Principles, Theories, and Models

Understand many theories and models, choose from among them appropriately, and apply them effectively.

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Introduction/Context

I developed a power point called, “Simplicity and Form in Japanese Art” for EDTEC 572, Technology for Course Delivery.  The assignment for EDTEC 572 called for students to extend our knowledge of instructional design by developing lessons for our classroom.  At the time of that I developed this power point, I was about three weeks from beginning my unit on Feudal Japan with my 7th graders.  I chose to develop a power point to enhance a lesson I had been teaching my students for years, but that was in desperate need of updating.  The lesson objective is: seventh grade social studies students will work in mixed ability pairs to describe Japan’s geography, Shinto, and Buddhism and then construct paragraphs that explain the influence of Japan’s geography, Shinto, and Buddhism on four distinctive forms of Japanese art:  Japanese flower arrangement, Japanese homes, Japanese gardens, and Japanese tea ceremony.


Connection to Standard

I primarily used design principles and Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction model to develop the “Simplicity and Form in Japanese Art” power point. In EDTEC 541, my peers and I joked about this acronym we coined: CRAP(contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity).  CRAP was applied throughout the power point in order to effectively communicate the lesson.  In order to create contrast within my design, I made the bold move to use a black background due to the particular images I used in my power point.  I then used white font to further enhance the contrast.  For repetition, I used the same font style throughout the power point and placed images and text in the same locations for each similar slide.  Since my power point had three different stages, I used three different alignments.  Finally, the proximity was developed through the creation of a slide for each new concept.  Prior to this assignment, I put too much information on a single slide.

Each slide(s) in the power point presentation demonstrates a step in Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction.  I have slides that inform students of the objective mentioned above as well as the California state standards that the power point lesson addresses. Prior to examining Japanese art in this lesson, we will have already studied about Shinto, Zen Buddhism, and Japan’s geography.  Since this knowledge has to be applied in order to analyze Japanese art, I dedicated 3 slides to stimulate the recall of these things.  The next slide presents the stimuli.  It is very simple: students are informed to follow along to a recording of a reading that they have in front of them.  After the stimuli has been presented, I display a slide with an image of Japanese art along with a critical thinking question.  Guided learning takes place as I model how to answer a critical thinking question such as: How does Japan’s geography, Shinto, and Zen Buddhism influence Japanese tea ceremonies?  Students are then presented with the next reading.  After the reading, students are show the style of art the reading described.  This time, students are asked to perform by working together to answer the critical thinking question.  They are provided feedback by their partners as well as me when we discuss it afterward.  The assessment takes place informally throughout the lesson and formally at the end of the lesson when students submit their paragraphs that have answered the critical thinking questions about four different forms of Japanese art: tea ceremony, dry landscape garden, flower arrangement, and homes.  Retention is enhanced and transferred when I tie all these art forms together to begin describing the lifestyle of Japanese Samurai.  Students are shown a brief video on the Samurai and the art we studied is inherent in a Samurai’s daily life.

Problems/Opportunites

The lesson on “Simplicity and Form in Japanese Culture” is one that I have enjoyed with students for many years but was in desparate need of updating.  Designing and developing this power point presentation was a terrific opportunity because I spent about three days working on this 1-2 class lesson.  What I gained by applying design principles and Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction was a much more aesthetically pleasing and engaging lesson.  I no longer takes me three days to develop such lessons.

Reflection on Growth

This project marked a real turning point for me in terms of instructional design.  After presenting this lesson to my 7th graders, it became evident how much more effective it was by the behavior and results of my students.  It was after this project during me second semester in Educational Technology that I really felt like I was becoming an isntructional designer.  Whenever I plan a lesson, I keep the list of Gagne’s Nine Events next to me and as a result my instruction is more powerful.