Design Document for Essential Oils Online Class
Content
Running head: DESIGN FOR ESSENTIAL OILS BEGINNER COURSE
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Instructional Design for a Beginner’s Online Course About Essential Oils Abigail Smith Emporia State University
DESIGN FOR ESSENTIAL OILS BEGINNER COURSE
Instructional Design for a Beginner’s Online Course About Essential Oils The owner of Vitruvian Natural Health L.L.C., Kammie Roylance, asked me to help her with the migration of her essential oils course from an in-person format to an online format.
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This way she will be able to reach more people who may not be able to travel to take her course, but want to learn about essential oils. Currently the course is 4 hours long, divided into two 2hour sessions, usually one week apart, and is taught at a community college. This paper is an overview of the instructional design process; I have also created prototypes for use in the development phase. Analysis—What Do We Need to Consider Before Making the Course? Because the course has already been taught several times in-person, the content was, to a large extent, pre-determined. Therefore, I considered it my role to figure out the most effective way to present that content in an online format, as well as to offer suggestions for possible modifications to the content. I started with an audience analysis, then moved to content analysis, to figure out where any gaps or overlaps were between the audience’s knowledge and the content of the course. Audience Analysis I used Survey Monkey to create a survey that was sent out to all the students currently enrolled in the face-to-face essential oils class, as well as all previous students that the instructor had access to. The survey was designed to assess the background, predispositions, and motivations of the people who had chosen to take this course before. Thus, I could determine what to emphasize in the course, what may be superfluous, and what may be the most interesting to future participants. The disappointing part was that only one person responded to the survey. So I had to rely on the instructor’s best judgment about what the average enrollee in her course is like. So I interviewed her, and we came up with the following list of characteristics of the average learner in her course:
highly interested in the subject
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adult member of the community who is not currently a college student has tried using essential oils in the past, or uses them currently motivated to enhance their lifestyle and health interested in active discussion on the topic, and likely to ask intelligent questions interested in other alternative health methods in addition to essential oils.
The instructor has had several students who were alternative health practitioners, who needed to retain their credentials by enrolling in continuous education. She wants this class to reach out to that demographic as well. (She is exploring the option of how to be able to award credit for this course, though that part of the process is out of my domain.) I drew some observations from this analysis. First of all, there may very well end up being two different audiences for the course—one group who takes the class motivated purely by personal interest, and another group who is already involved in health care and needs continuing education credit. For the students doing this for their own personal enrichment, the course must not be too rigorous or difficult. It must also be interesting, pleasant, and engaging enough to maintain their involvement, and make them feel like it was worth their money and time. For the students who are health practitioners, they will prefer an in-depth approach, with enough professionalism to make them feel it is at their level of dignity. This will be a fine line to walk. Perhaps the best solution, barring creating two versions of the course, would be to have extra assignments for the students who are taking the class for credit, whereas those taking the class for pleasure need not do the assignments. (Though, they could do the assignments as well if they wanted to, but it wouldn’t be required.) Another helpful part of the audience analysis is that most students will have a background in, or some active interest in, the world of alternative health practices. Thus, it is safe to assume a pre-existing faith in the overall approach; trying to “win someone over” is not going to be a major part of the course’s content.
DESIGN FOR ESSENTIAL OILS BEGINNER COURSE
I was intrigued by the instructor’s description of the audience as tending to be “interested in discussion,” and she, herself, felt that the “conversation” is a major part of the course offering. I wondered if ensuring a high level of interactivity with other class members might be one key to maintaining interest and increasing the ratings of the class. Content Analysis
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Ms. Roylance sent me the PowerPoint file that she uses for teaching her in-person class, as well as her blog, some notes about what she lectures on, and what she has the students do in class. We also had several discussions reviewing the course content and approach. After some consideration, it seems that the content could be divided into 3 broad categories: (1) About essential oils (What they are, how they are made, how they work, etc.), (2) Techniques for using essential oils, and (3) choosing which essential oils to use for specific ailments. Another way to phrase these three categories, using cognitivist language, would be (1) knowledge, (2) skills, and (3) problem solving. The instructor focuses on seven of what she considers to be the most important essential oils, to make the course easier to access, since, obviously, there are hundreds of different kinds of essential oils out there. She uses these seven oils to provide specific models and contexts for the more general information of the above three categories. The knowledge that is taught in the course is listed below:
what an essential oil is how an essential oil is made some human physiology terms, and how essential oils can affect physiology kinds of essential oils, kinds of carrier oils government standards for essential oils Rules for deciphering the labeling on essential oils The properties and uses of the “top seven” essential oils
The skills that are taught in this course are listed below:
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Dispensing essential oils safely and accurately Mixing essential oils with appropriate carrier oils Applying essential oils to a patient in the following eight ways:
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Direct Layering Massage Inhalation Diffusion Compress- Hot and Cold Bath- Foot and Tub Ingestion
The problem solving methods taught in this course are listed below:
Seeking out and buying a quality and pure Essential Oil. Choosing one or more of the “top seven” essential oils that would be appropriate to treat specific ailments.
Choosing one or more of the eight modes of application of the essential oil(s) that would be appropriate to treat specific ailments. Design—What Principles and Methods will We Use to Create the Course?
Overall Goals
Students should have a good grasp on the knowledge and skills involved in choosing and using quality essential oils.
Students should be able to apply their knowledge and skills real-world situations as appropriate. (problem solving)
Students should find the course interesting and engaging but not overwhelming. Students should find the course worth their time and money.
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Students be made aware of the Vitruvian Natural Health company and the products and communities it offers.
