Developing Intellect
An Adjustable Model of Distance Education for Professional Marine Surveyors
with Previously Acquired Experiential Cognitive Knowledge
A Paper Presented
to the University of Central Florida
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
The Doctoral Program in Education
2003
Virginia E. Harper
DEVELOPING INTELLECT
An Adjustable Model
of Distance Learning Instruction for Professional Marine Surveyors
With Previously Acquired Experiential Cognitive Knowledge
Introduction
Cognitive development
has as its primary purpose the development and promotion of the learner's
intellectual growth. The current societal emphasis on standards based
instruction, mandatory testing, and accountability in adult education
alerts schools, universities, and administrators to revisit theories of
learning. As society becomes more complicated and learning more exact
and purposeful, educators can also explore multiple intelligence functions
and address lifetime intellectual development strategies. An understanding
of the brain's cognitive processes is essential in the development and
acceptance of adult distance learning curriculums and continuing education.
Cognitive development historically encompasses the intellectual, moral,
and emotional development of students. Learning is a process of acquiring
knowledge, and most historical research agrees that this process works
in progressive stages or a series of sequential building blocks. Cognitive
development is a process of gradual knowledge rote and adaptive knowledge
acquisition. Teachers can use cognitive development research to design
adjustable instructional models to increase students' intellectual abilities
and facilitate lifetime learning. Adults are particularly capable of further
intellectual development, especially those who have experiential learning.
A distance learning model (Lane, 2003) is adaptive and useful for adult
professional development. Joyce & Showers (1988) have shown that adult
professional development utilizing prior knowledge, skill, and training
transference provides for increased intellectual development throughout
a student's lifespan.
According to cognitive development theorists, the student's intellectual
ability is affected by experiential learning as well. This experiential
learning, especially for successful business people, has often been referred
to, in the cliché, as the school of hard knocks. What experiential
learning is for an adult, however, is actually exposure to different life
situations and environments that affect the personal survival and success
of the learner. Whether drawn to continuing education by necessity or
enjoyment and fulfillment, the adult learner often wants a piece of paper,
or degree that shows others that he or she is a successful learner in
the chosen occupation. Older students who have developed cognitively,
outside of traditional school settings, will often return to school to
make up for lack of education and missed opportunities (Anadolu, 2003).
Varying socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds can change cognitive processes
but not alter eventual intellectual capacity (Ravitz, 2002). Distance
learning, especially for busy adults, provides access to credentials and
degrees necessitated by an increasingly demanding society that views professional
standards, and diplomas or certificates for course completion, as proof
of learning or scholarship. Garrison (2000) proposed that theoretical
frameworks and teaching models are essential to the long-term credibility
and viability of the field of practice of distance education. After a
short review of the applicable research, this paper will examine the further
development of the intellectual ability of adult learners by presenting
a distance based or correspondence course model of teaching for the Marine
Surveyor.
Literature Overview
Cognitive development of the intellect in education is based primarily
on the research of Jean Piaget (1952). Jean Piaget's most important contribution
to Educational Theory is Constructivism. Constructivism is a theory that
over time, with support, and under the guide of a teacher, a learner can
make meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge and continue to
link new information with learned or existing knowledge (Conway, 1997).
Cognitive development is the process of coming to know. Piaget emphasized
historical, cultural and social factors as important roles in knowledge
acquisition (2003). Piaget classified the acquisition of knowledge and
intellectual development in young people into three stages:
Sensor motor Stage: Birth to 2 years.
Preoperational Stage (Preconception, Intuition): 2-7 years.
Operational Stage (Concrete thought, Formal thought): 7 years to Adolescence
While these stages have been extended in the last 50 years by various
researchers, this foundation is the core of intellectual development theories.
Piaget's research continues to be validated by researchers who study rote
knowledge. Rote knowledge is known as inflexible, foundational knowledge
that is usually acquired in childhood, before expertise can be achieved
(Willingham, 2002). Rote knowledge is acquired during the Piaget's three
stages of childhood development. Adult may also acquire or retrieve missed
rote knowledge to become lifelong cognitive learners at the expert level.
Expertise is considered readiness to add, expand, learn more and implies
a recognition that more knowledge is better and learning does not stop
at adolescence, but continues on throughout life. For the purposes of
this model, the expert level, based on the theory of flexible knowledge
developed by Willingham (2002), will be addressed in an adjustable model
of teaching for adult cognitive development.
