This project was a good activity because it created a brief, yet engaging, learning experience for online learners. Each research cafe was based on a research article - the article I chose to focus on was "Supporting online collaborative learning in small groups: Teacher feedback on learning content, academic task and social participation" by Cesar Coll, Maria Jose Rochera, and Ines de Gispert. 

The goal of my cafe was to have my peers read the article, and bring their questions to the discussion board on the topic of implementing feedback into online environments, and also to consider some potential tools that could be useful in implementing feedback into their own practices. 

This project showed me that instructional designs do not have to be extensive to be successful, a simple online research cafe involving reading an article and responding to questions within a focus group can have a lasting impact on people's understanding as well. 

This project was appropriate for ETEC 530 and for the focus on constructivist learning, because this research cafe, while guided, allowed learners to guide and scaffold their own understanding, and also to participate in discourse with their peers. 

This project helped me to learn how to better identify flaws in preexisting materials, and then improve them through the use of research and applying learning theories for practical application. I learned how to better scaffold student learning (constructivism and zone of proximal development) and how to better incorporate authentic interactions (Brown et al., 1989) for greater student engagement.

The way I see it, it is important for educators to recognize what their students bring into the learning environment; it's important to know where learners are coming from and what prior knowledge they may have that will enhance the learning environment. ​

This understanding of knowledge helped me to better understand, and appreciate, constructivist learning as it is very likely that people experience the world differently from one another (Von Glaserfeld, 2005, p. 23). Constructivism considers individuality in building and scaffolding knowledge. And when you recognize how difficult it is to define knowledge, you recognize the importance of active, reflective, and authentic learning, as one person's truth may not be the truth for everyone. And as I concluded in that course, "constructivism bridges the gap between preconceptions, learning, and knowledge as it opens the doors of possibility" (Handford, 2017). 

About this project artifact:
This project was essentially an exercise in applying epistemology and the study of constructivism into a useable lesson plan. I chose to create a professional development workshop for adult learning instructors, because while I was in this course, I was working in post secondary in a continuing education department - so, I designed this project with my work in mind. I wanted to create a tool that could help new instructors teach to adult learners, while implementing aspects of constructivism to encourage active engagement. 

The focus of this project was on authentic instruction, which is an important aspect of constructivism, as "knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used" (Brown et al., 2989, p. 32). So, essentially, the greatest potential for learning occurs in authentic contexts. As educators, it is important we seek out people, places, and activities that encourage authentic understanding. Brown et al. (1989) used a metaphor of a machine to describe the concept of authenticity: "...you need the machine to understand the manual as much as the manual to understand the machine" (p. 36). Simply learning about a concept, without being able to apply it to reflect on its value, removes part of the meaningful experience for learners. 

Some of the concepts I covered in this project include:

• Verification
• Elaboration
• Feedback
• Problem solving
• Authentic learning
• Cognitive dissonance
• Adult learning strategies
• Karplus model of learning
• Professional development

This project helped me to apply my knowledge of epistemology and constructivism to a real-life scenario and to consider how to implement constructivist strategies into professional development, even within a short, 60 minute workshop. Providing a basic understanding of knowledge building and constructivism can help encourage instructors to be creative and to allow adequate time for peer to peer discourse while building long-lasting understanding. 

We developed the following:

• Abstract
• Objective
• Hypothesis
• Sample Size
• Theoretical Framework
• Method/testing Description
• Description of Data Sources
• Conclusion

We proposed a pretest-posttest two group true experimental design. One group was the control group that we proposed would receive a traditional face-to-face classroom instruction, and the other group was the experimental group that would receive blended instruction. As well, we indicated that quantitative data would be collected from the testing from both the control and experimental groups. 

While we did not conduct the testing we anticipated that the blended delivery method would be more effective in training. 

This project taught me the importance of research methodology and research proposal writing in order to ensure that educational research is conducted in a clear and accurate way to ensure usability and limit bias. It's important to consider what data you need and how it can be obtained before conducting research. As well, by properly mapping out a research plan you can identify areas of uncertainty or error and better address them in any findings and conclusions. 

While I believe that this research proposal would also fit well under the Analyzing category, I chose to place it under Implementing because of the activities and participants that are described for the research study. Research and careful considerations were taken in determining how a research study could be implemented into a corporate learning setting. ​