Domain Testing: Divide and Conquer - Testing Education

in order to find out what skills are required to achieve each of the goals defined in
the first stage. But first and foremost, task analysis needs to be conducted in order
to find out the steps or tasks required to achieve each of the goals. Then the
associated skills corresponding to each task or step are determined (Dick et al.,
2001; Gagne et al., 1988; Jonassen, Tessmer & Hannum, 1999). “Task analysis for
instructional design is a process of analyzing and articulating the kind of learning
that you expect the learners to know how to perform” (Jonassen et al., 1999, p. 3).
According to Gagne et al. (1988), learning task analysis is carried out if the
skills involved are of intellectual nature. “The purpose of a learning task analysis is
to reveal the objectives that are enabling and for which teaching sequence decisions
need to be made” (p. 24).
In my case, I did a detailed task analysis of the domain testing technique,
starting with the higher-level tasks such as identifying variables and conducting
equivalence class analysis, further breaking down each individual task into
subtasks. Once the tasks were identified, the corresponding skills were analyzed.
3.03.03 Identify Entry Behaviors and Learner Characteristics
What are the prerequisite skills? Gagne et al. (1988) stated that the purpose of this
stage is to determine what skills and characteristics the learners should have. This
step is important since the instructional designer needs to identify for whom the
instruction would be appropriate and for whom it would be inappropriate.
Dick et al. (2001) described the entry behavior test which needs to be
administered to determine whether or not the learners possess the required
prerequisites. This is discussed further in section 3.04.02.01. In my case, after I
completed the task and skill analyses for domain testing, I realized that my
prospective learners needed to have at least some basic knowledge in discrete
mathematics to sufficiently understand the concept of set theory. They also needed
some experience in programming, and having taken at least two programming
classes was deemed sufficient. I determined that learners should not have taken any
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