practical approaches to program design.
Education for adultsshould be designed carefully and well, but what counts as good design? Get it right, and it is an excellent starting place for students to integrate into student life, which is critical in student success and persistence in education; get it wrong, and you are more apt to have student attrition and disengagement (Schulte & Choudaha, 2014; Tinto, 1993). Caffarella identifies a planning sequence with four stages; identify desired results, determine themes, identify learning outcomes, and plan learning experiences and instruction. These stages allow the program design to be more interactive, dynamic, adaptable, and less vulnerable to external changes. This planning model offers practitioners a nuts-and-bolts approach to planning. The text explains each planning component with examples and practical exercises to help planners think through and anticipate different interactive dimensions of the planning process.
Program Description/Location
The elective course I am developing is Practical Application of Law Enforcement, an 8-week courseat Okanagan College in Kelowna, BC. This course fits nicely into the college’s Criminal and Social Justice Diploma program, which provides learners with an arts-based criminal and social justice education. It is a two-year, four-semester program where learners participate in various criminal and social justice-related courses in Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, and Criminology, as well as elective art courses of personal interest. This diploma teaches learners many skills, including substantive, analytical, critical thinking, research and data analysis, and communication, although often ignoring practical and real life-application.
My course will satisfy that niche and will consist of 8 units of instruction (see below) that cover these topics – 1) procedural learning (interviewing techniques), 2) product assessment (field notebook, written statement, occurrence report), and 3) progress assessment (professionalism and ethics).
Unit 1 Introduction
Unit 2 Field notebooks and notetaking skills
Unit 3 Professionalism
Unit 4 Investigative report writing
Unit 5 Discretion and the myth of total enforcement
Unit 6 Investigational procedures and techniques
Unit 7 Interviewing and active listening skills
Unit 8 Witness statements and introduction to the courts
The course will provide valuable learned skills that can be used in all areas of law enforcement, including the R.C.M.P., Municipal Police Services, Corrections, By-Laws, paralegals, and Government agencies. The course is skill-based, and knowledge and skills transferred to my learners are specified in terms of ‘observable’ changes in knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
Intended Audience and Connection with Learners
There will be two categories of learners in the Course, as defined by the Okanagan College, regular and mature applicants. A typical applicant will 1) have attained a B.C. secondary school graduation or equivalent, and 2) graduated with a minimum of 60% in English 12. A mature applicant will be at least 19 years of age and will not have attended secondary school on a full-time basis for a minimum period of one year. Secondary graduation is waived for mature applicants, although the English entrance requirements, as stated above, must be satisfied before admission.
Connecting with learners before the course and throughout the course is an important learner success strategy and foundational to creating a learning community. The learner demographics will be diverse, and this unit is developed with a wide variety of approaches and ways to learn.
I will contact and welcome each learner via Zoom, mobile phone, or Facetime approximately one week before starting my course. I will get to know my learner personally, their similarities and differences, what technologies they have access to and are comfortable with, what digital skills they already possess or they lack that may be relevant to my course. The course outline will be explained and allow the learner to ask questions about the course.
Midweek and at the end of each unit,I will contact each learner via Zoom for a five-minute learner interview. It is an opportunity to allow learners to give immediate feedback. It is a unique setting for the learner to explain their work while helping them feel more responsible and accountable regarding the coursework. I will ensure the learning objectives are met and inquire about the learners’ feelings, opinions, and suggestions for improving the unit in the future.
Educational Objectives and Responsibilities
This course emphasizes active rather than passive pedagogy, including intensive writing and speech, as both analysis and communication tools. Active learning pedagogies lead to a focus on critical thinking rather than mere memorization. Activities engender genuine inquiry by learners into real issues and problems, problems that matter to people outside the classroom, and offer learners the opportunity to explore ideas and be challenged by diverse perspectives.
The course will be created in liaison with police and other justice agencies. This “hands-on” elective will prepare learners for the practical and real-life challenges of a career in policing, corrections, parole, customs, paralegal, and various government services at the federal, provincial or municipal levels. The elective content is learner-centred, and all subjects are topical to law enforcement. I will be the primary educator and will include guest facilitators who have expertise in specific areas of law enforcement with complementary investigation abilities. Learners will be motivated by a real substance where they work on real-world problems and challenges. There will be a general atmosphere of questions and answers, guided practises through problems to reinforce behaviour and information, regular reviews, quizzes and positive reinforcement.
