Instructional Design Document University of Houston

By Amanda L. Wood, Ph.D., P.E.

Analyze Learners and Contexts

1. Goal Statement

By the end of the lesson on shear and moment diagrams, the undergraduate sophomore level
students in Statics class will draw a shear and moment diagram without use of instructional
aids on engineering graph paper. The drawings will be completed during class. The only tools
required are a pencil and engineering graph paper.

2. Description of learner interview

a) Who you interviewed?

I interviewed a student in my Statics class.

b) Why you selected them?

I selected the student because they will be the learner in the lesson.

c) Length of the interview.

The length of the interview was approximately thirty minutes.

d) What questions you asked?

I asked if the learner had familiarity with shear and moment diagrams. If so, to
describe how they were familiar with shear and moment diagrams. I also asked the
learner if lecture and example problems would be a preferred lesson style.

e) At least one thing that you discovered through the interview that you did not now
before or that surprised you.
I was surprised to discover that the learner said that they would prefer attempting
the problem on their own right after the example problem is given rather than
waiting until later to solve the problem.

3. Learner Analysis

Questions about Learner characteristics:

Entry behaviors: What behaviors do learners have that could influence your
instructional design?

The learner must have already mastered the key concepts of force equilibrium and
method of sections problems. The learner’s actual status on these skills should be
verified during the instructional development process.

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Instructional Design Document University of Houston
By Amanda L. Wood, Ph.D., P.E.

Prior knowledge of topic area: What do your learners already know about your topic?

At the time that the lesson on shear and moment diagrams will be given, the learner will
have been introduced to the concept of shear and moment diagrams and their
importance in engineering design.

Attitudes toward content: How do your learners feel about your topic?

The learners will understand the importance of shear and moment diagrams in
engineering design. They may also have the attitude that this is a difficult topic to learn
and may be worried that they will not have a complete understanding after the lesson.

Attitudes towards the delivery system: How do your learners feel about how the
instruction will be delivered?

Initially the learner will not understand or believe that they will be capable of drawing
the shear and moment diagrams, so they may be reticent to try.

Academic motivation (ARCS): In general, what characteristics do your learners have in

terms of attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction? (For more about ARCS, see
https://elearningindustry.com/arcs-model-of-motivation)

The learners will have been introduced to the relevance of the topic to later courses and
their career. Therefore, they may be more apt to pay attention to the lesson. Normally
their attention perks up during this lesson due to the relevance in later material. They
see it as more engineering relatable.

Education and ability levels: Do your learners have the same general education level
and abilities or are they diverse? What is their range of education and ability levels?

The learners will have the same general education level. Their abilities in mathematics
may vary somewhat. They are a weaker mathematical group since they are in this
course during the spring semester rather than the fall semester.

General learning preferences: How do your learners prefer to learn?

The learners prefer to have an active lesson style. The learner takes part in classroom
discussions and enjoys working practice problems during class time.

Attitudes toward class, group, or organization: What attitudes do your learners have
about the class, group, or organization to which they belong?

The learners understand the importance of this lesson as it pertains to later courses and

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Instructional Design Document University of Houston
By Amanda L. Wood, Ph.D., P.E.

their career.

Group characteristics: What are the overall characteristics of the group in terms of
heterogeneity? How large is the group? What are your overall impressions of the group?

The group is composed of engineering students. The group is very small, since this is an
off-semester course. The group is more mathematically challenged than the fall
semester group; therefore, they will have more difficulty learning the key concepts.

What data sources did you use for your responses to the previous questions?

I used direct observation.

What implications do these answers in your learner analysis have for the way you
design your instruction?

More hands-on practice problems will be used along with more in-depth discussions to
ensure that the learner is engaged in the learning process and to clarify any confusion
that may arise.

4. Context Analysis

Questions about the learning context (where the instruction takes place):

How compatible is the learning context for the instructional requirements? Include both
physical and social aspects.

The learning will take place in a classroom.

How adaptable is the learning context for different instructional approaches?

The classroom is very adaptable to different instructional approaches.

What constraints are present in the learning context that will affect the design and
delivery of the instruction?

There are time constraints. The class is only offered twice a week. This lesson plan will
take place over two classes.

How relevant are the skills that are taught in the learning context to the goals of the
workplace or school system?

The skills are very relevant to the goals of the engineering curriculum.

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Instructional Design Document University of Houston
By Amanda L. Wood, Ph.D., P.E.

If the performance context (where learners carry out the skills and concepts that they
have learned) is different from your learning context, also answer these questions:

How adaptable is the learning context to simulate the performance context?

What implications do these answers in your context analysis have for the way you
design your instruction?

I have to take into account the time limitations that I have to provide the lecture.