1.3. Instructional Design for adult learning

Exploring the mARC model

To cite one example, the The mARC instructional design model is an instructional design model being developed by three Dutch authors Slaviša Radović, Hans G. K. Hummel & Marjan Vermeulen (2021).

This model is constructed, from the authors’ point of view, with the aim of answering two specific questions:

• The first, relating to what can be the critical instructional elements in an experiential learning environment that support learners in their re- and de-contextualization of knowledge (theoretical foundations).
• The second, aimed at investigating what can be the learning design principles that facilitate more experiential learning (practical guidelines).

In more detail, the model fits within the framework of experential learning and three pillars in particular:

(a) Authenticity – learning is a cyclic process related to the nature of the ‘real’ world beyond the classroom;

b) Reflection – Learners are supported to reflect on knowledge and experience;

(c) Collaboration – learning is situated and mediated in a social context.

It will now be possible to go briefly into the theoretical framework of the model in order to understand and then see its possible applications. Thus, if a part of the theoretical paradigm of reference is built around experiential learning and the aforementioned pillars, a further central element relates to the conditions that must be put in place for an experiential learning process to occur.  Among all the characteristics that can be identified, it is possible to at least isolate two groups:

1. Personal and Organisational factors
2. Facilitating demographic factors include age, previous education, level of education, and work experience (Hagevik, Aydeniz, and Rowell 2012).

The Organisational factors group includes factors mainly related to the prevailing characteristics of learning tasks and processes (Korkko, KyroAmmala, and Turunen 2016). Identified factors within this group included different aspects of authenticity, reflection, collaboration and community as essential characteristics of the learning processes. Moreover, various expertise and feedback during the learning process was seen as a factor for learning (Korkko, Kyro-Ammala, and Turunen 2016). Some studies argue (Hagevik, Aydeniz, and Rowell 2012; Korkko, Kyro-Ammala, and Turunen 2016) that the variety of previous experience between students can influence learning and support reflection in groups. The final subcategory mentions time (prolonged reflection, reflection over longer time period and time spent during reflective writing) as a facilitating factor (Leijen et al. 2014). The third element to consider before proceeding toward the analysis of the actual model is related, according to the authors, is related to all that may be the benefits, for students, of an experiential learning process.

Four categories of learning benefits could be distinguished:

• Personal,
• Professional,
• Knowledge and Learning processes.

Personal benefits reported include four subcategories:

• Motivation and encouragement;
• Self-development skill;
• Beliefs, values, attitudes;
• and Creativity (Chi 2013).

Students were reporting to be more motivated, to feel better as a learner, and to believe in the benefits of the course. Most reported professional benefits of experiential learning are placed in two subgroups: Better understanding of profession and practice and Becoming more thoughtful, reflective and critical (Sutherland and Markauskaite 2012). Knowledge and Learning achievement benefits reported include developing deeper understanding, broader knowledge, and having greater achievement and success (Hagevik, Aydeniz, and Rowell 2012; Sutherland and Markauskaite 2012).

Coming to consider authenticity, i.e., the first pillar, it is regarded as a particularly appropriate way to support the knowledge process; according to some authors (Guilkers) authenticity is defined and determined according to the relevance that the professional situations represented in a learning environment are considered relevant by the learner.

Despite the importance and relevance that constitutes the element of authenticity, building and designing authentic learning environments seems to be particularly complicated by virtue of the presence of the aforementioned barriers that can impede an effective learning process. In order to facilitate the construction of a learning process that is effective, a number of elements can be identified within the MARC model, as follows:

• engaging learners with tasks that are realistic;
• proposing activities and experiences to learners that have a close dependence between theories and experiences;
• propose a window of time appropriate to the difficulty of the task at hand;
• propose experiential activities that present some variety;
• propose a range of different points of view with respect to the learning process;
• propose a set of relevant indicators and criteria for monitoring learning;
• allow students to be able to generalize what they have learned during the learning process to their own experience;
• Use reflective processes to structure the experience and focus on learning.
• Provide multiple learning indicators and relevant criteria.

