Podagogy

Over the years I’ve listened to various presentations on the benefits of “flipping” the pedagogy of the traditional higher ed class. By “flipping”, the presenters suggested lecture content be presented to students outside regular class hours in a video-on-demand format, and include a reflective assignment. Class time would be used to discuss the lecture, and students reflection. The goal of this approach is to achieve more substantive engagement of students with content, as well as more substantive in-class discussion.

Of course, 10 years ago video-on-demand was somewhat complex to produce and distribute (not to mention support). Fast forward 10 years, and podcasting brings new life to the pedagogical flip model. In my opinion however, recording a lecture does not take full advantage of the medium’s potential. It would seem that supplemental information that takes the student past the basics provided in the lecture would provide a richer basis for reflection and dialog. Especially if our goal is to more deeply engage the student with the concepts in the course.

How might one structure a podcast for maximum instructional impact? Bernie Dodge proposed the use of Keller’s ARCS model (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) as a structure for effective instructional podcasts. This got me thinking, and I started experimenting with ARCS and other instructional models. What I ended up with is a somewhat crude mapping of Gagne’s 9 Instructional Events to the ARCS model, as seen below.