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Columns::January 14, 2002
Undergraduate admissions policy is set for fall 2002
Tighten your belt
Peter Shedd named interim vice president for instruction
Congressional action supports university’s top-priority programs
Governance group polls staff about holiday preferences
OASIS system now handles course, school withdrawals online
Dead in the water
Lessons to be learned
Newsmakers
Retirees
Campus News
Education professor helps students understand the ‘psychology’ of learning
By Mike Childs
mchilds@coe.uga.edu
UGA students who take one of Rob Branch’s instructional technology classes may be a little disappointed when they find it
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| Rob Branch came to UGA in 1996 from Syracuse University. (Photo by Peter Frey) |
doesn’t necessarily focus on honing their computer skills.
But, as those who complete the course will understand, there’s more to learning than meets the computer screen.
“I teach courses in instructional design. Some people call it the psychology of learning--but more specifically it is looking at how you plan, implement and evaluate episodes of guided learning,” says Branch.
The native New Yorker also teaches graduate-level classes in instructional design, human resource development, message
design and computer-based education.
He has provided consulting services in professional development and created application models for workforce systems that are used in several schools, businesses and government agencies.
Branch says he uses the term “episodes of guided learning” because human beings are learning constantly, but educators are dealing with a contextually bound set of learning principles or situations.
“What I tell teachers and pre-service teachers is that students are people and people learn all the time. They are learning before they come into your class and they learn after they leave your class and if you’re lucky they’ll learn during your class the thing that you had agreed that they would learn,” says Branch. “I teach classes on what you need to consider to make that class an effective episode of instruction. That’s instructional design.”
In his human resource development classes, Branch teaches how to develop education or teaching-learning situations for non-school settings, such as businesses and corporations.
“In the non-school setting, we teach how to build human capacity,” says Branch. “Say someone comes in and says, ‘Gee, I have no idea how to work on that automobile carburetor. I’m not mechanical. I don’t know anything mechanical. I don’t have an aptitude for that.’
“ ‘Then let me help you build capacity. Let me talk to you about all things mechanical.’
“So one or two years later that same guy says, ‘I’ve interned over here. I’ve worked in a garage over the summer over there. I actually went into partnership with this person in a garage and you know, now I do know the difference between a four-barrel carb and a two-barrel carb,’ ” says Branch.
“What made the difference? We provide the experiences and opportunities so that you build capacity. What’s your potential? Ties in with motivation. In instructional technology we study the ideas and tools that help people build capacity to achieve certain performances,” he says.
Instructional technology presently offers only graduate-level degrees, including a master’s, educational specialist and doctorate. The department has a strong school library media program whose graduates earn a specialist degree.
Branch continues research on the use of flow diagrams to communicate competency standards and effective strategies for implementing strategic plans. His current projects include coordinating a strategic partnership with Delta Airlines’ Learning Services Organization and directing the Instructional Design and Technology Outreach Program in Gwinnett County. Recent projects included evaluating the U.S. Census 2000 enumerator training and leading a People to People delegation to South Africa to explore professional exchange opportunities.
Branch is a former Fulbright lecturer-researcher to South Africa and served in the Peace Corps in Botswana, where he taught high school and college courses and, later, working for that nation’s government, he co-developed Botswana’s first teacher-education program in technology education.
Branch came to UGA in 1996 from one of the top instructional technology programs in the country at Syracuse University, despite having just earned tenure there.
“Syracuse was the place for IT, but Georgia was a rising star and I wanted to be a part of that,” recalls Branch.
“I came here because it was a good program,” he says. “And now I want to lead it to the next level.”
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