I will deliver this elective with a blend of scheduled virtual meetings (i.e., synchronous activity) and work assignments that do not require specific meeting times (i.e., asynchronous activity). The elective schedule includes times and days for the virtual meetings to ensure conflict-free timetables. These meetings will be available to learners and will identify the scheduled times that require virtual synchronous activity.
Stakeholders and Potential Partners
Developing objectives requires program developers “to think through with the appropriate stakeholders what is to be taught or done by participants, the resources required to achieve program objectives, and the end product expected” (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013, p. 165). With this in mind, the stakeholders and partners in this course will offer a wide assortment of roles and experience. They will be chosen based on their influence over decision-making, expertise, and how they can complement my course development.
Examples of stakeholders are:
- Potential employers and co-workers– law enforcement officers, corrections officers, local city HR administrators, lawyers, paralegals, government agencies, non-profits
- Graduates of criminology courses
- Information technologists, academic administrators and program designers from Okanagan College – offering support, guidance, and coaching.
Cultural Context and Power Dynamics
Context and power dynamics are a powerful influence on the design of any course. According to Schuller and Desjardins (2007, p. 10), learning does not occur just in school – it is both “lifewide” (i.e., it occurs in multiple contexts, such as work, at home and in our social lives) and “lifelong” (from the cradle to the grave). All human activities occur in a cultural context with many interactions, shared beliefs, values, knowledge, skills, structured relationships, and symbol systems. By promoting a cooperative approach in an atmosphere of respect, the students will be encouraged to listen to one another, share in conversations and build upon other students’ comments, thus compiling and extending ideas in a collaborative process. The course intends to learn from the learner’s perspective, i.e., incorporate the learners’ developmental needs, ideas and cultural context into the learning experience.
The rationale for Each Learning Activity
Learners learn best when they are ‘active in their learning. Learners will use printed text and synchronistic lectures provided via Zoom. The instructor will observe the learners, accept questions and comments, reflect on the topics and have an observable interaction with the learners in short quizzes. The computer-managed learner interaction quizzes in this unit are designed for developing comprehension and understanding of concepts and procedures and not higher-order learning skills. They are designed to produce a high level of learner interaction with the learning materials and are fun and challenging at the same time.
On the first day of class, the learners will begin their Field Notebook to write a complete set of notes for each day until the end of the course. They will have ‘Enhancing the Educating and Learning Experience’ on Collaborative Blackboard. Has the video on so learners can see and begin with the questions “Has anyone in the class been asked to complete a written statement, report, or give testimony in court and embarrassed because of your imperfect recollection of the facts? Can anyone tell me “exactly” what you did yesterday from the time you awoke to the time you went to bed? I can, and I am going to explain to you how you can too.” With this short introduction, the class begins, and the learners will be asked to talk about their day. This personal and seemingly informal beginning sets the tone/stage for collaboration, sharing information and interaction. Note – Recorded Lecture Notes Delivered via Collaborate Blackboard enables learners to view the notes before and after the class. See Appendix A.
Assessments
Assessments will be completed through formative, summative and informal evaluations. Questions I must ask are what knowledge and skills learners will be learning (criteria), what experiences will be used to ensure that learners learn (instruction), and what evidence will be gathered and used to ensure learners learn (assessment) (Kimmel, 2019). Activities for assessments include Zoom lectures and class participation. Individual Zoom meetings to assess how the learner grasped the unit’s objective and how I can refine the course to fit the learner’s needs. Completion of weekly notes in a ‘field’ notebook ( Appendix A). I will post a global, initial post of my weekly activity each week, just as each of my learners will participate in online discussion groups and complete four quizzes while using rubrics previously reviewed by learners. I will respond to each of my learners’ original posts to engage with the ideas of the readings and zoom lectures each week. Informal evaluations will occur throughout the course, so I have the opportunity to revise the content, delivery, or administrative tasks.
Learning Activities
Learners will examine a photograph and respond to a case study of a real-world situation that requires a particular problem to be reviewed, analyzed, and solved based on the lecture, hand-out notes, and class discussion. The case study will include having learners identify practical problems and what would be required to solve the problem. Assessment measures would consist of evaluation, analysis, application, and transfer of theory to practice.
