Following Multi-Step Instructions, Making Adjustments and ...sbetsystem.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/5/5/13550396/chap… · Web view[At this point, while students take notes, Chef Emani

Chapter 7: Teaching Multi-Step InstructionsIntroduction

As discussed in chapter 2, there are two academic standards that are key to TAR completion and certification attainment in every industry and vocational area:

Follows multi-step instructions, makes adjustments and seeks clarification as required

Understands trade vocabulary

Chapter 6 focused on trade vocabulary. In this chapter, we focus on multi-step instructions.

Being able to function with multi-step instructions is not just a skill required for TAR mastery. It clearly is also a skill required for students to earn education credentials. Think of all the steps required to write an effective essay, complete a math problem, or conduct a science experiment. And, it is a skill we all must master to function in everyday life. What would your life be like if you could not follow instructions to the store in an unfamiliar town or the steps to make microwave popcorn or the sequence of actions needed to complete a task ?

However, as important as multi-step instructions are in our lives, as teachers, we seldom explicitly teach students how to analyze actions to create steps, how to remember and follow the steps, and how to make adjustments in the steps and/or seek clarification when necessary. And, as much as we take these skills for granted, they don’t come in the drinking water. If they did, employers would not continually cite the inability to follow directions and instructions as one of the primary reasons for the failure of entry-level workers.

Perhaps because we have so much content to cover, when we actually provide instruction related to sequential steps in a process, it is often related to strategies such as mnemonic devices to help students remember steps in order. For example, we teach students their “ABCs” for the steps they must take before administering CPR:

1. Check to see if the person is Alert2. Check to see if the person is Breathing3. Check for a heartbeat Cardio

Often we assume that remembering the steps is the same as understanding the steps and knowing how to adjust the steps in various circumstances. The difference between surface knowledge and deep understanding of instructions used to implement a procedure can, in some instances, mean the difference between life and death.

Guide to Standards-based Instruction Chapter 7: Teaching Multi-Step Instructions

Page 1 of 15 Workgroup Draft (5.9.11)

Strategies to Teach Multi-step InstructionsThis section provides a framework for teaching students how to deal with multi-step instructions and suggests strategies to design and deliver instruction organized around the following six steps:

Understanding the format and language of instructions Understanding the problem, purpose, or goal Analyzing the steps Remembering the steps Determining if adjustments need to be made Checking for understanding of the procedure and seeking clarification

as required

Step 1: Understanding the format and language of instructions

To empower students to master multi-step instructions, we first need to make sure that they understand the lingo and format. This is quite easy to do, and students will catch on right away. Try this:

1. While students take notes, explain the difference between steps and tactics. Steps must be followed in a sequential order and are usually preceded by a number. For example, to fix a running toilet, the Building Maintenance student must follow certain steps in order. If he chooses to skip steps or mix the order, the results will not be what he had hoped. On the other hand, tactics do not need to be completed in a sequential order and are usually preceded by a bullet. For example, to understand a graph, students must read the title, the labels, and the range of numbers along each axis, etc. However, the student can read the information in any order and still understand the graph.

2. Then, explain that the verbs used in the instructions usually signal a required action on our part and the nouns are frequently the recipient of our actions or used to specify the materials used to complete the action. For example, “Wash your hands and put on gloves” uses the action verbs “wash” and “put” and the receiver nouns “hands” and “gloves.”

3. Give the students two sets of instructions that you really use in your class: one with sequential steps and the other one with mostly or all tactics. In small groups, have them “punctuate” the instructions with either numbers or bullets and mark the action verbs in red and recipient nouns in blue. This gives students a visual and kinetic experience with the kinds of instructions (sequential steps and tactics) they may receive and the format in which they will usually receive them.



Step 2: Understanding the problem, purpose, or goal

Multi-step instructions are the sequenced, observable parts of a process leading to completion of a task related to a goal or the solution to a problem. Therefore, students need to understand the problem they will solve or the goal of the task they will complete as a result of following the multi-step instructions. For example, when an automotive student performs a wheel alignment, she is solving an alignment problem with the vehicle, the purpose being to ensure the most effective operation of the car and the safety of the passengers.

