Page 30 - Making Instruction Work

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18 making instruction work

instruction, and by pointing to solutions that will help solve
the problem, whether the solution is instruction or something
else. This procedure is an important tool in the arsenal of
those oriented toward improving performance by the best
means available.

Goal Analysis (Chapter 5)

The goal analysis procedure is useful in revealing the impor-
tant components of performances usually described in
abstract (fuzzy) terms. Thus, a goal analysis is called for when
it isn’t easy to say what students should be able to do when
performing competently.
If, for example, students will be expected to be “personable,”
or “self-starters,” or “good leaders,” a goal analysis will reveal
exactly what a person would have to do to be worthy of that
label.
Rather than be found at a particular point in the process of
instructional design and development, goal analyses are com-
pleted whenever and wherever fuzzy intentions appear.

Task Analysis (Chapter 6)

The task analysis (sometimes referred to as a job/task analy-
sis) is one which results in a step-by-step description of what
a competent person does when performing a relatively sequen-
tial task, whether the steps of that task are mainly cognitive
(mental) or psychomotor (physical). It is a way of making
competent performance visible, much as a blueprint provides
a way to make the components of a finished product visible.
After a task analysis has been completed, it is possible to derive
the skills that anyone must have before being ready to practice
the entire task. In this way it is possible to make sure that all
important skills and knowledge are taught.