 What we do!! Design
Delivery
Performance
Contact Us
Research
Resellers
Affiliates
Federal Proposals
& Opportunities
News & Events
Resources
Newsletter
Brochure
Are
you being asked to determine an enterprise-wide
e-learning strategy? Here is a free copy of our Building a
Strategic Plan for E-Learning.
|
ASSESSING
INNOVATION AND
IMPROVING LEARNING ABILITY
- Are
you looking for measures to assess innovation and
learning ability?
- Do
you need to assess how people manage learning and
performance to help them succeed?
- Are
you considering how to prepare today's student
for tomorrow's elearning challenges?
Technology
is changing the way we think and today's learners need a
clear understanding of the skills necessary for learning
in the future. Tomorrow's learners need to be more
self-directed, independent, self-motivated,
self-disciplined, and responsible for their own learning
success. You are invited to explore our products and
services to help meet these challenges. The Training
Place (TTP) is pleased to share our expertise and experience gained
through years of learning, memory, and performance
research.
We have a
variety of tools to help you identify learning ability,
strengths, and motivations, predict innovation and
creativity, and develop individuals to meet high achievement and performance standards.
We can help you deal with these and
similar questions?
- How
are the expectations and digital experiences of
online students changing?
- How
do we coordinate teaching and assessment to
promote student learning?
- What
can we learn about students' individual differences in learning to help them succeed?
- How
can assessments both directly and indirectly
assist students to learn and achieve
successfully?
- What
assessments measure the domains of innovation or learning
ability, especially online learning ability?
- Which
tutorials are available to help students improve creativity and
learning ability more successfully?
- How
can we mentor students to improve
self-assessment, self-direction, and learner
control?
- What
research fosters a student-focus on learning
improvement and strategies for high achievement?
ABOUT THE LEARNING
ORIENTATION QUESTIONNAIRE (LOQ)
Learning and innovation are measurable domains of expertise. The
neurosciences are helping us be more precise about
defining these domains. It is important to know just how
prepared and how able an individual is to learn or create. The LOQ
is a 25-item survey that measures learning ability and
describes dispositions and readiness to learn. It is
particularly effective in online learning environments
where many students find the transition from classroom to
e-learning environments difficult or troublesome. Based
upon the Learning Orientation research foundations, the
LOQ provides scores that are unique indicators of the
individual's approach to learning (dispositions to learn)
and describe attributes for learning success and creativity. Scores
offer explanations for individual differences in learning
and performance, including expectations, beliefs,
preferences, strategies, skills, values, and approaches.
Designers and developers can use the scores to guide the
more sophisticated use of instructional and assessment
strategies. Educators or mentors can use the scores to help individuals improve learning and study strategies. Organizations can use the scores to reduce attrition rates and predict academic outcomes, e.g., time to degree completion or time needed to study.
ABOUT THE LEARNING
ORIENTATION RESEARCH
The Learning Orientation (LO) Research discusses the
theoretical foundations for understanding sources for
individual learning differences. It specifically explores
the important impact of emotions, intentions, and social
factors on learning and innovation. Discovery in the neurosciences in
the last ten years have revealed the extraordinary
complexities of brain activity and multiple levels of
processes interacting dynamically. These theories
highlight more than the cognitive element, they explore
the DOMINANT power of emotions and
intentions on brain development
(brain plasticity).
The
conventional, commonly accepted cognitive
perspective (e.g., how learners think or prefer to
process information, such as, learning styles and
strategies) erroneously suggests that cognitive aspects
are the dominant impact on how we learn differently. This
focus typically subjugates (or even overlooks) the role
played by emotions and intentions. The LO research
explores a more robust understanding of how learners
approach different learning situations, environments, and
instructional presentations within the context of a comprehensive set of key psychological factors--that
influence how learners learn more or less successfully.
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Learning Orientation improvement strategies are available at:
INDUSTRY AND ACADEMIC
APPLICATIONS
The LOQ
has already helped paved the way for innovation throughout the industry and in
educational practice. Using the LOQ has successfully helped customers
reduce waste of resources,
identify at-risk learners, provide strategies for
intervention, predict learning ability or creativity, provide measures
for sophisticated learning or innovation, personalize learning, and collect historical data
for analysis and improvement. Our ability to use the
learning orientation research to prescribe and adapt
instructional strategies makes our approach unique and
innovative.
- Another
recent WGU paper, entitled “Effectiveness of
Web-based Learning Opportunities in a
Competency-based Program” also discusses use
of the Learning Orientation Questionnaire.
“These shocking [completion rate] results
prompted us to examine students' learning
orientations.” http://www.trainingplace.com/source/research/WGUpaper.htm They have successfully
used the LOQ since 2002. They also effectively
use the LOQ to estimate time to degree completion
and time to study requirements.
- Here
is a link describing how one researcher (Dr.
Edward Jones, Professor) used the LOQ as a tool
for early identification of university students
at-risk for course non-completion or drop out. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1a/35/dd.pdf This study
suggests: "Moreover, since most web-based
courses tend to be designed to encourage
self-direction, exploration, coaching and
mentoring, this study found a significant
correlation between LOQ scores and student
grades." “In addition, this study
found that LOQ scores can be used to
identify students at-risk of not completing
an online course. Instructors should identify
students with low LOQ scores and ensure that they
have the necessary prerequisites for the course.
In some cases, they may need one-on-one tutoring
and additional guidance from their instructor.
Once identified, "at risk" learners can
be additionally supported with targeted
interventions, e.g., activities that stimulate
right-hemisphere development or remedial methods,
including training in planning, organizing,
studying, written expression, social
cognition, and communication."
- The
Teaching Strategies for Project-Based Courses developed by
Mindy Colin, Instructional Technology Analyst at
Loyola Marymount University uses learning orientation foundations.
- At Mercer College, Randall Spaid, Assistant Professor
of Secondary & Science Education, used the LOQ and
works with high school students to study
adolescent motivation in science classrooms.
-
At Central Arizona College...the LOQ and the Learning Demand Model developed by
Temenoujka Fuller is used to estimate community college
student use of the
Cooperative Learning Center.
If you are interested in using the Learning Orientation Questionnaire for
research purposes, see:
http://www.trainingplace.com/source/research/loqadmin.htm
Your comments are always appreciated. Contact us |