Learning Strategies The first general goal is largely a cognitive one; we want to provide learners with the opportunity to understand the topic of essential oils through the spectrum of mental processes: recognize, recall, analyze, reflect, apply, create, understand, and evaluate. To do this, enforcing memory (of names, concepts, rules, etc.) will be a key component of the course. According to research, memory is best assisted by context alignment, retrieval practice, and spaced repetitions (Thalheimer, 2012). Context alignment can be achieved by creating scenarios that users might actually experience, wherein essential oils could be helpful. This gives meaning to the content. Context alignment can also be made more challenging for the credit-seeking students of the course—by giving them assignments to actually use one of the techniques being taught, and report on their experiences. Retrieval practice can be in the forms of quizzes, or just questions throughout the course to give students practice in retrieving the information. Spaced repetition is the more challenging aspect of this particular course, since the in-person course is normally taught in just two days, spaced a week apart. Two repetitions is generally not enough to reinforce long-term memory. When information is not adequately repeated, it is forgotten. If the spacing of the repetitions are not timed with normal cognitive functions, the information becomes harder to retrieve when needed. I shall try to create repetition and overlap of information to support memory, but the nature of the course is not conducive to full compliance with this aspect of memory support. Thus, the course should include recommendations for reference books, as well as some printable “handy guides” to reinforce memory after the course is done. One of the course overall goals is, “Students should find the course interesting and engaging but not overwhelming.” To address the “interesting” aspect, one strategy is to arrange and present content matter in an organized, concise fashion that is approachable, easy to access,
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and has enough variety. Content should include personal examples, stories, and a friendly tone. To address the “engaging” aspect, this should be adequately covered via the forum that allows students to engage in a discussion with the professor and with each other. To address the “not overwhelming” aspect, one major helpful feature will be an attention to visual design concepts— making things uncluttered, simple, and pleasing to the eye will go a long way. Other ways to help avoid overwhelm will be using multiple-choice answers on quizzes instead of essays, keeping the information in the slideshows as brief as possible without compromising clarity or accuracy, and using straightforward, informal language (with a caution not to go too far in that direction so as to be seen as unprofessional!) Also, creating the slideshows so they can be paused, to allow time for reflection or filling in the note sheets, and so on, will help with overwhelm. There are three broad learning outcomes I have defined (knowledge, skills, and problem solving), and I plan to organize the course by having each outcome be a learning module. The first module will focus mostly on the knowledge needed for the course--what essential oils are, how they work, the varying degrees of quality, etc. The second module will focus mostly on the skills used in applying the oils--methods of application, how to mix them, etc. The third module will combine knowledge and skills into an integrated problem solving method—using the oils to help with specific problems. Delivery There are many different ways to deliver a course online. The main questions to consider are (1) Synchronous or Asynchronous? (2) What should be the level of involvement of the instructor? (3) What should be the level of involvement of the students? and (4) What is the timeline of the course? (How long will it take to complete, how many modules, etc.) The answers to these questions depends on a lot of factors, such as the preference of the instructor, the nature of the material, the audience, and the interaction of the course with other external factors.
DESIGN FOR ESSENTIAL OILS BEGINNER COURSE
When deciding on the question of “synchronous or asynchronous,” there were several issues to consider. Roylance enjoys the process of teaching in-the-moment. She also values interaction and spontaneity in her classes; her first vision for the online version of the course was a synchronous meeting. However, since she hopes to reach learners from a wide geographical spectrum, time zone differences present a challenge to being able to offer
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synchronous classes that everyone can participate in. In addition, while some of her audience will be highly motivated to participate (those seeking continuing education credits), the others are only motivated by their interest in the topic, mainly as a hobby. For those people, making the course as convenient as possible is a huge advantage. I suggested that an asynchronous format, which nonetheless has a timeline and structure, would be more approachable to her audience (as well as more stable, from a technological standpoint), and I was able to convince her of this. Nonetheless, we both agreed that interaction and discussion would remain a very important element of the course, and we discussed integrating a forum or a private social media page, such as a Google Hangout, into the class structure. Regarding the question of the level of involvement of the instructor, this was tricky. Currently, in her face-to-face class, her involvement is limited to some preparation before the classes, the four teaching hours, and some minimal follow-ups and wrap-ups after the class. She has never given any assignments in her face-to-face classes. And yet, assignments such as quizzes are more necessary in an online course, to help maintain involvement levels. In an online format, when there are multiple discussions happening on a forum, and each student is responsible for all of the content (as opposed to being able to just “drift” in the crowd ), as well as assignments to grade, the instructor’s involvement time could increase significantly. A few solutions for this are: (1) As much as possible, have quizzes and such be computer-graded. (2) Have the lectures pre-recorded, so presentation time is eliminated from the online course, leaving only interaction time and some light grading. (3) Have students submit their work to the group for feedback. The instructor can make overall comments about all assignments as a whole,
DESIGN FOR ESSENTIAL OILS BEGINNER COURSE
and only address the students who are really “missing the point.” Thus, there wouldn’t be any heavy grading required, on her part.
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In the face-to-face class, many students were enrolled for personal enjoyment or interest, and the setting was in a classroom, separate from the rest of life. However, the main challenge with an online class is that the students are likely NOT going to be in a distraction-free setting, separate from the rest of life. They are likely to be taking the class at home, with all the distractions that includes. The attention span of an online learner is much shorter, generally, than that of a classroom learner. Thus, it is necessary to divide up the teaching into shorter segments, and include plenty of involved activities, just to achieve the same cognitive results. So I plan to break up each module into short segments of about 5-10 minutes each, and include worksheets, feedback questions (computer graded), and clear navigation buttons, all to help support the student’s attention on the subject matter and reinforce the learning. As far as the timeline of the course, because of the issues mentioned above, it seems wise to extend the course into three weeks of shorter lessons instead of two weeks of longer lessons. Each week will contain a checklist of some material to read or watch, answering the reinforcement questions, and participating in the discussions. All of these items will be able to be spread out over the week, completed in small “bites,” at the students’ convenience. Objectives—from the learner’s perspective, the working list, and the formal list The course description will contain a condensed outline of the course’s topics, as follows: Learn how essential oils are made Be able to shop for and find essential oils that meet purity standards Learn how essential oils affect the body Learn about seven of the most common essential oils and some uses for them Learn eight techniques for applying essential oils However, this list, while helpful for the learner, does not describe, for the instructional designer, the level of accountability students will be expected to achieve, regarding mastery of
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each of these topics. (Those taking the course for pleasure, indeed, will not be held accountable for the material; thus, the above list will be adequate for them. But we need objectives on how to shape the course for those enrolled for credit.) Here is a useful “working list” of objectives, for myself to use while developing the course:: Students will be able to choose from a multiple-choice list the correct descriptions of how essential oils are made Students will be able to shop for and find essential oils that meet purity standards Students will be able to choose from a multiple-choice list the correct descriptions of how essential oils affect the body Students will be able to list at least three uses for each of the seven oils covered in the class Students will be able to perform the eight techniques for applying essential oils
This list is succinct enough to refer to while producing the materials, and will be the easiest to use. The formal list of objectives, though, which include all of the necessary ingredients (Audience, Behavior, Conditions, Degree, and Timing) is as follows: After completion of the first week of this course, each student enrolled for credit should:
Be able to describe accurately in their own words what an essential oil is and how it’s made, in 100 words or less, given an essay question and the ability to look back at the lecture materials.
