The Importance of Understanding Your Learners’ Needs

PSY 331 PSY331 PSY/331 WEEK 5 ASSIGNMENT FINAL PAPER

Focus of the Final Paper
You are one of many training specialists in your company. You have been asked to design a training module for managers on how to meet the learning needs of their departmental employees. If chosen as the training module for the company, you will be granted a substantial bonus and a raise. For the written portion of your final assignment, you will create a training module design that includes a minimum of five principles of learning. These principles may include any theoretical elements that have been introduced to you in the course. Examples of principles from these areas are provided below:
• Behaviorism – repetition, reinforcement (feedback), association, and classical and operant conditioning
• Cognitivism – assimilation, accommodation, the information processing model, and intellectual stimulation
• Constructivism – scaffolding, metacognition, problem-solving and inquiry-based learning
• Humanism – holism, personal agency, and motivation
You may also wish to review the following online sources to guide you in making decisions for your training:
• Cognitivism
• Humanism in Education
• Workshop: Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning
• How to Use Behaviorism in a Classroom.
Your grasp of each of the five principles you include in your content, as well as the applied principles from your course activities, will be evaluated based on your assessment of learner needs, the accuracy of your description, and the application of each in a training scenario. Please download the “PSY331 Final Assessment Scenario” document to view the specific information for the employees and training. You should follow these steps to complete your assignment:
1. Determine which five psychological principles/elements you will apply to your training.
2. As you apply the principles to your activity, explain why you have chosen them based on your learner group.
3. Research your training assignment. You will be training managers on the importance of understanding how we learn and the importance of their employees’ learning styles and needs.
4. Research the employees you will be training (see the “PSY331 Final Assessment Scenario” document) and use critical thinking and creative strategies to solve potential training problems.

5. Evaluate the different types of learning your employees exhibit and create a list of potential learning needs that should be considered as you begin designing your training.
6. Analyze psychological principles related educational issues and decide what learning styles and learner need content you should include in your training.
7. Apply basic research methods and gather resources that will support your content.
a. You must utilize at least four scholarly sources to support your proposed training course.
b. Cite your sources in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
8. Write your paper.
9. Pitch your idea through a great presentation.
A Suggested Outline
Through the use of headings and subheadings, you should be able to thoroughly explain what you would like to teach and how you will approach your training. Please see the “PSY331 Suggested Outline format” document for an example.
Focus of the Final Presentation
After completing your paper, it will be time to sell your idea. You will create a presentation with the goal of having your training module chosen for use by the company to train its management teams. For this presentation, you will produce a screencast presentation using PowerPoint and Screenr.com. You will only be allotted five minutes for your presentation, so you will need to showcase you ideas effectively. Learning how to market yourself and sell your ideas will be extremely advantageous to you in your current and/or future career, so you should think outside of the box and be as creative as possible in the presentation portion of this final assignment. Additionally, this final assignment will help you build technical skills that will potentially aid you in your current and/or future career.
Consider the following questions as you create your presentation:
• How will your training module “win out” over the other candidates for this project?
• What makes your training module great?
• In what ways are you able to meet all of your learners’ special needs?
• Is your training engaging? Why?
• How does your training consider the diversity of the learners?
• How does your training consider items such as the time it takes to go through each module and/or how it will impact employee work productivity?
• In real life, this pitch could mean a big promotion or bonus. How will you get this promotion? 15
PSY331: Psychology of Learning
Online
Create a script document and a PowerPoint presentation from your paper by highlighting the points that really show why your training is the best option. The script will assist you in creating a video presentation, which cannot exceed the five-minute time limit allowed for your screencast. The PowerPoint presentation should be a minimum of six content slides and must include the following elements:
• A minimum of five principles of learning you have studied in this course, which you included in your paper and applied to the development of activities you created for your training.
• The needs of your learners that were considered.
• An outline of the overall content for your learning material. Include at least five specific skills that will be addressed. (This is separate from your five applied teaching techniques.)
• A brief analysis of why it is important to apply learning theory to training/educating.
• A brief explanation of how your current understanding of learning theory may assist you in your future career.
Using Screenr.com, create a screencast of your presentation. Include a title for your presentation in the description box when you publish your screencast. Refer to the “Screenr.com Quick-Start Guide” for assistance.
Your presentation time is limited to five minutes, so it is highly recommended that you practice reading through your script prior to beginning the screencast capture. Please do not read your slides. This is boring, and it will not impress your manager. The slides should provide selling points that support the training module included in your paper. You should have put a lot of time and effort into your paper; the presentation is where you convince your boss how great it is and why the company should go with your proposal.
Copy and paste the URL link to your screencast at the top of your script document and at the bottom of the reference slide in your PowerPoint presentation. Although the reference slide must be present, you will not read through it due to the five-minute time constraint of the presentation. You must utilize at least four scholarly sources in your paper that are cited in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. All sources used within the writing assignment and/or presentation must be cited properly. You will submit both your written paper and PowerPoint presentation files for the final assignment for grading.
Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper:

1. Must be five to six double-spaced pages in length, excluding title page and references, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
2. Must include a title page with the following:
a. Title of presentation
b. Student’s name
c. Course name and number
d. Instructor’s name
e. Date submitted
f. URL link to your screencast
3. Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct statement about the training module you are going to implement.
4. Must address the learning needs of your assigned employee body.
5. Must include a rationale statement for each learning method chosen based on critical thought For assistance with the critical thinking portion of the written assignment, please visit the Critical Thinking Community website.
6. Must end with a conclusion that states your anticipated time frame of the training as well as your final goal of the training.
7. Must use at least four scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library.
8. Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
9. Must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
The PowerPoint presentation:
1. Must be a minimum of six content slides in length and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
2. Must include a title slide with the following:
a. Title of presentation
b. Student’s name
c. Course name and number
d. Instructor’s name
e. Date submitted
3. Must present a creative pitch for your training module.

4. Must include an overall summary of the important pieces of your training module and why it should be chosen over the other training modules.
No references are needed for this portion of the assignment. The most important aspects of this assignment are creativity and thoroughness. You want the company to choose your training. In your pitch, explain why it is great based on learning theory. For assistance with ideas for creating an impactful presentation, watch the following videos:
• How to Give an Awesome (PowerPoint) Presentation (Whiteboard Animation Explainer Video)
• How to Pitch Your Ideas, Craft or Art