While this seems a bit obvious, student understanding of the “big picture” or purpose of the task and the logic behind the order and timing of the steps may be crucial to job retention—and may even save lives. If they don’t have a sense of the greater goal, they may complete the steps at a superficial level without engagement or may skip parts of the process that seem tedious. Hospitality students may think “Why bother to check the temperature of every single item in a food delivery if the first five you test are all fine? Obviously, this vendor follows the rules” or “Why store the cold items in the refrigerator immediately after the delivery when it’s time for my lunch break? I can always do that step afterwards, and I need to call my girlfriend now anyway. No big deal.”

Understanding the greater purpose behind the process steps also puts the steps and the task in perspective. For example, a Health Care student is more likely to find meaning in making an occupied hospital bed when she understands that the steps followed are designed to keep the patient safe, comfortable, and clean.

And, understanding the goal behind the steps also allows students to figure out when following the process steps are not reaching the goal. For example, when the LVN student sees that following the steps in the bed-making process are actually interfering with the greater goal of keeping the patient safe or comfortable, she will stop and make adjustments in the process or seek clarification about what to do in this unpredictable circumstance.

So, how do you handle this need for understanding in the classroom? Most instructors handle this in a very straightforward manner: they tell the students the purpose of the task or the goal of the process. And, of course, since students are all trained to take notes, the students write down the purpose or greater goal. And since you understand the value of repetition, you point out the goal during the applied learning.

Step 3: Analyzing the steps/tactics in the process

The third step, analyzing the steps and/or tactics in the process, may not seem natural in the instruction procedure. After all, why would we do an analysis when we’re going to give the students the steps and tactics they have to memorize and practice? The answer to this question is “go fish.” That is, the old adage that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

We can easily give students the steps/tactics in a process (and there are probably times when you will want to do this) just for the sake of brevity. But, if you teach them how to figure



out the steps on their own, you will give them a skill they will use again and again in their lives. And they will become very good at it quickly. In the end, you will make them more valuable personnel for employers because of it.

An added benefit of learning to figure out the steps in a process is that we remember the content longer and more accurately. This is true because we have engaged our brains at a more complex level than mere memorization of the steps. The brain’s dendrites have made connections to the content that include having figured out how the information is logically ordered (and our brains do love a good puzzle like that!) The more dendrite-building the brain does in a content area, the more ingrained the memory is, resulting in deeper and longer-lasting retention.

OK, so if this process has so many benefits, how do we teach it? Let’s pretend we are in the kitchen of Chef Emani as he teaches Duty 4 of the Hospitality / Culinary Arts TAR: Prepare baked goods and pastry products from mixes and ready-made batters (Task T. Introduction to pastries and baking.) We may hear the following in the kitchen:

And next, my eager culinarians, we’re going to learn how to prepare baked goods from a mix. Anyone ever done this at home?

How did it turn out?

Anyone ever use a mix at home and screw it up?

And why do you think that happened?

Ah, yes, remembering to do every step and following the instructions exactly will prevent these kinds of problems. And that’s what we’re going to do today, as we learn to use a basic, standard brownie mix to make both standard brownies (duh…) and specialty triple chocolate hazelnut decadent brownies. The goal of this TAR item is to master the production of any baked goods or pastry items using a basic mix or prepared batter—and never screwing it up!

So, this morning I’m going to demonstrate and talk through my thinking while you take Cornell Notes. Please get your materials ready while I put on my apron and wash my hands.

Date Course InputTopic or Big Idea:Key questions

Notes Pictures



Summary/Major Questions

OK, for today’s notes, fill in the date and course. Write ‘teacher’ in the input section. Write “A SO” [pronounced Ah So!] in the “big idea” box. A SO is the acronym for analyzing, summarizing, and ordering and what you’ll be learning to do today as you find out how to use a brownie mix. I want you to use the big rectangle to write down the important things you see me do and hear me talk about. Then, when I’m done demonstrating, I’m going to ask one or two of you to read us your notes. Then we’re going to transform those notes into the steps for making both kinds of brownies, and you’re going to write down those steps in the smaller rectangle on the left. And finally, in the bottom rectangle, we’re going to generalize those yummy brownie steps into the sequence of steps you’ll follow to successfully use any mix or prepared batter to produce delicious baked goods and pastries. Are you ready?