Be able to choose the correct answers about the scientific mechanisms for how essential oils affect the human body, from a multiple-choice list, with at least 90% accuracy.
Be able to choose an Essential Oil (one of the 7 focused on in this course), either online or at their local health-food store, that meets the purity and quality standards described in the course. They may use a “cheat sheet.” They will write a one-paragraph report of their findings. Findings may vary, but must include:
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descriptions of how they contacted the company (either directly or by finding descriptive information from them in their packaging, marketing materials, or website.)
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descriptions of looking for or asking about gas chromatograph testing mention at least one of the following:
fragrance versus therapeutic quality oils suppliers of the plants compensation method for distributors
Be able to match the labeling on essential oils with the meanings behind the terms, given two jumbled lists of labels and meanings, with 100% accuracy.
After completion of the second week of this course, each student enrolled for credit should:
Be able to choose the correct rules for dispensing essential oils safely and accurately, from a multiple-choice list, with at least 90% accuracy
Be able to choose the correct answers in multiple choice questions regarding the guidelines for mixing essential oils with appropriate carrier oils
Be able to write two ailments for each of the 7 essential oils focused on in this class that could be alleviated by that oil, given only the list of the 7 oils and two blanks by each name.
Be able to choose the correct description, given a multiple-choice list, for each of the 8 possible modes of application of essential oils.
Be able to write, in 50 words or less, one benefit or common reasoning behind each of the 8 possible modes of application of essential oils, given a “why” question, and a list of the 8 modes. (Direct, Layering, Massage, Inhalation, Diffusion, Hot/Cold Compress, Foot/Tub Bath, and Ingestion.)
Given some hypothetical patients and ailments, choose which essential oil(s) and mode(s) of application would help.
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After completion of the third week of this course, each student enrolled for credit should:
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Write a one-paragraph report of one incidence of using a single essential oil mentioned in this course for a specific personal condition.
Write a one-paragraph report of one incidence of using two or more essential oils (either blended or layered) mentioned in this course for a specific personal condition.
The previous two objectives may include, as applicable:
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describing the method of mixing the essential oil with a carrier oil or other mediums, including measurements/amounts
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describing the reasoning behind choosing the oils and modes of application
report at least 90% satisfaction in a post-course anonymous survey, indicating they found it worth their time and money
Materials At this point I plan to create most of the lectures using PowerPoint slides, and Camtasia to record a script over the slideshow. Some techniques, such as diluting, etc., need a live demonstration, and photos will not suffice. For these, a video camera and iMovie will be used. I plan to use Canvas for the LMS hosting at first, since it is easy to use for everyone. Down the road, if the class earns a larger profit than Canvas allows, the class may need to move to a different LMS host. Challenges There are three overall challenges to be aware of while designing this course. (1) This needs to come across as more professional than just someone talking on YouTube. (2) People can discover much of this information for free from online search engines--their participation in this class needs to feel worth their money. (3) Because there is a lot of mental information in this course, it will be too easy for people either to disengage, or to sit back and “watch the show,” without experiential or long-term learning actually occurring.
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As far as the first challenge, we will need to emphasize the qualifications and expertise of the instructor; we will also make sure to reference information from published professional literature and include these in a recommended reading list. The answer to the last two of challenges will probably lie in the amount of meaningful participation the learners will have with the course. There needs to be some kind of system of communication—to help students engage with each other, the instructor, and the course itself. There also needs to be a set of activities for which to receive feedback, to stimulate the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory. Regarding the last challenge, another way to increase engagement with the content is to encourage students to take notes while watching the slideshows. We will prepare note sheets with some questions, fill-in-the-blanks, and plenty of blank space, to fill in as they watch the lectures. (Students may print out these note sheets for the tactile experience of writing while watching, or type in their answers in a separate space on their computer screen from the slides.) Of course, note sheets will not be required, but we will explain their use, and encourage students to use them. The final challenge involved in this course is that the instructor has never taught an online class before. However, she is very sharp, and savvy with technology. It should not take her much time to learn the ropes. Links Our hope is that the students involved in the course will become active participants in a naturally healthy lifestyle. We also want them to consider Vitruvian Natural Health products as a possibility in their pursuit of the goal of a naturally healthy life. We do not want the course to be a mere slick sales tool for the business, but we do want to increase our baseline of available customers for our products. So we will mention our products to our students at the end of the course, give each of them a 10% discount coupon, and encourage them to sign up for our newsletters, blog, and social networking pages.
