Innovating Pedagogy 2015: Open University Innovation Report 4

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This fourth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International. We proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories, and practices. We then pared these down to ten that have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice, particularly in post-school education. Lastly, we drew on published and unpublished writings to compile the ten sketches of new pedagogies that might transform education. These are summarised below in an approximate order of immediacy and timescale to widespread implementation

Augmenting the field experience: a student-led comparison of techniques and technologies

In this study we report on our experiences of creating and running a student fieldtrip exercise which allowed students to compare a range of approaches to the design of technologies for augmenting landscape scenes. The main study site is around Keswick in the English Lake District, Cumbria, UK, an attractive upland environment popular with tourists and walkers. The aim of the exercise for the students was to assess the effectiveness of various forms of geographic information in augmenting real landscape scenes, as mediated through a range of techniques and technologies. These techniques were: computer-generated acetate overlays showing annotated wireframe views from certain key points; a custom-designed application running on a PDA; a mediascape running on the mScape software on a GPS-enabled mobile phone; Google Earth on a tablet PC; and a head-mounted in-field Virtual Reality system. Each group of students had all five techniques available to them, and were tasked with comparing them in the context of creating a visitor guide to the area centred on the field centre. Here we summarise their findings and reflect upon some of the broader research questions emerging from the project

public class Graphic_Design implements Code { // Yes, but how? }: An investigation towards bespoke Creative Coding programming courses in graphic design education

Situated in the intersection of graphic design, computer science, and pedagogy, this dissertation investigates how programming is taught within graphic design education. The research adds to the understanding of the process, practice, and challenges associated with introducing an audience of visually inclined practitioners—who are often guided by instinct—to the formal and unforgiving world of syntax, algorithms, and logic. Motivating the research is a personal desire to contribute towards the development of bespoke contextualized syllabi specifically designed to accommodate how graphic designers learn, understand, and use programming as an integral skill in their vocational practice.The initial literature review identifies a gap needing to be filled to increase both practical and theoretical knowledge within the interdisciplinary field of computational graphic design. This gap concerns a lack of solid, empirically based epistemological frameworks for teaching programming to non-programmers in a visual context, partly caused by a dichotomy in traditional pedagogical practices associated with teaching programming and graphic design, respectively. Based on this gap, the overarching research question posed in this dissertation is: “How should programming ideally be taught to graphic designers to account for how they learn and how they intend to integrate programming into their vocational practice?”A mixed methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative analyses is taken to answer the research questions. The three papers comprising the dissertation are all built on individual hypotheses that are subsequently used to define three specific research questions.Paper 1 performs a quantitative mapping of contemporary, introductory programming courses taught in design schools to establish a broader understanding of their structure and content. The paper concludes that most courses are planned to favor programming concepts rather than graphic design concepts. The paper’s finding can serve as a point of departure for a critical discussion among researchers and educators regarding the integration of programming in graphic design education.Paper 2 quantitatively assesses how the learning style profile of graphic design students compares with that of students in technical disciplines. The paper identifies a number of significant differences that call for a variety of pedagogic and didactic strategies to be employed by educators to effectively teach programming to graphic designers. Based on the results, specific recommendations are given.Paper 3 proposes a hands-on, experiential pedagogic method specifically designed to introduce graphic design students to programming. The method relies on pre-existing commercial graphic design specimens to contextualize programming into a domain familiar to graphic designers. The method was tested on the target audience and observations on its use are reported. Qualitative evaluation of student feedback suggests the method is effective and well-received. Additionally, twenty-four heuristics that elaborate and extend the paper’s findings by interweaving other relevant and influential sources encountered during the research project are provided. Together, the literature review, the three papers, and the heuristics provide comprehensive and valuable theoretical and practical insights to both researchers and educators, regarding key aspects related to introducing programming as a creative practice in graphic design education

