Professional Practice in Social Systems and Change in

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

This Application effort will combine the knowledge of adult learning

theory provided in the Breadth with the current practices of instructional and

motivational strategies in the Depth to implement a visual control system

based on a kanban system into online courses to address group learning.

The presence of this system will reduce the tension that adult learners

experience concerning the logistics and expectations of group learning, thus

providing freedom to focus on the collaboration efforts necessary.

Kanban Case Study

A concept that has been repeated on multiple occasions throughout

this KAM for both theory and current practice is that effective adult learning

requires the construction of knowledge through collaboration and personal

experience. The push-pull strategy widely used in supply chain management

and marketing focuses on technology or service being released based on the

market’s demand pull. Learning also has a push-pull paradigm when viewed

from a different perspective. In the paradigm of learning, push is represented

by the concept of offering knowledge or supplying information, while pull is

represented by the students taking the initiative and focusing on learning

that has relevance based on previous experience and knowledge. The

context of online learning has very little push but a good amount of pull,

although some is necessary through both curriculum and the facilitator. The

implications of pull using kanban is that participants in a group learning team

will pull work as needed and available, providing trust, cohesiveness, and

awareness of the personal responsibility role.

Background and Context

As has been covered in great detail in the bibliography and literature

essay, collaboration is an essential aspect of adult education. Learning

collaboration is utilized through “small groups of students who work together

on ill-structured problems to both construct knowledge and share classroom

authority” according to Brufee (as cited in Smith, p. 36, 2008). Bruffee states

that this results in

o Increased learner motivation.

o Development of critical and problem-solving skills.

o Social atmosphere where learners can share, consider, and

challenge each other.

o Be co-constructors of new knowledge.

However, group learning presents many challenges and fears within the

adult learner that will be discussed in detail later in this Application. This

case study effort addresses these fears to allow a more effective learning

experience within groups without removing the critical development

resulting from emotional challenges. The goal of implementing kanban is to

reduce the tension of personal responsibility as well as reduce the friction

involved from the group planning stage.

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Online Kanban Implementation

Kanban is a common tool used by businesses and developed for

Japanese manufacturing that focuses on communicating the right

information at the right time through simple mechanisms. This system’s use

within education is discussed in detail throughout the Application. Applying

kanban in the group learning environment supports metacognitive

perspective, which in turn directly affects motivation. The visual

representation provided by online kanban is an organized strategy to

improve self-awareness and understand the role of personal responsibility in

the scope of the group’s goals. The use of online kanban is effective for short

term and long term team projects, thus supporting both teams being

developed on a course by course basis or maintaining one team throughout

the degree program. Below is an image of how kanban works in the online

environment as a visual representation for a single project.

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Figure 3. An example of kanban for a specific project. Adapted from LeanKit Kanban developed by Bandit Software. Used with permission.

The structure of online kanban supports real time synchronous status

regardless of a synchronous or asynchronous environment. The fact that it

has real time update capability allows users to update the flow alone or as a

group on a teleconference call. The effect of kanban allows a trigger effect

for managing the project. In other words, it is known in real time if the

person responsible for Task A is done, thus releasing the person responsible

for Task B to begin. The clarity of the online kanban board allows learners

within a group to be constantly aware of the project status and who is

responsible for the task. Also, it supports the planning process to be done

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quickly and efficiently, leaving the rest of the effort for the crucial

collaboration.

Navigation. Something that is often difficult for online learners is the

need to learn yet another piece of software. However, using an online

kanban board is surprisingly easy. With permission of Bandit Software, Inc. to

utilize their LeanKit Kanban software, this Application presents the a visual

kanban board and discusses the navigational components and subsequent

simplicity of using this kanban board.

The yellow notes are called cards and can be made with one click using

the plus sign on the far left menu. These cards are highly versatile and can

be moved by any user between status columns. When a card is created, it is

given a title describing the task; a person within the team is assigned

responsibility, a due date is possibly provided, and a priority identified.

