EDU 643

Task Analysis

Click here to view my Task Analysis assignment.

Reflection

When thinking about this week's Task Analysis assignment, it occurred to me that each individual step of this activity is equally important as the next, additionally, the order of these steps is just as important. Like a link in a long chain, a student would need to follow these steps in precise order to be successful and demonstrate their learning. Even though the concepts learned in this activity can be used in a very fluid, flexible and creative way, there is still a very rigid method set of steps one must follow to be successful in this type of activity, regardless of the final creative use. In the example provided by my professor, she talks about a tea being made and if it matters if the order of operations changes for the final product. Does it matter if you pour the hot water into a cup before you put the tea bag in? Or would you need to put the tea bag in before pouring in hot water? Listening to this example helped me realize how important this order of steps really is for the success of a creator in this genre.

After realising this, I decided to approach this assignment slightly differently then my professor may have suggested, and I decided to make a flow chart of yes/no gates for students to go through to ensure their success in the final assessment. It occurred to me as I was breaking my tasks into these gates, that I had quite a few points where a student can get off track. It also occurred to me that each of these gates could organised and grouped into 3 different categories. Therefore, I created 3 flowcharts, one for a "tech check-in", one for an understanding self check-in, and the final chart as a step-by-step process to finish the actual assment project.

The way I think I would explain my rationale for using this method to create my Task Analysis assignment would be comparing it to building a house. We all know that all houses can look different after completing them, however, the general steps to building one is typically the same. For example, you can't build a second floor before building the first floor, and so on.

As I reflect on this process after completing my flow charts, I found this process to be very intriguing , as it helped me understand all the points where my learners can fail at this type of task and it was a great eye-opener to help prepare me for a "real world" scenario while attempting to teach this in class. Also, as someone who's had extensive experience in this particular subject field, it's often difficult to narrow down all the steps of a task and simplify things for it to be taught for someone who's never learnt it before, as these types of things often become second nature, and it's almost like "muscle memory" if I were to do this task on my own. Going through this process has helped me think about the types of supports a learner would need for attempting this kind of activity for the first time.

Furthermore, not only is this type of flow chart beneficial to help me think critically about my activity, but having this kind of chart available to students to help them self-diagnose issues would seem beneficial for a multitude of reasons. This may seem like more work in the beginning for me, however, it may save me time in the end, as students can be empowered to think more critically about what is going wrong and use this flow chart to solve their own problems.

I appreciate this assignment helping me realise that and come to that conclusion.