the proficiency ladder

SLIDES: Allen, Christopher (2014, July 22). “The Proficiency Ladder”. Life With Alacrity. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from http://www.LifeWithAlacrity.com

The ProficiencyLadder

ABSTRACT: “A proficiency model for designing instructional design objectives and to empower students in their own learning. It is a hybrid model based on principles from Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of ‘Flow’.This model has four basic +1 stages: unlearned, basic familiarity, practiced proficiency, mastery, and reflective competence.”

© 2014 Christopher AllenLifeWithAlacrity.com

Proficiency Ladder

This is the Proficiency Ladder that I use in all of my courses. It is a good model for instructional design

and to empower students in their own learning.

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Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Practiced Proficiency (conscious!

competence)

Mastery (unconscious competence)

“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Duh.” Unawareness

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence) “Hmm?”Awareness

“Doh!” Learning/Change

Flow The Proficiency Ladder uses Flow as one of its basic design principles.

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FlowFlow

FlowFlow is Csikszentmihalyi’s (chick-sent-me-hi’s)

feeling of complete and energized focus in an activity, with a high level of enjoyment and fulfillment.

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Flow Flow is balance between sufficient Challengeand sufficient Ability to achieve Success.

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photo credit: ATTRIBUTION&URL licensed CC-BY ABILITY

SUCCESS

CH

ALLENG

E

F lowFlow

Anxiety You loose Flow with too much Challengeor too little Ability, causing Anxiety…

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FlowFlow

ABILITY

SUCCESS

CH

ALLENG

E

Anxiety

Anxiety …or, you loose Flow through Boredomwith too little Challenge or too much Ability.

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FlowFlow

ABILITY

SUCCESS

Boredom

CH

ALLENG

E

Anxiety

The Player’s Journey

Amy Jo Kim shows how a ladder of Flowis integral to the mastery of skills in games.

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MotivatingFlow

In Csikszentmihalyi’s Eight Channel Model of Intrinsic Motivation, he notes people are more

motivated by Arousal, Control and Flow.

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Arousal& Control

Thus maintaining Flow is a balancing act— Arousal keeps you motivated,

Control helps keeps the stress down.

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SUCCESSArousal

Control

ABILITY

CH

ALLENG

E

F lowFlow

Avoiding Anxiety & Boredom

Yet you still must avoidAnxiety and Boredom.

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SUCCESS

Anxiety

Boredom

Arousal

Control

ABILITY

CH

ALLENG

E

F lowFlow

Emotions of Flow

To balance Flow, it is helpful understand the emotions of Flow. Early on Control leads to

Awareness — Arousal motivates you to Change.

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SUCCESSArousal

Control

ABILITY

CH

ALLENG

E

“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Duh.” Unawareness

“Hmm?”Awareness

“Doh!” Learning/Change

Emotions of Flow

But too much Arousal can lead Anxiety.To much Control can lead to Boredom. All must

be balanced to Flow toward Mastery.

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SUCCESS

Anxiety

Boredom

Arousal

Control

ABILITY

CH

ALLENG

E

“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Duh.” Unawareness

“Hmm?”Awareness

“Doh!” Learning/Change

“Woah!” Overwhelm

“Ouch!” The Wall

“Zzz.” No Motivation

“Hrm.”Not Relevant

ObjectiveNouns

The nouns the Proficiency Ladder allow for consistent use in course objectives.

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“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Hmm?”Awareness

“Doh!” Learning/Change

Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Practiced Proficiency (conscious!

competence)

Mastery (unconscious competence)

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence)

“Duh.” Unawareness

ObjectiveNouns

The evocative words Awareness, Learning/Change and Second Nature, and the emotions

attached to them, are useful for students.