Additionally, the color of the card can be changed based on the type of

instruction represented for more complex projects and the due date for a

card will change color based on the nearness of the actual due date. If the

users or group members choose, they can put an avatar or image of

themselves into their account so that their photo appears on the outside of

the card for immediate identification of who is responsible for that task.

There are several helpful features within the structure and navigation

outlined in context with online learning. On-going discussions within the card

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can be maintained and not allowed to be deleted. This aids both student

communication on the status of that particular project component and gives

the facilitator a full picture of the efforts involved from each team member.

This monitoring capability helps facilitators know which students may be

suffering from the emotional challenges of group learning and focus

assistance to those particular students. Also, it is an area where facilitators

can provide constructive feedback throughout the process, which is

otherwise very difficult to do in online learning environments. Another

component of the cards in relation to the facilitator is that a card can be

flagged as “blocked” to alert the facilitator of an issue that needs addressed

urgently.

More important features include the automatic data collection that

takes place in real time and post analysis for a team project using the

kanban board. This particular structure can allow Work In Progress (WIP)

constraints if necessary. This ensures that not too much is being worked on

at once. Essentially WIP means that a limit can be placed in any column of

the kanban board at the administration level to disallow too many cards

being utilized with that column. This may not be necessary for short term

projects, but long term projects that involve complexity can benefit by these

constraints being enabled.

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There are several positive educational implications to using kanban

within group learning. It allows students to collaborate in an asynchronous

manner yet have a real time status and communication method. Also, an

online kanban allows online learners to see individual contributions that

result in the group synthesis. Later in this Application we will discuss the

impact of fears students have losing their individuality within group learning,

and how online kanban helps to alleviate that fear. Kanban in any form

promotes self-awareness as contributions are organized and quantified with

a clear goal. Groups often struggle in defining a goal and having a concise

planning process within the online environment. However, online kanban

forces the need for goal clarity, thus putting the individual fears at ease.

Finally, but certainly not least, online kanban engages all learning styles as

the card movement is a visual control and a crucial aspect especially for

spatial and kinesthic learners. Both of these learning styles are challenging

to engage in any online learning environment, but especially in groups.

Kanban allows all the learning styles to effectively engage in the process and

diminish the fears that individuals often experience during group interaction.

Case Study Framework

A case study is being developed to observe the direct impact online

kanban has on group learning. This particular effort will be a comparison

between two identical courses with one having kanban implemented and the

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other course having the normal discussion forum without kanban. The

research goal is to determine how the presence of kanban within the group

learning effort impacted the group both as individuals and as a team.

Additionally, the course chosen is the first offering for a bachelor’s level

degree program to ensure the full effect on learners who have likely not

experienced learning at the university unless they transferred from the

associates program. If a course later in the sequence was chosen, then it is

possible that the results would not be accurate as students may have

already gone through the early stages of group formation and become

conditioned.

Duration and setting. The duration of the two courses will be five

weeks for an accelerated adult learning degree course. As it’s the first course

in the degree program, it already introduces success skills in general for

collegiate level writing and addresses Metacognition, so including kanban for

group learning will be one more solid cornerstone for their learning process.

The course is completely asynchronous and balanced between threaded

discussions, interactive exercises, reading, video clips, and collegiate level

writing. The two group learning activities in Weeks Three and Five involve

developing a paper that covers a variety of perspectives in the context of a

case study. Adult learners returning to college for their bachelors will suffer

the emotional challenges and active fear in the first course. The presence of

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the kanban board will assist them with the responsibility roles and planning

so they can focus their efforts on the collaboration.

The course will have four kanban boards as demonstrated in Figure 3;

one for each team, each including only the students representing each team

and the facilitator. The facilitator is responsible for adding the students to

the kanban board on the administrative level and assigning the students

individually to the correct board. Although there is a convenient space in

each card to discuss implications and actions for each task, the kanban

board is complemented with a private team threaded discussion forum

assigned to the team within the learning management system.

