Teaching Models

The Instructional Design Models I chose to look at were - Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Cognitive Apprenticeship.
1) Similarities: Both tend to look at problems and give the student a method or path to find a realistic solution, with the teachers being more facilitators and mentors once the general information has been given.

2) Differences: Cognitive Apprenticeship seems to quite often have the lessons set in a sequential order, to give a student practice applying learned techniques or methods, increasing the complexity of the tasks slowly, while PBL is set up to have the students think through realistic problems presented to them and come up with their own solutions after having been given the basic information they will need to solve the problems.

3) My adult audience has multiple backgrounds and needs and it usually runs the gamut from adults wanting to learn the very basic computer skills to those with already basic skills or higher skill levels. There seems to be no major demographic as it can range from retired persons to the staff of an operation business. Motivations range from wanting to just learn e-mail skills to keep in touch with the grandkids to needing to learn skills to find or keep a job. I generally need to find out WHAT the student already knows and proceed from there adjusting the presentation to encompass the least skilled to the highest if all in one class.
I have used both teaching models and have found it important to not only how something works but WHY, so they can then apply that information when they have to think through a newly encountered problem or situation.