Understanding How the Brain Functions for Education and Learning

Educators are constantly striving to determine the best methods for instructing students on a daily basis. When considering specific goals and planning lessons, performing a task analysis can be helpful since it directly correlates to the methods and sequence that information can be taught. (Ormrod. 2008. P.458). The analysis of behavior, subject matter, and information can help educators determine specific methods and strategies to clarify objectives and goals for mastery. I have chosen to plan the physical task of jumping rope and the academic task of decoding the word dog. The physical task of jumping a rope can be analyzed by using the behavioral method of analysis since it requires movement and is associated with physical behaviors that will enable a person to properly jump rope. For decoding the word dog, the informational processing analysis helps us use phenomes and basic language skills to decode the correct sequence of letters that form the word dog.

The lesson on decoding the word dog directly correlates to the Sunshine State Standards for language arts for the appropriate grade level of kindergarten. The specific standards addressed by this lesson include: identifying phonemes in CVC words, blending and segment individual phonemes in simple words, recognize and recall one to one correspondence between letters and sounds, and decoding simple words in isolation and in context. (etc.usf.edu)

Application
Jumping Rope Decoding Dog
Objective is clear and easy to understand and put into practice Objective is clear and easy to understand and put into practice
Implementation of lesson progressed well and child was able to model appropriate sequence of jumping rope. Lesson easily applied to one or multiple students. Would take longer for multiple students, since the end result of a child being able to jump rope would need to be assessed. Individualized instruction might be needed for the jump rope lesson. Implementation of lesson was focused on multiple students, however the single student was able to easily decode the word DOG. This was based on prior knowledge of the letters, where the lesson on jumping rope was fresh information.
Assessment is clear and met after completion of lesson. Assessment is clear and met after completion of lesson.

As an educator it is valuable to be able to break down a task into smaller steps for students, as this can help them master the skills based on the behavior associated with the skill, subject knowledge required to master the skill and information that needs to be utilized to comprehend and understand the skill. The type of task analysis used by an educator does have emphasis placed on what information is being taught. A behavior task analysis really assesses the specific behaviors needed to complete a task. As an educator, we use this mostly in physical aspects, much like the jump rope analysis above. Many students need a specific example performed for them to follow, and in this case a behavior task analysis is fitting. (Ormrod. 2008. P. 458).

Subject analysis are valuable when determining conclusions based on a set of information. This could be in the form of history or social studies lessons that are being studied and implemented in some fashion, for example a report or multi-media presentation. Information analysis is a great method used for mathematical reasoning or higher order thinking needed for certain science topics, such as chemistry. "Conducting task analyses for complex skills and topics has at least two advantages (Desberg & Taylor, 1986; Jonassen et al., 1989). First, when we identify a task's specific components'"whether behaviors, concepts and ideas, or cognitive processes'"we gain a better sense of what things students need to learn and the order in which they can most effectively learn them." (Ormrod. 2008. P. 259). I think it is interesting that as an educator we often need to place ourselves in the shoes of our students to be able to reach them most effectively. Task analysis surely does this and provides us opportunities to really evaluate the skills being taught in a step-by-step fashion and implement it, hopefully with success.

The task analysis process is fairly focused in both uses for this assignment, physical and academic. The process requires detailed thought and a plan that ensures student understanding as well as correct implementation. Obviously there is room for improvement, but the actual time that it takes to write step by step instructions is more methodical and orderly than just randomly attempting to teach a student this particular skills. I personally did put myself in the position of teaching a student how to jump rope when writing my lesson plan. I had to physically get out a jump rope, perform and think about clearly describing and showing the different steps to a young student. This is definitely a positive aspect of task analysis, since the best way for me to help a student is to be able to perform this task myself.

In the instance of decoding the word dog, I had to really think about this skill through the eyes of a very young student. I work with four and five year olds, and many of them are decoding words. I have to train myself to think about cognitively how they are developing, how much knowledge they have of letter sounds and if they're ready to decode words. The word dog is a fairly simple consonant vowel consonant word that doesn't have any awkward phoneme sequences, and I know they would be able to perform this task. Again, I considered how I would present this information to my existing class of students to be able to properly write down the step by step directions on how to help them decode the word dog. Had it been a younger set of children that didn't yet understand their letter sounds as base knowledge the skill would have been harder. Both of the tasks, jumping rope, as well as decoding the word dog has a base set of knowledge. First, the gross motor skills of being able to move hands and feet independent of one another, and in the case of decoding the word dog, the knowledge of the letter sounds of at least the three letters. Another great benefit of the task analysis process is that there could be additional learning tools or assignments that would branch off after the evaluation is complete.