Structure. The structure of the case study is split into four different

components that include faculty training, course presentation, pre- and post

student surveys, and a student survey follow-up after the next course

involving teams. Faculty training will involve a complete review of this

Application section in order for them to have the context necessary to play

their role effectively. Additionally, a conference call complete with a

presentation and interactive kanban board will be provided to them for

questions and concerns for purpose, their facilitative role to the students,

and the logistics involved with the kanban board. Since the case study

involves only two courses, the training will only be necessary for two

facilitators, which allows the training to be conversational and informal. The

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informality yet added thoroughness for addressing any concerns reduces the

faciliator’s tension in understanding and supporting the study.

The course presentation is what students will see within the

curriculum. Since this is a case study, it needs to a presented in a way that is

somewhat easily added to the curriculum and even more importantly, easily

extracated from the curriculum upon completion. However, integration within

the content is important because while students will certainly realize that the

kanban board method is being studied, any sense that it is an unusual or

new approach to group learning may add tension and reduce confidence to

the effort, thus invalidating the results. Another possible response that would

skew the results would be the student’s giving more attention to the kanban

board out of curiousity. With that context in mind, a learning activity will be

added in Week Two of the course to prepare students for the Week Three

activity that is due at the end of that week. The activity will address the need

for a team charter in order to recognize roles and start forming the group,

with the kanban process, complete with the use of the kanban board

provided in a video tutorial. The activity submission will be the team charter

with a summary of how the team feels the kanban board will fit within their

planning process.

Three surveys will measure the three different stages. The first stage is

the mindset and fears going into the group learning process, the second

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stage is the reflection of experiences with group learning and the impact of

the kanban board (or impact of not having it), and finally the third stage is to

experience group learning in a different course, and the impact of not having

visual controls within that group learning.

The first survey measuring the first stage will include the following

questions. It is important to note that this survey will be provided to the

course with kanban after the students have reviewed its impact on their

group learning process.

o What is your mindset going into a team environment?

o Do you have any fears? Why or why not?

o Are you looking forward to the learning? Why or why not?

o Do you feel adequately prepared to begin the group exercise?

Why or why not?

The second survey measuring the second stage of experience

reflection and the impact or lack of impact of visual controls will include the

following questions. This survey will be presented to students after the

submission of both team activities.

o Is your mindset different now after experiencing a team

environment?

o Provide a quick summary reflecting your experience.

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o Have your fears changed during the group learning process? If

so, how?

o Has your excitement changed during the group learning process?

If so, how?

o If you experienced the visual controls of the kanban board, how

did it impact the group learning process?

o Provide a quick summary of the ease or difficulty in organizing as

a team.

Finally, the survey measuring the third stage of experiencing group

learning in a different course will include the following questions. This survey

will focus on the impact of not having visual controls within that group

learning and how students adapted to the planning and responsibility roles

with a visual control.

o Did you experience the visual controls of a kanban board in

previous group learning settings?

o Provide a quick summary reflecting on the difference in the

group learning experience between this course and the last one.

o Do you attribute anything as to the reason the group learning

experience was better or worse than the previous course?

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Discussion

Group Learning Impacts

As was discussed in detail within the Depth, group learning is an

essential component to effective learning for adults. The improved

motivation and ability to critically think through collaboration of others allows

new knowledge to develop from many experiences and backgrounds

presented. Kolb (1984) focuses on the need for participatory learning so that

experiences can be shared and applied to new knowledge. Mezirow’s (1990)

development of transformational learning through reflective and critical

dialogue or discussion must include participants. If a class is broken down

into small groups, those students can collaborate more efficiently, then come

back into the class to discuss further what each team has synthesized.

It is important to understand the context of the accelerated learning

approach. As the kanban board is already broadly used to manage projects

within business and software, it is a natural progression that education can

benefit as well. Kanban, however, is an especially good fit for accelerated

education for adults. One of the philosophical components of kanban is to

limit your work in progress so that appropriate focus is made to the task.

This philosophy is a perfect match for the same work in progress constraints

applied to adult learners in the accelerated process. Students are to take one

course at a time at a very fast pace, usually in a 5-8 week period.

