The guiding process in discovery hypertext learning environments for the Internet

Hypertext is the dominant method to navigate the Internet, providing user freedom and control over navigational behaviour. There has been an increase in converting existing educational material into Internet web pages but weaknesses have been identified in current WWW learning systems. There is a lack of conceptual support for learning from hypertext, navigational disorientation and cognitive overload. This implies the need for an established pedagogical approach to developing the web as a teaching and learning medium. Guided Discovery Learning is proposed as an educational pedagogy suitable for supporting WWW learning. The hypothesis is that a guided discovery environment will produce greater gains in learning and satisfaction, than a non-adaptive hypertext environment. A second hypothesis is that combining concept maps with this specific educational paradigm will provide cognitive support. The third hypothesis is that student learning styles will not influence learning outcome or user satisfaction. Thus, providing evidence that the guided discovery learning paradigm can be used for many types of learning styles. This was investigated by the building of a guided discovery system and a framework devised for assessing teaching styles. The system provided varying discovery steps, guided advice, individualistic system instruction and navigational control. An 84 subject experiment compared a Guided discovery condition, a Map-only condition and an Unguided condition. Subjects were subdivided according to learning styles, with measures for learning outcome and user satisfaction. The results indicate that providing guidance will result in a significant increase in level of learning. Guided discovery condition subjects, regardless of learning styles, experienced levels of satisfaction comparable to those in the other conditions. The concept mapping tool did not appear to affect learning outcome or user satisfaction. The conclusion was that using a particular approach to guidance would result in a more supportive environment for learning. This research contributes to the need for a better understanding of the pedagogic design that should be incorporated into WWW learning environments, with a recommendation for a guided discovery approach to alleviate major hypertext and WWW issues for distance learning

A Framework for Delivering Contextually Appropriate Opportunities for Warfighter Practice

Computer-based modeling and simulation has been a training staple in the military domain since the first aircraft simulators were adopted. More recently, virtual environments based on modeling, simulation and serious games, have introduced relatively low-cost, yet high value additions to the learning environment. As these virtual environments have proliferated, many researchers have investigated the relationship between theoretical foundations of learning, learner development and content delivery, and applied their findings in an attempt to bolster learning, yet performance deficiencies continue to exist. This study asserts that performance deficiencies exist in part because of insufficient contextually appropriate opportunities to practice. This work is multi-disciplinary in nature. Its foundation is modeling and simulation engineering; the use of technology to deliver training. Educational psychology and human factors concepts explain the theoretical basis for modeling and simulation as an effective training delivery agent. The study\u27s thesis is that a framework for delivering contextually appropriate opportunities for warfighter practice can be applied to discover whether modeling, simulation and game-based virtual environments have the potential to improve individual performance for learners beyond the Novice Stage (e.g., Competent Stage) of skills acquisition. Furthermore, this conceptually appropriate practice (CAP) framework can be used to assess the potential of low fidelity virtual environments to provide targeted practice and to improve individual performance, not only during training in high-fidelity virtual environments (near transfer) but also in the live environment (far transfer). To evaluate the thesis, this study investigates the relationship of technology and learning science, and features an empirical evaluation of training effectiveness afforded by delivering additional training repetitions using both low-fidelity virtual environment simulator systems and high-fidelity aircraft simulators

Designing a teaching web site and understanding by design web-based instruction modules

The purpose of this project was to design a school web site and instructional web templates to make targeted standards-based instructional units and portions of the curriculum accessible to teachers, students, and the community via the school internet

Group influences on individual learners' motivation : a study of group dynamics in EFL classrooms