DESIGN FOR ESSENTIAL OILS BEGINNER COURSE
Development—How Will We Produce the Materials for the Course? The work involved in producing the material will entail: Writing scripts for each lesson Creating slide shows for each lesson Creating the videos for select lessons Posting the material to the LMS Writing the quizzes Creating the discussion board topics
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Course outline (All quizzes and assignments are only mandatory for credit-seeking students.) I. Module 1-- Essential Information about Essential Oils A. B. C. Introduce yourself to the class in the discussion board, start some conversations! Watch the video: How to participate in this class, overview of what you’ll learn Watch the Slideshow: What essential oils are and how they are made. (Fill in the
provided note sheet as you go. There will be one for all slideshows in this course.) D. E. F. Watch the Slideshow: How essential oils affect the human body Watch the Slideshow: How to choose a quality essential oil Feel free to ask questions on the discussion board, or share your alternative-
health stories. G. H. I. Download the “handy guidelines sheets” for future reference. Quiz: online, computer-graded, based on the material Assignment: find an essential oil, either online or at a local store, that meets the
standards. Write name of company, name of oil, and how you know it meets the standards. II. Module 2--Using essential oils A. Watch the Slideshow: Dispensing and mixing essential oils safely and
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accurately. B.
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Watch the Slideshow: The seven “must-have” essential oils. (Each oil will have an
“About” section and a “Uses” section.) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. C. Lemon Peppermint Lavender Eucalyptus Geranium Oregano Tea Tree
Watch the Slideshow: The eight modes of application of essential oils. (Each
mode will have sections for “Description,” “Benefits,” and “Cautions.”) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. D. Direct Layering Massage Inhalation Diffusion Compress Bath Soak Ingestion
Work through some hypothetical situations. (computer-generated immediate
feedback). E. F. G. H. Download the “handy guidelines sheets” for future reference. Continue participating in the discussion board. Quiz. Assignment: List two ailments of people you know that could be helped with the
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essential oils from the must-have list. Write what oil you might prescribe, how to use it, and list your reasoning. III. Module 3--Practice (for continuing education students or overachievers only!) A. B. Watch the Slideshow: Choosing which ones to layer, and why Assignment: Use a single essential oil on yourself, document which one, why you
chose it, how you applied it. C. Assignment: Use at least two essential oils on yourself, using one of the
techniques for multiple essential oils. Document which ones you chose, why you chose them, and how you applied them. IV. Post-course A. B. C. D. Recommended further reading, links to professional associations, helpful blogs Join the FB/G+ groups for graduates Complete the post-course satisfaction survey, anonymously take advantage of a discount on VNH products Implementation—how will the course be run? As mentioned earlier, the first task is to write scripts for each lesson. After this is done, and prototypes of the slideshow format and hand-out format are created, I will run a Beta test with two volunteers from the Vitruvian Natural Health mailing list. They will go over the course materials, but not, obviously, be able to participate in the forum aspect of the course. The beta test’s main purpose will be to evaluate the organization, approachability, and coherence of the actual content. I will ask them to look at the quizzes as well, but they will not have to do the other assignments. I will ask them to fill out the following survey for each module (three surveys). Were you able to understand all of the information presented in this module? If not, what parts were not clear? yes / no Comments:
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Did the topics seem to flow well from one to the next? If not, what seemed out of place? yes / no Comments:
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Did the images and overall design seem pleasing, yes / no tasteful, and not distracting? If not, which part of the design could be improved? (For modules 2 & 3) Did this module build on what you already learned in the previous module, in a smooth way? If not, what seemed out of place? yes / no
Comments:
Comments:
I will also ask them to answer the following questions about the course as a whole: Our goal is to give people a good basic understanding of essential oils. Does this course meet that goal? __ Do you foresee the discussion boards as being a vibrant, important part of the course? ___ Another goal of the course is to spark an active interest in living a naturally healthy lifestyle. Do you foresee this course as meeting this goal? __ Any other comments:___________ After the beta test, I will make any necessary revisions, tie up any loose ends, and finish the rest of the checklist. When all the materials are ready, I will release the course for its pilot run. I will watch the course as it progresses through the pilot run, and make notes on how it goes. There may be unforeseen problems that arise, indicating more revision. Or it may go really well, and no revision will be necessary. Time will tell! Evaluation--how will we know we have achieved our objectives? Evaluation Methods Each of the overall goals of the course (listed earlier in this paper) will have a slightly different method of evaluation. I will explain each one in a separate paragraph below. The first goal is, “Students should have a good grasp on the knowledge and skills involved in choosing and using quality essential oils.” The knowledge part can be evaluated via quizzes. The quizzes will be based on the formal objectives of the course. I will aim for a pacing and style of quizzes that will allow for positive reinforcement, as well as retention. I encourage temporal separation of the quiz from the content presentation, to ensure information has had a
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better chance of moving to long-term memory. The skills cannot be observed directly, due to the constraints of this course, but several assignments are given, asking students to describe a realworld event in which they used the skills. Evaluation of these descriptions will suffice. The next goal is, “Students should be able to apply their knowledge and skills real-world situations as appropriate. (problem solving)” Students should know up front that this will be a requirement, and they will need to be on the lookout for a situation wherein they can apply their newfound skills. Again, direct observance will not be possible, but students will be asked to write about their experiences trying out these techniques. Each of these assignments will be graded very simply from 0-3, in which: 0=student did not complete the assignment, 1=student is largely inaccurate and demonstrates knowledge gaps, 2=student has the right idea but is somewhat inaccurate, 3=student is accurate and demonstrates good understanding of the content. After the course, all grades will be collected and evaluated. If we have a high percentage (90%+) of students earning 3’s, we will know that the course is successful in this goal. The third goal is, “Students should find the course interesting and engaging but not overwhelming.” And the fourth goal is, “Students should find the course worth their time and money.” The post-course survey will address all of these items. After the results of the postcourse survey are collected, we will evaluate the responses of the students, to see if we succeeded in these goals. The last goal is, “Students should increase awareness of the Vitruvian Natural Health company and the products and communities it offers.” As mentioned, VNH will provide a 10% discount coupon to every student who takes this course. After each iteration of the course, there should be a surge in the rate of people “following” or “liking” the VNH social networking pages, as well as increased participation in the blog, and the number of coupons being redeemed. All these signs will indicate that the course is meeting this goal.