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Additionally, the students are also to focus all their energies within that short

but focused time period on the activities they need to complete in order to

meet their learning outcomes or objectives. This level of focus is well

supported by the visual controls that the kanban board provides, giving

additional abilities to the team to also focus on their needs and be able to

better address their own fears in a more aware environment. The safety zone

that allows students to completely focus on a course, objective or group task

allows students to fear less and integrate their own creative minds and

experiences throughout the process.

Challenges. The two major challenges that adult learners face on an

emotional level are epistemic and individual identity (Smith, 2008). There

are even more challenges that teams experience, including the identification

of responsibility roles and establishing an effective planning mechanism to

assign those responsibilities. These logistical issues simply add to the tension

of the natural emotional fears. In addressing the emotionally epistemic

challenge first, adult learners have to adjust away from the old learning

paradigm that the educator transmits the knowledge. Students often grapple

in fear with the new paradigm that students learn through confrontation and

collaboration of real-world problems that utilize resources and student

experiences. While the educator uses various methodologies to voluntarily

de-authorize the teaching role, adult learners experience a panic that they

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do not have the appropriate support to learn. It takes time and awareness for

learners to recognize that the educator is giving the power of knowledge

construction to the student with the expertise and guidance of the

facilitator’s role. Another emotional challenge that adult learners experience

is the fear of losing personal individuality or voice within the group learning

environment. The complexity to address both the group needs and the

individual need results in emotions that are difficult to understand, let alone

address. Additionally, the textual communication for online learners removes

the comfort of body language and as a result, adds more tension.

Smith (2008) presents two major fears; the fear of fusion and the fear

of alienation. The fear of fusion involves losing the individual identity to

merge with the group, while the fear of alienation involves becoming isolated

from the group. These extremes take turns depending on the situation. While

the decline over time and experience, it is a much more challenging process

with accelerated learning environments where courses, projects, and

possibly teams change quickly.

Strategies. The implications of these challenges require curriculum

designers and online faculty to recognize that the same aspects that create

the emotional challenge also provide critical development. As a result,

strategies must be implemented to provide self-awareness, but not

undermine the learning experience. Providing a logistical structure, such as

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the visual controls provided by the kanban board, can be implemented to

help students focus on the real issues of collaboration and knowledge

construction while also providing strategies for learners to address their

emotional fears. There are more strategies available than just the kanban

board to improve the group learning process. The facilitator’s role is very

important in the construction of the teams to provide essential knowledge for

success. Some aspects of this essential knowledge presented by Smith &

Dirkx (2007) include

o Methods for being an effective group member.

o Emphasis on the need for dialogue.

o Identification of safe zones.

o Creation of ground rules.

These particular points are especially crucial ground to cover as a facilitator

with the implementation of the kanban board. If students are just provided

the tool without the structure and ground rules, it may cause more confusion

and frustration unless the group has already experienced the kanban

process. It is the facilitator’s responsibility, supported by curriculum material,

to help students identify the safe zones and emphasis on dialogue supported

by effective group methods and ground rules. Once students have a firm

grasp of this, the kanban has much more potential.

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Feedback provided by faculty through both the kanban cards

identifying tasks and the discussion forum within the learning management

system must include probing questions to encourage students to further

their collaboration. Providing stories of personal expertise and experience

help students develop perspective for their project, and upon completion of

final project feedback, learners should be encouraged by the facilitator to

critically reflect on personal learning and the general learning process.

Conclusion

This KAM has focused on adult learning theory and how it shapes the

current practices of engaging adults within a formal learning environment.

While the context is for online students, many of the principles relate to any

instruction to adult learners. The bibliography and literature essay strongly

focused on identifying the motivational challenges adult learners experience

especially in the online environment, and reported strategies to address

those challenges effectively. The Application proposes a case study to

specifically focus on the impact of group learning challenges and implement

a strategy to help learners within teams to maintain their ability to properly

learn within the intended method while also resolving tension that helps

students become more aware and able to meet those emotional challenges.

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References

Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning

and development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Mezirow, J. (1990). Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: A guide to

transformative and emancipatory learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-

Bass.

Smith, R. (2008). Adult learning and the emotional self in virtual online

contexts. In J. Dirkx (Ed.), Adult learning and the emotional self (pp.

35-44). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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