Attention to how groups of students at university influence an individual learner's motivation within the group is the focus of this research. The uniqueness of this research lies in shifting the focus from an analysis of the individual's experience seen as being apart from the group to considering the individual's experience in relation to the social interactions within the group. This thesis begins with the examinations of the theoretical framework, including major issues in learning motivation and group dynamics, an area that has been gaining more and more attention in second language research. Then, it discusses the selection of a mixed methods approach, the employment of three research instruments (the classroom observation, the questionnaire, and the interview), and the research procedure. After presenting the findings from each research instrument, this study will integrate all the data and present key findings from the integration. Questionnaires were administered to 127 Taiwan university students from the Applied English Department of National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology (NKFUST). The results from the questionnaires show that there is a slight to moderate correlation between group processes (group cohesiveness and group norms) and students' level of motivation (self-efficacy and level of autonomy). A dozen students who participated in this study were asked to give further information during semi-structured in-depth interviews. During those interviews, several students commented that their classmates are indeed important to their learning, as being around more motivated classmates positively influences their own motivation and autonomy. Other relevant findings, such as what is a 'good' and 'bad' group, the importance of a mixed methods approach, and the role of culture aspects, will also be discussed

UNDERSTANDING INSTRUCTORS\u27 SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE COURSE DESIGN ACTIVITY

I come to this dissertation with my experiences on synchronous courses as a student and an instructional designer. Through these direct experiences I have come to realize the benefits of synchronous online courses as a course delivery format, and observed the difficulties of designing and delivering synchronous online courses. I have come to recognize the limited support of synchronous online course design. Even though there is an increased interest and use of synchronous courses, existing studies on synchronous online courses are limited, and offer little practical support to instructors about synchronous course design. The purpose of this study is to understand synchronous course design activities in order to support instructor’s effort to develop their own synchronous courses. To achieve this purpose, this dissertation looks at how five instructors design their synchronous online course with two goals: first, to identify design constraints and second, to capture the design experience and knowledge embodied in the synchronous course design cases. With a multiple case study approach, I collected data though interview, course materials and website resources about course design environments from five instructors. I analyzed the data with constant comparative method and activity system analysis. As a result, this dissertation identified various design constraints that emerged in the overall synchronous online course design process. I identified 48 design constraints and categorized those into eight categories: adaptation of synchronous course formats; converting existing face-to-face courses; instructor (designer) characteristics; learner characteristics; technology; organizational rules; environmental and cultural factors; and physical learning environments. In addition, I wrote five design cases about participants’ synchronous course design experiences. Each synchronous course design case includes information about the designer, the design situation, related design strategies, design tensions, and identified solutions to specific tensions. Specifically, I describe how the design constraints interact with one another and how interactions lead to further design tensions, and instructors’ solutions to those tensions. I will present common characteristics of synchronous course design, and implications for both designing synchronous online courses and supporting synchronous online course design at universities

An evaluation of the teaching strategies of an adult educator.

Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.This research is a case study. The study investigates the teaching strategies currently utilized in the adult education classroom; ascertains the reasons for the use of such strategies and recommends teaching strategies that could be used in order to improve instruction. The research was conducted at an adult learning centre. In pursuit of his objectives, the researcher aimed to answer the following key questions: • What teaching strategies are currently being utilized in the classroom? • How effective are these teaching strategies in meeting the learning needs of the adult learners? • How do these teaching strategies relate to existing literature? Data was collected primarily by engaging in the observation of actual teaching in the classroom. Structured interviews were conducted with the educator and learners concerned in order to confirm the classroom observation findings. Although the findings from this study are problematic to generalize, the findings will give us a better understanding of teaching strategies. This understanding could be useful to: • Educators of adult learners with a view to improving their practice. • Researchers in the field of education. • Textbook writers and curriculum development specialists. • National and regional policymakers. • Anyone who has an interest in education. This study is guided by the theory of andragogy as expounded by Knowles. This theory is relevant because it informed the study as to how best teaching and learning of adults can be undertaken. Findings from this study reveal that the teaching strategy most frequently used are the mass instruction strategies. The lecture method is most frequently used. This method is made interactive with the incorporation of discussions, recitations and the use of questioning. Individual instruction and group instruction strategies are used to a limited extent