Didactic concepts for learning delivery

Education and training programmes for adults come in all shapes, sizes, and formats. They range from one-hour lectures or skill sessions to weekend seminars, highly intensive residential study programmes at corporate training centres, one or two years of university study, or (weekly) vocational pro-grammes, delivered face to face, in a blended way, or entirely online.

Also, the format of the programme can range from a study circle ‘course’

to a highly structured, syllabus-based programme. Reading groups or study circles offered at a university of the third age (U3A), for example, primarily use an open discussion format, with no set parameters, because the members of such groups tend to enjoy the open-ended way of learning. In this case, the institution’s intervention is mostly related to fostering such gathering and sharing of ideas in a free format, whereas for other types of courses, the op-posite kind of intervention is needed. Even with study circles, some adults might prefer a more formal approach, involving moderators and structured discussions, the role of the facilitator of the group being different. In contrast, most training programmes, such courses, workshops, seminars, peer coaching – designed for small or large groups of adults, for a large general public, or for a very specific one – require tight scheduling and planning for each ses-sion.

Designing curricula and educational concepts means creating a format for the interaction between learners and teachers, including the logistic infra-structure (i.e. traditional classroom or virtual learning platform, didactic ma-terials and equipment, learning resources, etc.). Such design can be done by a programme developer, or a team of experts, consisting of a subject matter specialist, an education and learning specialist, and an educational technolo-gist (in case of virtual delivery), coordinated by the institution’s programme

125 planner. Every institution can have a standardised form to use when design-ing the format of a programme, also providdesign-ing the information to be printed in the promotional brochure, as well as the information needed for the moni-toring team, or for securing the logistic infrastructure.

Here we will not describe how to create a detailed didactic concept for a programme or a learning unit, as this is the part of a different volume in the study guide series. However, the main factors concerning the learning con-text, as well as their implications for the managerial aspects and the decisions regarding the design of the course or programme need to be pointed out.

Chapter 6.3 provided a synthesis of the elements of planning a programme, as well as the aspects to be planned. When reflecting on the details of those pro-grammes in greater depth while designing the didactic approach, the follow-ing aspects should be addressed:

• Learning objectives and learning outcomes: formulated in operational terms, with concrete behaviours to be measured. In the previous section, we made a distinction between different programme aims and objectives, at different levels of generality. This aspect concerns the concrete level of knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be acquired by the learners at the end of each learning unit or the course as a whole.

• Learners: how many are they, what is their educational, cultural, and pro-fessional background (what previous knowledge, skills, and experiences related to the course do they have), what expectations do they have, to what extent do they meet various learning prerequisites (e.g. digital skills for activating the learning platform, or self-directed learning techniques), and so on. Depending on the number of learners signing up for the course, some reconsideration of the didactic approach might be needed, as dealing with small groups of adults is different in many ways (e.g. teaching meth-odology, classroom space, etc.) from dealing with large groups.

• Content: Depending on the type of content (i.e. abstract or concrete, level of complexity, addressing cognitive or procedural aspects, etc.), it is likely to be taught in various ways, using a range of methodological tools, aids, and techniques. Teachers need to decide whether to divide it into separate units, which teaching aids to use (e.g. study guides, visual aids, simula-tions, etc.), whether to use an experiential approach or a problem-based one, or whether to present content by demonstrations, by debating, or dis-covering, and so on. The same content can be made accessible and easy to understand and retain in very different ways.

• Learning context: Where does the learning take place (e.g. in a museum, at a swimming pool, in a conference hall, online, at the workplace, in a

library, in a café, in a forest, or inside a regular classroom), and which didactic approaches are suitable for this context?

• Didactic strategies: What methods are to be used and combined (Does the range of methods and techniques take into account the different ways in which learners process information?), how should learners be grouped (Do we need more rooms for working groups?), and what materials (e.g.

handouts, equipment, books, maps, etc.) are needed? Are there logistical constraints? The methods to be used are selected in accordance with the learning objectives, the degree of involvement expected from partici-pants, the specificity of the content, and so forth. For instance, for acquir-ing knowledge, methods such as explanations, panels, group discussions, debates, case studies, (a)synchronous online forums, and the like are more suitable, whereas for acquiring skills, methods such as exercises, simulations, games, demonstrations, observations, problem-solving exer-cises, reflective practice, role playing, drawing, and the like are more suitable (see also Caffarella, 2002, pp. 175–178).

• Human resources: Do we need a team of teachers for each module, or do we promote team-teaching? Are the teachers able to use new technologies and to transfer into practice the interactive didactic approach, or do they need further training? Are they able to moderate online forums? Do they have time available? Do they feel comfortable using a variety of tech-niques, and are they able to build up an engaging learning community?

• Schedule/time frame: The schedule depends very much on the different course formats that were chosen and combined. Decisions have to be made regarding the time during the day (in the morning or in the eve-ning, how many hours per day) and the week: how many times per week, and whether the course should be run on a weekly basis (for one semester or more) or as an intensive course (e.g. on a single weekend, as a one-day conference, as a residential course, a two to three-weeks summer/winter camp, etc.); whether online courses and forums should be combined with face-to-face one-day day or weekend meetings, and so forth. It is impor-tant that the schedule is set at the beginning of the course for the whole course, including the evaluation, so that students have an overview on what will be expected from them, by when, and how they should plan their rhythm, participation, days off from the job, and so on. It is also important to know whether the schedule permits flexibility: can absences be made up for by attending a different course, with a different group, and what is the minimum attendance requirement, if in fact there is one.

