Research Publications (Arts and Design)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/214
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Item From social algorithm to pedagogical application: some implications for educational software(2006) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseEducational software geared to literacy development is too often based on what computer programs can do rather than on any deep-level consideration of the social process involved or how social processes are learned. As social psychology suggests that young people learn social behaviour by means of social algorithms, it is suggested that designers of educational software should consider identifying the algorithm involved as a basis for effective program design. Apart from resulting in versatile courseware, following this process means that the program structure itself can be made to reinforce the algorithm to be learned. This innovative educational design process is demonstrated by showing how a writing tutor program was designed around a composing algorithm underpinned by a deep structure of communicative functions. The resulting application could then be used flexibly in a variety of different educational contexts because the commonalities and variables in composing had been established.Item Modelling social algorithms as design templates for educational software(2006) Pratt, Deirdre DeniseEducation involves a process of initiating learners into complex socio-cultural processes which may vary from culture to culture and even between institutions within the same culture, making it difficult to design versatile courseware which has some relevance for the social process to be mastered by learners. Moreover, social elements often operate intra- as well as extra-systemically in social processes, which makes it difficult for the courseware designer to differentiate between the commonalities and variables in learning processes. Yet in spite of the complexity of human social behaviour, psychologists have identified social algorithms which apply to various key domains, and which prepare young people for effective social functioning in a variety of life situations. It is the contention of this paper, based on doctoral research on modelling composition, that it is possible to identify social algorithms which underpin human learning, and which might form the basis for effective courseware, given that such programs would require customisable options so as to cater for the extra-systemic elements applying in various socio-cultural contexts. One of the means whereby social algorithms can be identified is provided by Franck’s modelling process, which uses the principle of reverse engineering. The modelling process is described in some detail, as is the central concept of the social mechanism (i.e. algorithm) with specific reference to the development of educational software in the form of a process-based writing tutor program.Item The role of the social mechanism in social transformation: a critical realist approach to blended learning.(2006) Pratt, Deirdre Denise; Gutteridge, Robert GeoffreyThis paper deals with ongoing curriculum development in mixed mode, focusing in particular on student response to blended learning at a multicultural University of Technology. This is currently the subject of a masters research project investigating the possible ways in which learner access and response to blended learning might be affected by socio-cultural elements. The research investigates the impact of socio-cultural factors on blended learning in the development of academic literacy in a tertiary vocational context, and, it is hoped, will identify some of the factors which contribute positively or negatively towards blended learning in multicultural settings. The research orientation is critical realism, which is highly compatible with the scaffolded constructivist learning approach used in the Department of English & Communication’s Comm. Skills Online course, but has additional ontological dimensions which are helpful in pointing the way to social transformation. A key concept in critical realist research is that of the social mechanism, which can be seen as having two aspects, formal and practical: Franck’s modelling process represents these as theoretical and empirical models respectively. A tentative empirical model of blended learning based on a theoretical model of course design is discussed: socio-cultural factors impacting on both affect and access issues in blended learning can be represented as input into the system inherent in the social mechanism. The merits and disadvantages of the video protocol analysis as a possible research tool for capturing data on student response to blended learning are also discussed, and the paper concludes with the implications of this type of modelling for social transformation.