[At this point, while students take notes, Chef Emani spends 50 minutes demonstrating how to read the instructions, identify and gather the necessary tools and ingredients (including pan sizing), set the oven temperature, prepare the pans, mix the basic brownies, add dark chocolate chunks and chopped hazelnuts to make the decadent brownies, spread the batter in the pans, position the pans in the oven, and time the baking. During his demonstration, he provides clear clues to the most important steps and key tactics.]

And now, my budding bakers, let’s take a look at those notes you took while the brownies are baking. I promised that I’d grant the privilege of reading your notes aloud to one of you, and this morning the lucky culinarian is Adrienne. Read on, my dear—and while Adrienne is reading, please follow along in your notes to identify two things that we’ll discuss after she finishes: 1) important information you wrote down that Adrienne missed and 2) important information Adrienne wrote down that you missed.

[Adrinenne reads her notes which are quite lengthy and detailed.]

Well, Adrienne, you certainly covered a lot of territory! But did she miss anything really important? Nikki, what do you think?

[Nikki responds.]

That does sound fairly important, Nikki. Let’s add that item to the list.

And now let’s get a second opinion. Chris, did you identify anything else that was really important that Adrienne and Nikki



didn’t pick up? No? OK, how about anyone else? Have we just about got it all then?

Well done. So what we have at this point is a running commentary with a lot of detailed information. As a matter of fact, we have way too much detailed information for these notes to be a practical guide to the steps we’ll follow to make these two kinds of brownies from the mix. So, I’m going to ask you to take all the information you have and summarize it into a series of basic steps for making these fabulous brownies.

And summarize doesn’t mean ending up with 114 steps. Remember that you’ll have your detailed notes to fall back on until this whole process becomes automatic. How many steps do you think might be a reasonable maximum? [They discuss.] OK, let’s say 12 maximum, and we’ll strive for no more than 8. I want you work together in your assigned groups of 3, and you have 20 minutes to complete this task—because that’s about when the brownies will be done. You’ll have to hurry.

[While student groups work on the task, Chef Emani circulates among the groups, answering questions, asking questions that correct student thinking and make sure they’re on the right track, and generally sizing up progress. After 20 minutes, he shows how to test for doneness, remove the pans from the oven safely, and cool the brownies, while students add these items to their notes.]

I think we’ll take just 10 more minutes on this task, so you can add this last information and check to see that you’ve included the absolutely most important items in your process steps. I’ll set the timer.

[Student groups continue working while the Chef completes some paperwork. The timer rings.]

Aha. Now we’ll test our ideas for perfect doneness. Jeromie, will you please read your group’s steps while I make notes on the board and you all check your group list against Jeromie’s. [Jeromie reads.] Thanks Jeromie. Let’s do thumbs up/thumbs down for that list. Hmmm, I see some sideways thumbs over in Lisa’s group. Please give us your list, and I’ll make notes while everyone compares your list to theirs. [Lisa reads.] Very good. Is there any other group that had a step you don’t see between the two lists on the board that you think is very important? OK, let’s take the items on these two lists and combine them to come up with no more than 10 steps that capture all the important parts of the process.



[For the next 5 minutes, Chef Emani leads the class to consensus on 10 steps for preparing the two kinds of brownies from the mix. Students write the 10 steps in the left rectangle. Then the Chef has the small groups meet again, this time just for 5 minutes, to generalize the steps for brownies to steps for using any mix and steps for using any prepared batter.]

OK, take just 1 minute to finish up now. Was this task easier than the first? Yes, I agree. Why do you think that might be the case? Yes, it is easier to transfer the specific information to the general once we’ve already identified the basic steps. So finding those basic steps is really important.

[At this point, the Chef again has groups compare lists to refine the steps for preparing baked goods/pastries from a mix—and has the group determine where to pick up the process for preparing bakery items from prepared batters.]

Now, write the final generalized list of steps in the bottom rectangle while I demonstrate how to cut the cool brownies and then personally serve one to each of you as a reward for your diligence and good brain work today.