Bloom, in Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956), identified and extracted
educational objectives for educators based on Piagets's stages. These
have become known as the cognitive domain categories and are specific
goals and objectives correlated to each stage of Piaget's schema. These
categories can be applied to all ages of learners and all curriculum based
instruction. While Bloom's taxonomy became a useful structure for categorizing
educational settings, how to teach became the focus of later researchers.
Modeling for instruction using Piaget's stages of learning was initially
presented by David Olson (1970). Models at each psychological stage of
learning are utilitarian
and productive.
Irving Sigel (1969) addressed the psychological aspect of readiness in
intellectual growth. Sigel presented situational manipulations for students
to confront as appropriate models of teaching. Sigel also studied the
dissatisfaction of student learner until higher levels of learning had
been achieved. Students need a teacher, or representation of a teacher,
to push them to higher levels of knowledge acquisition by confrontation,
manipulation, and identification of deficiencies in thinking. Only by
continuously thirsting after knowledge does cognitive development continue.
Intellectual thirsting enables learners become fully functional, critical
thinkers, and ethical and moral human beings.
The chief researcher in the moral development of older students was Lawrence
Kohlberg (1976). For each level identified by Piaget, as necessary in
the learning sequence of intellectual development, Kohlberg set up corresponding
stages of moral development. These stages take a lifetime of learning
to achieve and are heavily correlated to the development of conscience.
Successful adults have achieved the highest level of moral development
in the conduct of their life's business. Like Sigel, Kohlberg believed
that students learn only when exposed to the next highest level of thinking.
The student is not be satisfied until he or she has reached total awareness
of self and conscious use of guiding principles, or morals to live by
and ethics to follow in conducting the daily business of living.
For the adult distance learner, most recent research suggests that the
need and desire to know continues well into the latter stages of life.
For many learners, who have become experts in a chosen life's work, but
have missed opportunities for formal education, Distance Education is
the only form of credentialing available. An expert, according to Bransford,
Brown & Cockney (2002), is a student who has acquired a great deal
of cognitive knowledge, a deep understanding of their subject matter,
flexibility in retrieving important aspects of their knowledge with little
exertion, and reflects knowledge that is based on applicability in differing
situations. New technologies have made becoming an expert in a field easier.
Distance learning, according to Imel (1998), is almost a perfect fit for
expert cognitive knowledge learners because cognitive learners are more
focused, better time managers and able to work independently. Thomas Russell,
in The No Significant Difference Phenomenon (2003), presented chronologically,
the studies that compare differences in student achievement of the expertise
level and cognitive ability by taking correspondence courses versus on
site learning for various professions. His research revealed that correspondence
training or distance learning for certain professions may actually be
more suitable.
Marine Surveyor Education and Profession
Background of the Business and Education of Marine Surveyors
The marine surveyor is a leading management force within the boating industry.
In the last 30 years marine surveyors have taken their business practices
from a niche trade to a valued profession in all aspects of the boating
business. Presently, the marine surveyor business is comprised of professionals
whose members are struggling to define certification, accreditation norms,
and delineated normative job models, and forecast ethical standards of
curriculum and conduct (Harper, 2002). The marine surveyor has a crucial
facilitative role in the successful and smooth operation of the American
maritime industry. Within the organizational constructs of the boating
profession, marine surveyors, also called vessel inspectors perform their
primary job functions and interact autonomously with their business peers
on mid and upper management levels (Corley, 1999). The marine surveyor's
report that a vessel is in compliance with federally mandated boat construction
plans, required safety equipment carriage, and fire prevention standards
of boating laws, is paramount for efficient business practices of corporations
and individuals who own and operate vessels on United States navigable
waterways (Phaneuf, 1997).
A surveyor's primary job function is to determine the seaworthiness of
vessels for clients. They are viewed as experts and have come to the profession
after acquiring cognitive knowledge from a variety of other boating business
trades, including vessel construction, marine architecture, fire safety
practices, hull construction techniques, captain, crew, mate, engineer
service, marine management and ownership. At present there is no college
or university offering a degree in marine surveying (Phaneuf, 1997).
The marine surveyor, however, is viewed by both small boat and large ship
owners as a knowledgeable leader in the boating profession. The surveyor's
services are need for expediting the boating business in numerous situations
(See Figure 1.)
Marine surveyor professionals are struggling to define certification,
accreditation norms, delineate normative job models and forecast ethical
standards of conduct for the expert professional (Harper, 2001). At present,
there is no national licensing requirement and all continuing education
and proof of intellectual ability and cognitive knowledge is voluntarily
self-acquired. Garrison (2000) states that theoretical frameworks and
models are essential to the long-term credibility and viability of a field
of practice. Distance education enhances knowledge acquisition in fields
of study such as marine surveying, Niche professions need opportunities
for continuous learning and adult cognitive development at the expert
level (See Figure 2).
