Appendix A: Quick Reference Guide

The Nine Events at a Glance

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Event 1: Gain Attention

Techniques:

• Provocative questions
• Surprising statistics or facts
• Relevant scenarios or stories
• Challenges or puzzles
• Multimedia (video, audio, images)
• Physical activity or change

Avoid:

• Tricks unrelated to content
• Lengthy introductions
• Starting with housekeeping
• "Today we will cover..."

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Event 2: Inform Objectives

Effective Objectives Include:

• Performance: What learners will DO
• Conditions: Under what circumstances
• Criteria: How well they must perform

Objective Verbs by Level:

• Knowledge: identify, list, name, recall
• Comprehension: explain, summarize, describe
• Application: apply, demonstrate, use, solve
• Analysis: analyze, compare, differentiate
• Evaluation: evaluate, justify, assess
• Creation: design, create, develop, construct

Framing:

• "After this session, you will be able to..."
• Include success criteria learners can self-check

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Event 3: Stimulate Recall

Techniques:

• Quick quizzes on prerequisite knowledge
• Brainstorming prior experiences
• Concept mapping existing knowledge
• "What do you already know about...?"
• Brief review of connected concepts
• Analogy to familiar situations

Purpose:

• Activates relevant schemas
• Reveals misconceptions
• Creates connection points for new information
• Reduces working memory load

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Event 4: Present Content

Chunking Guidelines:

• Limit to 3-5 key points per chunk
• 10-15 minutes maximum before processing activity
• Group related information
• Signal transitions between chunks

Multimedia Principles:

• Coherence: Remove extraneous content
• Signaling: Highlight essential information
• Redundancy: Avoid redundant text with narration
• Spatial Contiguity: Place related text and graphics together
• Temporal Contiguity: Present related elements simultaneously

Processing Activities:

• Pause for reflection
• Quick write
• Pair discussion
• Application question
• Summary statement

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Event 5: Provide Learning Guidance

Types of Scaffolds:

• Worked examples (complete → partial → none)
• Graphic organizers
• Mnemonics
• Analogies and metaphors
• Checklists and procedures
• Sentence stems and frames
• Job aids for reference

Effective Guidance:

• Makes expert thinking visible
• Provides structure for complex tasks
• Reduces cognitive load
• Gradually fades as competence builds

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Event 6: Elicit Performance

Practice Design:

• Must match learning objectives
• Progress from guided to independent
• Vary contexts and examples
• Provide sufficient repetition
• Make practice meaningful

Scaffolding Progression:

1. Full scaffold: Complete guidance
2. Partial scaffold: Hints available
3. Minimal scaffold: Reference only
4. No scaffold: Independent performance

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Event 7: Provide Feedback

Effective Feedback Is:

• Timely (immediate when possible)
• Specific (about the performance, not the person)
• Corrective (guides toward correct response)
• Actionable (learner can use it to improve)

Feedback Types:

• Evaluative: Right/wrong judgment
• Remedial: Guidance toward correct answer
• Descriptive: Detailed explanation
• Peer: From fellow learners
• Self: From self-assessment tools

Formula: "[What was correct/incorrect]. [Why]. [What to do differently]."

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Event 8: Assess Performance

Assessment Must:

• Align directly to stated objectives
• Require demonstration, not just recognition
• Remove scaffolds used during learning
• Match cognitive level of objectives

Types:

• Knowledge tests (when recall is the goal)
• Performance assessments (demonstrate skill)
• Scenario-based (apply in context)
• Project-based (complex application)
• Authentic (real-world tasks)

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Event 9: Enhance Retention and Transfer

Strategies:

• Spaced practice over time
• Retrieval practice (testing effect)
• Varied contexts and examples
• Novel application tasks
• Teaching others
• Reflection and metacognition
• Job aids for on-the-job reference
• Follow-up activities

Transfer Types:

• Near transfer: Similar contexts
• Far transfer: Different contexts (requires more support)

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Time Allocation Guide

45-50 Minute Session:

90 Minute Session:

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Design Checklist

Preparation Phase (Events 1-3)

• Attention-grabber captures interest and signals relevance
• Objectives are clear, measurable, and communicated
• Prior knowledge activation planned

Acquisition Phase (Events 4-5)

• Content chunked into manageable segments
• Processing activities between chunks
• Multiple modalities used
• Scaffolds prepared (examples, organizers, aids)

Performance Phase (Events 6-8)

• Practice matches objectives
• Practice progresses from guided to independent
• Feedback is immediate, specific, and corrective
• Assessment aligns to objectives without supports

Transfer Phase (Event 9)

• Application in new contexts planned
• Job aids or reference materials provided
• Spaced retrieval built in
• Real-world application supported

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Common Mistakes and Fixes