• Evaluation: As mentioned before, the details of how the evaluation will be performed (by a written or oral exam, a presentation, a portfolio, or a

127 research paper etc.), when (on an ongoing basis or only once, at the end of the course), based on which criteria, and by whom (e.g. only by the in-stitutional teaching staff or by an external body) are important aspects that students have to know about at the beginning of the programme.

Also, it is important for them to know what kind of certificate they will obtain after passing the exams and graduating successfully. For more de-tails on the issue of evaluation, see Chapter 7.3. Furthermore, if these as-pects concern the evaluation of the learning results, they also include planning the overall programme evaluation, the evaluation of the learn-ing resources, and the prerequisites needed for successful implementa-tion.

• Format of the programme: The programme format is chosen based on the number of students and the time they are available, the learning site (e.g. at the workplace, in a conference building, at an outdoor location, etc.), the types of tasks, the facilities and the limits of technological de-livery, the didactic concept likely to produce the highest retention rate, and the like. When deciding on one format or another, any additional costs both for the institution and the students have to be taken into ac-count as well (for residential programmes, but also for face-to-face ones).

Text box 5: Types of instructional formats

1) individual formats: apprenticeship, coaching, computer-based tech-nologies, interactive tutorials, self-directed learning, on-the-job train-ing, mentortrain-ing, practical supervision, etc.

2) small group formats: seminars, workshops, field visits, support groups, study circle, reading groups, labs, networks, etc.

3) large group formats: conferences, theatre, educational tours, lecture series, exhibits, residential learning, etc.

4) distance learning formats: audio/video-conferences, blended learn-ing, broadcast and cable television/ radio, learning platform, corre-spondence study, learning packs, etc.

5) community learning formats: community resource centres, commu-nity development, groups of local initiative (commucommu-nity action groups), learning campaigns, popular theatre, learning cities/ regions, and vir-tual communities.

Source: Caffarella, 2002, pp. 288–291

For each learning unit, teachers need to translate these aspects into detailed in-structional plans, to be used as roadmaps assisting them with keeping focused

while teaching the course. The instructional plans will depend very much on the teacher’s teaching style, on their experience, and on the actual group of learners, as well as on the teacher’s beliefs, values, and preferred didactic approach.

But before any concrete didactic interaction between the teacher (generi-cally called ‘teacher’ for our purposes, even if he or she is a keynote speaker or the moderator at a conference) and the learners can take place, all aspects of the programme to be run have to be carefully reviewed and revised, if nec-essary, to make sure every aspect is well planned. For instance, depending on the chosen format and the size of the group(s) interacting in the plenary and in working groups, the space facilities have to meet the demands of combin-ing large group interaction with simultaneous small-group interaction, both in terms of room size, easy-to-arrange furniture, equipment, and so on.

Once the didactic approach has been determined (which can be revised, of course, due to logistic constraints, costs, etc.), and while preparing and or-ganising all the aspects of course delivery, there are several aspects that need to be clarified, as the best programme planning cannot anticipate the unfore-seen events and circumstances occurring during programme implementation (Sava 2003, pp. 250–263; Sava 2007, pp. 294–296):

• The course registration system needs to provide information early on about start dates, location, course hours, payment methods, attendance policies, required equipment, and the like. Also, the data collected on the registra-tion form should at least include participants’ contact details so they can be informed about unexpected happenings while the course is run.

• Responsibilities of the course team: coordinator (supervising the teaching and support staff), teaching staff and tutors (in the case of online deliv-ery, for instance), course administrator (secretary), people responsible for the facilities, for delivering course materials, for equipment, for organis-ing face-to-face meetorganis-ings, for administerorganis-ing the website, and so on.

• Preparing course facilities and premises (e.g. renting spaces in other in-stitutions, placing schedules on each door, placing functional equipment and facilities in each room, renting hotel rooms, making contracts with institutions delivering course materials or food, making contracts with publishing houses for the printed materials, ensuring the qualitative func-tioning of the local centres, etc.)

• Communication tools during the course (where to get further informa-tion, from whom, how, who informs the students about unexpected or new things, etc.)

• Monitoring and motivating students during the course, building up the learning community

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• Installing a system for monitoring the course staff, for paying them, col-lecting their feedback, linking them, and so on

• Access to other facilities (library, resource centres, cafeteria, parking, etc.)

• Providing information during the course via schedules, course materials, support staff, feedback, details about the evaluation (where and when the final exam will take place, needed preparation, when and how the results will be available, further activities, etc.)

• Providing information at the end of the course about certification, further training opportunities, further services to support the transfer of learning, employment opportunities, and the like

• Putting problem-solving procedures in place (e.g. disagreements between staff and learners, complaint management, re-scheduling due to objective reasons, etc.)

• Putting quality assurance procedures in place

These aspects need to be introduced into the evaluation and monitoring plans as well. They have to be performed before, during, and after the programme to make sure that useful suggestions for improvement are collected in due time. Other aspects that need to be taken into consideration will be presented in the next section.