Course Presence

Boettcher and Conrad state that "presence is the most important best practice for an online course" (53). Presence is understood in three dynamics - social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence as laid out by Garrison, Anderson and Archer at the University of Calgary (Boettcher and Concrad, 53). The degree to which the student fills fully engaged in an online course correlates strongly with the effectiveness of producing good interaction between the three presences. 

Social Presence
Social presence occurs when students begin to view other students and the professor as real people, thus building trust and interaction. Social presence is developed by creating interaction between students that would naturally occur in a traditional class. A good way to accomplish this is by developing ways that students can project their personality into the classroom environment using techniques such as threads, collaborative assignments and question/answer sessions that allow and encourage students to share personal perspectives, feelings and opinions.

Cognitive Presence
Cognitive presence refers to the engagement that the student has with the course content, particularly in direct interaction with the professor. A student who is cognitively present identifies well with the course goals and objectives, making them their own. This second stage is crucial. Students must embrace any course objectives as their own personal objectives in order to attain the highest level of interaction with the course content. Cognitive presence builds on the pre-existing knowledge of students that they possess prior to the beginning of course and it also builds on the knowledge that the students accumulate during the course.

Teaching Presence
Teaching presence refers to two difference aspects of the professor's presence - (1) the course content and (2) the ongoing instructive interaction throughout the course. The teaching presence that constitutes course content is established prior to the course before the professor knows the individual students and their needs. This type of teaching presence is established based on general objectives of the course. The second type of teaching presence reacts to the specific needs of the individual students in the course. Once the course begins, the professor might become aware that individual students are not as far along in the field of knowledge as previously expected or that the opposite is true, that the student is actually further along than expected.

Interaction of the Three Presences
Overall course presence is an interaction of the three presences described above. The goal is for an inviting social presence to foster a healthy atmosphere to provide for cognitive presence that builds on a strong teaching presence. The professor sets the tone for this interaction, but the effectiveness of course presence rests within commitment of all participants to the process. 

Blog Assignment:  
Since this course is specifically about developing online instruction, share with the course what degree of experience you have in teaching online. Please share the number of course that you have taught online and if you have taught more than one class what is something that you have changed from previous experience(s) to a more recent experience.

Working Through Bloom's Taxonomy

Welcome Class to our first course Blog. Throughout the semester, we will have regular blogs that will cover in a bit more detail some particular emphasis. This blog will take a deeper look at Bloom's Taxonomy.

In the course powerpoint presented this week, we saw the progression of learning that takes place through the process of moving from cognitive learning (lower and then upper) to affective and then to psychomotor. Educational theory proposes that we can create sequence steps from simple to complex learning which produces a deeper understanding and more likelihood of the knowledge to be applied. This process increases the probability of the knowledge then becoming transformative.

The process that moves the learner through these multiple domains of learning requires that the learner develops a strong basis in the area of cognitive learning before affective and pyschomotor learning can bear proper fruit. For this reason, it is imperative that educators fully grasp the cognitive levels of learning. There are many different taxonomies that have been proposed to describe the cognitive levels of learning, but Bloom's taxonomy is nearly-universally accepted as foundational in its approach. For that reason, we will be working through Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy

All mental growth goes under the category of cognitive taxonomy. Bloom's Taxonomy attempts to categorize this cognitive development from that which is simple to that which is complex. Mental growth that is categorized as simple may also be referred to as "lower" and that which is complex as "upper." Lower cognitive development lays the foundation for upper cognitive development. Upper cognitive development lays the foundation for affective and psychomotor development and leads to transformation in the life of the learner.

Lower

1.      Remember (basic fact memory)

     The first step in the process of mental growth is the basic learning of knowledge and the ability

     to recall that knowledge. This first step is referred to as "remember," or sometimes as

     "knowledge." Learning in this first step includes:  

 Mastery of subject matter, regardless how advance

Knowledge of major ideas

Knowledge of dates, events, places

Observations  and recall of information

Remembering, recognizing, categorizing

Certain teaching methods and techniques can help you lead your students through this first step, such as reading quizzes, matching questions, simple fill-in-the-blank questions.

