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Fink’s 3-Column Table

Fink’s TaxonomyInstructional DesignWorkshop

Fink’s 3-Column Table is an instructional design tool that aligns learning goals, the activities that build toward them, and the assessment activities that demonstrate they were achieved. It keeps a course coherent and outcome-driven by aligning the relationship between the three.

Fink's 3-Column Table

Investing vs Gambling

Overarching Goal: Learners will identify the psychological and marketing tactics used to target them for gambling, distinguish gambling from legitimate investing using real-world criteria, and communicate what they've learned to their families — so they can together explore small, age-appropriate first steps toward healthy financial behaviors.

Learning Goals	Learning Activities	Assessment Activities
Foundational Knowledge Learners will demonstrate foundational knowledge of core investing and gambling terminology and concepts, recognizing how each term connects to real financial situations they may encounter in their daily lives.	Lecture and Examples through Storytelling Definitions Key Concepts Psychological Impact	Terminology Check Definitions Key Concepts Psychological Impact
Application Learners will apply key financial terms and behavioral concepts to evaluate real-world scenarios, distinguishing responsible investment decisions from gambling behaviors, with accuracy across knowledge, scenario-based, and definition-based contexts.	Jeopardy Investing or Gambling? Terms & Definitions Money Psychology Anything Goes!	Application Check Scenarios: Investing, Gambling? Financial behavior response in personal situations
Integration Learners will synthesize their understanding of gambling and investing concepts by examining common misconceptions, drawing connections between course ideas and their personal financial lives, and reflecting on how these distinctions will shape the financial choices they make now and in the future.	Discussion Addressing misconceptions between gambling and investing Risk vs reality	Integration Check True or False: Distinguishing between myths and facts
Human Dimension Learners will reflect on their own experiences with targeted gambling — including advertising, social media, sports betting apps, and peer influence — to develop self-awareness of how these forces have shaped their financial attitudes, and will establish personal boundaries and decision-making strategies for responding to gambling propositions they face now and in the future. Caring Learners will internalize the value of financial self-protection by developing a genuine, personally meaningful commitment to recognizing and resisting targeted gambling, and by cultivating an interest in responsible investing as a tool for building the future they want.	Peer-to-Peer Discussion Peers form into groups of 3 and share their answers to the discussion questions. Discussion Questions If a friend you trust — or an influencer you follow — told you they made $500 on a sports bet last weekend and sent you a screenshot to prove it, how would that make you feel? What would you do? And what's the one thing from today's lesson that you'd want to remember in that exact moment? The lesson talked about how your brain can't tell the difference between winning and almost winning — and how that feeling makes you want to try again. Have you ever felt that pull — in a game, a loot box, a bet, or anything else? How do you think that feeling affected your decision-making? You've seen how small, consistent amounts of money can grow into something significant over time — even starting at $50 a month. Think about where your money is going right now: food runs, in-app purchases, subscriptions, clothing hauls, whatever it is for you. If you redirected even a portion of that into an account working for you instead — what could it realistically become? What would that mean for you if this became real?	Reflection Learners answer reflective: What's one takeaway from today that stuck to you, and how would you apply it in real life?
Learning How to Learn Learners will demonstrate self-directed ownership of their financial learning by teaching key investing and gambling concepts to a parent or legal guardian, engaging in a collaborative family conversation about responsible financial values, and co-creating an actionable plan for practicing those values in age-appropriate ways outside the classroom.	Organizing and preparing notes and reflective responses to present to their legal guardian/parent Creating a proposed learning application practice to discuss with their legal guardian/parent	Presenting to legal guardian/parent terms and concepts learned from the course Action Plan Activity Legal guardian/parent and learner sign the take-home Action Plan form on what they have agreed on as their learning application practice choice Signature receipt of the form should reward/recognize the student for completing the course.

This instructional design document was authored by Rebecca Chang on behalf of ChaChang, which retains all intellectual property rights to this work. Artificial intelligence writing assistance was provided by Claude (Anthropic, February 2026) under the full direction and oversight of the human author. All learning goals, pedagogical framework selections, instructional design decisions, and final content approvals were made by the human author. AI was used as a collaborative writing and development tool. © 2026 ChaChang. All Rights Reserved.

This 3-column table is the instructional design for a high school workshop that teaches students the differences between investing versus gambling.

Creating Course Alignment

Learning Goals

Goals are organized around the six categories of significant learning — foundational knowledge, application, integration, the human dimension, caring, and learning how to learn — so the course develops the whole learner, not just recall.

Activities & Assessment

Each goal is paired with the activities that build toward it and the evidence that demonstrates it was achieved, so every piece of the course earns its place and no goal is left unmeasured.

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