Once students understand the basics of jumping rope, they can start jumping with a rhythm or to music. They can also join jump a thons or use their skill for a greater purpose. In the instance of the decoding, the children could then discuss syllables and start discussing rhyming words. The lessons have more room to be expanded once the steps are written down for teaching these specific skills. The main con that I see is that it takes a bit more time to analyze these specific tasks, however, I believe this comes with the mindset that these particular skills are easier. I see a great benefit to having more advanced task analysis prepared for more complex lessons and topics.

In the instance of the jumping rope and decoding the word, I chose to practice my lesson on a five year old student, who was capable of understanding my instructions. I believe my steps fulfilled the requirement for the student to be able to jump rope with ease and to decode the word Dog. The success of the first task, of jumping rope came with practice and time taken to describe the skill, model the skill as well as assist the student in performing.

In the instance of decoding the word dog, this was more of a teacher directed lesson, and required more feedback from the student. They were still able to successfully complete the skill of decoding the word and had an understanding of the progress of the lesson. I think it was helpful that I introduced the letters independently to formulate an idea of their knowledge base before giving them the word and asking them to decode from scratch. I see the benefit of starting out with this basic skill, specifically if there were a class full of students that perhaps struggled with any of these particular letters. This would help review the sounds before asking them to perform a skill they weren't particularly ready for.

Improvements to these lessons can be made to add more detail, specifically how much time would be needed for a class to succeed in the task and complete the evaluation process. The additional lesson or activities could also be included with the task analysis in the event that the lesson didn't take as long as required to ensure that the learning objectives are met and that the time is filled with appropriate learning experiences. Also, there could be additional games or opportunities for children to share, which will motivate them to quickly engage in the lesson being taught and explore the material first hand.

The benefits to the process of task analysis for an educator are clear. The time that it takes to further explore a lesson with detailed step-by-step instructions provides ample direction and can clarify how long a lesson will take. The process also provides a clear emphasis on the end result of the evaluation of the student and can be expanded upon for further mastery of the skills being introduced. Performing the task analysis myself, I can see the benefits of utilizing this method for many skills in any classroom.

Physical Task Lesson Plan: Jumping Rope
Objective: to teach a child how to properly jump rope through instruction and practice.
Materials Needed: jump rope, sneakers, space

Step by step directions:
1. Hold jump rope ends in each hand, with jump rope behind feet.
2. Model rotating arms to move the jump rope over head and to the front of the body.
3. Step over the jump rope and repeat.
4. Model rotating wrists with arms to shorten movement.
5. Model jumping with the jump rope as you combine rotation of the arms and wrists with the act of jumping over the jump rope as it slides under the body.
6. Repeat steps as needed to clarify understanding of movement.
Assessment: Proper handling of a jump rope and able to rotate arms/wrists and jump repeatedly for a minimum of two rotations.

Academic Task Lesson Plan: Decoding the word dog.
Objective: teach a child how to decipher the individual letters and sounds in the word dog and combine them to decode and read the word without sounding out each letter.
Materials Needed: display of the three letters in DOG, display of the word itself. Picture of a dog.
Step by step directions:

1. Tell the students that we will be learning how to read a word by sounding out the letter's sound.
2. Display the letter D and ask, "What letter is this and what sound does it make?" Provide praise for correct answer.
3. Display the letter O and ask, "What letter is this and what sound does it make?" Provide praise for correct answer.
4. Display the letter G and ask, "What letter is this and what sound does it make?" Provide praise for correct answer.
5. Next, display word DOG and let students know that we can combine the letter sounds to start to read words. Show word DOG. Start to ask the children to slowly sound out the letters again, repeating several times at a quickened pace. Ask students if they know what the word is. If they do not know what the word is, repeat, emphasizing the sounds and pointing to the letters, D, O, G. With a little more practice, students should collectively come to the conclusion that the word is DOG. A picture can then be shown to emphasize the correct word of DOG.

Assessment: Children should be able to after practice share the decoding of the word Dog with and without the picture independently, first by individually sounding out the letters d, o, g, and then combining the letter sounds to read the word Dog. The progression of understanding can relate to the syllables within the word and beginning rhyming.

References
Florida K-12 Reading and Language Arts Standards. Acquired April 5, 2010. http://etc.usf.edu/flstandards/la/new-pdfs/points-k.pdf
Ormrod, Jeanne '"Ellis. 2008. Educational Psychology Developing Learners. Merrill Prentice Hall.