Interactive media for enhancing learning and creativity in design and technology education

Abstract

This thesis is an exploration of the potential of interactive media to enhance learning and creativity in Design and Technology education. The work focuses on A level which is a stage at which autonomous learning becomes a significant part of the subject's pedagogy. This research is interdisciplinary in nature, bringing together the areas of D&T education and interactive media for learning. The gap in knowledge which it targets is the development of interactive learning resources aimed specifically at the creative development of the learner. This is an area which has been given limited attention in interactive media for learning, which has tended to place a focus on declarative knowledge, rather than original thought. In addition, while D&T education research has explored issues of enhancing creativity, the development of interactive learning resources which are aimed at enhancing creativity in the subject has been limited. Yet as the literature review makes explicit, D&T is an exciting subject area for interactive media development. Through an action research methodology involving the design and evaluation of an interactive media learning environment entitled ecoWarrior, this research explores a number of key research questions regarding the role of interactive media in enhancing creativity in D&T education. These questions include an exploration of the role of collaboration and dialogue within a computer-supported learning environment; the structuring of the learning content and interactions; issues of user control and learner autonomy; the influence of affective factors on student learning. The contribution to knowledge of the work can be summarised as identifying specific conditions of learning which would improve the potential of an interactive learning environment to enhance learning and creativity in D&T. The original contribution to knowledge can be summarised in the following categories: The need to promote learner autonomy, in order to encourage original thinking in the learner. Within this the specific roles of teacher, learners and learning environment are discussed; The value of dialogue and collaboration to enhancing creativity in the learner; The specific characteristics of an interactive learning environment to enhancing creativity in the learner- namely its flexibility and its capacity to personalise the learning interactions; The ability of an interactive learning environment to support attitude change in the learner, both towards their own work and towards the subject studied.</ul