Designing for procedure

Kind of goal · a step sequence to carry out · All situations

30 rows from 30 pages say what to change when the brief's kind of goal is procedure; 23 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.

Ask Experts

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a concept, principle or transfer, not only a procedure	Have the expert ask and prompt more and explain less; include one changed problem in each consultation for the learner to reason through aloud	Contingent scaffolding improves learning more than fixed or absent support. [+M] (interactive tutoring gave better transfer with similar immediate scores) and Human tutoring has a medium effect over no tutoring, and in one small study students learned as well when tutors only prompted them as when tutors also explained and gave feedback [~M] (eighth graders, circulatory system)

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

Cognitive Activation

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The goal is a procedure	Compare two solution methods side by side and ask when each is better; expect gains in using and choosing methods, and check conceptual understanding separately.	Comparing contrasting cases improves learning [~M] (one algebra study: procedural and flexibility gains, no added conceptual gain)

Cognitive Flexibility

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Age adolescent, goal a mathematics procedure	Have learners compare alternative solution methods side by side; expect gains in choosing methods, and add a separate item asking why each method works.	Comparing cases side by side improves learning and transfer by a moderate average amount, though in one algebra study it raised procedural knowledge and flexibility but not conceptual knowledge [~M]; tested with seventh-graders, procedural flexibility rose, conceptual knowledge did not

Cultural & Life Experiences Connections

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a procedure or verbal-association assessed on a standard test	Keep connections to one opening example and a short weekly utility-value reflection; do not cut practice time for them	Learners invest more effort in tasks they perceive as interesting, personally important, or useful to their future goals. [+M] (reviews of utility-value writing; the trade-off with practice is untested)

Culturally Responsive Classroom Norms

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is recall or fluency (verbal-association, procedure) rather than reasoning	Choral and quick-fire response are fine for well-practised content; keep long wait time and pair talk for questions that need reasoning	Questioning Strategies Improve Learning [+M] (higher-cognitive questions and wait time; not tested by culture)

Debriefing

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a procedure or psychomotor skill in workplace-clinical training	Treat the debrief as the feedback step of a repeated attempt: debrief against a stated mastery standard, then rerun the scenario or a changed one until the standard is met	Simulation Based Education With Deliberate Practice Improves Clinical Outcomes [+M] (14 studies, health professions); Simulation Based Education Improves Outcomes [~M]: could not isolate feedback as the active feature

Deliberate Practice

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a procedure or psychomotor skill in workplace-clinical training	Use a simulator or part-task trainer with a mastery standard per step, immediate expert or device feedback, repetition until the standard is met and rising difficulty; add booster sessions later	Simulation-based education with deliberate practice improves clinical outcomes [+M] (14 studies, health professions, procedural skills, against traditional clinical education)

Design tools so productive usage is guaranteed by affordances and constraints rather than instructions

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a procedure or problem solving where the assistant could produce the answer	Hints only, after an attempt; an unaided check before moving on	Unfettered GPT-4 access during practice harms subsequent unassisted exam performance in high school mathematics [+M]

Digital Learning

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a procedure or verbal-association with checkable answers	Put the bulk of practice online with automatic checking; use an intelligent tutor if one exists for the domain	Intelligent tutoring systems improve achievement over non-individualised instruction [+S] (tutoring-system meta-analyses; gains smaller on standardised than on locally developed tests)

Experiential Learning

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Adult professionals, workplace-clinical, a procedure or psychomotor skill	Replace one-off exposure with simulated practice repeated to a stated mastery standard, immediate feedback after each attempt, rising difficulty, and a debrief; add booster sessions if the skill is not used soon	Simulation Based Education With Deliberate Practice [+M]; medical education, procedural skills only; boosters untested

Experiential Learning Cycle

Pattern

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
workplace-clinical, a procedure or psychomotor skill	Run the experience as simulated practice repeated to a stated mastery standard, feedback after each attempt, rising difficulty, then a debrief; move to the real setting only when the standard is met.	Simulation with deliberate practice [+M]; medical education, procedural skills only

Goal Setting & Monitoring

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is facts or a procedure with a clear score	A specific numeric target with frequent progress checks is reasonable (e.g. "18 of 20 items correct on Friday's check")	Specific, difficult goals [+W]; work-task evidence, untested for learning

Guided Practice

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a concept, principle or transfer, not only a procedure	Replace some feedback-giving with prompts that ask the learner to explain or predict the next step; include one changed item in each round	Human tutoring has a medium effect over no tutoring, and in one small study students learned as well when tutors only prompted them as when tutors also explained and gave feedback [~M] (eighth graders, 11 tutor–student pairs: prompting without feedback learned as well)

