Writing heuristics

What are heuristics?

Heuristics are single sentence 'rules of thumb.' Developing these heuristics will help you to link the theory with its application in your professional practice. Each heuristic should be supported by an explanation that details your rationale for the statement. You may derive the heuristics from theoretical literature, educational technology resources or they may emerge from practise in your day-to-day job.

Where does this idea of heuristics come from?

The following example heuristics come from a classic paper published in 1968 by Haney, Lange and Barson in the AV Communications Review, titled "The Heuristic Dimension of Instructional Development". These authors report the heuristic observations of members of the evaluation team and the principal investigator of a two-year study of instructional development in four major institutions in higher education across the country.

Their aim was to capture insights about how the instructional development process took place. This is a collection of heuristics - strategies, tactics, gambits and ploys to make the instructional model work. They were learned by successive discovery - by action research as described by the authors:

"Heuristics are the mark of experience, not conflicting with formal preparation in theory and methodology, but somehow apart from it. Often intuitively felt, heuristics are sometimes articulated and passed on in oral tradition, as rules of thumb, from one academic generation to another.

In various fields and manners, heuristics may appear as principles, apothegms, dogmas, or mottos. In one sense, a principle is a polished heuristic.

...Collecting heuristics is not academically respectable. They are not subject to proper experimental design, but they are daily put to the test. While admittedly obvious, they are useful because they are so often ignored.

Heuristics are usually stated strongly in a style that avoids the passivity and qualifications endemic to scholarly writing. They address themselves to the reader or listener in the second person, thereby implying that you should act consistent with the guideline." (Haney, Lange and Barson, 1968, p. 2)

The following examples of heuristics come from that 1968 article. The first sentence in italics is the heuristic statement, which is followed by a brief explanation

The development of software is dearer than the acquisition of hardware.

Hardware equipment, with lights and knobs and display tubes and keyboards, has a great fascination, and there is temptation to devote to it a disproportionate share of energy and money. ...Programmed instruction people some years ago had a rule-of-thumb: thirty hours of development time to one hour of student time on the program.

 

The development of software is a continuous process.

In some areas of endeavour, you can do something and have done with it. Not in instructional development. The production of validated materials involves a series of successive approximations. And when you are able to demonstrate that your materials can achieve your objectives, you are likely to move to objectives in a higher domain. This process is more than ordinary evaluation and revision; it involves a commitment to continuous refinement and improvement.

 

Involve the student in the development process.

Often educators will attempt to evaluate instructional materials by saying "I think...". Though the evaluator may be an accomplished and experienced teacher, this statement is still in the realm of speculation. The student is the prime source of information about the effectiveness of instructional materials in achieving their objective.

 

Don't let subject matter interfere with an understanding of process.

The instructional development specialist needs to have techniques to get faculty to consider a new teaching device. For example, if you want to introduce an English instructor to the possibilities of programmed instruction, the apparently natural step would be to show him a program on grammar or punctuation. Don't do it! He will fight the first frame of the subject matter. Show him a program on contract law. Let him read some frames and make choices as to whether some capsule case contains all of the conditions for a valid contract. In this way he will learn how the process works without getting embroiled in content controversy.... Then, after the new process or device is understood, your faculty member has an informed basis for imagining and considering various applications to his subject matter specialty.

In the conclusion and recommendations of the paper, the authors state:

"In the final analysis, the application of heuristics may be the real service that media specialists offer an educational institution. Scholarship, research ability, administrative competence, and technical know-how are necessary but not sufficient, and it may be that the ability to operate in the heuristic dimension is what truly makes the media specialist special."

This classic work was considered further by:

Hoban, D. J., Heider, M. and Stoner, J. (1980-81). Further consideration of heuristic guidelines for multiple institution instructional development projects. Journal of Instructional Development, 4(2), 2-9.

These authors added more heuristics, such as:

Carefully assess the need.

Before engaging in instructional development, make sure the faculty who have instructional responsibility for the related courses or units agree that there is a definite need. If faculty members do not perceive this need, they will provide little enthusiasm or assistance. Students' perceptions of the need for the instructional package are also important. Finally, even if a real need has been identified, it may not be necessary to develop materials from "scratch". Existing materials may be embellished or modified.

Do not try to please everyone.

Solicit a variety of opinions from faculty and students about the content and structure of the package. Use this feedback during the developmental stages, but do not insist that the final product please everyone. Not only will production time and effort be increased unnecessarily, but a disjointed, mediocre product may result, that will not really either please or displease anyone.

Choosing what to write about

The aim of writing heuristics is to make links between the theoretical concepts you encounter in the readings and the realities of using information technology in practice. In developing a heuristic you are trying to capture something of what you know works and what you know doesn't work, and passing that knowledge on in a way that will make sense to another practitioner. You also want to place that knowledge in the context of what other people have written about IT in education and training - in other words you want to link it to the broader literature. You may choose to draw on your experience as a classroom teacher, as a training instructor or as a designer of educational materials. You can also write from the perspective of the learner by considering how you have experienced information technology in your studies.

Structuring your heuristics

Use the following structure to set out each heuristic:

Heuristic statement

• State the issue in a single, active sentence.

Explanation

• Provide an explanation in support of your statement of up to 500 words for each heuristics covering the following:
  • Expand on your statement above to explain what it means in more detail
  • Explain the background to the topic by including references to the relevant concepts from the literature using the correct referencing style
  • Explain what the heuristic means in practice and give examples if appropriate
  • Explain why this is a useful heuristic in your context as a learner, teacher or designer
  • Explain why the issue is important to you, in other words why did you choose to write about it
  • Offer any practical suggestions you might have for other practitioners trying to implement the heuristic

References

• List all the references cited in your explanation as per the convention.

Developing your heuristics

You will probably go through several drafts of each of your heuristics. You may want to begin by brainstorming your ideas in note form. You may also find concept mapping helpful in clarifying your ideas. Each time you complete a version of your heuristic, read through your explanation and then go back to the heuristic statement and ask yourself whether the two parts are consistent with each other. Rewrite if necessary.