Module 4: Principles of Learning Design and Active Learning

H5P Active Learning

This was my first experience using a platform like H5P and I found that it is something that had I known about it before I would have used a lot more. The different types of interactive learning games that are available on there were amazing to see and I didn’t know that it was this easy to create games like that. I had a lot of fun creating the game I did and I think that this tool would be really helpful for a lot of teachers and students and could contribute to a more engaging learning environment that might help students learn better.

Below I have attached my game, where the user has to try and match the cities to the professional sports teams name.

An Authentic Problem That You Would Use To Design a Lesson Plan Using Merrill’s Principles

An authentic problem that I would teach using Merrill’s Principles would be how to change both a tire and oil in a car. I think that this is something that is not taught to a lot of children at a young age, yet it is a skill that is very useful that everyone who owns or drives a car should be able to do. This problem aligns with Merrill’s first goal as it revolves around solving a real-world problem as changing a tire and checking and changing oil is something that everyone who owns a car should be able to do. This also has the ability to align with the second principle of using old knowledge because some students may have experience working with tools or know their way around a car therefore this would be an add on to their already prior knowledge about cars. This may be harder for other students a as they may not have any prior experience with cars and learning the different parts of the car and about the tools may be a little difficult at first. Merrill’s third principle of, learning is better promoted when demonstrated, is a major part of this lesson as one of the best ways for the students to learn how to change a tire is to see it being done, and the next principle is also applicable as although watching a tire being changed is helpful, Merrill’s fourth principle of the new knowledge being applied by a learner is easily applicable here as once a student has seen how it is done they can have a chance to change a tire or change the oil themselves, getting hands on experience and practicing. The fifth principle of incorporating this skill into the learner’s daily lives is basically the reason why I want to teach this as this is a life skill that everyone should know and that they should be able to use in their daily life and also teach to others who may not have this knowledge. 

A form of multimedia that I think could be used in this lesson is having a video or picture of the car and having students label and name the different parts associated with either changing a tire or checking/changing the engine oil. HP5 has a great interactive learning platform through which you can take a picture or a video and have students take words and put them on the picture or the video, giving them instant feedback about whether their answer was right or not. I think that this type of interactive media would be very helpful in the lesson that I am planning as the learners may not have immediate accessibility to a car but this allows them to get familiar with the parts and the names of the parts on the car.

Lesson Plan

I made a lesson plan about what I talked about teaching in the previous paragraph. Creating the lesson plan backwards made me more aware about what I wanted my learners to actually learn from this lesson. Shelley Moore’s video on backwards learning and how it promotes inclusion really helped me understand the need and benefits of backwards learning. She explained that thinking of a goal then making a plan to meet the goal is the most effective way in order to meet that goal, and she used the example of her goal to visit California and how she first thinks of that then plans the rest of the trip around it. Although this example is not directly related to education I think it was the perfect example as I had never thought about planning a learning experience like that. Once I heard this I laid out my goal, which is to teach the learner how to change a tire and change the oil in their car, then started working backwards and I realized that by doing this and working backwards all my steps leading up to the goal were directly related to the learner actually learning the goal that I had set out in the beginning. I think that this is the perfect way to set up a curriculum and I honestly wish that more of my teachers and professors throughout my life had set their curriculums up like this.

I have attached my Lesson Plan below and I hope that it is laid out in a way that students would be able to understand and learn from effectively