Designing for complex-skill¶
Kind of goal · whole-task performance integrating several of the above · All situations
22 rows from 22 pages say what to change when the brief's kind of goal is complex-skill; 12 of them cite a claim. Pages whose rows cite claims come first. Read the basis before relying on a row: many carry a claim to learners or settings it did not test, and say so.
Blended Learning¶
Pattern
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a complex-skill or procedure that needs practice with feedback |
Reserve most in-person time for learners carrying out the task with feedback, not for exposition; move the exposition online. | Active learning improves exam performance [+M], tested against lecture in undergraduate STEM courses, not within a blend |
Competency-Based Learning¶
Pattern
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a complex-skill built from several competencies |
Add an integrated whole task and recheck it; a set of single-competency passes is not evidence of integrated performance | Whole-task practice improves transfer, an untested argument [~W] |
Considering The Opposite¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is argument writing (complex-skill) |
Add a required counterargument-and-rebuttal paragraph: the strongest objection to the learner's thesis, then the reply; score it with the brief's rubric | Argumentation improves reasoning [+M] (online science argumentation meta-analysis, 46 studies; one multiyear dialogue intervention with young adolescents); prompted peer feedback raised addressing the opposing view [+W] (one study, 12 groups) |
Deliberate Practice¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a diffuse performance (complex-skill such as essay writing, teaching, leading a meeting) |
Build the standard first: three or four annotated exemplars at different levels and a short rubric; expect smaller and slower gains than in sport or music, and check gains on new whole tasks; expect the component goal to push less than on a simple task | Deliberate practice and performance across domains [~M] (correlational meta-analysis: practice hours explain far more of performance in games, music and sports than in education or the professions; not a test of a design); Goal setting improves performance [~S] (goal effects smaller on complex work and laboratory tasks) |
Develop Understanding¶
Pattern
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a complex-skill performed as a whole |
Embed the idea in a whole task from the start rather than teaching it as a separate lesson first. | Whole-task practice [~M] (a design argument, not a study) |
Error Analysis¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
goal is a complex-skill (writing, a whole clinical or technical task) |
Ask learners to look for one or two named error types in their own draft or performance, then revise; do not mark every error at once. | noticing particular errors in writing [+W] (one study, reported in a review, EFL college writing) |
Feedback Loops¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a written or made product (complex-skill) |
Loop over drafts: draft, structured peer or teacher feedback against criteria, revision within a few days, then a new piece checked for the same targets | Peer Feedback Improves Writing [+M] (higher education, 24 studies; against no feedback); revision interval untested |
Goal Setting & Monitoring¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a complex-skill (whole task, many interacting parts) |
Expect a smaller effect from goal difficulty; prefer learning or process goals for the components over a hard overall score target; monitor strategy use, not only the score | Goal setting improves performance [~M] (smaller on complex work tasks, not learning tasks) |
Keep the learner in control of the information flow with on-demand tools and supports¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is comprehension of the whole, or taking part in an exchange (complex-skill) |
Do not expect the glossary to carry it; spend the time on the whole-first pass, captions, and the response points with model answers after each attempt | L1 glosses do not significantly improve EFL reading comprehension compared with no glosses [~M]; Captioning second-language videos produces large benefits for comprehension and vocabulary acquisition [+M] (captions always on, not requested) |
Reflection¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a complex-skill or professional practice (teaching, clinical, design) |
Reflect on a recorded or observed performance against named criteria, then reattempt a comparable task; repeat over the course. | Reflection interventions in higher education [+M]; tested with adult learners in higher education, outcomes pooled |
Summative Assessment¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a complex-skill (a design, a case, a clinical or practical performance) |
Include a whole-task performance, scored with a rubric, plus short component items so a failure can be traced to a part | A training-design argument, not tested by any study recorded here, holds that practising whole complex tasks improves transfer of complex skills [~W] (an argument about training, carried here to assessment) |
Validity, Reliability, and Bias in Classroom Assessment¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a complex-skill or extended performance (a lab, an essay, a presentation, a clinical task) |
Use a performance task scored by a rubric with level descriptors and anchors; calibrate markers before marking and double-mark a sample; report the score with the number of tasks it rests on | Raters differed in severity [~M] (open-ended items, three raters); rubric guidance improved peer raters' placement of writing on complex criteria [+M] (MOOC and graduate peers, carried to teachers); one class's rubric scores varied by a mean of 1.2 of 9 points across six scorers (engineering rubric low scoring reliability [~W]) |
Constructive Alignment¶
Pattern
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a complex-skill |
Assess a whole task with criteria and calibrated assessors; schedule whole-task practice across the course, not only at the end. | Untested; from the earlier page. Assessor agreement is qualified on Competency-Based Assessment |
Elaboration Theory¶
Pattern
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a complex-skill (whole-task performance) |
Sequence whole tasks with 4C/ID and use an elaboration sequence only for the supportive information around them. | untested proposal |
Game-based Learning¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a concept, principle or complex-skill |
Make the core move the reasoning itself; add a debrief and one non-game transfer task; expect slower gains than for facts | untested; from the earlier page |
Game-Based Mastery Learning¶
Pattern
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a complex-skill or whole-task performance the brief wants kept whole (a conversation, a case, a project) |
Use levels only for the itemisable parts (vocabulary, a calculation); the whole performance stays one task, judged on the brief's own rubric, outside the level map; do not split it into items to fit the gate | Untested; the earlier page's constraint "weak fit for complex open-ended performance" |
Gamification¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a concept, principle or complex-skill |
Award points for correct explanations and for solving changed problems, not for speed; avoid timed, speed-ranked quiz rounds | untested; from the earlier page (timed leaderboard formats reward speed and suit fluency more than reasoning) |
Holistic Learning¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a complex-skill (whole-task performance) |
Make the whole a complete simple task, sequence tasks from simple to complex with the 4C/ID pattern, and keep the conceptual map as supporting information around the tasks | untested proposal; whole-task practice and transfer [+W] |
Multiple Methods of Assessment¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a complex-skill or performance (a lab, a clinical task, a design) |
Combine an observed performance or product with the learner's short written or spoken account of the decisions behind it; use one rubric for both | untested; from the earlier page ("performance plus reflection"); the Authentic Assessment pattern holds the task design |
Supporting Gifted and Talented Students¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The target opens outwards (complex-skill, writing, art, music, a research project) |
Prefer enrichment: an open task with a professional's standard and a real audience, with a mentor in the field where one can be found | untested proposal; long expert development is described in Even the most talented performers need around 10 years of intense involvement [~W] (a review, chess, music, sport) |
Universal Design For Learning¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
Goal is a procedure or complex-skill whose format is the goal (handwriting, oral fluency, a clinical technique) |
Keep the expression format fixed; vary only the routes into the content and the practice supports | untested; from the earlier page (options in how learners engage and access, not in what they are expected to learn) |
Video Replay Analysis¶
Principle
| If the brief says… | Then change… | Basis |
|---|---|---|
The goal is a complex-skill performance the brief wants kept whole (a full lesson, a whole consultation, a complete routine) |
Record and keep the whole performance; choose clips only for analysis, and end each cycle by reviewing one clip in its place in the whole (what came before and after it) | untested proposal |