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References Thalheimer, PhD., W. (2012). The Decicive Dozen. Work-Learning Research, Inc. Retrieved from http://willthalheimer.typepad.com/files/the-decisive-dozen-v1.1.pdf
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Instructional Design for a Beginner’s Online Course About Essential Oils Abigail Smith Emporia State University
DESIGN FOR ESSENTIAL OILS BEGINNER COURSE
Instructional Design for a Beginner’s Online Course About Essential Oils The owner of Vitruvian Natural Health L.L.C., Kammie Roylance, asked me to help her with the migration of her essential oils course from an in-person format to an online format.
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This way she will be able to reach more people who may not be able to travel to take her course, but want to learn about essential oils. Currently the course is 4 hours long, divided into two 2hour sessions, usually one week apart, and is taught at a community college. This paper is an overview of the instructional design process; I have also created prototypes for use in the development phase. Analysis—What Do We Need to Consider Before Making the Course? Because the course has already been taught several times in-person, the content was, to a large extent, pre-determined. Therefore, I considered it my role to figure out the most effective way to present that content in an online format, as well as to offer suggestions for possible modifications to the content. I started with an audience analysis, then moved to content analysis, to figure out where any gaps or overlaps were between the audience’s knowledge and the content of the course. Audience Analysis I used Survey Monkey to create a survey that was sent out to all the students currently enrolled in the face-to-face essential oils class, as well as all previous students that the instructor had access to. The survey was designed to assess the background, predispositions, and motivations of the people who had chosen to take this course before. Thus, I could determine what to emphasize in the course, what may be superfluous, and what may be the most interesting to future participants. The disappointing part was that only one person responded to the survey. So I had to rely on the instructor’s best judgment about what the average enrollee in her course is like. So I interviewed her, and we came up with the following list of characteristics of the average learner in her course:
highly interested in the subject
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adult member of the community who is not currently a college student has tried using essential oils in the past, or uses them currently motivated to enhance their lifestyle and health interested in active discussion on the topic, and likely to ask intelligent questions interested in other alternative health methods in addition to essential oils.
The instructor has had several students who were alternative health practitioners, who needed to retain their credentials by enrolling in continuous education. She wants this class to reach out to that demographic as well. (She is exploring the option of how to be able to award credit for this course, though that part of the process is out of my domain.) I drew some observations from this analysis. First of all, there may very well end up being two different audiences for the course—one group who takes the class motivated purely by personal interest, and another group who is already involved in health care and needs continuing education credit. For the students doing this for their own personal enrichment, the course must not be too rigorous or difficult. It must also be interesting, pleasant, and engaging enough to maintain their involvement, and make them feel like it was worth their money and time. For the students who are health practitioners, they will prefer an in-depth approach, with enough professionalism to make them feel it is at their level of dignity. This will be a fine line to walk. Perhaps the best solution, barring creating two versions of the course, would be to have extra assignments for the students who are taking the class for credit, whereas those taking the class for pleasure need not do the assignments. (Though, they could do the assignments as well if they wanted to, but it wouldn’t be required.) Another helpful part of the audience analysis is that most students will have a background in, or some active interest in, the world of alternative health practices. Thus, it is safe to assume a pre-existing faith in the overall approach; trying to “win someone over” is not going to be a major part of the course’s content.
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I was intrigued by the instructor’s description of the audience as tending to be “interested in discussion,” and she, herself, felt that the “conversation” is a major part of the course offering. I wondered if ensuring a high level of interactivity with other class members might be one key to maintaining interest and increasing the ratings of the class. Content Analysis
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Ms. Roylance sent me the PowerPoint file that she uses for teaching her in-person class, as well as her blog, some notes about what she lectures on, and what she has the students do in class. We also had several discussions reviewing the course content and approach. After some consideration, it seems that the content could be divided into 3 broad categories: (1) About essential oils (What they are, how they are made, how they work, etc.), (2) Techniques for using essential oils, and (3) choosing which essential oils to use for specific ailments. Another way to phrase these three categories, using cognitivist language, would be (1) knowledge, (2) skills, and (3) problem solving. The instructor focuses on seven of what she considers to be the most important essential oils, to make the course easier to access, since, obviously, there are hundreds of different kinds of essential oils out there. She uses these seven oils to provide specific models and contexts for the more general information of the above three categories. The knowledge that is taught in the course is listed below:
what an essential oil is how an essential oil is made some human physiology terms, and how essential oils can affect physiology kinds of essential oils, kinds of carrier oils government standards for essential oils Rules for deciphering the labeling on essential oils The properties and uses of the “top seven” essential oils
The skills that are taught in this course are listed below:
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Dispensing essential oils safely and accurately Mixing essential oils with appropriate carrier oils Applying essential oils to a patient in the following eight ways:
o o o o o o o o
Direct Layering Massage Inhalation Diffusion Compress- Hot and Cold Bath- Foot and Tub Ingestion
The problem solving methods taught in this course are listed below:
Seeking out and buying a quality and pure Essential Oil. Choosing one or more of the “top seven” essential oils that would be appropriate to treat specific ailments.
Choosing one or more of the eight modes of application of the essential oil(s) that would be appropriate to treat specific ailments. Design—What Principles and Methods will We Use to Create the Course?
Overall Goals
Students should have a good grasp on the knowledge and skills involved in choosing and using quality essential oils.
Students should be able to apply their knowledge and skills real-world situations as appropriate. (problem solving)
Students should find the course interesting and engaging but not overwhelming. Students should find the course worth their time and money.
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Students be made aware of the Vitruvian Natural Health company and the products and communities it offers.
