Design a functional prototype.  According to the project plan you have submitted post a notice to the discussion board for your group when the first draft of your functional prototype is ready for review.  The first draft should include at least one task or problem and how it will be demonstrated to the students.  A second draft may then include your progression of problems and how students will apply their skills in doing the task or solving the problem.  Please provide the URL for your functional prototype which can be on a wiki or website.  Or if it is not too big you may attach your functional prototype to your posted message on the message board.

Provide liberal annotation for your prototype.  You should apply the Course Evaluation Rubric for whole problems to your prototype.  Your annotation should indicate how your prototype implemented the criteria from this rubric.

Remember when functional prototypes are posted you must critique the work of two other students or groups. Please post your comments and suggestions to the discussion board designated for the student or group you are reviewing.

Task 1 Notes: Identify a progression of problems.
NotesTask1.pdf (309.335 Kb) [Click here for notes]

Resources
Finding e3 Instruction (612.117 Kb) [Click here for a copy]
A task-centered instructional strategy (631.736 Kb) [Click here for a copy]

You should study each of the following:

Clark, R., & Mayer, R. E. (2007). e-learning to build problem-solving skills. In e-learning and the Science of Instruction, (2nd ed.), (pp. 247-269). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Merrill, M. D. (2007). A task-centered instructional strategy. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 40(1), 33-50. [Click for a copy]
Merrill, M. D. (2009). Finding e3 (effective, efficient and engaging) Instruction. Educational Technology. [Click for a copy]
van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Kirschner, P. A. (2007). 4 Step 1: Design Learning Tasks. In Ten Steps to Complex Learning: A Systematic Approach to Four-Component Instructional Design (pp. 41-60). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Kirschner, P. A. (2007). 5 Step 2 Sequence Task Classes. In Ten Steps to Complex Learning: A Systematic Approach to Four-Component Instructional Design (pp. 61-77). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Demonstration Courses

The following courses demonstrate a problem- or task-centered instructional strategy.  As an application exercise your should apply the Course Evaluation Rubric for Whole Problems to these courses.  Use the discussion board to discuss your evaluation with other students in the class.

Australian First Aid [a disc containing this course will be distributed to the class]
Merrill, M. D. (2008). Converting e3 learning to e3 learning: an alternative instructional design method. In S. Carliner & P. Shank (Eds.), The E-Learning Handbook:  Past Promises, Present Challenges (pp. 359-400). San Francisco: Pfeiffer. [This paper contains a First Principles analysis of this course – Click here for a copy]

Entrepreneur  [Click here to open this course in your browser].

Mendenhall, A., Buhanan, C. W., Suhaka, M., Mills, G., Gibson, G. V., & Merrill, M. D. (2006). A task-centered approach to entrepreneurship. TechTrends, 50(4), 84-89. [Click here for a copy]

BYU-Hawaii Biology 100 user name: observe  Password: byuh This course was designed using the BYU-Hawaii learning model based on First Principles. [Click here to go to online course].

Francom, G., Bybee, D., Wolfersberger, M., Mendenhall, A., & Merrill, M. D. (2009). A Task-Centered Approach to Freshman-Level General Biology. Bioscene, Journal of College Biology Teaching, 35(1), 66-73. [Click here for a copy]

Francom, G., Wolfersberger, M., & Merrill, M. D. (2009). Biology 100:  A Task-Centered, Peer-Interactive Redesign. TechTrends, 53(3), 35-100. [Click here for a copy]