Making room for 21st century musicianship in higher education

Having been asked to respond to Action Ideal VIII by the Mayday Group, concerning technology and its impacts on music education, what follows are some observations and reflections from my experiences teaching undergraduate music and music technology degrees in the UK. I put forward the idea that Post-Digital music aesthetics reflect an emergent sensibility in contemporary music cultures, and this represents an opportunity for music educators to reconfigure and strengthen their pedagogical approaches. By recognizing the legitimacy of new and varied forms of musicianship, and acknowledging the ways in which our subject area continues to grow in its range of practices and necessary literacies, strategies can be developed to support a music student experience that is cohesive, inclusive, hybridized, meaningful and useful

THE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ENRICHED MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION ON AT-RISK SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

An obstacle to student learning with many at-risk students is not the lack of ability of the student, but rather the inability of the school system to design and implement options suited to their unique learning styles. This study examined the effectiveness of a computer-based instruction (CBI) system to teach Algebra I in an alternative high school serving at-risk students. The study focused on student achievement, attitudes toward mathematics, school climate, attendance and discipline referrals. Investigators found that CBI can be effective in improving learning with at-risk students. Studies, including those of Tobin & Sprague, Craik, & Kreil, Griffin and Raywid found improvement in academic performance, self-esteem, and reducing behavior problems and dropout rates among students in alternative settings using technology-enhanced instruction. The study examined 30 at-risk high school students using CBI and 40 students using textbook-based instruction to cover the same Algebra I concepts. The investigator administered an online survey from Tapia's Attitudes Towards Mathematics Inventory, and Gottfredson's survey on school climate. The investigator also collected course grades, state assessment scores, attendance and discipline records over a two-year period following the initial implementation of CBI. This investigation used analysis of variance with pairwise comparisons and post-hoc analysis. Results found a significant increase in grades for at-risk students in the CBI group from a D+ to a C+ between year one (M=4.07) and year two (M=6.53); t(29)=-.321, p<.05. The CBI students also had a significant increase in mathematics scores on state assessments between year one (M=1.63) and year two (M=1.87); t(29)=-2.04, p<.05. CBI students reported more positive attitudes toward mathematics (M=3.62) than did the students in the traditional class (M=3.21); F(1,68)=14.52, p<.001. CBI programs can be an effective option in improving student achievement and attitude in at-risk settings. The fact that the CBI students placed in an at-risk school for behavioral issues had better attitudes toward mathematics than those in a traditional school is encouraging. Further studies are needed to determine if the benefits of this CBI instructional approach might extend to other at-risk settings and across other content areas

Examining How Middle School Science Teachers Implement a Multimedia-enriched Problem-based Learning Environment

This study examined how a group of ten middle school teachers implemented a technology enriched problem-based learning (PBL) environment. The goal was to understand their motivation, document their implementation techniques, and identify factors that teachers considered important in using technology-based PBL tools in their teaching. The analysis identified four factors that provided the impetus for teachers to consider the adoption of technology-based PBL instruction. These factors are (1) the PBL program addresses the teachers’ curricular needs and implementing it has campus administrative and technical support, (2) the method is aligned with teachers’ pedagogical beliefs, (3) the PBL program offers a new way of teaching and promotes the development of higher-order thinking skills, and (4) the PBL program challenges students in a captivating manner and supports the learning needs of all students. Teachers’ implementation techniques with over 1,000 sixth graders were documented in detail with regard to: 1) the teacher’s roles, 2) the student’s role, and 3) the classroom interactions during the implementation of the PBL program. In addition, a detailed description of contrasting narratives of two pairs of teachers is provided, illustrating the range of implementation techniques that can occur using the same PBL program to allow for individualized instruction to meet different students’ needs. The goal of providing detailed implementation practices is to address the lack of “how to” in PBL implementation in K-12 classrooms as indicated in the literature and offer insights and ideas to those interested in adopting and implementing PBL. Findings are discussed within the theoretical framework and implications are provided