Learning Strategies The first general goal is largely a cognitive one; we want to provide learners with the opportunity to understand the topic of essential oils through the spectrum of mental processes: recognize, recall, analyze, reflect, apply, create, understand, and evaluate. To do this, enforcing memory (of names, concepts, rules, etc.) will be a key component of the course. According to research, memory is best assisted by context alignment, retrieval practice, and spaced repetitions (Thalheimer, 2012). Context alignment can be achieved by creating scenarios that users might actually experience, wherein essential oils could be helpful. This gives meaning to the content. Context alignment can also be made more challenging for the credit-seeking students of the course—by giving them assignments to actually use one of the techniques being taught, and report on their experiences. Retrieval practice can be in the forms of quizzes, or just questions throughout the course to give students practice in retrieving the information. Spaced repetition is the more challenging aspect of this particular course, since the in-person course is normally taught in just two days, spaced a week apart. Two repetitions is generally not enough to reinforce long-term memory. When information is not adequately repeated, it is forgotten. If the spacing of the repetitions are not timed with normal cognitive functions, the information becomes harder to retrieve when needed. I shall try to create repetition and overlap of information to support memory, but the nature of the course is not conducive to full compliance with this aspect of memory support. Thus, the course should include recommendations for reference books, as well as some printable “handy guides” to reinforce memory after the course is done. One of the course overall goals is, “Students should find the course interesting and engaging but not overwhelming.” To address the “interesting” aspect, one strategy is to arrange and present content matter in an organized, concise fashion that is approachable, easy to access,
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and has enough variety. Content should include personal examples, stories, and a friendly tone. To address the “engaging” aspect, this should be adequately covered via the forum that allows students to engage in a discussion with the professor and with each other. To address the “not overwhelming” aspect, one major helpful feature will be an attention to visual design concepts— making things uncluttered, simple, and pleasing to the eye will go a long way. Other ways to help avoid overwhelm will be using multiple-choice answers on quizzes instead of essays, keeping the information in the slideshows as brief as possible without compromising clarity or accuracy, and using straightforward, informal language (with a caution not to go too far in that direction so as to be seen as unprofessional!) Also, creating the slideshows so they can be paused, to allow time for reflection or filling in the note sheets, and so on, will help with overwhelm. There are three broad learning outcomes I have defined (knowledge, skills, and problem solving), and I plan to organize the course by having each outcome be a learning module. The first module will focus mostly on the knowledge needed for the course--what essential oils are, how they work, the varying degrees of quality, etc. The second module will focus mostly on the skills used in applying the oils--methods of application, how to mix them, etc. The third module will combine knowledge and skills into an integrated problem solving method—using the oils to help with specific problems. Delivery There are many different ways to deliver a course online. The main questions to consider are (1) Synchronous or Asynchronous? (2) What should be the level of involvement of the instructor? (3) What should be the level of involvement of the students? and (4) What is the timeline of the course? (How long will it take to complete, how many modules, etc.) The answers to these questions depends on a lot of factors, such as the preference of the instructor, the nature of the material, the audience, and the interaction of the course with other external factors.
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When deciding on the question of “synchronous or asynchronous,” there were several issues to consider. Roylance enjoys the process of teaching in-the-moment. She also values interaction and spontaneity in her classes; her first vision for the online version of the course was a synchronous meeting. However, since she hopes to reach learners from a wide geographical spectrum, time zone differences present a challenge to being able to offer
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synchronous classes that everyone can participate in. In addition, while some of her audience will be highly motivated to participate (those seeking continuing education credits), the others are only motivated by their interest in the topic, mainly as a hobby. For those people, making the course as convenient as possible is a huge advantage. I suggested that an asynchronous format, which nonetheless has a timeline and structure, would be more approachable to her audience (as well as more stable, from a technological standpoint), and I was able to convince her of this. Nonetheless, we both agreed that interaction and discussion would remain a very important element of the course, and we discussed integrating a forum or a private social media page, such as a Google Hangout, into the class structure. Regarding the question of the level of involvement of the instructor, this was tricky. Currently, in her face-to-face class, her involvement is limited to some preparation before the classes, the four teaching hours, and some minimal follow-ups and wrap-ups after the class. She has never given any assignments in her face-to-face classes. And yet, assignments such as quizzes are more necessary in an online course, to help maintain involvement levels. In an online format, when there are multiple discussions happening on a forum, and each student is responsible for all of the content (as opposed to being able to just “drift” in the crowd ), as well as assignments to grade, the instructor’s involvement time could increase significantly. A few solutions for this are: (1) As much as possible, have quizzes and such be computer-graded. (2) Have the lectures pre-recorded, so presentation time is eliminated from the online course, leaving only interaction time and some light grading. (3) Have students submit their work to the group for feedback. The instructor can make overall comments about all assignments as a whole,
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and only address the students who are really “missing the point.” Thus, there wouldn’t be any heavy grading required, on her part.
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In the face-to-face class, many students were enrolled for personal enjoyment or interest, and the setting was in a classroom, separate from the rest of life. However, the main challenge with an online class is that the students are likely NOT going to be in a distraction-free setting, separate from the rest of life. They are likely to be taking the class at home, with all the distractions that includes. The attention span of an online learner is much shorter, generally, than that of a classroom learner. Thus, it is necessary to divide up the teaching into shorter segments, and include plenty of involved activities, just to achieve the same cognitive results. So I plan to break up each module into short segments of about 5-10 minutes each, and include worksheets, feedback questions (computer graded), and clear navigation buttons, all to help support the student’s attention on the subject matter and reinforce the learning. As far as the timeline of the course, because of the issues mentioned above, it seems wise to extend the course into three weeks of shorter lessons instead of two weeks of longer lessons. Each week will contain a checklist of some material to read or watch, answering the reinforcement questions, and participating in the discussions. All of these items will be able to be spread out over the week, completed in small “bites,” at the students’ convenience. Objectives—from the learner’s perspective, the working list, and the formal list The course description will contain a condensed outline of the course’s topics, as follows: Learn how essential oils are made Be able to shop for and find essential oils that meet purity standards Learn how essential oils affect the body Learn about seven of the most common essential oils and some uses for them Learn eight techniques for applying essential oils However, this list, while helpful for the learner, does not describe, for the instructional designer, the level of accountability students will be expected to achieve, regarding mastery of
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each of these topics. (Those taking the course for pleasure, indeed, will not be held accountable for the material; thus, the above list will be adequate for them. But we need objectives on how to shape the course for those enrolled for credit.) Here is a useful “working list” of objectives, for myself to use while developing the course:: Students will be able to choose from a multiple-choice list the correct descriptions of how essential oils are made Students will be able to shop for and find essential oils that meet purity standards Students will be able to choose from a multiple-choice list the correct descriptions of how essential oils affect the body Students will be able to list at least three uses for each of the seven oils covered in the class Students will be able to perform the eight techniques for applying essential oils
This list is succinct enough to refer to while producing the materials, and will be the easiest to use. The formal list of objectives, though, which include all of the necessary ingredients (Audience, Behavior, Conditions, Degree, and Timing) is as follows: After completion of the first week of this course, each student enrolled for credit should:
Be able to describe accurately in their own words what an essential oil is and how it’s made, in 100 words or less, given an essay question and the ability to look back at the lecture materials.
