These "Points of Discussion" questions are difficult for me to respond to out of context. I think they would be more meaningful for learners as reflection questions after conducting their own task analysis. Maybe put the activities first?

Additional "Point of Discussion": How does conducting a real-life task analysis differ from following the textbook models?

I think one of the reasons TA is so misunderstood and unused is because it's taught too formally. Most IDs I know think of task analysis less formally. They sit down with an expert, observe them performing a task, and ask questions that attempt to reveal decision points. The experts are storytellers and the designer or assessor plays the role of a curious listener/apprentice.

E.g.,

Suggestion: An infographic would be helpful here to illustrate the hierarchy of steps in a task analysis. (I created this graphic as an example framework based on the "Step 5: Decompose Task" section in the chapter. But I'm afraid it is too complicated. Adding an actions layer, as indicated in the section, seems like it's adding an unnecessary layer of granularity.) I was taught the Dick and Carey task analysis model: Their model is not pretty, but it's very simple to understand. You've got goals and skills to accomplish those goals. The procedure of a TA is simple: "Break down the goal 'til it can't be broke down no more."

Formatting suggestion: H3. (I like that you include the acronym here. I'd do that for CTA as well, which uses an acronym.)

This might be outside the scope of performing a task analysis, but I think it's also important for instructional designers to know how to use their analysis to generate instructional materials. I might include these additional steps from found here:

Step 7. Test- Confirm that the Task is Completely Analyzed.

Step 8: Applying to audience - Determine How the Skill Will be Taught According to Learner Demographics

Step 9: Facilitate - Implement Intervention and Monitoring Progress

What is the difference between CTA and HTA? The exact same example is used. The only difference is that the HTA version is depicted with boxes around the actions.

Both seem to include cognitive tasks. And both seem to be hierarchical.

Formatting suggestion: H3

Formatting suggestion: Consider numbering these three CTA examples. I got lost a bit after example #2.

Formatting suggestion: H3

Replace with: "How to condition"

Activity suggestion: Given a list of tasks, learners must act as detectives to gather clues to determine which tasks are most important.

This activity would be performed more easily face-to-face. Task list orders may vary among learners. Learners will be asked to justify their positions to other learners.

If online, we could build a simple data-repository inside Canvas accordion tabs--each tab representing a different data source--to help learners make inferences about task priority. The final submission would simply be an ordered list.

Alternatively, we could train a bot to simulate various data sources. It would behave like the old video game ZORK where you navigate a virtual world on your keyboard.

To make it more visual, we could build an entire office space for learners to click around and gather data. But that seems like a big investment for only part of a module-level objective. I prefer the most simple way.

In the text's current state, it's unclear to me how to situate task analysis among other tasks performed during the analysis phase of ADDIE. How is task analysis different from other tasks you bring up here, like needs assessments? What are the relationships among these analysis-related tasks? For example, do they each have unique purposes? Do all these analysis tasks happen simultaneously, or does one typically come before another? Can a designer combine these tasks into a single analysis task, leaving out any unnecessary parts?

Would it help students to know the specific purpose of each analysis-related task? Is that assumed that they are already familiar with it? An optional inline knowledge check (quiz question) might be helpful for learners. For example, a matching activity.

I think it's important to note that task analysis is ONLY used when learners require "detailed specification." Task analysis is important IF we assume that the ID's job is to tell the learner exactly what needs to be done and how. Task analysis is essential when using a behavioristic learning model. However, it may not be as applicable to more constructivist learning models.

It might be helpful to illustrate the next two steps by telling a context-rich story about an assessor who has performed step 1, and now must decide how to gather data to create a comprehensive task inventory, rate each task's importance, and gather task-associated criteria. (Not talking about decomposed subtasks yet; that's step 5.)..

Offer a concrete example of when to perform a task analysis (break down tasks to better understand what to include in instruction). Generally, it's part of a larger needs assessment that determines whether training is necessary.

Missing the word "of" between "variety" and "task.". Alternatively, you might say "There are myriad task analysis methods."

"to"

Caution: Organizational decision makers love to call for a training solution when they have not conducted a thorough needs assessment. It is a common false belief that whenever something isn't working the way it should in an organization, people must not "know how" or "be able" to do it and training will fix it. However, in many instances, the perceived problem is not the actual problem. And training is not an appropriate solution to the actual problem.

I see the next section is titled "Where to Start?" There are no pre-defined steps. I wonder if part of performing a complex task analysis is to identify which task analysis steps. Or should IDs learn task analysis principles to guide a unique task analysis? For example, an important principle (unordered defining concept) is to determine what tasks to focus on.

This may answer, "when do I know the task analysis is done or good enough?"

What does "good" mean, Jonassen?

How does an ID know when "sufficient data has been collected?"

This issue may not necessitate training. Gather information about the learners to identify why they are applying the settings from a similar reactor. The ID may find that they know how to apply the correct settings, however, something in their environment incentives (for example) may incentivize their wasteful behavior. (See Fig. 2, Letter D)