Along with authenticity, great attention is also paid to the element of reflexivity; in fact, as we have already seen, it is one of the pillars of the mARC model. To quote one of the pioneers in the field, John Dewey (1933) the process of reflexivity can be defined as the careful, active and persistent consideration of all beliefs and knowledge in the light of what supports them and toward the conclusions to which they may tend. Not only Dewey, another important and relevant contribution to the field of the theory of reflection comes from the work of Schön (1983), who defines the strategies of reflection-in-action (i.e., thinking about something you are doing while you are doing it) and reflecion-on-action (i.e., thinking about the action after you have completed it). As a reflective learner, everyone can develop a deeper understanding of his or her own life experience and connect it to academic knowledge during the process of active reflection (i.e., while going through the process: experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting). That said, the importance of reflection in higher education processes and across a whole range of different disciplinary domains is widely recognized. The central elements of the reflection pillar are as follows:

Use reflection as an additional tool to engage learners in more complex activities;

Support the development of a theoretical perspective within an authentic context;

The reflection process should be seen as an essential and central step in moving from a concrete (experiential) to an abstract perspective;

Offer guidance for the reflective process through the entire learning cycle;

Facilitate both in-action and on-action reflection;

Use reflection to promote personal development and growth of color learners.

After authenticity and reflection, another pillar of the mARC model is that of collaboration. Thus, getting down to the nitty-gritty, the belief that knowledge is constructed through interaction with others is not a novel element within the relevant area of study, but over the years it is one that has received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. Collaborative learning represents, therefore, an instructional strategy within which learners actively learn together in groups sharing the achievement of common goals. Referring precisely to the vast literature available on the subject, learning in groups can be organized in a number of different ways, following different learning mechanisms and interactions.

The central elements of the collaboration pillar are as follows:

• Use a variance of group members’ experience to enable students to form a new understanding (Cowan 2012)
• Provide a community of practice as a resource of authentic environment (Hagevik, Aydeniz, and Rowell 2012)
• Allow joint re-evaluation of experience and new knowledge (Chi 2013)
• Promote various perspectives as a resource for deeper reflection (Harford and MacRuairc 2008)
• Encourage self-awareness within groups during the process of reflection (Wenzlaff and Wieseman 2004).
• Ignite a debate on learners’ conceptions and allow for peer feedback (Swaggerty and Broemmel 2017).
• Engage students within a community of practice in a cohort structure (Seed 2008)
• Provide different expertise as a resource during learning activities (Cowan 2012)
• Provide structure and guidance for students’ collaborative activities (Cannon and Scharmann 1996)
• Allow students to see, share and express different points of view (Chi 2013)
• Foster collectively shared performance or product (Howard, McClannon, and Wallace 2014).

So, coming now to consider the actual design and implementation of the mARC model more generally, this itself is configured through the ability to shift the focus from one pillar (authenticity, reflection, collaboration) to another during the design phase through three phases. In addition, each of these phases must include the five phases of the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation).

The following nine practical guidelines were developed by the authors to support and facilitate the design work of education professionals with the goal of developing more experiential learning.

Thus, in order to bring to life an appropriate learning environment that can reflect the complexity of what needs to be learned, from the new knowledge that emerges from experience and is transformed into understanding, professionals need to make sure that:

(1) Students are enabled to appreciate and engage with the real-world context. This can be achieved, for example, by (2) Providing students with various viewpoints on the learning process through different learning strategies and methods, or by (3) Engaging students within a community of practice in a cohort structure. Furthermore, it may be necessary to ensure that learners have the opportunity to learn from each other’s differences by assuring the (4) Engagement of students in discussing and debating a topic, exchanging ideas, and expressing different points of view. We have argued that the learning context is often considered by students as being non-authentic or ‘not important’. Therefore, during the learning design process, we have to consider the perception of the learning process itself. According to the model, practitioners should assure (5) Students using prolonged, structured and guided critical reflection as an essential step in engaging students with the meaning of the experience. In particular, this guideline is seen as a useful strategy to (6) Support students in developing a theoretical perspective from an authentic context, and to further elaborate upon understanding and experience.

In addition, we argue that the learning environment has to provide opportunities for both processes of re- and de-contextualisation.

In meeting this challenge, it may be necessary to consider (7) Students using diverse learners’ perspectives as resources for critical reflection and support for the growth of shared understanding within a cohort.

Finally, the last two overarching practical guidelines derived are to (8) Gradually design a complex structure of the learning environment and redesign it in each subsequent stage of the design process, including elements from all three pillars of experiential learning (Authenticity, Reflection, Collaboration) in the learning design as (9) ‘Fostering elements’ of the pillar and ‘strengthening elements’ in relation to the whole model and all of its components. By following these guidelines, the mARC model can make an important contribution to strengthening the links between theoretical knowledge and practical experience within learning.