In this scenario, we see Chef Emani teach students how to analyze information to create a list of logical, ordered steps. To do this, he:

1. Used student experiences to underline the importance of knowing the steps and following them;

2. Told students exactly what the process would be for identifying the steps/tactics;3. Required that students take notes during his demonstration;4. Talked his way through the demonstration, highlighting steps of particular

importance;5. Checked student notes for thoroughness;6. Allowed students to work together to do the most difficult part—summarizing the

relatively large amount of material into a handful of steps and tactics;7. Compared student group responses and worked with the whole group to fashion the

best possible list of steps; and8. Allowed student groups to then generalize the specific steps, transferring their

knowledge about brownies from a mix to all baked goods and pastries from a mix or prepared batter.

And again, just for fun, let’s take a look at the number of repetitions that clever Chef managed to fit into his demonstration and the students’ step analysis which followed. In a traditional class, the number of exposures might just be one (the demonstration itself) or 2 (if the instructor required students to take notes.) Here, Chef Emani has managed a full baker’s dozen - 13 repetitions - and helped the students sharpen their skills in identification of multiple steps in instructions in the process.



Activity Teacher -

directed

Student-

directed

1 50 minute detailed demonstration x2 Student note-taking on Cornell organizer x3 Student read notes aloud while all others

compared notesx

4 Students added items to their own list or the one read aloud

x

5 Students worked in small groups to summarize steps

x

6 Students added notes on final part of demonstration

x

7 One student team presented their summary of steps

x

8 Other student teams presented their versions x9 Whole group works to come to consensus on steps x10 Students individually record those steps on Cornell

Notes formx

11 Student groups work to generalize steps for all mixes and prepared batters

x

12 Whole group comparison of team responses, discussion

x

13 Students write generalized list on Cornell Notes form

x

You may be thinking at this point that this approach is great, but you don’t have time to go through the process with every new skill you have to teach. Let’s say that you do the complete process once a week, but in between you use a shortened version built on the “scaffolding” concept of teaching students to take notes discussed in chapter 4. In that approach, you created a note-taking template for students to use during a demonstration or while watching a video or while reading a handout. You filled in parts of the organizer ahead of time to give students a good start and help them keep on track.

You can do the same with students learning to identify the steps in a process. For example, if you are teaching LVN students how to make a bed, you might want to give them a note-taking template that provides some information to use as a guide. Then, as you demonstrate, you can enumerate the steps in words like “the first thing you do is ….,” or “step 4 is to….” Think aloud as you demonstrate each step. For example, when stripping the bed, you might say aloud: “I plan to use the blanket again without putting it through the wash, so I’ll place it on this clean surface.” Students can pick up this information in their notes.

Students don’t get lost in the new material because the organizer provides the structure for their notes. The bed-making example organizer might look like the one below. When you have a fairly



complicated step, like mitering the corners, it may help to provide the step-by-step drawing as a part of the note-taking scaffold.



Following the demonstration, brainstorm with the class about the problem(s) being solved by completing the procedure or the goal being achieved, and ask students to write the problem / goal in their notes. Then you can compare student responses to the steps and conduct a whole class discussion to come to final consensus on the best set of eight steps to capture the process. In the rectangle at the bottom of the page, you might have students explain how they will remember these steps, using the information below, the strategies discussed in chapter 4, or other approaches that students have found effective.



Instructions for: Making a BedProblem(s) to be solved or greater goal to be achieved:

Notes1. Wash your hands and put on gloves.

2. Get fresh linens from the supply closet.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. Miter the corners of the sheets, as shown below.

8.

Step 4: Remembering the steps

Except for those individuals with photographic memories, everyone needs a crutch at some point in remembering multi-step instructions related to new material. Some may need a memory device at 3 steps, others at 6, and almost all of us by the time we reach 10 steps. There is no single, correct way to remember a series of steps except that they should play to the mental strength of the individual. So, if you’re a person with a great visual memory, perhaps you’ll be served best by creating a cartoon in your mind that shows each step symbolically in one frame or puts all the tactics together in one picture. Another person with real musical talent might make up new words to a common tune to remember the sequence.

Many memory strategies are spelled out in chapter 4. As their teacher, help students to experiment to find the approaches that work best for them.

Step 5: Determining if adjustments need to be made to the instructions

Online sites like Mapquest or Google Earth provide step-by-step instructions to get you to your destination. While the steps are accurate, factors such as weather conditions and road closures may cause you to have to rewrite the instructions to reach your goal of getting from point A to point B.

