Textile Teaching & Learning Initiative

Christopher M. Pastore, Brian George, Eileen Armstrong-Carroll
School of Textiles Philadelphia University

John Pierce
School of Health and Sciences Philadelphia University

TEAM LEADER: Christopher M. Pastore

URL Address: http://fibers.texsci.edu/I99P01/index2.html

PROJECT GOALS

This project is designed to determine the most effective methods for teaching textile programs and to share these methodologies with persons who teach textile courses to students, either at companies or universities. In this project we will build on existing techniques, especially ones that are not as routinely used in textile education as one might hope. We will explore and develop these techniques in the context of textile education, with its particular requirements. Some example requirements are the need to understand complex machinery, the difficulty in teaching both team building and leadership as well as engineering skills, the need for extensive hands-on techniques that can be used to effectively communicate with and impart knowledge to students. The goal is that implementation of these teaching methodologies will better prepare students to be productive and dynamics members of the textile industry.

ABSTRACT

We are assessing the current instructional approaches used with various textile courses. The question of immediate interest we are considering is, what are the current strengths and weaknesses of our instructional approaches? Evaluation considerations include the learning styles and temperaments of our students, plus the attributes that the textile industries value in their future employees. Course analysis includes examination of our current instructional methods and performance assessments (how the students are graded). Our current instructional approach has been modified, after reviewing pedagogic (the study of teaching) literature, to include use of homestudy assignments that promote active learning in our introductory textile course. In addition, we have collected data on the learning styles and temperaments of students in various textile degree programs. The resultant data is being analyzed to help us evaluate our current instructional approach and assist us with selection of additional teaching strategies. Since student feedback is an integral part of our project, we are reviewing pedagogic literature, which gives guidelines on how to interpret student feedback. This information will be used in developing the form for student evaluation of the effectiveness of homestudy assignments. We are also investigating other methods used to assess the effectiveness of an instructional methodology in pedagogic research.

BACKGROUND

When one considers qualities that are well regarded in an employee, problem solving, decision-making, critical thinking, and evaluative thinking would all be considered noteworthy. These abilities are considered higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS, Zoller 1999); many times in a course, capabilities such as simple recall of information, and application of memorized algorithms to solve problems are emphasized. These abilities are considered lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS). A challenge in developing instructional approaches is to cover the breadth of information necessary in a field, while imparting the depth of knowledge that will some day be necessary when troubleshooting and resolving a technical problem in the workplace. A goal of this project is to determine, for a variety of textiles related courses, the optimum combination of LOCS and HOCS. Instructional strategies will be developed to meet these goals.

Traditional educational research uses highly validated cognitive instruments, control groups, and psychometric analysis to determine the effectiveness of an instructional strategy. Since this approach can be time and cost consuming as well as unrealistic in terms of establishing statistically significant control groups (given the variety of different textile degree programs and type of students involved in each program) we are also examining the action research approach to pedagogic research.

The action research approach (Adams and Slater, 1998) recognizes the central role of the teacher as both the primary agent of change in the classroom and the one best able to interpret the results of a study. Thus this approach involves a more subjective evaluation of an instructional strategy's effectiveness. Students can be polled as to their assessment of a strategy and their perceptions can be compared to a performance rubric (for example, test results) as well as the perceptions of the teacher.

This project team consists of a member certified in pedagogy who is evaluating textile courses from a pedagogic perspective, assisting textile professors with examination of their educational approaches, identifying alternative instructional strategies, and developing rubrics to measure the effectiveness of new strategies. Another member is a psychologist and psychology professor who is helping the team with utilization of cognitive instruments, control groups, and psychometric analysis techniques that can be used in a time and cost effective manner. Thus the objectiveness of our evaluation of different instructional strategies can be enhanced without a reduction in the number of strategies we can afford to study. The team is completed by two textile professors who are using their expertise with textiles and within the textile industry in the consideration process for different instructional approaches. In addition, their classes will be used as a primary instrument for the evaluation of different instructional strategies.

ANALYSIS OF EXISTING INSTRUCTIONAL AND PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT APPROACHES

The instructional and performance assessment approaches used in five textile degree courses have been evaluated. These courses, their associated course numbers, and the college year of the typical students taking the course are listed in Table 1.