Marine Surveyor Training
Training the marine surveyor is an emerging educational experience. Only
one vocational distance training school exists in the United States. This
school provides five technical training courses, based on US Coast Guard
inspection requirements and voluntary recommendations. The school provides
provide ongoing, continuing education for the marine surveyor via traditional
paper correspondence methods. Three professional organizations claim to
certify marine surveyors, but without evidence of a model of curriculum
(Phaneuf, 1997). A curriculum of marine surveyor education, heretofore,
has been by individual surveyor experiential acquisition of inspection
skills, presentation of the historical context of those experientially
acquired skills, and then self-bestowment of credentials based on public
perception of cognitive skills with the assistance of an open book traditional
correspondence course that is voluntarily taken. Distance education works
extremely well for experienced boaters interested in marine surveying
instruction because, as Sherry points out, distance learning works best
when there "are learners in widely distributed sparse or geographic
areas, and interest in the curriculum is based on need, and the target
audience and the philosophy of the organizations which provide instruction
are motivated to establish importance of the profession" (1995, p.
3). Marine surveying is a profession that can only be practiced based
on need and geography.
Flexible knowledge, the highest level of knowledge in cognitive processing,
according to Willingham (2002), can be continually developed, expanded
and layered by appropriate distance education. For adults with the appropriate
experiential boating business skills and desire, marine surveying can
be the next level in ongoing, continuous intellectual development. Marine
surveying training provides for use of attained flexible knowledge, as
well as provide economic fulfillment and career enjoyment.
Model of Teaching:
Distance Education for the Marine Surveyor
Processing Strategy: Distance Training for the Boating Professional in
Marine Surveying
The Distance Learning Model for training the marine surveyor uses a traditional
paper based correspondence course with support from telephone, email and
an organizational web site. This model is a four level administrative
framework:
Contact
Qualification
Enrollment and Course Distribution
Assessment
These four steps are essential to insuring the distance education for
the marine surveyor is delivered in the best sequential strategy for the
student to acquire the necessary cognitive professional awareness and
skills.
Contact
The initial contact is student interest led. The value of education can
be marketed, but as part of the learning process, the student is contacted
only after the student makes first approach. No mass marketing, canvassing,
or telemarketing is used to protect the reputation of a surveyor as a
professional with expert knowledge. Initial contact also allows the instructor
to determine the cognitive and experiential skill level of the student
beforehand. For some unmotivated boating business professionals, marine
surveying may not be a suitable profession. This can also be called a
screening process.
The marine surveying profession operates under ethical, legal business
principles of conduct. A large part of the business is legal compliance
with US Coast Guard regulations (Phaneuf, 1997). Students who are suited
to distance learning in the marine surveying profession may be defined
as being in Kohlberg's (1986) "Post conventional, autonomous, or
principled level of cognitive moral development." The marine survey
profession is also part of Kohlberg's definition of the "legal realm
of social utility."
Qualification
Steps in the screening process include the following qualifying questions
addressed to the student to assure the administrator that the student
is both intellectually and morally ready to conduct marine surveying on
the highest levels of flexible knowledge. For qualification for suitability
of distance training and appropriate beginning level of cognitive development
for enrollment in the course, it is necessary to qualify prospective students
using the following questions:
What other related boating professional experience does the student have?
How many years has the student been in the boating business?
Is the student familiar with US Coast Guard oversight of the boating business?
Is the student an effective, literate communicator in print and orally?
Is the student predisposed to self-study?
Is the student motivated to succeed in starting a new business based on
acquired life
knowledge?
Does the student trust distance learning as a way of developing flexible
expert
knowledge?
Will the student be able to follow Federal Codes and prescribed US Coast
Guard
standards for applicable vessels?
Does the student feel qualified to participate in the program with primarily
self-
direction?
Positive answers to these questions, in sequence, are essential before
the instructor can proceed in course enrollment and distribution.
Enrollment and Course Distribution
The next step in the teaching model for marine surveyor correspondence
training is providing the student with the complete course catalogue available.
This can be done via the Web, via email or via telephone and most appropriately
by regular US mail. The student has a tangible information package that
covers an introduction to the profession, review applicable legal considerations
and outlines all course offerings. Course offerings are presented in levels.