Learners will complete a multiple-choice exam that requires learners to identify the correct answer to each question and why they chose the particular solution based on their learning, and why the other answers are incorrect. Assessment measures would include recall, identification, justification, and substantiation.
Learners will perform a simulated interview with another learner to assess content knowledge and problem-solving. Assessment measures include recall, explanation, and evaluation.
I will post two discussion questions of my own each week, just as each of my learners will do. I will respond to each of my learners’ original posts to engage with the ideas of the readings and zoom lectures each week. I will return marked discussion question assignments within three days. In this online course, learner-learner and learner-educator asynchronous online discussion forum discussion questions represent learners’ opportunities to engage in dialogic learning with peers. Learning is enhanced when learners contribute equally to this process.
Program Delivery Model/Instructional Materials
The program delivery models chosen are asynchronous, and synchronous teaching approaches. Asynchronous class delivery at Okanagan College is via Moodle, which offers various teaching and learning options for learners and educators. The educator posts content and learning assignments before learners entering the site for the particular class. Instruction and learning do not occur at the same place or time. Still, learners receive learning materials such as pre-recorded video lessons, case studies to work through, group discussions, posted questions for discussion forums or reading for learners to analyze and discuss.
Synchronous class delivery is via Blackboard Collaborate, a web-based webinar platform designed to educate and learn in real-time via a virtual classroom. This synchronous delivery will be delivered from home or the college office. Learners may sign in from their home, college or other location. Using collaborate provides many of the same features as face-to-face delivery. Examples are lesson plans, learning outcomes, and strategies for learners to ask questions.
Learners will collaborate via discussions, group work, and chat using Collaborate. My communication strategy will be using virtual office hours, Moodle messaging, online lecture using Screencast-O-Matic, and guest speakers attending the live online class using Collaborate.
My course’s learning styles and preferences accommodate differences in cognitive-perceptual learning styles and Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning style. Examples include diagrams, lecture text, and photographs for my visual learners and lectures, YouTube videos, and Zoom lectures for my auditory learners. These unit activities will encourage my learners to learn where they may initially feel less comfortable. This unit has a wide range of media, including text, audio, video, and computing. This richness is designed for my learners.
Blended learning is superior to face-to-face or entirely online modes of instruction (Dziuban et al. 2006). This course is a Flipped Classroom teaching structure where the educator has the learners learn from pre-recorded lectures while completing in-class assignments and while following the course curriculum at home. The learners are responsible for being present in the classroom, discussing the information they learned from the recordings. “A key benefit of the flipped classroom model is that it allows students to work at their own pace if that is how the teacher chooses to implement it. In some cases, teachers may assign the same videos to all students. In others, teachers may choose to allow students to watch new videos as they master topics, taking on a more “differentiated.” In the flipped classroom approach, the students complete the lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, gaining knowledge and comprehension on their own and completing the upper sections with their peers and teacher (Brame, 2013). This course structure will allow learners to be more actively engaged in their learning and make their own choices.
Transfer of Learning. Formative/Summative evaluation
The concept of transfer of learning can be defined as the effective application of what one learns from attending an educational training or program (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013). This course will involve a transference of learning requiring immediate use and application of those skills. The professional learning received by the learners in this course consists of producing strategies and activities to make them remember and use what they learned a long time after.
Certain factors can affect learning transfer, such as learner motivation, program design and delivery, and organizational strategies (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013).
Lectures are appropriate when the learner needs to know definitions, a sequence of steps, and the conditions and consequences involved in a process (Merrill, 2009). The lecture must be accompanied by demonstrations and the learners recalling the new information and applying the knowledge or skills (Merrill, 2009).
The literature review by Fauth and Gonzalez (2021) points out that dialogue between educators and students, varieties of stimuli and tasks, and many practical and contextualized activities were favourable in learning transfer during online activities. The article also mentions that learning transfer is achieved if there is a connection between new knowledge and previous knowledge, using that knowledge (Fauth & Gonzalez, 2021).
“What is to be transferred can be specified in terms of observational changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes” (Caffarella & Daffron, 2013), meaning most of the information and knowledge the students have attained would have been evident.