Be able to choose the correct answers about the scientific mechanisms for how essential oils affect the human body, from a multiple-choice list, with at least 90% accuracy.
Be able to choose an Essential Oil (one of the 7 focused on in this course), either online or at their local health-food store, that meets the purity and quality standards described in the course. They may use a “cheat sheet.” They will write a one-paragraph report of their findings. Findings may vary, but must include:
DESIGN FOR ESSENTIAL OILS BEGINNER COURSE
o
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descriptions of how they contacted the company (either directly or by finding descriptive information from them in their packaging, marketing materials, or website.)
o o
descriptions of looking for or asking about gas chromatograph testing mention at least one of the following:
fragrance versus therapeutic quality oils suppliers of the plants compensation method for distributors
Be able to match the labeling on essential oils with the meanings behind the terms, given two jumbled lists of labels and meanings, with 100% accuracy.
After completion of the second week of this course, each student enrolled for credit should:
Be able to choose the correct rules for dispensing essential oils safely and accurately, from a multiple-choice list, with at least 90% accuracy
Be able to choose the correct answers in multiple choice questions regarding the guidelines for mixing essential oils with appropriate carrier oils
Be able to write two ailments for each of the 7 essential oils focused on in this class that could be alleviated by that oil, given only the list of the 7 oils and two blanks by each name.
Be able to choose the correct description, given a multiple-choice list, for each of the 8 possible modes of application of essential oils.
Be able to write, in 50 words or less, one benefit or common reasoning behind each of the 8 possible modes of application of essential oils, given a “why” question, and a list of the 8 modes. (Direct, Layering, Massage, Inhalation, Diffusion, Hot/Cold Compress, Foot/Tub Bath, and Ingestion.)
Given some hypothetical patients and ailments, choose which essential oil(s) and mode(s) of application would help.
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After completion of the third week of this course, each student enrolled for credit should:
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Write a one-paragraph report of one incidence of using a single essential oil mentioned in this course for a specific personal condition.
Write a one-paragraph report of one incidence of using two or more essential oils (either blended or layered) mentioned in this course for a specific personal condition.
The previous two objectives may include, as applicable:
o
describing the method of mixing the essential oil with a carrier oil or other mediums, including measurements/amounts
o
describing the reasoning behind choosing the oils and modes of application
report at least 90% satisfaction in a post-course anonymous survey, indicating they found it worth their time and money
Materials At this point I plan to create most of the lectures using PowerPoint slides, and Camtasia to record a script over the slideshow. Some techniques, such as diluting, etc., need a live demonstration, and photos will not suffice. For these, a video camera and iMovie will be used. I plan to use Canvas for the LMS hosting at first, since it is easy to use for everyone. Down the road, if the class earns a larger profit than Canvas allows, the class may need to move to a different LMS host. Challenges There are three overall challenges to be aware of while designing this course. (1) This needs to come across as more professional than just someone talking on YouTube. (2) People can discover much of this information for free from online search engines--their participation in this class needs to feel worth their money. (3) Because there is a lot of mental information in this course, it will be too easy for people either to disengage, or to sit back and “watch the show,” without experiential or long-term learning actually occurring.
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As far as the first challenge, we will need to emphasize the qualifications and expertise of the instructor; we will also make sure to reference information from published professional literature and include these in a recommended reading list. The answer to the last two of challenges will probably lie in the amount of meaningful participation the learners will have with the course. There needs to be some kind of system of communication—to help students engage with each other, the instructor, and the course itself. There also needs to be a set of activities for which to receive feedback, to stimulate the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory. Regarding the last challenge, another way to increase engagement with the content is to encourage students to take notes while watching the slideshows. We will prepare note sheets with some questions, fill-in-the-blanks, and plenty of blank space, to fill in as they watch the lectures. (Students may print out these note sheets for the tactile experience of writing while watching, or type in their answers in a separate space on their computer screen from the slides.) Of course, note sheets will not be required, but we will explain their use, and encourage students to use them. The final challenge involved in this course is that the instructor has never taught an online class before. However, she is very sharp, and savvy with technology. It should not take her much time to learn the ropes. Links Our hope is that the students involved in the course will become active participants in a naturally healthy lifestyle. We also want them to consider Vitruvian Natural Health products as a possibility in their pursuit of the goal of a naturally healthy life. We do not want the course to be a mere slick sales tool for the business, but we do want to increase our baseline of available customers for our products. So we will mention our products to our students at the end of the course, give each of them a 10% discount coupon, and encourage them to sign up for our newsletters, blog, and social networking pages.