Students voluntarily contact the school to discuss their own cognitive
levels and which courses apply based on the presented outline. Students
are also asked to complete a course application which includes summaries
of their past experience in the boating business. This summary is useful
in determining which course levels should be taken by the student.
The following levels apply in the model:
Basic Recreational and Small Commercial
Master Surveyor: US Coast Guard Fishing Vessel
Specialized Commercial course
Corrosion Control Course
Accident and Fraud Investigation
Cargo Surveying
Master Marine Surveyor: Highest level of distributed course information
Distributing Course Assignments
Course distribution is the traditional paper, three ring updated binder
format. These binders are mailed to the student complete and intact. Adult
learners at the cognitive level of marine surveyors with prior acquired
experiential knowledge have been shown to want everything "up front"
(Phaneuf, 1997). Because the information relies on the most current updated
code of federal regulations, three ring binder format is the most appropriate
form of relaying instruction. Additionally, the added benefit is that
students can retain the information hardcopy as a reference library from
year to year. Additional instruction and updated information can be added
with ease when needed. Courses are presented with editorialized direct
instruction in the first portions and then supplemented with applicable
reprints of Code of Federal Regulations, US Coast Guard safety information
oversight regulations.
The student is expected to read the editorialized portion and scan the
applicable regulatory information for added knowledge and awareness of
applicable laws. An advanced organizer is included in the beginning pages
of each course so that the student may appropriately find the area of
surveying or appraising a vessel in which he holds high interest or expert
cognitive skills. High interest and an acquisition of prior knowledge
ensures success in practicing the chosen profession. The surveyor is reassured
that he is knowledgeable, reliable, and aware of current professional
standards. This kind of instruction reconfirms for the surveyor personally
that experiential or acquired knowledge is appropriate.
Examination and Assessment
Diplomas, also known as certificates, are offered upon completion of each
course. An examination is required of the marine surveying student. Each
course is accompanied by a 100 question examination designed to target
specific and important safety, regulatory and inspection knowledge that
an expert is expected to know. Students take the multiple choice test
on a pro forma answer sheet. The answer sheet is returned to the school
via mail, email or fax.
Assessment
Examination scoring is done from a proforma answer sheet. The student
may not miss more than five questions. Should the student not pass on
the first try, students are asked to retake questions missed A diploma
for the appropriate course is issued upon reaching the appropriate score.
For this curriculum model, all standards of passing for all tests are
set high at 90%. Since the tests are open-book and sent simultaneously
with the courses, the tests are designed to be teaching tests. The student
is encouraged to keep the binders as future reference for situations that
may be encountered in the ordinary course of inspecting vessels.
Scenario: Highest Test Level
One course, the Marine Surveyor Accident and Fraud Examination is a short
answer, essay test, and because it is so closely related to determining
liability and legal issues in admiralty law, 100% score is required. This
particular test is designed to draw out the student and influence the
student's level of thinking. This test, the highest level, is designed
as Kohlberg (1976) pointed out, to expose marine surveyors to situations
which pose problems and contradictions within the marine surveying profession
and make sure the surveyor's judgment is sound and based on general principles,
not personal preference. This is the highest level of reasoning and the
marine surveyor's most important cognitive tool is judgment. The test,
itself, is actually a progression of scenarios and situations which the
marine surveyor may confront in the daily ethical operation of the business
and requires the highest level of intellectual, psychological and ethical
thinking.
Suggested Activities for Further Study
The available literature in marine surveying training is scarce as a result
of only 25 years of professional development. Marine surveying is a profession
that currently lends itself to further research in recognition of experiential,
flexible knowledge by adult learners and further research into how best
to synthesize this cognitive development into public presentation of expert
knowledge. Suggested activities for further marine surveyor distance training
include
Developing face to face seminars at central geographic locations.
Developing a one day program that would link marine surveyor with each
other to
work together for a day examining a vessel together (Apprenticeship).
Further course development as navigation, water management and environmental
laws change.
Investigating national or state licensing of the marine surveying profession.
At
present, there is none.
Developing and implementing an advanced degree in marine surveying offered
in
a classroom situation at the community college or university level.
The marine surveying profession is in nascent stages with respect to curriculum
development, education standards, and minimum professional standards of
certification for expert knowledge. Florida, a boating state, hosts 25%
of the approximately 25,000 practicing marine surveyors nationwide (SAMS,
2000). Further adult education curriculum development is warranted based
on the importance of the marine surveyor's judgment and value to the boating
business.
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