Course T101 is an introductory course required with all textile degree programs. This course contains students with majors in Fashion Apparel Management, Fashion Design, Fashion Management, Fashion Merchandising, Interior Design, Textile Design, Textile Engineering, Textile Technology, and Textile Marketing and Management. Course T201 is an intermediate course for students who major in all the textile degree programs except textile engineering. Courses T203 and T204 are higher level courses for textile engineering majors. Course T290 is a higher level course for Textile Technology majors. As shown in Figure 1, the instructional approaches used vary within each course.

The introductory course, T101, relies on lecture and step-by-step laboratories. With a step-by-step laboratory the students follow a detailed list of instructions. Results are recorded in a primarily fill-in-the-blank format. Lecture and step-by-step laboratories are instruction methods that foster LOCS.

A new instructional strategy is being tested to increase the HOCS level for T101. This strategy, homestudy assignments (Frey, 1997), promotes active learning by having the students read each chapter before the materials is presented in class. For these assignments, the class is split into teams of three to four people. Each team turns in a chapter summary and quizzes test knowledge gained from the chapters. The effectiveness of this method will be assessed through student and teacher evaluations at the end of the term. Differences in the knowledge acquired by the students in the classes with homestudy assignments may also be compared with those students who did not benefit from this instructional approach. Pedagogy literature will be used as a resource in developing the evaluation forms and measures.

Although T201 utilizes the same instructional methods as T101 and does not include homestudy assignments, the level of HOCS assessed in this course is greater (Figure 2). The level of cognitive skills assessed in a course is calculated by examining the percentage of LOCS and HOCS for each assignment type (quizzes, tests, final, homework, papers, projects, and laboratory reports); multiplying this value by the grade weight for each type; and summing the results by the LOCS and HOCS classifications. The increase in HOCS in T201 is due to the amount of discussion during class and differences in the type of questions used for tests and finals. Also, the laboratories structure, while still primarily step-by-step, requires that the students develop their own approaches for data collection in some cases. The laboratory reports are individualized, with students explaining the differences between fabrics tested, determining the significant findings, and drawing their own conclusions.

The instructional approaches used for T203 and T204 foster HOCS by emphasizing an independent project, classroom discussions, laboratories in which the students develop the approach on their own and write reports using minimal formatting guidelines. HOCS are also developed through the performance assessment strategies. Quizzes and finals contain predominately HOCS type questions. The reports associated with the independent project and laboratories also foster HOCS.

The upper level course T290 is a discussion driven class in which students apply knowledge gained in previous classes to solution of textile manufacturing problems in a case study instructional method. HOCS are also developed through completion of an independent project.

As Figure 2 illustrates, there is a transition from LOCS to HOCS development with progression from lower level to upper level courses. An emphasis on LOCS development is present in the lower level courses due to the general belief that the amount of course information provided decreases with use of HOCS methods such as classroom discussion. As shown through the example of the homestudy assignment approach, there are alternative methods that can actually increase the level of HOCS and the amount of information covered in a course. Development and validation of similar approaches for textile degree courses is a primary goal for this project. As the transition from an emphasis on LOCS to HOCS is evaluated in this project, another project goal is generation of explicit steps for increasing the order of cognitive skill development. As a result, for example, students won't have to abruptly adapt to writing independent laboratory reports from a primarily fill-in-the-blank experience level.

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING STYLE AND TEMPERAMENT

Students from T101, T201, T203, T204, and T290 courses as well as some psychology students have completed a learning style and temperament homework assignment, located at http://pirn.philau.edu/learning.html. This assignment includes three different assessments of whether students are visual, auditory, or tactile learners. Each assessment, available from different pedagogy websites, contains a series of questions that determine learning style. As the preliminary data analysis indicates, learning style varies according to major. A mixed learning style indicates a situation where a student's scores in the visual, auditory, and tactile categories are similar, or different styles predominant in the different assessments. Only one student result has been tallied for fashion management to date. Visual learners learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format. Tactile learners learn best when engaged in a "hands on" activity. Auditory learners benefit from listening to a lecture or classroom discussion. For instructional strategies, this information demonstrates the benefit of supplementing lecture with visual aids and manipulatives.