The same is true for all types of instructions. Students need to carefully consider, in advance, if the instructions they plan to follow apply entirely and exactly to the current situation. Sometimes circumstances occur partway through the process that require some deviation from the standard sequence or nature of the steps. Students need to be ready to make adjustments that call for steps to be added, deleted and/or modified, When warranted.

The two strategies described below (1. What if…) (2. Scenario) provide students with practice in making adjustments to a set of given instructions:. The What if… strategy requires only a small amount of instructional time and will help students to think at higher levels. It will also reinforce the idea that instructions may need to be adjusted based on conditions. The Scenario approach described below is the more time consuming and is best used when it is very likely that students will encounter conditions that will require changes to the instructions. It can also be used when the teacher wants to connect new directions to instructions the student has already mastered. For example, a Culinary Arts student who knows the steps in making a cream soup and is now ready to adapt these steps to prepare a bisque. In both approaches, you first model or demonstrate the procedure while students take notes. You reach consensus on the steps involved. Then, you use one of the two approaches below that ask students to adjust the instructions based on a new set of conditions.

• “What if…?” questions. Prepare and ask a series of What if… questions. For example, ask the students what instructions would need to be added, deleted, and/or modified in making a bed if the bed was occupied by a patient who was unconscious. What if you crack a pipe in the process of shutting off the water valve? What if you’re



baking the brownies at 10,000 feet instead of at sea level? What if the car you’re working on is a hybrid? What if the weather is freezing when you need to paint the surface? These are just a few examples.

• Scenario. Put students in small groups and ask them to write a scenario describing circumstances that they think will require an adjustment to the current instructions. On a separate piece of paper, have the group write a set of adjusted instructions based on their scenario. Collect and redistribute the scenarios so that each group has a scenario written by another group. The group now writes a set of adjusted directions based on the scenario they received. They may consult with the original scenario developers to ask for clarification and/or discuss their recommended adjustments. Each group presents to the class their assigned scenario and recommended adjustments. The teacher and students provide feedback and come to consensus on the necessaryadjustments.

Step 6: Checking for understanding of the procedure and seeking clarification as required

Self-questioning is the strategy most of us use to see if we understand instructions and where we need to seek clarification. We question instructions multiple times every day. “Do I need to close my open files before I run this program?” “What does Mapquest mean by a slight right turn?”’ “What should I use to adhere this type of linoleum to the floor?” We can help students develop and enhance their self-questioning skills when we teach them how to determine what information is present and what information is missing or is unclear. The missing or unclear information tells students where they need to seek clarification.

Students need to understand how to:

Self-question before, during, and after reading or listening to the instructions to determine what information they have and understand and what additional information or clarification they need to successfully complete the process;

Organize information gathered during the self-questioning process; and Formulate succinct and accurate questions that result in obtaining the

additional information needed and getting the clarification required.

The game of “20 Questions” is a fun way to demonstrate to students that self questioning, a strategy that they use in everyday life, can be used to check for understanding and seek clarification. The game helps students focus on thinking about what information they know, think they know, and need to know to solve a problem. It also helps them see how to formulate questions that will get a helpful response. Here’s how you play:

Students form pairs and decide who will be player A and player B.

Player A thinks of an object or substance related to your course that player B must guess in 20 questions or less in order to win.



Player B may only ask questions that can be answered “yes” or “no” and Player B can only answer “yes” or “no.”

Roles are reversed when Player B correctly names the object, substance, or term.

At the end of the game, ask your students to reflect on the thinking they used in creating questions and answers and to share

The reasoning they used to gather information from their teammate and determine what additional information was needed,

How both new information and missing information helped them formulate their next question, and

How their framing of the question helped or hindered them in getting the needed information.

Organizing information gathered during the self-questioning process can be done in your head for a simple game like “20 Questions.” However, to formulate the higher level questions needed to understand complex instructions, especially when the process is totally new, most of us use some kind of structured process.

Tables, like the one below, make great tools for helping your students check their understanding and find out what else they need to know. They also allow students to document their questions and sources for the answers, creating an organized work plan for understanding a procedure and seeking clarification. Obviously, your students don’t need to use the template to understand every set of instructions—or even most. Complex is the key word here. The following template and procedure are best used with students early in the instructional cycle and only with complex new procedures.