Interleaving

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The goal is choosing the right procedure among mathematics problem types (procedure, several types taught)	Mix types in practice and homework once each has been taught; ask the learner to name the type before solving; expect smaller gains than for visual material in laboratory studies, though the one classroom study found more	Interleaving benefits are small for mathematical tasks [~M] (g = 0.34 for mathematical tasks); Interleaving improves discrimination [+S] (shuffled mathematics practice improved a delayed test); Interleaved practice produces higher mathematics test scores than blocked practice in a classroom experiment [+M] (126 seventh-graders, graph and slope problems over three months); the benefit held for both problem types at 30 days but was not significant for slope problems at 1 day (by problem type and delay [~M])

Learning-for-Use (LfU) Model

Pattern

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The target is a procedure or domain-general skill (e.g. designing a fair test), or factual recall	Teach the procedure or facts explicitly first; use the LfU arc only for the concept the procedure serves, and keep a separate check of basic knowledge.	Productive failure [~S] (no procedural advantage; reversal for domain-general skills); PBL and basic knowledge [~M]

Memory Consolidation

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a procedure or motor skill, not facts or vocabulary	Reactivate by doing the procedure, not by recalling a description of it; for motor skills use shorter gaps than for verbal material and check on the whole performance	Spaced Practice Improves Retention [~S] (one meta-analysis summarised there: longer lags helped verbal tasks up to a point but reduced effects for skill tasks such as typing and music)

Modeling

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a concept or principle, or transfer, not only a procedure	Model on two items that differ on the surface; at each pause ask why, not what; include one error and its repair, and ask learners what gave it away	Prompting learners to self-explain improves understanding and problem solving on immediate tests by a moderate average amount, with little evidence yet on delayed or classroom gains. [+S]; Erroneous examples improve conceptual understanding by forcing comparison with correct models. [+M] (grades 4–5, decimals, tutoring; carried to live modelling)

Pairing Non-examples with Examples

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The goal is a procedure (choosing or carrying out a method)	Pair a correct method with a plausible wrong one, or two correct methods, and ask which works here and why; check method choice on new problems	Comparing cases [~S] (seventh-graders comparing algebra methods gained procedural knowledge and flexibility)

Productive Failure

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The goal is fluent execution of a procedure (procedure)	Teach first; pooled, a full attempt phase adds time without a procedural gain	PS-I shows no pooled benefit for procedural knowledge [~M] (g = −0.03)

Sequencing

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is a procedure, novice learners, an immediate test	Show a worked example before the first problem, then alternate example and problem	Example–problem sequences reduce cognitive load and improve learning outcomes [+M] (secondary-school novices, circuit troubleshooting, immediate test); the advantage was not detected at the final test with identical pairs (identical pairs [~M])

Supporting Gifted and Talented Students

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The target is cumulative (procedure, principle, as in mathematics or a language's grammar)	Prefer acceleration: move to the next unit's content once the pre-check is passed, through adaptive or self-paced material with a teacher check each week	Intelligent tutoring systems improve achievement over non-individualised instruction [+M] (general populations, not gifted students); expertise reversal [+M] carried from training studies

Transfer of Learning

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is choosing among several procedures (which method fits which problem)	Mix problem types in practice once each is introduced, so the learner must decide which applies; expect slower, error-prone practice	Interleaving category examples improves inductive category learning for visual and mathematical materials, but not for expository texts or word categories [~M] (classification of new examples; smaller for mathematics, reversed for word categories)

Develop Understanding

Pattern

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The goal is a procedure the learner must carry out fluently, not an idea to explain	Use the Direct Instruction pattern or Guided Practice instead; keep one explanation prompt per worked case at most.	Untested; from the earlier page's scope ("not sufficient for highly complex skills alone")

Multimodal Instruction

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The goal is a procedure or physical action (skill-performance)	Show it (a demonstration or video) with spoken steps, and have learners perform it. Keep a short written step list to consult.	untested; from the earlier page (demonstration and gesture are untested here)

Multiple Methods of Assessment

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The goal is verbal-association or a procedure	One well-sampled method (many short items) is usually enough; add a second method only to check that a correct answer is not recognition alone	untested proposal

Responsive Teaching

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
Goal is fluency or recall (verbal-association, a practised procedure)	Keep the planned practice sequence; respond to error rate (more items, worked feedback) rather than to individual ideas	untested; from the earlier page

Supporting Students with Intellectual Disabilities

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The target is a daily-life procedure (money, time, travel)	Teach it as a task analysis of 4–8 steps in its real setting, practise until three consecutive unaided successes on two days, then fade to weekly review	untested proposal; mastery pacing (Mastery learning improves outcomes [+M]) carried from general classes

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)

Validity, Reliability, and Bias in Classroom Assessment

Principle

If the brief says…	Then change…	Basis
The goal is verbal-association or a procedure recalled or carried out quickly	Use many short selected-response or short-answer items for breadth and reliability; keep the language plain; add a few items that ask for the procedure on a changed case if transfer matters	untested; from the earlier page (item-count arithmetic, selected-response trade-off)