Study strategies for improving learning are also listed in some of the websites. The students have listed strategies, which they felt are effective for them. Table 2 lists these strategies and the preliminary tally of the learning styles associated with students who listed the strategies.

The preliminary results from another individual learning style assessment are shown in Figure 4. Eventually these results will be tabulated for the different textile majors. A style element is considered neutral if a student possesses strong attributes of both elements. Students who are active learners benefit from laboratories and independent projects. Students who are sensing recall details easily while intuitive learners retain knowledge of process/procedures better than details. Since sensors relate information to the "real world" they may have problems with abstract concepts, knowing how a concept applies in practice would be helpful for these students. Global learners comprehend information more by understanding the "big picture". Sequential learners are more comfortable when a process is broken down into a series of steps. An effective approach for reaching both global and sequential learners in a lecture is to begin with a brief synopsis of lecture content and follow with a detailed, sequential explanation.

Temperament also influences learning. Figure 5 shows the breakdown of temperament for textile degree students (tabulated to date). Introverts may be intimidated by large group class discussions and may not participate. Feeling temperaments may be more in tune with the aesthetic and psychological aspects of textile related careers. Thinking temperaments approach information from an analytical perspective and tend to be good problem solvers. A judgmental temperament views information in "black and white" terms and may have difficulty appreciating the nuances of areas such as fashion forecasting. A perceptive temperament may become lost in the nuances of a problem and have difficulty deciding on a course of action.

The emphasis in analyzing the results of the learning style and temperament assignment is to compare these results with current instructional approaches and identify strategies that address the whole range of learning styles and temperaments.

FUTURE EFFORTS

Project goals can be broken down into short, intermediate, and long term goals. Short-term goals include development and implementation of a psychometric analysis method and associated performance rubrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the homestudy assignment instructional strategy. If this strategy is determined effective, additional textile courses that can benefit from this strategy will be identified and the associated professors will be trained in use of this strategy.

Intermediate term goals include completion of the analysis of student learning styles and temperaments. Goals will also be established to increase the level of HOCS fostered during the completion of each textile degree program in a coordinated manner. Comparison of student learning styles, instructional approaches, and HOCS goals will result in identification of areas, in a prioritized manner, which would benefit from alternative instructional strategies. Instructional strategies that meet these needs will be drawn and adapted from pedagogic literature and discussions with colleagues in education. These alternative strategies will be evaluated in a modified action research approach, utilizing the courses being taught by the two textile faculty members on this team. The psychometric analysis method and performance rubrics will be modified to properly evaluate the different instructional strategies.

As students graduate and are employed, their textile industry employers will be asked to complete a performance assessment to validate the effectiveness of our instructional strategies and identify areas of improvement.

The long term goal of this project is a concerted series of courses within the School of Textiles for each textile degree program that uses of variety of instructional methods to maximize learning by students of all learning styles and temperaments. These methods will seek to maximize HOCS without sacrificing the amount of course content. Within each degree program instructional methods will be varied to encourage development of HOCS and continually challenge the students to improve their troubleshooting, problem solving, and team building skills. The 2001-2002 academic year will be used to fully demonstrate and validate the effectiveness of this concerted approach towards developing textile professionals.

After the 2001-2002 academic year, this project will have three years of data on the academic and professional progress of textile students. This data will be thoroughly analyzed and recommendations will be made. These recommendations will be general enough to be easily adopted by the universities that comprise the NTC consortia.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In addition to the contributions of team members Christopher M. Pastore, Brian George, Eileen Armstrong-Carroll, and John Pierce, the team thanks Dan Carman for entering the learning style and temperament information into our database.

REFERENCES

Adams, JP and Slater, TF, "Using Action Research to Bring the Large Class Down to Size," Journal of College Science Teaching, PP 87-90, November 1998.

Frey, JT, "Homestudy Assignments: An Experiment in Promoting Active Learning in Introductory Chemistry", Journal of College Science Teaching, PP 281-282, February 1997.

Zoller, U, "Scaling-Up of Higher-Order Cognitive Skills-Orientated College Chemistry Teaching: An Action-Orientated Research", Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 36, No. 5, PP 583-596, 1999.