Organizing Information Template

Step#

Information Present

Information Missing or Not Clear

Question Answer Source

Here’s how to use the template to help students identify missing information and items that need clarification in complex instructions:

Give each student a copy of the Organizing Information Template and a written set of complex, multi-step instructions.

Ask students to read the instructions carefully and identify all the steps they don’t fully understand because they need more information or just aren’t clear about what to do.



Have students note the step number of these confusing items, the information present and the missing information, as in this partially completed template for a Construction student analyzing instructions for temporarily supporting a structure:

Step#

Information Present Information Missing or Not Clear


2 Prepare a level base. Shovel away high spots or build up low spots with 2x8 or 2x10 cribbing. If the cribbing does not make solid contact with the ground, fix it before you go on.

Forgot what the word cribbing means

Missing info on ways to fix it.

Help students understand how to formulate “open ended” questions to find missing information and ask for clarification. Simple yes-no questions won’t work with complex information. In the 20 Questions game when a response could only be yes-no, the question usually began with “Is….?” Higher level questions requesting content information usually begin with Who, Where, When, and What. Questions requesting process information usually begin with How. And questions requesting underlying reasons begin with Why. So the question section in the template above might look like this:

Step#

Information Present Information Missing or Not Clear


2 Prepare a level base. Shovel away high spots or build up low spots with 2X8 or 2X10 cribbing. If the cribbing does not make solid contact with the ground, fix it before you go on.

Forgot what the word cribbing means

Missing info on ways to fix it.

What does the word cribbing mean?

How do you fix it if the cribbing does not make a solid contact?

Help students understand how to identify the answer source. Explain that the first rule is to try to answer the questions yourself or at least increase your understanding to the extent possible. For example, to answer the question “What does the word cribbing mean?” first look in your textbook glossary or do an online search for the word meaning. The glossary shows that cribbing is the miscellaneous size wood used to stabilize an object. You see that Step 2 tells you what size wood to use to stabilize the scaffold. Question answered! However, you’re still not sure what exactly needs to be done to fix it if the wood does not make solid contact with the ground. This is a question you will need to ask your instructor.

Step#

Information Present Information Missing or Not

Clear


2 Prepare a level base. Forgot what the What does the word Glossary



Shovel away high spots or build up low spots with 2X8 or 2X10 cribbing. If the cribbing does not make solid contact with the ground, fix it before you go on.

word cribbing means

Missing info on in ways to fix it.

cribbing mean?

How do you fix it if the cribbing does not make a solid contact?

Ask instructor

Because some of our students have limited experience in asking questions in the real world, explain the additional rules:

Before you ask a question, make sure you have thought through exactly what you need to know. This will help you formulate questions that are short, precise, and explicit.

Ask your questions in a logical order. Always be courteous. Ask your source if this is a good time for him/her

to answer your question.

Explain to the student that even after a response is given,, it may require further action, if…

The answer is a response to a different question than the one you posed. Either you asked the wrong question or the instructor/boss heard the wrong question. Apologize and try to re-phrase the question. You may need to do some further research to clarify your thinking and return with a different question.

The answer is not to your liking. Do not whine or argue, it won’t change the answer. You probably received the correct information. Remember, the purpose of asking a question is to learn something.

The answer leaves you confused. If a minor point in the explanation requires further clarification, immediately ask a follow-up question. If you are totally confused, take the given information and think about it overnight. You might have to do some follow-up reading and add some questions to your next inquiry.

Conclusion

This chapter illustrates how to teach students to follow multi-step instructions at something other than the surface level. The approach presented provides students with a deep understanding of the procedures they perform: how to define a problem, analyze steps, gather information, identify gaps in their understanding, and formulate and ask high-level questions. Technical skill attainment is really about knowing the trade vocabulary and knowing how to follow all of the procedures included in the training area. It is a good use of our class time to ensure students master following multi-step instructions, making adjustments and seeking clarification.



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Following Multi-Step Instructions, Making Adjustments and ...sbetsystem.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/5/5/13550396/chap… · Web view[At this point, while students take notes, Chef Emani