yay! finally finished the needs assessment..had a tough time figuring out and understanding them..seems easy but is actually not as easy as i thought =x do comment on it...wants to know what went wrong because im still abit confused...

Needs Assessment

In the cabbie case study, assessing it using a problem-solving model, we feel there are problems with the instruction (ie. from the employers to the employees). There is a contradiction between the road safety regulations and the company’s customer policies. An example would be the act of dropping off passengers illegally at double yellow zig-zag lines.

This may also be due to the innovations, which the taxi drivers may be unaware of. These new innovations refer to the changes to road regulation.
Despite the regulations governing road safety, the taxi driver most probably stopped at the yellow lines upon customer’s request for convenience (in alighting or flagging a cab in sight from their current location disregarding the road regulations). This could be further supported by the case study as they mentioned, “in the first place, people should not be flagging taxis in bus lanes or double yellow lines and at traffic junctions. If they do, then it is not fair to blame the taxi drivers who stop to pick them up.”

We believe that this problem is related to the employee’s performance. This is because if the drivers underperformed in customer service (ie. Ignoring customers’ requests), they may face complaints from their customers and this may affect their work performance ratings. The solution to this problem can be resolved through learning. This can be done by conducting lessons to teach drivers on how they can tackle customer’s requests without offending them. For instance, the company could provide instructions on how to respond to customers’ request to stop at illegal areas such as the bus lanes. A good response from the taxi driver in this case would be to explain why he could not stop at the requested spot and suggest another nearest drop off point. For example, instead of saying “Cannot lah. Cannot stop here lah.”, the taxi drivers could politely suggest to the customer, “Dear Sir/Madam, I cannot stop here because it’s the double yellow lines and it is against the road regulations. If it’s alright with you, I could drop you off at the taxi stand after this traffic light.” However, in situations where customers are un-receptive to the explanations, it should be reminded to the taxi drivers that they should not lose their temper, instead they will need to remain polite and state that this is a regulation stated by the company. A plausible reply would be, “Sorry Sir/Madam, I would love to drop you off here but it is a regulation stated by my company and I could only drop you off at the taxi stand. I’m really sorry about the inconvenience caused.”

However, we feel these desired performance are not offered by taxi companies as emphasis has been placed on cab surveillance instead. Therefore, we will now asses this case study from the innovation-based model.
Innovation-based model
The nature of this innovation is instructional. This is because drivers receive verbal instructions on how to tackle customers’ request and observe road regulations at the same time. There are three learning goals to be achieved.

1.to strike a balance between customer service and road safety for the taxi drivers.
2.to reinforce good driving habits.
3.to keep them updated on the changes in road regulation.

We find these learning goals to be appropriate and vital in this learning system. This is because in teaching them how to respond appropriately to customers’ requests, it avoids situations where they are forced to drop off at illegal points or speeding (e.g.Customers request taxi drivers to speed up as they are “in a hurry”).

In addition, these learning goals also reinforce good road safety habits for the taxi drivers as it refreshes their memory of all road regulations. After conducting such lessons, taxi companies can also implement regular tests or checks to evaluate the goals and ensure that these learning goals are kept up with. For instance, they could have evaluative practical exams to test how drivers’ respond to customers’ requests as well as their road safety practices.

A reward and punishment system (Behaviorism) could be used in the form of merit points in this case. As mentioned in the case study, demerit points are given to cab drivers who violated the road regulations, hence in this reward and punishment system, merit points could be given to them as rewards for improvement in their performance. Awards could also be given for taxi drivers who are nominated for best customer service. Therefore, in this case study, we can proceed with the next step of our learning design as we find that there is a need to do so.

Learning design -- to bake valentine day cupcake

i find the in-class assignment useful. initially i was still abit blur after doing the reading but after doing the assignment, i have a better understanding of the learning sequence and it will definitely benefit the webquest project.i guess my post comes abit too late =X

Some key points from week four reading....

Essential elements of a learning design
1. learner agreement
2. acknowledgement of the learning context
3. learner challenge
4. Provision of practice

Learning design typology

1. Rule-based
2. Incident-based learning design
3. Strategy-based learning design
4. Role-based learning design

These different learning design are useful when comes to the planning of the appropriate learning experience for the learners. however, sometimes is almost impossible to use only one type of design. Personally, i feel that to attain the optimum outcome, we will need a combination of design. hmm just a thought...which design fits our education system? strategy-based learning design?

Behaviorism, cognitivism, socioculturalism (part one)

behaviorism

-identifying learning objectives and reinforcing behavior (through rewards and punishment
-shaping the learner's behavior to get the desired outcome
-learning process involves learners and behavior
-believe behavior is shaped by the environment
-bad name in academic world, better in the corporate world
-behaviorism and its conception of human nature (people are selfish; do things that benefit themselves)

This theory is useful for learners who lack of drive and initiative. With rewards the learners may be encourage to learn as they feel more motivated. However, i feel that having punishment, they may result in backfire.The learners may feel less motivated and resist learning. Also, this form of learning may not work in the long run.Not all people go for rewards!

Cognitivism
-do with people own's internal representation
-the interaction between stimulus and response
-learning is about changing (build new concepts and theories)
-set up the environment and allow the learners to go explore themselves (independent learning)
-believes people have intrinsic motivation (the desire to learn, oppose to behaviorism concept of human being selfish)

Cognitivism is useful in dealing with creativity and imagination. This is because creativity is not to be taught but to be explored and experienced.Also, i have just realised that cognitivism can be applied to playing of games. i observed that people play the game better as time goes by. this is because in the process of playing, they are actually learning from their experiences and this would be a good example of cognitivism i guess....

Sociocultural approach
-learning takes place across system
-shift focus from individual learner to a larger system
-require content, tools and language
-interaction with others
-ivle

This theory encourages cross-learning across different individual. Like ivle, it has the function of forum that allows students to interact and learn from one another.

i guess the most interesting about these theories are that they are not only applicable to learning (education) but it can be applied even to the learning of our own culture.

Behaviorism, cognitivism, socioculturalism (cont..)

This is my reflection after doing the readings on the three different theories again. i feel that these three theories seem to reflect Singapore education system. The theory of behaviorism reflects the primary school education system. In primary school, the teachers set the behavior of the learners. They decide what to be taught to the students to achieve the desired outcome. As we move on to secondary school and junior college,they tend to focus more on developing the student's creativity.this is when cognitivism comes into place. They provide the students with space to explore new ideas, develop new ideas and thus develop creativity. Moving to tertiary education, they promote independent learning, whereby they provide us with the tools for learning and let us go learn them ourselves. i feel that this is the reflection of the sociocultural approach.