by Abbas Johari
February 2000
Dr. Ping-Yeh Tsai Wins Outstanding
Practice Award by a Student of Educational Technology
1. What attracted you to apply for
the award?
Actually, I did not apply for the award
but was nominated by a former President of the AECT International
Council, formerly the International Division. He knew that,
across much of Asia, it is considered poor form for one to promote
oneself, thus it was unlikely that I would have submitted such
an application. He felt that the value of what we were doing
at Tam Kang University was, in fact, worthy of submission as an
exemplar of theory into practice. The award presented me was from
the leading professional organization in Educational Technology
and being recognized by ones peers for the work one has done was
very gratifying. In Asia, teaching and learning styles are different
then in the States, not many students have the chance to practice
what they learned. I would like to share what we did to
help our students in Taiwan.
2.Could you give us a brief description
of your practice submitted for the award and describe what made
it an exemplary project? What makes it an applied educational
communications and technology practice?
Based on the learning theory I brought
back from University of Arkansas, I was encouraged to plan, design,
and establish an e-learning laboratory. It reflects the way I
learned and, given that we are training trainers, was considered
the best way for our students to learn using real case studies
before they entered industry. I want my student to have a better
chance to learn and practice as they develop their expertise,
before actually going into a training position. The e-learning
Lab is a nonprofit organization; its purpose is to help students
to get practice in industry while they are still in school. Students
learn very quickly during the real case study problem solving
process. They find out what they still need to learn in
the class then often register in other classes they need to help
them to learn more theory or even take an additional minor if
necessary.
3. How did you design and develop
your practice and what was the nature of the performance data
regarding its effectiveness?
I interview students who are willing
to join the e-learning lab, so we can get to know each student
better, then know in which team they can best fit. I use a variety
of learning theories in the e-learning laboratory, i.e., project
based learning, problem based learning, corporative learning,
and self-directed learning. From each project, students learn
new techniques to solve problems and to complete their assigned
projects. In each project during the problem solving process,
students meet and discuss the problem and define its scope.
I then help them solve each problem. They not only learn
how to accomplish the project steps but also how to solve the
problem that emerges during this process. We have developed several
case studies thus far, i.e., how to help public school teachers
use technology in teaching; how to train industry-based trainers
design curriculum; and how to design materials for helping patients
in a hospital environment.
Recently we began a teacher education
program, designed to teach technical school instructors how to
create web-based learning. I work with students through their
assignments to ensure that the following elements are included:
needs assessment, trainee analysis, task analysis, development
of an objectives' hierarchy, description of the treatment, project
management schedule, scenario design, script design, storyboarding,
prototyping, graphic design, photography, video production, audio
recording, animation generation, programming, eCourse integrating,
job aids design, tech manual production, instructional design,
e-course delivery. My students and I proceed through every
step and from these processes they learn what they need to enter
business and industry for work as a professional. After this practice
some of them found out they need to take additional courses before
they graduate. In these three weeks we have everything ready
to give those teachers a workshop. Students use their summer
vacation, not for recreation, but to enthusiastically learn more
in anticipation of the next case. Last summer we had six students
graduate. They were hired in human resource departments,
instructional design departments and as an instructional designer
in a different company. They called and e-mailed me, expressing
their appreciation for the e-learning provided them and for the
opportunity to find a job in their area of expertise. Now they
are excited about bringing back e-learning case studies to help
more students.
4. What did you learn from the award
process?
It is an encouragement for me to help
more students, and keep working on further refining an improving
what occurs within our e-learning laboratory and its curriculum.
5. What are your practices now?
Now, we are working on the development
of an Interpretive Structure Model, how to solve organizational
problems by using ISM. During the Atlanta AECT conference
some associates and I presented and a part of the presentation
included a description of this model and its related processes.
Hopefully an article about this model will appear in the 2001
AECT Conferences Proceedings.
Again, my sincere thanks to the International
Council for awarding me this honor.