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“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Hmm?”Awareness

“Doh!” Learning/Change

Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Practiced Proficiency (conscious!

competence)

Mastery (unconscious competence)

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence)

“Duh.” Unawareness

Learning Objectives

An example: Here are the high levellearning objectives that I have in my

MBA course “Digital Influence”

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Digital Influence “Learn how to use influence ethically

to effect positive change.” Have a mastery of influence and persuasion within a professional context.Have a practiced proficiency in speaking authentically online and be able to use this authenticity to effect ethical digital influence in a variety of communication mediums.Have a basic familiarity of digital skills and online tools.

Proficiency Ladder and Objectives

This is what I share with my studentsat the beginning of the course.

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Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Digital Skills & Online

Tools

Speak Authentically

Influence and Persuasion

Affect Ethical Digital

Influence

Mastery (unconscious competence)

“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Duh.” Unawareness

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence) “Hmm?”Awareness

Practiced Proficiency (conscious!

competence) “Doh!” Learning/Change

Don’t OverwhelmIt is important that students know to

not go too far — Mastery is not required for many of the skills I teach.

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Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Digital Skills & Online

Tools

Speak Authentically

Influence and Persuasion

Affect Ethical Digital

Influence

Mastery (unconscious competence)

“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Duh.” Unawareness

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence) “Hmm?”Awareness

Practiced Proficiency (conscious!

competence) “Doh!” Learning/Change

BasicFamiliarity

Thus I tell students when to not dive deep, as I am asking only for Awareness,

not Change. To feel “Hmm?”, not “Doh!”.

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Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence)

Digital Skills & Online

Tools

“Hmm?”Awareness

“Duh.” Unawareness

“Doh!” Learning/Change

Practiced Proficiency

At other times they need to be preparedthat the Learning may be difficult —

that Change is required.

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Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Affect Ethical Digital

Influence

“Duh.” Unawareness

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence) “Hmm?”Awareness

Practiced Proficiency (conscious!

competence) “Doh!” Learning/Change

MasteryFinally, students should understand that true

Mastery of a skill is achieved when they can say “Wow!” because it became “Second Nature”.

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Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Mastery (unconscious competence)

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence)

Practiced Proficiency (conscious!

competence)

Digital Skills & Online

Tools

Speak Authentically

Influence and Persuasion

Affect Ethical Digital

Influence

“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Duh.” Unawareness

“Hmm?”Awareness

“Doh!” Learning/Change

Evaluating Objectives

As the course progresses, I canhave student’s self-evaluate their

performance using this same model.

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Where do you put yourself Today in regards to Speaking Authentically Online?

“Wow!”Second Nature!

“Aha!”Learning/Change!

“Hmm?”Awareness!

“Duh.” Unawareness

Not aRubric

Note that the Proficiency Ladder is NOT a rubric, nor a competency model. It does not sufficiently define specific

criteria or competition. It is is a point of PROGRESS.

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rubric noun \ˈrü-brik, -ˌbrik\ “A guide listing specific criteria for grading or scoring academic papers, projects, or tests.” [Latin: rubrica ‘red ochre, red coloring matter,’meaning ‘title or heading of a book’]

com·pe·tence noun \ˈkäm-pə-tən(t)s\ “The ability to do something well : the quality or state of being competent.” [Latin: present participle of competere (see compete)]

pro·fi·cient adjective \prə-ˈfi-shənt\ “Well advanced in an art, occupation, or branch of knowledge.”[Latin: proficere ‘accomplish, make progress’ pro forward + facere to make]

Reflective Competence

There is one more level of the Proficiency Ladder — Reflective Competency is what is required to

discover how to teach something you’ve Mastered.

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Unlearned!(unconscious!

incompetence)

Practiced Proficiency (conscious!

competence)

Mastery (unconscious competence)

“Wow!”!Second Nature

“Duh.” Unawareness

Basic Familiarity!(conscious!

incompetence) “Hmm?”Awareness

“Doh!” Learning/Change

“<blink>?”How Did I Do That?

Reflective Competency

(conscious reflection)