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Development—How Will We Produce the Materials for the Course? The work involved in producing the material will entail: Writing scripts for each lesson Creating slide shows for each lesson Creating the videos for select lessons Posting the material to the LMS Writing the quizzes Creating the discussion board topics
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Course outline (All quizzes and assignments are only mandatory for credit-seeking students.) I. Module 1-- Essential Information about Essential Oils A. B. C. Introduce yourself to the class in the discussion board, start some conversations! Watch the video: How to participate in this class, overview of what you’ll learn Watch the Slideshow: What essential oils are and how they are made. (Fill in the
provided note sheet as you go. There will be one for all slideshows in this course.) D. E. F. Watch the Slideshow: How essential oils affect the human body Watch the Slideshow: How to choose a quality essential oil Feel free to ask questions on the discussion board, or share your alternative-
health stories. G. H. I. Download the “handy guidelines sheets” for future reference. Quiz: online, computer-graded, based on the material Assignment: find an essential oil, either online or at a local store, that meets the
standards. Write name of company, name of oil, and how you know it meets the standards. II. Module 2--Using essential oils A. Watch the Slideshow: Dispensing and mixing essential oils safely and
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accurately. B.
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Watch the Slideshow: The seven “must-have” essential oils. (Each oil will have an
“About” section and a “Uses” section.) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. C. Lemon Peppermint Lavender Eucalyptus Geranium Oregano Tea Tree
Watch the Slideshow: The eight modes of application of essential oils. (Each
mode will have sections for “Description,” “Benefits,” and “Cautions.”) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. D. Direct Layering Massage Inhalation Diffusion Compress Bath Soak Ingestion
Work through some hypothetical situations. (computer-generated immediate
feedback). E. F. G. H. Download the “handy guidelines sheets” for future reference. Continue participating in the discussion board. Quiz. Assignment: List two ailments of people you know that could be helped with the
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essential oils from the must-have list. Write what oil you might prescribe, how to use it, and list your reasoning. III. Module 3--Practice (for continuing education students or overachievers only!) A. B. Watch the Slideshow: Choosing which ones to layer, and why Assignment: Use a single essential oil on yourself, document which one, why you
chose it, how you applied it. C. Assignment: Use at least two essential oils on yourself, using one of the
techniques for multiple essential oils. Document which ones you chose, why you chose them, and how you applied them. IV. Post-course A. B. C. D. Recommended further reading, links to professional associations, helpful blogs Join the FB/G+ groups for graduates Complete the post-course satisfaction survey, anonymously take advantage of a discount on VNH products Implementation—how will the course be run? As mentioned earlier, the first task is to write scripts for each lesson. After this is done, and prototypes of the slideshow format and hand-out format are created, I will run a Beta test with two volunteers from the Vitruvian Natural Health mailing list. They will go over the course materials, but not, obviously, be able to participate in the forum aspect of the course. The beta test’s main purpose will be to evaluate the organization, approachability, and coherence of the actual content. I will ask them to look at the quizzes as well, but they will not have to do the other assignments. I will ask them to fill out the following survey for each module (three surveys). Were you able to understand all of the information presented in this module? If not, what parts were not clear? yes / no Comments:
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Did the topics seem to flow well from one to the next? If not, what seemed out of place? yes / no Comments:
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Did the images and overall design seem pleasing, yes / no tasteful, and not distracting? If not, which part of the design could be improved? (For modules 2 & 3) Did this module build on what you already learned in the previous module, in a smooth way? If not, what seemed out of place? yes / no
Comments:
Comments:
I will also ask them to answer the following questions about the course as a whole: Our goal is to give people a good basic understanding of essential oils. Does this course meet that goal? __ Do you foresee the discussion boards as being a vibrant, important part of the course? ___ Another goal of the course is to spark an active interest in living a naturally healthy lifestyle. Do you foresee this course as meeting this goal? __ Any other comments:___________ After the beta test, I will make any necessary revisions, tie up any loose ends, and finish the rest of the checklist. When all the materials are ready, I will release the course for its pilot run. I will watch the course as it progresses through the pilot run, and make notes on how it goes. There may be unforeseen problems that arise, indicating more revision. Or it may go really well, and no revision will be necessary. Time will tell! Evaluation--how will we know we have achieved our objectives? Evaluation Methods Each of the overall goals of the course (listed earlier in this paper) will have a slightly different method of evaluation. I will explain each one in a separate paragraph below. The first goal is, “Students should have a good grasp on the knowledge and skills involved in choosing and using quality essential oils.” The knowledge part can be evaluated via quizzes. The quizzes will be based on the formal objectives of the course. I will aim for a pacing and style of quizzes that will allow for positive reinforcement, as well as retention. I encourage temporal separation of the quiz from the content presentation, to ensure information has had a
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better chance of moving to long-term memory. The skills cannot be observed directly, due to the constraints of this course, but several assignments are given, asking students to describe a realworld event in which they used the skills. Evaluation of these descriptions will suffice. The next goal is, “Students should be able to apply their knowledge and skills real-world situations as appropriate. (problem solving)” Students should know up front that this will be a requirement, and they will need to be on the lookout for a situation wherein they can apply their newfound skills. Again, direct observance will not be possible, but students will be asked to write about their experiences trying out these techniques. Each of these assignments will be graded very simply from 0-3, in which: 0=student did not complete the assignment, 1=student is largely inaccurate and demonstrates knowledge gaps, 2=student has the right idea but is somewhat inaccurate, 3=student is accurate and demonstrates good understanding of the content. After the course, all grades will be collected and evaluated. If we have a high percentage (90%+) of students earning 3’s, we will know that the course is successful in this goal. The third goal is, “Students should find the course interesting and engaging but not overwhelming.” And the fourth goal is, “Students should find the course worth their time and money.” The post-course survey will address all of these items. After the results of the postcourse survey are collected, we will evaluate the responses of the students, to see if we succeeded in these goals. The last goal is, “Students should increase awareness of the Vitruvian Natural Health company and the products and communities it offers.” As mentioned, VNH will provide a 10% discount coupon to every student who takes this course. After each iteration of the course, there should be a surge in the rate of people “following” or “liking” the VNH social networking pages, as well as increased participation in the blog, and the number of coupons being redeemed. All these signs will indicate that the course is meeting this goal.
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References Thalheimer, PhD., W. (2012). The Decicive Dozen. Work-Learning Research, Inc. Retrieved from http://willthalheimer.typepad.com/files/the-decisive-dozen-v1.1.pdf
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