2.      Understand

     The second step in the process of mental growth is the comprehension of the basic knowledge to the degree that the learner is capable of explaining it in his or her own terms. There is a clear understanding of cause and effect, of how the information forms "realities" and can establish recognizable perspectives. Learning in this second step includes:

Infer cause/effect relationships, predict consequences

Interpret facts and their meanings

Translate knowledge from source into a new context

Describe in one’s own words – grasp meaning

Understanding information

The ability to determine if a learner is understanding the knowledge, not just learning the facts can be tested by having the learners write short essays, or respond to open-ended questions. In the field of biblical studies the professor may teach what a pericope is and identify a pericope and then expect the learner to discover pericopes in the biblical text. 

3.      Apply

      The third step in the process of mental growth is the ability to apply the knowledge. This might be application into real-life scenarios or at least into the academic schema within the learner's field of interest. The learner demonstrates mastery of this step when they are able to move beyond theory and convert knowledge and understanding in to valuable practical use. Learning in this third step includes:

Solve problems using required skills and knowledge (answer questions)

Use methods and theories in different life situations

Use the information in real-life

Move beyond theoretical understanding

The key is knowing where the student is and where you want them to go by using the methods above so that the learning becomes valuable in everyday life. 

Lower to Upper Cognitive Development

Learning in these first three stages constitutes basic learning. The goal of scholarship is to move the learner beyond lower cognitive develop to upper cognitive development. Research shows that less than 50% of teaching never even moves beyond the first two steps of lower cognitive development. Teaching is often limited to indoctrination, the teaching of knowledge without critical learning. Valuable academic learning requires sophisticated learning, moving from the lower levels of cognitive development to the upper levels. 

Upper

4.      Analyzing

      The fourth step in the process of mental growth is the ability to analyze information beyond the simple data. A sharp analyst will ask the question "why" and be capable of developing a testable hypothesis for his or her question.This more complex level of learning includes seeking out patterns and recognition of deeper relationships between the data. Learning in this step includes:

a.       Identifying the underlying structure of something

b.      Organization/outline/diagram of parts to see patterns that may exist

c.       Recognition of hidden meanings/relationships

d.      Ability to separate whole into component parts

e.       Ability to identify parts of the whole

Analysis leading the formation of complex thought functions as the basis of research subjects. In my field this would be the process of writing theology and dealing with issues such as peccability/impeccability of Christ (Could Christ have sinned or not?). This moves the learner beyond simple exegesis and to deeper analytical thought.

5.      Evaluate

      The fifth step in the process of mental growth is the ability to evaluation analysis. Once the learner demonstrates the capacity for critical analytical thought it is important to see how well the learner is at testing his or her analysis, or the analysis of others. In this step, the learner probes establishes hypotheses to reveal weakness in logic or argumentation. The learner demonstrates discernment and the ability to judge between competing values. Learning in this step includes:

a.       Making discerning value decisions about issues

b.      Resolving controversies or differences of opinion

c.       Development of opinions and judgments

d.      Compare and discriminate between ideas and ideals

e.       Verify value of evidence and recognize one’s own subjectivity

A critical component of this fifth step of cognitive development is the capability to determine of the validity of an argument or points of debate. 

6.      Create

      The sixth, and final, step in Bloom's Taxonomy is the ability of the learning to demonstrate the ability to create new thought. In this final phase, the learning brings together the data that he or she has accumulated with all valuable insight, analysis and evaluation, in order to produce new ideas. These ideas often build on existing ones, but once in a while are so brand new as to overturn previously held consensus beliefs. Learning in this step includes:

a.       Synthesis

b.      “Create knowledge;” things not previously known

c.       Build something brand new

d.      Combine knowledge from different fields to create something new

e.       Generalize and hypothesize from known facts

f.       Engage in critical thinking for strategic problem solving

The test of whether or not a learner successfully satisfies this final step of mental growth is whether or not the learner adds to the knowledge of his or her field of study.

You would want to have a test after each section to evaluate where the students are in order to see where they are in the sequence and how to move them to the next step.

Blog Assignment - Comment: Looking back over this brief depiction of Bloom's Taxonomy, please respond to the following three questions in the comment section of this blog.

(1) How have you experience learning in the area of Upper Cognitive Development?

(2) What was the last knowledge that you learned which you applied in real life?

(3) What is the field of study that you would like to add to the overall knowledge?