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
. In this course, a variety of media will be used with purpose, including animations, print, video, podcasts, and simulations, and I will ensure the course is accessible to all learners by using technology effectively and proactively
I will be using case studies and real-life problem-solving situations obtained from personal experiences, law enforcement experience, TED Talk videos, live online interactions, Zoom or Skype meetings, online quizzes, essays, exams, and group research. All learners will be required to have the necessary generic computer skills.
The education software I have chosen is intuitively easy to use, both by my learners and myself, e.g., the Okanagan College learning management system. The reliability of the technology I have chosen is trustworthy and proven reliable, e.g., Zoom, YouTube. Online videos and articles are available for further support for the learner, e.g., YouTube, Google. There are information technology support teams functional at no cost to the learner, and all information technology-related inquiries go through the Okanagan College information technology support email address.
A camera and headset are recommended for the synchronous virtual classroom and are available for sign-out at the College Information Technology.
There is no required textbook for this course. The course will be delivered through the Okanagan College Learning Management System (LMS) called Moodle. As a registered learner, access will be via Moodle, and good browsers are Firefox, Chrome, and Google. It is recommended a recent personal computer or Macintosh with a current high-speed broadband internet connection. Headphones or earbuds are recommended as these tools eliminate audio feedback loops, background noises or other disruptions. A microphone can be either built-in to the computer, camera, or as a separate headset. The current version of Microsoft Office for accessing and completing WORD documents can read and convert PDF files. As a learner, Microsoft 365 can be accessed through Okanagan College and at no cost. A webcam can be either a built-in device in the computer or one that attaches to it.
Getting computer help is available through the Okanagan College IT Services Helpdesk, where staff are dedicated to assisting learners and staff with their computer-related problems.
Blackboard Collaborate is a synchronous (real-time) platform used to deliver instruction to an individual learner or class of learners. This delivery model allows participants to share resources, annotate documents, engage in breakout rooms, and participate in discussions.
I will not be using Facebook because this form of social media allows scholarly communication to be public and exposed while infringing or violating privacy laws. During the discussion groups, learners and instructor will follow the Okanagan College privacy policies, use common sense, and behave ethically.
Preliminary Budget
Instructor Salary $871.92
$36.33 per hour in lieu of benefits X 3 hours = $108.99 per week
Guest Speakers. $50 gift card @ 1/wk @ 8 wks $400.00
Materials TBC
Course designer – 0
course designed by the educator at no cost to the College
LMS design – 0
employed by the College
Information Technologists – 0
employed by the College 0
Legal review and advice –
approximately 6 hours at approximately $300/hour = $1,800 1,800
Course consultation and approval – 0
employed by the College
Graphic designer 0
employed by the College
Not to exceed 8 hrs per week.
Conclusion
My goal is to be the best educator I can be and to have every learner in my class succeed. This course provides learners with necessary practical skills and an ideal complement to their arts-based criminal and social justice education, which will enhance their career choice. It is clear how my habits, traditions, and beliefs have influenced my personal and teaching development and teaching philosophy while acknowledging teaching is an evolving, reflective process. As stated by Groen and Kawalilak (2014), learning occurs at any time, in any space, and at any pace, not only for students but also for teachers. I want to continue to challenge, question, modify my viewpoints and teaching philosophies and continue to share my teaching philosophy and life experience in every class I teach. Teaching is a gratifying and challenging profession. I will continue to do my best to inspire my students to be their best.
References
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Brame, C. (2013). Flipping the classroom. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. http://c
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Burns, M. (2016). The loneliness of the long-distance learner. GPE. https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/loneliness-long-distance-learner
Caffarella, R. S., & Daffron, S. R. (2013). Planning programs for adult learners: A practical guide for educators, trainers, and staff developers (3rd ed.). Jossey Bass.
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Dziuban, C., Hartman, J., Juge, F., Moskal, P., and Sorg, S. (2005). Blended learning: Online learning enters the mainstream. Bonk.
Fauth, F. & Gonzalez-Martinez, J. (2021). On the concept of learning transfer for continuous and online training: A literature review. Education Sciences. 11, 133.
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Rands, M. & Gansemer-Topf, A. (2017). The room itself is active: How classroom design impacts student engagement. Journal of Learning Spaces, 6(1), 32.
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On Task Teaching 